MINNEAPOLIS, May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --ProUroCare Medical Inc. (PUMD.OB), provider of proprietary medical imaging products, announced today it has received clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for its ProUroScan prostate mechanical imaging (PMI) system. The approval paves the way for men and their families to receive high-resolution visual documentations as an aid in detecting prostate abnormalities that were previously detected by digital rectal examination (DRE). The ProUroScan system constructs color 2D and 3D "maps" of the prostate in real-time that, when in agreement with a DRE finding, can be permanently stored in electronic records for future analysis and comparison. ProUroCare's patented tactile elasticity imaging technology, which uses a handheld pressure-sensing rectal probe and sophisticated image construction software to produce its prostate maps, represents a new imaging modality distinct from traditional ultrasound imaging.

The company plans to introduce the technology in 2012 to a limited number of top U.S. medical care centers in key major metropolitan markets. With assistance from Minneapolis investment firm Cherry Tree & Associates, LLC, ProUroCare has been actively seeking a strategic corporate partner with a strong sales and in-service support presence in the urologic market to fully commercialize its technology.

"This is a major milestone for the company, for physicians looking for more assurance and documentation in their evaluations and for men eager for more information to assess and make decisions about their prostate health," said Rick Carlson, CEO of ProUroCare Medical. "A color image can go a long way in documenting a person's prostate condition, and this development puts us one step closer to supplementing other screening measures with a helpful, high quality visual aid that can be referred and compared to over time."

As a standard of care, the American Urological Association (AUA) currently recommends that beginning at age 40, men receive a DRE and a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test in their yearly physical, yet data from community-based studies suggest the positive predictive values of DRE and PSA combined achieve only a 56 percent predictive value. Furthermore, neither test creates a physical or visual record of the prostate. The ProUroScan system is being introduced as an adjunctive technology to a DRE for physicians to use to further clarify and document abnormalities associated with the prostate gland.

"Having a visual aid of irregularities can be so helpful to physicians and patients, particularly in the area of prostate care where decision-making is often difficult," said Dr. Robert Weiss, a urologic oncologist with the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and a faculty member at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School who used the ProUroScan technology as part of its clinical trial process. "The quality and resolution of the images are excellent, providing an immensely valuable supplement to the DRE, where physicians must rely on a gloved finger to feel for changes in the size and shape of the gland."

The prostate imaging system's FDA 510(k) was first submitted by ProUroCare's development partner Artann Laboratories, Inc. and later processed in accordance with the de novo provisions accounted for in Section 513(f)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The FDA filings were supported by data from a 2009 National Institute of Health and National Cancer Institute-supported clinical study of patients evaluated at five leading U.S. medical centers, as well as an earlier study conducted specifically at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick, N.J.

About ProUroCare Medical Inc.

ProUroCare Medical Inc. is a publicly traded company engaged in the business of creating innovative medical imaging products. Based in Minneapolis, Minn., the company's stock trades on the OTCBB market.

This news release contains certain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are typically preceded by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "will," "may," "should," or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of ProUroCare's future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in these statements. Factors that might cause ProUroCare's results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, the ability of ProUroCare to find adequate financing to complete the development of its products; the high level of secured and unsecured debt incurred by ProUroCare; the impact and timing of actions taken by the FDA and other regulatory agencies with respect to ProUroCare's products and business; the dependence by ProUroCare on third parties for the development and manufacture of its products; and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in ProUroCare's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. ProUroCare undertakes no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements.

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ProUroCare Medical Receives FDA Clearance for ProUroScan Elasticity Imaging System

Public release date: 2-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ruthann Richter richter1@stanford.edu 650-725-8047 Stanford University Medical Center

STANFORD, Calif. Dramatic changes are needed in medical student education, including a substantial reduction in the number of traditional lectures, according to a perspective piece to be published May 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine by two Stanford University professors.

Medical education has changed little in the past 100 years despite dramatic changes in the world of medicine, the explosion in biomedical information and the ever-growing complexity of the health-care system. The traditional lecture format persists even as class attendance is plummeting and as many complain that the current system is failing to produce compassionate, well-trained physicians.

"Students are being taught roughly the same way they were taught when the Wright brothers were tinkering at Kitty Hawk," write co-authors Charles Prober, MD, senior associate dean for medical education at the Stanford School of Medicine, and Chip Heath, PhD, professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. (Heath and his brother, Dan, also authored a bestselling book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.) In contemplating medical education reform, Prober reached out to Heath because a critical goal of any educational effort is to optimize the retention of lessons to increase their "stickiness."

In their perspective, titled "Lecture halls without lectures," Prober and Heath propose a new approach to teaching to make better use of the fixed amount of educational time available to train doctors.

"That's the vision that we want to chase: education that wrings more value out of the unyielding asset of time," the authors write. "Why would anyone waste precious class time on a lecture?"

Prober also has been working closely with Salman "Sal" Khan, the Silicon Valley-based online learning pioneer whose nonprofit effort, Khan Academy, is widely credited, in the words of Bill Gates, for having "turned the classroom and the world of education on its head." Prober and Heath's perspective piece proposes a Khan Academy-styled "flipped-classroom" model of teaching. Lecture content is packaged in 10- to 15-minute videos that are watched by the students at their own pace and as often as necessary to learn the material. Class time is then freed up for more interactive education, with greater emphasis on patients' clinical stories as a way to increase the relevance of the necessary scientific and medical knowledge.

"Teachers would be able to actually teach, rather than merely make speeches," the authors write.

The core biochemistry class at Stanford medical school was redesigned this year to follow this model. The instructors replaced the lecture-based format with short online videos made available to students. "Class time was used for interactive discussions of clinical vignettes that highlighted the biochemical bases of various diseases," the article said. "Student reviews of the course improved substantially from the previous year, and class attendance increased from 30 to 80 percent, even though class attendance was optional."

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Stanford professors propose 'lecture-less' medical school classes

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTCBB: CBIS.OB) a pioneering U.S. biotech company developing pharmaceutical cannabis (marijuana) products, was honored to be the Sponsor and an Exhibitor at the 7th national Patients Out of Time, medical cannabis conference in Tucson, Arizona. The conference was attended by patients, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, professors, supporters, and entrepreneurs of the medical cannabis industry. Our own Dr. Melamede presented patient's results that we have documented at http://www.cannabisscience.com.

The University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine (UCSF) is accredited by the AccreditationCouncil for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.Patients Out of Time is the only accredited CMEprogram to educate medical professionals about cannabis as a medicine. There were over 25 world-renowned doctors and scientists sharing and presenting the latest research advances asthe complexity of theendo-cannabinoid system continues to unfold. Please see the previous news release from April 17, 2012 at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dr-robert-melamede-scheduled-speak-182800051.html

Speakers at the conference focused on the science and medicine of cannabinoids. Cannabis Science was overwhelmed, with great feedback by various representatives in the medical community. Prominent speakers included Dr. Robert Melamede, CEO and president of Cannabis Science; Dr. William Courtney of Cannabis Sciences scientific advisory board, and Dr. Andrew Weil, best selling author, speaker, and Integrative Medicine thought-leader. Talks covered specific ailments such as PTSD, cancer, and even drug addiction; research on cannabinoid science and medical applications, and law.Dr. Robert Melamede shared pictures show on our website. Cannabis Science helps cancer patients make informed choices regarding treatments. He also spoke as to the holistic nature by which the endocannabinoid system regulated homeostasis in all vertebrates from conception till death and therefore, why cannabis-based medicines are different from all others in their ability to help with so many illnesses.

Cannabis Science demonstrated a pre-release our multi-tiered, digital educational platform to be announcedin more detail laterthis week. Our novel platform will help to meet the ever-expanding interest incannabis that is coming from the medical communities as the almost miraculous medical benefits of cannabis emerge from the states that support medical marijuana. Our new educational platform (see below) willbring in revenues as we fill the emerging educational need of the medical community.Realistic cannabis education programs are not currently available in the professional schools that need them to end the disconnect between medical cannabis patients an their physicians.

At the conference the Cannabis Science booth collected data from attendees interested in Cannabis Science Stock and there was a lot of interest in our new branding platform.. Attendees were given PR Packets with CBIS information on cancer, Alzheimers, PTSD, aging, and heart disease. CBIS had attendees fill out a questionnaire to enter into a drawing for an iPad 3, a symbolic prize since Cannabis Science will launce our new digital education platform for Physicians, on the Apple iPad platform. Our congratulations to our conference iPad winner.

Andrew Pitsicalis, the Branding and Licensing Director for Cannabis Science, revealed the new digital platform and demonstrated the technology at the CBIS booth. Pitsicalis coordinated many interviews with Cannabis Planet TV, Arizona Clinics TV, The Phoenix Arizona Times, and local news and media. As a result, we had the honor to meet with a brain cancer survivor ofan extremely dangerous surgery.InDecember of last year, he had a second operation to try to reduce the large mass in his brain. With stage 4 cancer, he came to Cannabis Science to help us create awareness for other cancer patients worldwide so that they too might understand there is hope with cannabis. The patient had not been a previous cannabis user, and was amazed at the impact the plant had on him. In fact, it prevented him from taking his own life,when he was no longer able to cope withhaving multiple grand mal seizures daily. The patients close friend begged him to smoke cannabis. When he did, he stopped having seizures. He told us he drove 7 hours to meet Dr. Robert Melamede because he was watching his videos our website and YouTube and found hope. The patient wanted to go to the conference to meet him and other doctors and scientists attending the conference.

The Patients Out of Time charity benefit dinner included entertainment by Greta Gaines from her upcoming album Grassy Girl; a live and silent auction, and a guest appearance by Gigi Ganjay. Gretas information may be found at http://www.gretagaines.com, http://www.cannibuzz.com, and her reel at http://www.conlincasting.net/Gretareel/Greta_Gaines/Reel.html Greta Gaines is a client of Kaneabis (a Cannabis Science company).

If you would like to view information that Cannabis Science provided to the attendees of the conference, please visit our website.

Dr. Robert Melamede stated, Things have never been better for Cannabis Science and this was confirmed at the conference this past weekend. Not only were we part of an historic event with Patients Out of Time, the amount of consciousness and knowledge gained by everyone attending will shape the medicinal science of the industry going forward. Furthermore, our network of professionals increased substantially as we continue to grow the Cannabis Science business model. Most importantly, this conference was a success because it was about the patients,and we heard dramatic testimonials from them, It was all about doing the right things,with the right people, for the right reasons.

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Cannabis Science Makes Medical Moves at The 7th Patients Out of Time medical cannabis conference in Tucson at the ...

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida high school dedicated to students pursuing medical careers is adding new features to their state-of-the-art facility.

Tuesday morning, faculty and students celebrated the grand opening of M.A.S.T. @ Homestead medical magnet school. It is the only school of its kind in South Florida.

Prior to its opening, Miami-Dade acquired the building, which once was a hospital, used $15 million to renovate it and enrolled students who are now studying medicine. "It's very educational, and it's really hands on," said student Sidney Sharpe.

"It's a very small environment. The teachers work one-on-one with you; it's very safe," said student Ian Carter. "It's a highly academic rigorous curriculum but an excellent school."

M.A.S.T is an acronym for Medical Academy for Science and Technology. This facility is the second in the State and one of just a few in the nation.

This year, about 250 students enrolled. Next year, about 450 students are expected to attend via lottery.

The magnet school's mission is to cultivate the next generation of health care professionals. It focuses on biomedical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and physical therapy. "The top 100 jobs in the United States, you're going to see that 75 or 80 percent are in the medical field or medical background," said principal Greg Zawyer. "So, we're linked with all the hospitals, all the way down to Mercy and University of Miami, as well as Baptist Hospital in Homestead."

Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvahlo was also present at the school's ribbon-cutting ceremony. "The opportunity is for students to engage in internships at local hospitals and partnerships with FIU and the University of Miami, Nova and Miami Dade College, where they will serve in enrollment programs."

"We see that these are our future employees, they're future doctors, nurses and technologists and pharmacists," said Homestead Hospital CEO Bill Duquette.

The facility also conducts live surgeries via video conferences.

Original post:
MAST medical school celebrates grand opening

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - University of Miami President Donna Shalala has put medical school staff on notice that "significant" cutbacks are coming.

Shalala announced the cuts in a letter to employees on Tuesday.

She says the reductions are necessary because of a number of "unprecedented factor" that include the economic downturn of 2008, decreased funding for research and clinical care and cuts in the Jackson Health System. She says the Jackson Health reductions have affected the school's finances.

The Miami Herald (http://bit.ly/I4JSlg ) reports Jackson Health, which has lost $419 million the past three years, cut its payments to the university by $16 million this year.

Shalala says the cuts will come in May. She did not provide details about how many employees may be laid off.

Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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UM medical school to make cutbacks in May

SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Direct Flow Medical, Inc., a privately held, emerging medical device company focused on the next generation, minimally invasive implant to treat patients with heart valve disease announced the appointment of Charles Davidson, MD, as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Davidson brings a wealth of knowledge to the organization, having spent over 20 years in interventional cardiology and medicine. He has also worked extensively in his career with medical device industry leaders and start-up companies.

Dr. Davidson currently is a Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and is the Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Clinical Chief of Cardiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. His professional memberships include Fellow, American College of Cardiology, Fellow of the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions and a Fellow membership with the Clinical Council, American Heart Association. Prior positions were held at Duke University Medical Center and Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Davidsons experience in interventional cardiology and his extensive knowledge of cardiac care will be invaluable to Direct Flow Medical as we continue to expand our clinical trials and drive the future growth of the Company, commented Bernard Lyons, President and CEO of Direct Flow Medical. His longstanding thought leadership in the care of patients with cardiac disease, experience in novel interventional devices combined with his first-hand experience in the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures will help us achieve our clinical and market objectives. Simply, this is just a terrific addition to our existing team. The current clinical programs are actively recruiting patients outside the United States.

Dr. Davidsons connection with Direct Flow Medical began 3 years ago, when he first reviewed the early clinical data from the feasibility study and has been a key consultant to the DISCOVER CE Mark Study which was initiated late in 2011. About his newest affiliation with the organization, Dr. Davidson says, I am very impressed with the Direct Flow Medical device. This is a true, second generation device which is designed to allow for precise placement, conforms to the aortic valve anatomy, thereby virtually eliminating any paravalvular leaks. I look forward to working with the Direct Flow Medical Team and their outstanding group of clinical investigators and advisors to help bring this latest, unique innovation to fruition. The Direct Flow Medical device addresses one of the most important clinical issues in the TAVR Market aortic regurgitation. It has the potential to improve clinical outcomes globally and better serve the needs of this growing patient population.

About Direct Flow Medical, Inc.

Founded in 2004, the Company is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, and has a second technology and manufacturing facility in Lake Forest, California. The Companys unique implant design is not limited to aortic valve disease but is readily applicable to mitral and other heart valve anatomical sites. Direct Flow Medical has raised 3 rounds of funding to date with the following investors: EDF Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners, Spray Venture Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners, ePlanet Venture Partners and strategic corporate investors. For further information, please visit the website at http://www.directflowmedical.com.

The Direct Flow Medical Transcatheter Aortic Valve System is an investigation device, limited by applicable law to investigational use and not available for sale.

Link:
Direct Flow Medical® Announces the Appointment of Chief Medical Officer, Charles Davidson, MD

For two Henderson High School graduates, a good dose of medical school runs in the family.

Dr. Evan Walgama graduated from Henderson High School in 2002 and the University of Texas at Austin in 2006.

On June 7, 2010, he graduated from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, where he is now in his second year of five-year residency program at UT Southwesterns affiliated hospitals.

His focus is in otolaryngology to specialize as an ear, nose and throat doctor.

Evan also graduated with honors and as an Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society member.

Evans brother, Dr. Jonathan Walgama, is also a Henderson High School graduate in 2003.

In 2007, he graduated from Austin College in Sherman before attending medical school.

On May 21, 2011, Jonathan graduated from Texas A&M Universitys System Health Science Center College of Medicine and, like his brother, received honors as an Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society member.

Jonathans medical school graduation was unique in that he was hooded by three family physicians during the ceremony, his wife, his brother and his father, his grandfather Dr. Lonnie Traylor said.

The Walgamas father, Dr. U.S. Walgama, still practices in Henderson across from East Texas Medical Center.

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Walgama brothers follow father’s footsteps with careers in medicine

WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

UHealthSolutions, Inc., a University of Massachusetts Medical School affiliate, is piloting enhanced patient communications services for community health centers through a new partnership with the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center (Kennedy CHC). The two organizations will work collaboratively to design and develop a suite of services targeted toward the needs of community-based health care organizations.

UHealthSolutions, a nonprofit company that manages business operations for health care organizations, will provide the Kennedy CHC with after-hours answering services, patient scheduling, and outbound appointment reminder calls giving the Kennedy CHC clinicians and support staff more time to engage with patients and provide patient care. UHealthSolutions is committed to promoting a culturally competent and linguistically diverse workforce to ensure an engaged experience for patients. The opportunity to partner with the Kennedy CHC will provide valuable insight to UHealthSolutions in the design and implementation of enhanced patient communications services for community-based health care organizations.

I am excited to start this relationship with the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, said David P. Crosby, managing director, UHealthSolutions. This collaborative approach ensures that the patient is at the center of all communications, and allows health center staff to do what they do best provide exceptional patient care.

This new relationship will allow us to realign resources and focus our attention on the patient, said Antonia G. McGuire, Kennedy CHC president and chief executive officer. Kennedy CHC is a private, nonprofit community health center that serves over 100 communities in the greater Worcester and Metrowest areas. I look forward to working with Dave and the UHealthSolutions team to create and deliver additional communications services to better serve our patients.

About UHealthSolutions, Inc.

As a nonprofit affiliate of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, UHealthSolutions, Inc., takes a different approach to developing innovative, effective and cost-saving business solutions for health care clients. UHealthSolutions uses evidence-based methods and a clinical focus to assess the needs of health care organizations.

Formerly known as Public Sector Partners, UHealthSolutions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit health care management and consulting firm. Since 2001, the organization has been committed to improving health care services by offering a full array of third-party administration, patient communication, program management, technology and consulting services.

About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

UMass Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health science centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $270 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. The mission of the Medical School is to advance the health and well-being of the people of the commonwealth and the world, through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery. Commonwealth Medicine, the Medical Schools health care consulting and operations division, provides a wide range of care management and consulting services to government agencies and health care organizations. For more information, visit commed.umassmed.edu.

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UHealthSolutions to Provide Patient Communications Services to Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in New Pilot ...

by Ken Alltucker - Apr. 24, 2012 11:17 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

Medical schools in Arizona more than doubled their enrollment in the past decade, but most of those young doctors won't establish a practice in your neighborhood or work at a local hospital.

That is because most students who graduate from Arizona medical schools train out of state, and physicians are more likely to establish careers where they complete their residency training during those pivotal years after medical school.

One key reason that medical-school graduates leave Arizona is that the state does not have enough residency slots at hospitals or community health centers that allow doctors to train and practice their craft after graduating. The shortage has been made worse by a federal limit on Medicare-funded slots, state funding cuts to graduate medical education and some hospitals' reluctance to start or expand training programs.

Medical-school representatives and business leaders say the physician training crunch is an issue that affects health, quality of life and the economy in Arizona, where there is an ongoing physician shortage. With two new medical schools planned, the problem could grow even larger.

"We talk about importing physicians, but we are exporting graduates," said Lori Kemper, dean of the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University of Glendale.

Kemper and other medical-school representatives met Tuesday at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix to discuss a newly released report funded by St. Luke's Health Initiatives, a health-policy foundation, about Arizona's medical education challenges.

The report shows that Arizona ranked 20th in the nation in medical-school enrollment but 37th in the number of residency slots. The report suggests the state needs to add 848 to 885 residency slots at a cost of $89 million to $93 million to meet national averages.

If medical-school students train in Arizona, they are much more likely to practice medicine here. The St. Luke's report shows that 75 percent of active physicians who graduated and trained in Arizona stayed, while only 28 percent of Arizona medical-school graduates who completed training out of state returned to Arizona to practice.

Most residency slots are paid by the federal government through agencies such as Medicare and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Medicare program, which provides about two-thirds of government funding for residency slots in Arizona, has capped funding of most new residency slots since 1997. Since then, Arizona's population has grown more than 25 percent.

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Exodus of medical graduates in Arizona stirs concerns

Campbell Universitys medical school took an important step toward becoming the fifth medical school in the state.

The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation awarded Campbells School of Osteopathic Medicine provisional accreditation status, which allows the school to begin recruiting applicants for its inaugural class for August 2013. The status was awarded Friday and is effective July 1, according to a Campbell University press release.

The school aims to eventually produce 150 primary care physicians each year, addressing an often-noted nationwide shortage. In particular, the school will look to aid rural and poor areas that experience the biggest shortfalls in medical care. After two years at the new facility, third- and fourth-year medical students will train in community hospitals across the state, according to the schools dean, Dr. John Kauffman.

This is an exciting moment, said Dr. Jerry Wallace, president of Campbell University. This medical school will train primary care physicians to address a critical shortage of healthcare professionals throughout our state.

Campbell joins established medical schools Duke, Wake Forest, UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University as accredited med schools in the state. According to data from the American Association of Medical Colleges, those four schools currently enroll roughly 2,000 students, meaning that with an eventual goal of 600 students, the states capacity to produce doctors could rise nearly 30 percent.

That goal would give Campbell University the second-highest enrollment in the state after UNC.

The primary care physicians that Campbell intends to recruit will address a pressing need. The AAMC estimated in 2010 that the already-strapped field could face a nationwide shortage of 63,000 physicians in 2015 as millions of Americans acquire health care under the Affordable Care Act. Specialists also face a shortage, even while earning substantially more than primary care doctors.

Rural areas face the greatest shortages, and Kauffman said he hopes doctors will continue to live and work in such communities after they finish their two years earning their medical degrees there.

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Campbell medical school gets go ahead, hopes to address physician shortfall

University of Miami President Donna Shalala announced Tuesday that the medical school will take difficult and painful but necessary steps next month to reduce costs, including staff cuts.In a letter to employees, she called the cuts significant but provided no details about how many employees might be laid off.

The process will take place in stages, and affected employees will be notified during the month of May, Shalala wrote. Reductions will not impact clinical care or our patients and will primarily focus on unfunded research and administrative areas.

Shalala said the cuts were necessary because of unprecedented factors including the global downturn of 2008, decreased funding for research and clinical care, plus cutbacks in payments from Jackson Health System. The Jackson reductions have had a profound effect on our finances, she wrote.

UM is not alone. Many medical schools are having to make difficult decisions, particularly because of the growing difficulties in getting research grants, said Ann Bonham, chief scientific officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Sal Barbera, a former hospital executive now teaching at Florida International University, said UM created many of its own problems when it bought Cedars Medical Center in 2007 for $275 million. Paying off that debt is a significant financial responsibility, he said.

Jackson Health System, which has lost $419 million the past three years, cut its payments to UM by $16 million this year, and next fiscal year is working on a new operating agreement with UM that could mean far more drastic reductions.

In her letter, Shalala wrote that UM reaffirmed our continued commitment to our partnership with Jackson.

Since the arrival of Pascal Goldschmidt as medical school dean in 2006, expansion has been swift. UHealth, the clinical enterprise , now employs more than 8,200 employees, according to the UM website. Employees are working on 1,500 research grants, funded by $200 million in outside private and public grants.

The schools financial problems have been exacerbated by the shrinking of federal research dollars, and UM researchers, like those elsewhere, have found themselves battling for grants.

A number of medical schools are having serious conversations and looking hard at medical research, said Bonham, the AAMC officer. She said the National Institutes of Health, the primary funding source for research, is now only granting about one in every six applications, a historical low.

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‘Significant’ UM medical school cutbacks coming in May

BUIES CREEK - Campbell University's medical school has been cleared to recruit students.

The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation decided Saturday to give Campbell's School of Osteopathic Medicine provisional accreditation status. The accreditation, which becomes effective July 1, allows the school to admit students and offer medical instruction with an approved osteopathic curriculum.

Medical school officials can recruit students before the accreditation status becomes effective.

Dr. John Kauffman, the medical school's founding dean, said the school will begin accepting student applications June 1. Classes are expected to start in August 2013.

Campbell officials say the medical school will eventually graduate about 150 doctors a year. Many will go on to practice in rural areas of North Carolina, they say.

Students will spend their first two years training in a 96,500-square-foot medical school being built on U.S. 421. Third and fourth year medical students will train in community hospitals across the state, Kauffman said.

Jerry Wallace, president of Campbell University, said the accreditation is exciting for Campbell, the medical school, Harnett County and North Carolina.

"This medical school will train primary care physicians to address a critical shortage of healthcare professionals throughout our state," he said.

- Steve DeVane

Continued here:
Campbell University's medical school cleared to recruit students

14-04-2012 19:54 QUIZ Winging of the scapula ? Cause.ANSWER at end of video*

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YouTube Medical School.QUIZ Winging of the scapula - Video

Over the past six years, the University of Colorado has more than tripled the number of racially and ethnically diverse students enrolled in its medical school on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

Just 11 percent of the 144 students in the class of 2005 were minorities, compared with 33 percent of the 160 students in last year's graduating class.

The university has made a concerted effort to improve diversity among its students since its accrediting body the Liaison Committee on Medical Education cited the school for "noncompliance" in 2010, when just 106 of 614 students were minorities. The medical school is not scheduled for another visit until 2016-17.

"It was abysmal," said Dr. Rob Winn, associate dean for admissions at the medical school. "Part of the problem here had been the traditional approach that Colorado has mountains, and mountains attract people. That may be true, but it may not attract kids from inner-city Philadelphia."

While grades are important, Winn looks at much more, including standardized tests, life experiences, research activity, clinical participation and especially community service.

"We don't seek diversity, we seek excellence," Winn said. "They need to have the ability to articulate their passion for helping others. That's what taking the job of a doctor is."

Winn and his staff approached the job as a relationship-building exercise. They reached out to student advisers and faculty nationwide to make sure they were aware of CU's program.

The strategy has worked. Over the past decade, the number of applicants to the medical school has increased from 2,148 in 2001 to 5,425 so far this year for just 160 spots. The admissions department interviews 700 students to cull the number.

"If we could expand the class to 400, we'd get 400 amazing students," Winn said.

It's not just ethnic and racial diversity that's important to the university. The admissions department also is seeking geographic diversity. About a third of the school's students were from out of state last year, compared with just 10 percent a few years ago.

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University of Colorado medical school heals diversity gap

The morning of my Board exams, my mother packed me a lunch comprising of seedless grapes, two Greek yogurts, a cheese sandwich, a bag of pistachio nuts, two cappuccinos, a diet coke, chocolate-covered coffee beans and a pouch of pretzels.

Mum, this isnt the Hunger Games, I joked.

Well no duh. You have absolutely zero hand-eye coordination, she said.

I gave her a sour look.

But if there was ever a nerd equivalent, this would be it, I said, compensating. Someone needed to deliver a pep talk, after all, and clearly mum wasnt stepping up. Today, I do battle.

Mum ignored my inquiries about whether we had any war paint lying around the house. But this was hardly overkill. The USMLE Step 1 exam, otherwise known as the Boards, is an eight-hour test, designed to test medical students of the completeness and depth of their preclinical learning. Commonly taken right at the end of the second year of medical school, before students transition from classrooms onto the hospital wards, the exams represent a months-long effort on our part to frantically cram mountains of information, from the basics of mitosis to the specifics of anti-diarrheals, in hopefully a systematic and organized way. The three-digit score that one receives four weeks later plays a part in determining a students competitiveness for certain residencies and such. To what extent no one can really say. And therefore no one wants to chance it.

Did I mention that its an eight-hour test?

Much this year has been about such numbers. The number of hours you can study a day. The number of practice questions. Percentages. Percentiles. Five-hour energy drinks. The number of times you looked over the glycolysis pathway and still forgot an enzyme. The number of simulated tests. The number of days you overslept and missed classes out of sheer exhaustion.

In late September, I met with an academic advisor at school for help in planning a study schedule. She pulled out a college-ruled notebook and drew a long horizontal line intersected with many little strokes. In neat print, she outlined the various books and web resources I might find helpful and the goals I needed to be reaching by various dates on the timeline. She had relationships with many a successful student in the past, she said. I nodded fervently. Surrounded on all sides by what I could do, I just wanted someone to tell me what I should.

I would advise you that as you move closer to test, to limit how much time you spend on other activities, she said.

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Step One: A Medical School Pivot Point

By Jodie Jackson Jr.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Expanding the University of Missouri School of Medicine to include a clinical campus in southwest Missouri would require an estimated $30 million building project in Columbia.

A proposed new medical school teaching facility would provide education for an additional 32 medical students, increasing by one-third the number admitted each year to the MU School of Medicine. The first two years of the program would be spent in Columbia; the third and fourth would be spent training with physicians in the Springfield area. Officials outlined the plan yesterday at a Springfield news conference.

An economic impact study suggested construction alone would add 475 jobs and $56.5 million to the state's economy, with significantly higher impact once trained doctors are in place.

MU School of Medicine officials and representatives of Springfield hospitals Sisters of Mercy Health and CoxHealth began discussing the plan more than two years ago. The Springfield hospitals initiated the talks with an eye on aging baby boomers, demand for rural doctors and the steady flow of retiring family physicians.

"There's just not enough physicians to take care of the current population, let alone the increasing population over the next 20 years," said Weldon Webb, associate dean for rural health at the MU School of Medicine.

David Barbe, regional division president of Mercy Clinic, said building a new free-standing medical school in Springfield would cost $500 million to $800 million, so this plan could increase the number of medical school students "at the least possible cost."

"Any other model would cost more," he said, adding that new buildings, labs and faculty would be needed in Columbia to accommodate a larger crop of students.

"Right now in Columbia, they're on top of each other," Barbe said. "We couldn't shoehorn another in if we had to."

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MU medical school eyes Springfield expansion

QUESTION: I have a Baker's cyst in my right knee. I've had it drained twice, but it keeps coming back. Are there any other treatments? Is there an operation that can fix it once and for all?

ANSWER: Your situation is fairly common. A Baker's cyst (also called a popliteal cyst) is a fluid-filled sac that can develop in the popliteal space, the hollow at the back of the knee joint.

Baker's cysts are named for William Morrant Baker, a 19th-Century surgeon who first described the condition. The cyst is filled with synovial fluid, which lubricates the knee joint. Synovial fluid reduces friction between the various parts of all your joints, including your knee, which needs lubrication to flex and extend smoothly.

Although there are several ways to treat a Baker's cyst, surgery is an uncommon choice. But whatever the treatment, the cyst will often recur if the underlying cause hasn't been corrected.

A Baker's cyst can be caused by an injury to the knee, such as a tear in a meniscus. Damage to the cartilage from conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis can lead to Baker's cysts. These conditions may cause the synovial cells lining the knee joint to produce excess fluid. If the fluid bulges into the popliteal space, a cyst can develop. The excess fluid could cause the whole knee to become swollen, too.

A Baker's cyst is often found during a physical exam or an ultrasound performed for other reasons. It may cause no symptoms at all. But it can cause pain, swelling and joint stiffness. Sometimes the bulge is so large that it's hard to fully bend or straighten the leg.

Baker's cysts aren't dangerous, and they may go away on their own. But, occasionally, they burst. If that happens, synovial fluid can leak into your calf below, causing pain and swelling.

These symptoms are similar to the symptoms associated with having a blood clot in your calf, deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT is a serious condition that requires immediate treatment. That's why it's important to find the source of the problem right away.

If your Baker's cyst causes discomfort or interferes with your daily activities, there are several things you can do. To bring down swelling, apply a cold pack to the area or use a compression wrap. To reduce inflammation, take an over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil).

Because stress on the knee joint can increase inflammation, rest your leg and keep it elevated whenever you can. When you're up and about, use a cane or crutch. Sometimes, as in your case, a Baker's cyst needs to be drained. Your doctor may want to inject cortisone into your knee joint to quell inflammation.

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Harvard Medical School Adviser: Fix underlying cause of Baker's cyst

16-04-2012 03:24 Dupuytren's disease is common in UK,Australi and NZ.Nordic genes. You need to know about it*

Link:
YouTube Medical School Dupuytren's Disease the Hand Case series.mp4 - Video

Adam Cole/NPR

An imagined new facade for Dartmouth's school of medicine (with apologies to Dr. Seuss).

At the college of Dartmouth, in the year '24 There lived a young humorist named Theodor. Though boozing was banned as a crime and a sin, Theo hosted a party with plenty of gin. But then in through the door without even a knock Burst the grinch who stole gin-mas: Dean Craven Laycock.

The dean started shouting. His face turned bright red. "Put down your tumbler and listen up, Ted! I'm kicking you out of those clubs that you're in. Your work won't be published at Dartmouth again!"

But Theodor just wouldn't take such abuse He published again with the nom de plume Seuss! Well, that name stuck. It's the one he would use For Green Eggs and Oobleck and Horton and Whos. Folks bought his books for their sons and their daughters And Seuss sent the cash back to his alma mater.

Spring turned to summer and summer to autumn (That whole gin episode was completely forgotten) 90 years passed. And then: a great honor For Dartmouth's most famous, least medical doctor They've renamed their medical school after him And his wife! "It's a tribute," says President Kim*.

But I have a question (and maybe it's strange): With this new name will the school itself change? Will students write poems and skip their exams Or learn to prescribe green eggs and green ham? If your dear father's heart has come to a stop Will your Dartmouth-trained doctor advise, "Hop on pop"?

Millions of Dr. Seuss fans are grateful for his cute pictures and great rhymes, but Dartmouth College is also grateful for his donations.

Dr. Seuss whose real name was Theodor Geisel (Dartmouth Class of 1925) liked to share his wealth with his alma mater, where he edited the humor magazine, the Jack-O-Lantern, until he was caught drinking gin.

In return, this week the New Hampshire college officially renamed its medical school "The Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine" in honor of the author and his second wife, a nurse, who is the 90-year-old curator of her late husband's works. (Dr. Seuss died in 1991.)

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Fox In Socks! Dartmouth Names Its Medical School After Dr. Seuss

The economic downturn was tough on the urban core of many U.S. cities. But Pomona got a booster shot from an unlikely source: Western University of Health Sciences.

The institution constructed a new clinic and a classroom building as part of a $110-million expansion. The school had previously rehabilitated existing retail space in Pomona's once-blighted center. Its Health Professions Center, for example, is a renovated former Buffum's department store. Nearby, a building that once held a JCPenney houses the University Research Center.

The changes have helped entice developers to construct residential lofts downtown. New businesses are sprouting. There's even a bi-monthly art walk.

"It's humming down there," said Frank Garcia, executive director of the Pomona Chamber of Commerce. "Things are starting to come alive. Restaurants are coming back."

Western University is also well-positioned to take advantage of changing U.S. demographics. As the American population ages, primary care doctors are expected to be in short supply.

Its osteopathic medical school, the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, is one of only two in the state and has been churning out general practitioners for more than three decades. With nearly 1,000 students, enrollment is up more than 40% since 2000.

Many of the students were attracted by the institution's philosophy of patient-focused, holistic healing. Most of them probably will become primary care doctors, reflecting a core tenet of the institution: to provide care for patients in underserved areas.

"We try to pay attention to our community and needs of state, and we were rewarded by prospering in that way to grow," said Clinton Adams, dean of Western University's osteopathic medical school.

Started in 1977, private, nonprofit Western University began as a tiny osteopathic school in a strip mall with a few dozen students. Today it encompasses nine colleges that train nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other healthcare professionals.

With total enrollment of 3,300 students and 900 full-time staff members, Western University is among Pomona's largest employers and an anchor of the city's downtown.

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Booming medical school brings life to downtown Pomona