The four years of medical school are no joke. Unlike college and your pre-med years, life as a medical student varies highly yet is very structured year to year. In this video, we'll explore each year of medical school and what you should expect.

First 25 customers will receive 25% off using coupon code ROADMAP25https://medschoolinsiders.com/all-cou...

**SUPPORT THE CHANNEL!**https://patreon.com/medschoolinsidersGet behind the scenes access and much more!

====================

Connect with me!WEBSITE: https://medschoolinsiders.comTWITTER: https://twitter.com/MedInsidersFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/medschoolins...INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/medschoolin...AMAZON STORE: https://www.amazon.com/shop/medschool...

====================

Music: http://soundcloud.com/iamryanlittle

Disclaimer: Content of this video is my opinion and does not constitute medical advice. The content and associated links provide general information for general educational purposes only. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Kevin Jubbal, M.D. and Med School Insiders LLC will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this video including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death.

#medicalstudent #medicalschool #premed

Continue reading here:
MEDICAL SCHOOL - 4 Years EXPLAINED

"Access to testing is really the major tool we have right now to fight this new coronavirus," says Dr. Keith Jerome, who runs a University of Washington lab in Seattle that can now test for the virus. Jonathan Hamilton/NPR hide caption

"Access to testing is really the major tool we have right now to fight this new coronavirus," says Dr. Keith Jerome, who runs a University of Washington lab in Seattle that can now test for the virus.

It's been a busy week at the virology lab run by UW Medicine, which includes the University of Washington's medical school and hospitals.

"We've already gone to three shifts," says Dr. Keith Jerome, a professor in the department of laboratory medicine who runs the lab. "People are going to be here basically all the time."

The lab is processing about 100 coronavirus tests a day. But it's prepared to do more than 1,000 a day immediately and could quickly increase that to 4,000, Jerome says.

The demand for tests is rising. Seattle is at the center of a coronavirus outbreak that has already claimed the lives of 10 people in Washington state.

One reason the lab is ready to test lots of people is its state-of-the-art equipment, including twin devices that extract genetic material from specimens.

"That all happens robotically," Jerome says, as he gives me a tour of the lab's testing area. "You can see the arms here moving back and forth. This robot is working on 96 specimens at a time. We have two of them. This is part of the magic of moving so many specimens through this laboratory."

In another area of the lab is a room full of instruments that take bits of genetic material from a virus and make millions of copies. That's critical for detecting an infection, Jerome says.

"Right now this is our limiting factor," he says, adding that they've already asked to borrow more of the instruments from other labs affiliated with the university.

But the lab's readiness also is the result of months of planning.

Jerome and other virologists started the process in January, after hearing reports about the coronavirus outbreak in China.

"Our opinion was, this is probably not going to be a problem, this is probably going to be a waste of our effort and some money, but we owe it to the people of our area to be prepared," he says.

So the scientists developed an assay and began using it test specimens sent in for research purposes.

At first, the tests found no infections, says Dr. Alex Greninger, the lab's assistant director. Then, on Feb. 28, one came back positive.

"That was on Friday at 4 p.m.," he says. "And then Saturday morning the FDA came out with a new regulation that allowed us to perform testing."

The change at the Food and Drug Administration was a new policy that allowed sophisticated labs like the one at UW Medicine to develop and use their own coronavirus tests before the agency had reviewed them.

On Monday and Tuesday, the lab quietly began accepting specimens for clinical use and preparing for high-volume testing.

"It was intense," Greninger says, adding that he and colleagues were working past midnight to make sure the system functioned properly.

But the hard part wasn't the testing itself, Greninger says, but the logistics.

For example, "how many swabs you're going to take from each patient, how you're going to handle sending results and samples to the state public health lab," he says.

Then on Wednesday, Jerome and Greninger held a press conference to announce that the lab was officially open for business.

Now they are expecting an avalanche of specimens. And that's a good thing, Jerome says.

"Access to testing is really the major tool we have right now to fight this new coronavirus," he says

Even with the lab's increased capacity, though, testing remains limited to people who have symptoms including fever and a dry cough.

"My goal is everyone who needs a test can get one," Jerome says. "And that might be different than everyone who wants a test."

Local doctors say the lab will make a huge difference.

"It's a game changer," says Dr. Seth Cohen, medical director for infection prevention at UW Medical Center Northwest. "Previously when we would send those tests to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] in Atlanta it was taking three to five days to get those tests back."

Now results often come back the same day. And that means doctors and hospitals can focus resources on the patients who are truly infected.

Conserving scarce resources will become critical if the coronavirus continues to spread, Cohen says.

"We did not plan on being at the epicenter of one of the outbreaks in the United States," Cohen says. "And we are preparing for the worst."

Follow this link:
Coronavirus Tests: Lab At University Of Washington Was Ready : Shots - Health News - NPR

New York University started offering this option on Tuesday, becoming the first medical school to do so. And now other medical schools are considering doing the same.

"While the AAMC has not yet surveyed its member medical schools, the [Liaison Committee on Medical Education] has been working with several other schools that are considering or offering their students the option of graduating early," said Dr. Alison Whelan, chief medical education officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges.

In Massachusetts, all four medical schools are in discussions with Massachusetts Health and Human Services to have a fast-track option. Tufts University School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School are all contemplating the idea, said Massachusetts HHS Secretary Marylou Sudders on Thursday.

Dr. Whelan confirmed that they have been working with the deans of the medical schools in Massachusetts to graduate students early.

Whelan told CNN that they are aware that nearly every school in the US is thinking about early graduation to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

In New Jersey, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University also sent an email to its senior medical students to see if they were interested in early graduation.

And it's not just young doctors who want to pitch in and help. In Illinois, retired healthcare workers are stepping up to the plate. Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker tweeted that 450 retired and former healthcare workers have signed up to work during the pandemic. Those that rejoin the workforce will help staff hospitals and health care centers throughout the state, the tweet said.

The governor had issued a call last week for former healthcare workers to rejoin the work force during this crisis.

Around the US, physicians who are not infectious disease specialists or pulmonologists are training and joining the frontlines.

"We are hearing that there are individuals from other specialties being drawn into clinical care," said Dr. Janis Orlowski, chief health care officer for the AAMC on Friday.

Orlowski added that they are being trained very quickly to get them up to speed in the use of personal protective equipment and ventilators. These additional trainings will ensure that physicians are safe to work in areas that might not be their specialty.

"Safety and quality remains a high priority -- the number one priority -- even though people are having to work fast and work smart," Orlowski added.

The US has now reported more coronavirus cases than any other country in the world, according to CNN's tally. It has surpassed China and Italy.

CNN Health's Minali Nigam and Gina Yu contributed to this report.

See the original post:
Medical schools considering early graduation for students - CNN

Cyrus Moulton Telegram & Gazette Staff @MoultonCyrus

WORCESTER - Concerned with President Donald J. Trumps proposal to cut National Institutes of Health funding by 22 percent, UMass Medical School officials, researchers and local political leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss the scientific and economic importance of robust NIH funding.

Were deeply concerned with the proposed cuts by the president and the impact it could have on innovation, medical progress, the health and well-being of patients and our local innovation economy, said Michael F. Collins, chancellor of UMass Medical School.

Dr. Collins estimated that the presidents proposal could cost the school between $45 million and $73.5 million annually and cost the local economy from $100 million to $170 million annually. This is a critical time in our country in terms of the future viability of the research and development environment, and its a critical time for our institution and our city, given how important this sector is to our economy.

In his 2018 budget request, Mr. Trump proposed cutting the NIH, the nations preeminent and largest funder of biomedical research, by $7.7 billion from its final budget in 2017.

That has the local scientific community worried, as UMass Medical School currently receives more than $150 million annually from 344 NIH funding awards and nearly $53 million from other federal funding sources. NIH funding is more than half of the nearly $254 million in total research funding the medical school receives from all sources.

This funding has helped lead to the development of lifesaving drugs for cystic fibrosis and supported work by Nobel Prize winner Craig Mello. It has also helped the medical school produce 148 licenses with 109 private companies and file hundreds and hundreds of patents, virtually all of which are attributable to NIH-funded research, according to Dr. Terence R. Flotte, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean at UMass Medical School.

Also attributable to NIH funding is work by researcher Beth McCormick to improve chemotherapies and develop new anti-inflammatory treatments based on a study of how salmonella causes disease.

All of this was really launched by NIH, Ms. McCormick told the local leaders.

Aside from the scientific advances, the funding is also crucial to the local economy. A 2015 study by United for Medical Research showed that each dollar of NIH funding to Massachusetts institutions has an estimated economic impact of approximately $2.30, meaning UMass Medical Schools NIH-funded research contributes $347,971,099 to the Massachusetts economy.

Scientific research to Massachusetts and Worcester is what citrus growing is to Florida or auto production is to Michigan, said U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester. He noted that Massachusetts ranks first in per-capita research funding from the NIH and second in total NIH funding behind only California.

He called the proposed cuts a threat to this citys and this states ability to thrive in the face of global competition, noting several other countries recent increases in medical research funding.

Dont be fooled into thinking this is just a Boston thing. Worcester does incredibly well, Mr. McGovern continued, noting that the NIH awarded a total of 369 grants worth nearly $165 million to Worcester institutions in 2016.

And city leaders want to ensure that this continues, especially as the city grows. Both Mayor Joseph M. Petty and City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. said that Worcester is experiencing a resurgence that they attribute to the citys institutions of higher learning and research community.

If there is anything that has the potential to limit or slow the work youre doing, it limits the ability for this city to grow and to thrive and limits the hope that the people who live in this city and around the world see in the work that youre doing, Mr. Augustus said. Your health and vitality as an institution are inextricably linked to our health and vitality as a city.

As for the likelihood of the proposed cuts being enacted, Mr. McGovern and Dr. Collins both noted that the NIH receives bipartisan support. In fact, Congress recently boosted the 2017 NIH budget by $2 billion despite the Trump administrations proposal for next year.

But local leaders arent taking any chances.

We need to really redouble our resolve, that the values of our nation invest in medical research and continue to bring hope to the human condition, Dr. Collins said. And all of us at UMMS will work with our governmental leaders to advocate for that funding."

Original post:
Concern over NIH cuts unites Worcester's medical school, political leaders - Worcester Telegram

01/31/2020

Those participating in the announcement included (from left) Dr. Jerry Miller of Paragould, Dr. Bud Kennedy, Dillon Lechak of Hot Springs, Aubrey Miller of Hot Springs, Katherine McGinness of Little Rock, Caylee McGuire of Batesville, Dr. Alan Utter, and Dr. Kelly Damphousse.

Watch the announcement:https://www.facebook.com/ArkansasState/videos/171667867446506/

JONESBORO Arkansas State University announced an agreement to collaborate with Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE) to explore the feasibility of creating the first in-state veterinary medical school, Chancellor Kelly Damphousse said Friday.

Damphousse spoke with Faculty Senate prior to announcing that the university is exploring a public-private partnership with Adtalem, a global workforce solutions provider based in Chicago, with expertise educating veterinarians to AVMA-accredited standards. Provost Alan Utter, who will be the lead contact for the 180-day exploration period, briefed the university deans.

The demand for veterinarians is significant as more households enjoy pet ownership, and Arkansas livestock producers have acknowledged a shortage of veterinarians for large animals, said Damphousse. This is a concern that our College of Agriculture faculty and others across the region have expressed to us. I am excited to begin the discussion on our campus. We plan to work closely with veterinarians throughout Arkansas as we move forward in the development of this new college.

From practical experience, we know the need exists for more veterinarians, especially large animal practitioners, across our region and state, Professor of Animal Science and Interim Dean of the College of Agriculture Dr. Donald Bud Kennedy said. With the current resources that Arkansas State can bring to this process, we believe we can have a tremendous positive impact for the veterinarian profession and our agricultural industry.

Damphousse also announced to the university faculty the creation of a Veterinary College Task Force to work with him in the vetting process, and named Kennedy as the task forces chair.

When Bud and our former dean Tim Burcham first approached me with the idea, I was very supportive because it speaks to our core mission for Arkansas and the region, Damphousse said. I want to stress that we are at the beginning stages. Along with chairing our Task Force, I have asked Dr. Kennedy to assist with selection of participants and request that they return with a recommendation later this year.

The proposed veterinary medicine program would enroll classes of approximately 120 students each year. Accreditation for any A-State College of Veterinary Medicine would be sought by the university, and graduates would have Arkansas State academic credentials. Adtalem, the parent company of AVMA-accredited Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, would provide expertise related to veterinary program management and accreditation, as well as capital and operating expense funding.

Adtalem Global Education has a demonstrated history of filling critical workforce needs, particularly as it relates to the veterinarian profession, said Kathy Boden Holland, group president of Medical and Healthcare for Adtalem Global Education. Partnering with Arkansas State University is an excellent opportunity to provide an exceptional veterinary education in Arkansas, giving students a pathway to become skilled veterinarians with the support of a well-respected institution of higher education. Adtalem is proud to support this initiative and looks forward to supporting A-State with our academic excellence, operational expertise and employer partnerships and as we move forward in this endeavor.

The ASU System is also supportive of the addition of the program at Arkansas State. System President Charles Welch said a veterinary school would positively impact the university and state beyond addressing workforce shortages within the veterinary profession.

We see opportunities to work with student programs such as 4-H and the National FFA Organization, as well as food safety initiatives, Welch said. It would also complement our agriculture and biotechnology-related programs, the long-standing two-year veterinary technician program at ASU-Beebe and our red wolf conservation efforts.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed on Friday, Jan. 31, between Arkansas State University and Adtalem Global Education is subject to approval by the ASU System Board of Trustees and ATGE Board.

The nationwide critical shortage of veterinarians has significantly impacted the availability of animal care across the U.S. Furthermore, in a recent annual report, the Arkansas Farm Bureau emphasized a need specifically for large animal veterinarians and announced its support of a veterinary school in the state of Arkansas.

About Adtalem Global Education

The purpose of Adtalem Global Education is to empower students to achieve their goals, find success and make inspiring contributions to our global community. Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE: ATGE; member S&P MidCap 400 Index) is a leading workforce solutions provider and the parent organization of Adtalem Educacional do Brasil (IBMEC, Damsio and Wyden institutions), American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, Becker Professional Education, Chamberlain University, EduPristine, OnCourse Learning, Ross University School of Medicine and Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. For more information, please visit adtalem.com and follow us on Twitter (@adtalemglobal) and LinkedIn.

About Arkansas State University

Focusing on its mission to educate leaders, enhance intellectual growth and enrich lives, Arkansas State University (A-State) is the catalyst for progress in the Mid-South. Founded in 1909, Arkansas State is the second-largest university in the state, and located near Crowleys Ridge in Jonesboro. A Research 2 university, A-State hosts the first osteopathic medical school in the state of Arkansas, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, and opened the first U.S.-style residential campus in Mexico, A-State Campus Queretaro, in fall 2017. Through the combination of research and a long tradition of student-friendly instruction, Arkansas State offers more than 150 degree areas of study, including a robust online program, and a diverse student body from across the nation and the world. Among national universities, A-State leads Arkansas in undergraduate teaching and social mobility and is highly ranked in these categories by US News.

# # #

More here:
A-State Explores Partnership with Adtalem Global Education to Deliver First In-State Veterinary Medicine School - ASU News

Black women are displaying excellence in academia and making history in the process. According to Teen Vogue, LaShyra Lash Nolen became the first Black woman elected as Harvard Medical Schools class president.

For the Compton nativewho is an activist and Fulbright Scholarher journey in medicine is equally about increasing racial and gender representation in the sector as it is about healing the health ailments of individuals. Nolens infatuation with STEM started at an early age. In third grade, she took home the first-place prize at a science fair. While coming of age in California she didnt see many examples of Black women leaders in the field that she wanted to pursue. However, her motherwho was a single teen parentexemplified determination and perseverance by overcoming the odds and earning her masters degree; a drive that would stick with Nolen throughout her academic journey.

The lack of representation was also present among the student leadership roles at Harvard Medical School, which motivated her to change the narrative. A lot of Nolens work is centered on exploring how injustices are interconnected with health and human rights. She has conducted investigative research surrounding how systemic racism impacts the health narratives of people of color. Many of the illnesses that we see in clinics and hospitals across the country are symptoms of racism, she told Teen Vogue. At the very inception of this country, black people did not have access to the privileges of owning land, accessing health care or adequate housing. We continue to see systemic racism manifest through policies from the federal to the local levels, which is the reason we have health disparities today. The only way that my community will truly have sustainable, positive, health outcomes, is through our societys reckoning with the systemic and historical wrongs committed against Black people.

Nolenwho credits Serena Williams, Michelle Obama and Ida B. Wells as sources of inspirationhopes her accomplishment inspires a wave of Black girls to pursue careers in STEM stating that there are young girls who are excellent and deserve access to opportunity, but wont take the leap because society tells them that its not for them.

Black students are breaking barriers at Harvard. In 2018, Kristine E. Guillaume became the first Black woman president of its student newspaper.

SEE ALSO:

Harvard Crimson Appoints First Black Woman President

Harvard University To Honor Queen Latifah

See more here:
Compton Native Is The First Black Woman To Be Elected Harvard Medical Schools Class President - News One

Campus News

Medical students work in the Culinary Arts department kitchens of SUNY Erie Community College as part of the Introduction to Culinary Medicine pilot course. Photos: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM

A new, interprofessional course being taught this month to UB medical students doesnt take place in a lab or a classroom. Instead, its happening in the Culinary Arts department kitchens of SUNY Erie Community College. And instead of white coats, the students wear chefs coats and toques.

Along with UB graduate student dietitians, theyre taking Introduction to Culinary Medicine, a pilot course in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB thats helping them understand food and health in a new way.

They apply their lessons immediately, preparing meals every Wednesday afternoon in the kitchens of the Culinary Arts department at SUNY Eries City Campus. Theyre also learning about some of the things that prevent patients from eating healthfully.

Mealtime is a special time

The idea for the course came together as culinary medicine was emerging both nationally and locally. But faculty member Helen Cappuccino, clinical assistant professor of surgery in the Jacobs School, traces her interest in the food/health connection back to her childhood.

Being raised in an Italian family, so much of our family life was transacted around the table, says Cappuccino, who is also assistant professor of oncology in the breast surgery division at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Eating good foods that were flavorful and nourishing was always important, but it wasnt just about getting calories in. It was about the family bonding at the table, about moderation, about trying new things. Mealtime is a very special time for laughing, for loving and savoring at once.

As a breast cancer surgeon, Cappuccino keeps current with studies of how different foods might impact cancer. Her patients often bring it up.

A cancer diagnosis often shakes people to their foundation, she says. It makes them introspective and questioning of everything they did and thought they knew. Diet is no exception. I spend a lot of time talking to them about factors they can control, including diet, smoking cessation, physical activity, maintaining optimal body weight and alcohol.

In 2014, Cappuccino had the opportunity to attend a course at the Goldring School for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University. When she found out that SUNY Erie faculty members Kristin Goss, associate professor and chair of the Culinary Arts department, and Dorothy Johnston, assistant professor in the department, had attended the same course, they began to discuss how to bring culinary medicine to Buffalo.

All three knew each other as members of the Buffalo chapter of the Chanes des Rtisseurs, the local chapter of an international food and wine society.

Kristen Goss,associate professor and chair of the Culinary Arts department at SUNY Erie Community College, gives some guidance to a student as he shreds carrots.

Bringing culinary medicine to Buffalo

Through the same food and wine group, we connected and began our mission to bring a culinary medicine course to the Jacobs School, Cappuccino says.

SUNY Erie culinary arts faculty had begun developing a curriculum not just for their own students, but also to share with local medical and dietetics students. The goal is to eventually make this kind of curriculum available to local health care providers.

A cancer diagnosis and realization of what I could change personally and professionally started this initiative five years ago, Goss says. I shared an office with our department chair at the time, Dorothy Johnston, and honestly stated, I need to make our culinary nutrition class better and this is where I want to start.

With assistance from Johnston and Cappuccino, who has supported the SUNY Erie Culinary Arts program through her affiliation with the Chanes des Rtisseurs, Goss says they began to develop the course, with Nicole Klem, program director of the dietetic internship in UBs Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, and Lisa Jane Jacobsen, associate dean for medical curriculum at the Jacobs School, spending countless hours coordinating between the institutions in order to make the course a reality.

This recent collaboration has been a tremendous gift, Goss says.

Chef instructor Kyle Haak watches as students chop vegetables.

Intensive elective

The Jacobs School pilot course is being offered as an intensive, month-long elective. Students do modules online about the science of food, why food is medicine, and then they go to SUNY Erie to learn about healthy recipes and the principles of food preparation, explains Jacobsen clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

The curriculum involves a journal club, a standard aspect of many medical school courses where students meet to discuss the latest scientific papers in a particular field. They also practice what theyve learned on standardized patient volunteers, individuals trained to simulate real patients with specific conditions.

They learn to elicit nutrition histories and how to counsel patients on nutrition, Jacobsen says, adding that, as with much of the medical school curriculum, the course includes an emphasis on understanding the factors that prevent patients from living as healthfully as they might want to.

In the module on food insecurity, the students are given a very limited budget. They will be expected to take the bus to the supermarket, buy food for a family and come back to the kitchen to prepare it, she says. They need to learn about barriers to healthy eating, which could be financial, or transportation, a lack of knowledge. All these cultural influences could have an impact.

Jacobsen notes that physicians are often called upon to discuss nutrition with their patients, whether the patient is diabetic or pregnant or has hypertension or a common gastrointestinal complaint.

Culinary medicine and nutrition are subjects that most medical schools dont dedicate enough time to, Cappuccino says. Together with my medical, culinary and dietetics colleagues, we are committed to changing that.

Read more from the original source:
Jacobs School students ditch their white coats for chef's coats - UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff - University at Buffalo Reporter

Kannur: Students are getting ready for an indefinite strike to protest the non-payment of payment exemption regardless of the takeover of Pariyaram Medical College. Students enrolled within the self-financing system earlier than the federal government takes over the medical school are getting ready to strike. The college students complain that they need to pay big charges even after the federal government takes over.

Also learn:.

'The credit score of land reforms shouldnt be given to anybody else': Kanam

Students whove been admitted to benefit in 2018 are getting ready for the strike earlier than the federal government takes over. Students pay a hard and fast payment once they have been in a cooperative medical school. Students complain that theres a distinction between the charges paid by the federal government and the charges already paid by the federal government.

Also learn:.

Move to take away Sasheendran from state cupboard Manny C Kappan part with mannequins

They are getting particular charges from them as much as forty thousand rupees. The college students say they need it to be examined. The similar scenario prevailed when the Kalamassery Medical College was taken over earlier. When the Nayanar authorities took over the medical school, the scholars have been getting ready for a strike, alleging that everybody had diminished their charges.

Dileep will get no escape

(function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0); if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

fbq('init', '459529110917769'); fbq('track', "PageView");

Abigale is a Masters in Business Administration by education. After completing her post-graduation, Abigale jumped the journalism bandwagon as a freelance journalist. Soon after that she landed a job of reporter and has been climbing the news industry ladder ever since to reach the post of editor at Our Bitcoin News.

See the rest here:
Pariyaram Medical College: No Benefit; Pariyaram medical school college students go on strike - The trial court docket right here on Saturday...

We know too well the cost of American health care keeps rising as far as the eye can see. In 1995 health care accounted for 13.4 percent of GDP; in 2018 it consumed 17.7 percent. It is projected to rise even more.

Despite all the talk about how patients should become wise consumers of medical care, they cant really do much to stop the big hospital systems, big physician groups, or powerful drug companies from charging the prices they do. In our system, those groups pretty much control what medical care costs.

There is, however, one thing patients can do that would contribute to eliminating some wasteful health care spending and at the same time get better care for themselves. They can try to avoid what health researchers call low-value care.

Trudy Lieberman

Health researchers estimate that low-value medical services add up to about $100 billion in health care spending each year. Thats waste that pushes up insurance premiums, deductibles, and other cost-sharing we all have to pay.

Perhaps even more important, low-value tests can lead to what medical researchers call cascades, a series of tests and treatments that follow from a test.

They are incredibly common, said primary-care doctor and health-policy researcher Dr. Ishani Ganguli, who is also an assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School.

They occur when an unexpected finding leads to new tests, phone calls, ER visits, invasive procedures, or hospitalizations.

Weve observed most cascades lead to nothing.

Ganguli and colleagues looked at Medicare bills for cataract surgery, one of the most common and low-risk procedures for older adults. Pre-operative testing doesnt change outcomes or reduce your risk of complications from surgery, she said.

Every group of 100 people who got an EKG before cataract surgery also got up to 11 extra tests, office visits, treatments, new diagnoses, or hospitalizations in the next three months. Researchers estimated the extra cost was $35 million in one year, 10 times more than the total cost of all the initial EKGs.

On average, those extra treatments offered no benefits, Ganguli said.

Given those outcomes, why are eye surgeons still ordering the test? Some erroneously believe Medicare requires the test. Others do it out of habit or because their colleagues still order the tests. Some have experienced malpractice claims or are worried about being sued if something is missed.

Another study of some 400 physicians found more proof that cascades can cause further harm. All but two doctors surveyed had experienced cascades for their patients, and also either they or their family members had experienced them. The doctors reported that such cascades harm patients psychologically, physically, and financially.

That study also found that doctors in rural areas were more likely to say such cascades harmed patients. Such tests left many of the rural doctors feeling anxious and frustrated, and many believed they had wasted a lot of time and effort dealing with the additional tests and treatments. Ganguli said some may be frustrated by the lack of resources in rural areas and the additional burden placed on patients who may have to travel miles for some test that might be unnecessary in the first place.

So what should patients do?

If you have a medical abnormality that is in the gray area, its hard to leave it alone. Anxiety often drives the cascade. Still, patients in that situation need to ask a lot of questions about why further testing or medical procedures are necessary and whether more information would tell a doctor something new. Patients need to understand up front what the consequences might be.

A few years ago, the American Board of Internal Medicine and other partners launched the Choosing Wisely project, which aims to help patients select tests and treatments that are evidence-based, non-duplicative of other tests, and are truly necessary. Check its website choosingwisely.org to learn about low-value tests.

Trudy Lieberman writes for Community Health News Service. Contact her at trudy.lieberman@gmail.com.

Go here to read the rest:
Trudy Lieberman: Low-value tests are costly, can lead to harm; limit medical costs by avoiding them - User-generated content

One hundred and fifty years ago this month, something extraordinary happened at the University of Michigan. Its effects have reverberated down through history not only on the campus, but across the state and nation.

In December 1869, the first patients checked in to the universitys first hospital.

It wasnt a fancy facility just 20 beds in a converted former professors house on North University Avenue, where the Chemistry Building now stands.

Its patients had to travel across the Diag, to the Medical School building built 20 years before, to have an operation or examination by a professor with hundreds of medical students looking on.

The professor's house that was converted to become the first U-M hospital.

But its opening marked the first time an American university had run a hospital, adding patient care to its missions of medical education and research. The birth of the academic medical center now known as Michigan Medicine began a movement that spread to universities across the country, and accelerated medical innovation.

A celebration of that 150th birthday begins today, and will continue through most of 2020, marking many of the medical and life sciences milestones and achievements that have happened at U-M and helped transform care everywhere.

A new timeline of historical events has just launched on the Michigan Medicine website, along with links to resources to explore U-Ms medical history further and a new overview video.

Theres also a video of a recent lecture by Joel Howell, M.D., Ph.D., co-author of the 2017 book Medicine at Michigan: A History of the University of Michigan Medical School at the Bicentennial and the Elizabeth Farrand Collegiate Professor in Medical History, as well as a professor of internal medicine, history, and health management and policy.

Throughout the coming months, new stories and social media posts will bring Michigan Medicines history to life, linked by the hashtag #michmed150 on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Anyone at the university interested in receiving updates when new stories or updates are available may join an email list.

Michigan Medicine faculty, staff, retirees, alumni and patients will be invited to share their memories, and interact with historical content, too. Units within Michigan Medicine can tap into the celebration by noting events in their own past all have firsts or major national contributions of their own.

See the original post:
Michigan Medicine kicks off celebration of 150th anniversary - University of Michigan Health System News

Khalid Ali,1 Salma MS El Said,2 Nermien N Adly,2 Samia A Abdul-Rahman2

1Academic Department of Geriatrics, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK; 2Geriatrics and Gerontology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Correspondence: Salma MS El SaidGeriatrics and Gerontology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Emtedad Ramsis Street, Abbasia, Cairo, EgyptTel +201222202878Email Salma_elsaid@med.asu.edu.eg

Background: Obesity and osteoporosis are two conditions that are associated with morbidity and mortality; there is contradictory evidence regarding this association.Purpose: The aim of the current study was to explore further the association between obesity and calcaneus stiffness index (CSI), as a measure of bone density, in a community-based cross-sectional study in an Egyptian population.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among active subjects, aged 20 years old, over one year. CSI was measured by Quantitative ultrasound (QUS), in addition; QUS T-score and Z-score of the non-dominant heel scan were recorded.Results: Two hundred and eighty participants were recruited; 7 subjects were excluded because of Z score more than 2, mean age was 61 ( 11.9) years, and mean BMI was 29.7 (5.6). Female participants were 77.7%, with mean of age 60.3 ( 11.6); and age range 2082 years. Male participants were 22.3%, with mean of age 63.6 ( 12.7); and age range 3080 years. Older subjects (>55 years) had significantly lower CSI and worse T-score than the younger subjects (P < 0.001 for both). In the younger age group, BMI was not significantly associated with CSI, even after adjustment for gender (P= 0.52). However, in the older age group, BMI was significantly associated with stiffness index (P= 0.049, O.R.= 1.73), even after adjustment for gender (P= 0.041, O.R.= 1.7).Conclusion: Compared to young subjects, older subjects (55 years) had significantly lower bone strength as measured by CSI, and their BMI was significantly positively associated with bone density. In younger people(<55 years), BMI was not associated with bone strength.

Keywords: BMI, bone, obesity, QUS, stiffness index

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

See original here:
The Relation Between Calcaneus Stiffness Index as a Measure of Bone De | JMDH - Dove Medical Press

I thought my career path would be sorted out by the time I became a senior in college, but I have just one semester left and still do not know what career path to pursue. That sounds daunting at first, but I have come to realize that the end of college does not need to be a deadline for finding a job I love.

I studied as an English major with a pre-medicine track when I came to GW, thinking I would head to graduate school afterward. But as I headed further into my studies, I struggled in some pre-med courses and was finally told by my adviser that I am not a good fit for medicine. Feeling directionless, I turned to friends and family to help me figure out how I should spend my time post-graduation.

Now, I plan to graduate college and spend one or two gap years preparing for the medical school admission test and gaining more hands-on experience in the field by shadowing physicians or working as a medical tech in a hospital. The time off is not what I originally anticipated, but I know these opportunities will help me better prepare for the career in medicine I have always wanted.

It is easy to feel nervous at the idea of being jobless after graduation, but I have realized that it is better to spend time navigating my interests than to dive into a path I may not be ready to pursue. I spent time volunteering at the GW Hospital and internship in health care advocacy and policy organizations, but I still felt that I lacked enough perspective to take on a job right away. Some of my peers who are currently in medical school pursued research, some worked in the hospital, some pursued teaching and others went to graduate school. Knowing my friends knew their post-graduate plans made me feel pressured to continue on the path I set at the beginning of college, but I know some time off will ultimately be more valuable for me.

It is OK not knowing what you want to do immediately after college. The caveat is that you should be vigilant and diligent about finding a suitable passion. Use your time to find new opportunities instead of waiting for a job to come to you. Before the summer begins, I plan to publish a book about pediatric cancer patients and would like to participate in medical missions overseas to determine whether I really want to help others through medicine. It may not be what I originally wanted a few years ago, taking on these opportunities could help me become more confident in where I want my life to go.

My church ministry leader once told me to stick it out once you commit. I realized that I lost confidence in my abilities after a bad grade or a discouraging comment and always thought about giving up. Rather than basing success on how fast it is achieved or how many traditional steps taken, I think success should be based on my own timeline. If more skill and certainty can be built with a gap year, then take a gap year. College is already a handful of growth and learning but post-graduate life is also another handful of experiences. I am still unsure about my future but I think that I will find answers with each small step I take. I might still be apprehensive, but I am excited to meet a new phase in life.

Jina Park, a senior majoring in English, is an opinions writer.

This article appeared in the January 3, 2019 issue of the Hatchet.

Follow this link:
Essay: It is OK to continue searching for a career after graduation - GW Hatchet

Norma Telander took her Scrabble seriously. On the rare occasion when her grandchildren or great-grandchildren bested her, they knew they had won honestly. Telander was too competitive to throw a game, even to her beloved family.

She beat me right before she died, when she was 96 and in transitional care recovering from a broken hip, said her granddaughter Laurie Bauer. She was always such fun, so generous. Thats the core of who she was.

On a recent evening, 10 members of Telanders intergenerational family climbed the steps of Northrop auditorium to attend the Academic Health Centers annual Service of Gratitude. The ceremony, which included performances by medical students, paid solemn tribute to the 688 people who, like Telander, bequeathed their bodies to the University of Minnesota in the past year.

They made a brave and selfless decision, Dr. Mark Rosenberg, vice dean of education at the medical school, said as he thanked families and friends of the donors. In life, they were barbers, firefighters, nurses, homemakers. They are united in death as teachers.

Those who become what are called whole body donors choose to leave their physical remains to be used for education and research purposes. At the U of M, cadavers are used in anatomy courses required for medical and dental students and those preparing for careers as physician assistants, physical therapists and other medical careers.

Current health care practitioners learning new surgical techniques, researchers pioneering clinical breakthroughs and medical device companies preparing new approaches also rely on donor bodies to advance their work.

What our students and researchers learn from the gifts will impact health care outcomes in their communities and around the world, said Angela McArthur, director of the universitys Anatomy Bequest program.

Although the program hosts the Service of Gratitude, the students who spend long days dissecting cadavers in the anatomy lab are responsible for its production from greeting family members as they arrive to performing for them.

Uriel Vasquez Rios, 27, in his first year in the Us School of Dentistry, led the committee that sought Health Science Center students to participate in the event.

Rios said it was gratitude that motivated him to take on the task. Hed been studying human anatomy from two-dimensional illustrations, but that paled in comparison to what he is learning by working from a human body.

You see the variations and learn about size and texture when you actually grasp the organs, bones and muscles, he said. When I used my scalpel to go through the tissue for the first time, I realized that without the gift from this person I wouldnt have this opportunity.

My future patients will benefit because I have this foundation.

Schooled in respect

Ben Byun and Paul Cho are in the first semester of their first year of medical school. Theyre still adjusting to jammed days and a punishing study schedule, but the classmates, both 23, carved out about 20 hours to rehearse a demanding musical piece to perform at the Service of Gratitude.

They played Sicilienne a Gabriel Faur composition that gained renewed fame when it was played at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Performing it is a labor of love, said Byun, a cellist. We put time and emotion in preparing and its taken effort; its not simple. Its a small, nonverbal way of saying thanks.

The pair of doctors-in-training played their best, knowing that members of the audience are likely related to the bodies assigned to them in the anatomy lab.

At first were cautious; cutting is so unnerving and foreign. In every person we see differences that books dont teach you, the variations in the fat and the skin and the connective tissue. You have to get comfortable so you can do what youll need to do, said Byun. As it becomes more familiar, you feel a connection to the cadaver.

Before any student picks up a scalpel, they have been schooled by faculty members in a culture of respect.

Our instructors instill in us that this is someones loved one. They remind us to think about how we would want to be treated if we were a donor, said Cho. What we do is profound and powerful.

Sacred and stirring

Jean Larson, a volunteer advocate for the Anatomy Bequest program, has become a regular presence at the annual Service of Gratitude. She first attended in 2015, when her husband of 60 years was recognized for his whole body donation.

This ceremony is stirring and sacred, she said. Its meant to be a thank-you from the students to us, but I am here offering my gratitude back to them, for how graciously they treated us in every step of the process. Im thankful for the service. Im thankful they show their thanks.

Now 84, Larson has formalized plans to leave her body to the university.

Its the thing to do, she said. I believe in medical advancement. I wouldnt want a surgeon working on me who hadnt seen inside a human body.

The highlight of the service was a slide show of the donors. Each appeared in a larger-than-life image projected onto a screen.

They smiled in formal portraits likely lifted from church directories or in candid snapshots a proud mother of the bride, a pastor in a clerical collar, a serviceman posing in his military uniform, a fisherman driving his boat on a bright summer day.

And then there was the picture of Norma Telander, sitting in front of her Scrabble board.

When her image appeared on the screen, the Telander family issued a collective gasp. A few shed some tears.

My life was enriched by her. I miss her terribly, said stepdaughter Barb Heilman. But it was an amazing tribute. This felt like a celebration and, oh, it was so touching. So good to see her again.

Kevyn Burger is a Minneapolis-based freelance broadcaster and writer.

Continue reading here:
'Sacred' ceremony at University of Minnesota honors those who donated their bodies to science - Minneapolis Star Tribune

According to the Association of American Medical College (AAMC), 49 medical schools last year indicated that they accepted international applicants. In 2017, AAMC application data shows that about 15% of applicants who attended undergrad internationally were accepted and matriculated to U.S. medical schools.

What are the unique challenges you might encounter as an international applicant and how can you succeed in spite of them?

In short, if you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who holds a green card, youll need to clearly state your visa status on your application.

Most schools require international students to have one of the types of visas that allows them to reside and study in the United States. Some schools may work with certain students to sponsor them for a student Visa.

Very few other countries have a grading system similar to that of U.S. undergraduate institutions. This likely means that if you are an international applicant, you will not have an undergraduate grade point average (GPA). It is possible to have a third-party turn your international marks into a GPA equivalentsome medical schools will require it.

In addition, you are likely to have to do additional coursework in the U.S. to get your prerequisites out of the way.

Luke Burns, now a second-year ob-gyn resident at Michigan Health, attended university in the U.K., but hoped to attend medical school in the U.S. and had to go this route.

I had to get the pre-requisites out of the way, so I went to a premedical post-baccalaureate program at Mills College in Oakland to do two years of premed sciences. he said. That gave me some knowledge of how American education works in the first place and it started me off with a GPA.

If youre an international student who doesnt have many connections in the U.S., it can be challenging to find the types of volunteer and shadowing opportunities medical schools value among applicants.

Dr. Burns noted that he didnt have any relatives who were doctors or physicians who had cared for me. ... Coming to a brand-new place, I had to find ways to get medical experience on my own.

The post-baccalaureate program Dr. Burns attended provided a few opportunities, such as a bulletin board where you could sign up for things, he said. Most of it was cold calling. I ended up doing research with a local pediatrician who was in private practice by finding him on my own.

Dr. Burns did spend some time in the U.S. growing uphe holds a green cardbut he was born abroad and spent much of his life away from the country. That, he believes, may have separated him from other applicants.

Many of my classmates spent their whole lives within the same 100 square miles, said Dr. Burns, who ended up earning his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego. I come from somewhere else. And its not just me. Many of my [international] classmates had really interesting things happen in their lives that informed why they wanted to become doctors.

More here:
Earned bachelor's abroad? Key facts on U.S. med school admissions - American Medical Association

SANTA ROSA, CA - OCTOBER 26: A caravan of ambulances arrive at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital ... [+] which began an orderly evacuation of patients in Santa Rosa Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. The hospital is in a mandatory evacuations area due to the Kincade Fire. (Photo by Anda Chu/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

A recent New York Times Op-Ed (When Do No Harm Means Evacuating Hospitals In California) by Dr. Stephen Parodi, Associate Executive Director of The Permanente Group, describing the devastating effects of the recent California fires, truly brings climate change one step closer to all patients, hospitals and healthcare providers.

Parodi, responsible for emergency management of 21 hospitals, is now performing duties that he never typically did in the past: evacuating patients from hospitals that are threatened by the flames and torrential winds driving them.

His thesis, that medical evacuees are the new refugees of climate change, has a powerful impact and provides an ongoing wake-up call that we must act now to institute measures to reduce our carbon footprint in order to save our planet and future generations.

Patients requiring evacuation for devastating fires are now a primary concern for at-risk hospitals in California. Planning for such an evacuation and the important steps in the process is now a critical aspect of emergency disaster preparedness planning, as Parodi vividly describes in his piece.

Throughout the night, critically ill babies were bundled up, placed in incubators and then put in ambulances, writes Parodi. Laboring mothers and their families were presented with unimaginable choices: Should we wait for the baby to be born while fires rage outside? Should we move now and risk delivery in the ambulance? Surgeries underway in the operating room required battlefield-like urgency. Close the patient. Stabilize. Get everyone out.

Parodi raises an important point for future planning for such natural disasters: Should this be part of our new normaladding training for such evacuations to the curriculum of medical schools and making them part of residency training?

Unless we can reduce the effects of climate change, it certainly looks like we wont be removing this curriculum addition anytime soon, argues Dr. Paul Biddinger, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Chief, Division of Emergency Preparedness, Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Disaster Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Were facing changes that we just aren't prepared for, he cautions.

We are talking about climate change in the [residency and fellowship training curriculum] on two fronts, says Biddinger. These include the health effects of climate change leading to adverse health effects, and extreme climate events such as severe heat waves or superstorms, creating immediate threats to health leading to spikes in asthma, heart failure and coronary heart disease.

Biddinger has been on the front lines of multiple natural disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and the Nepal Earthquake in 2015. His hands-on experience allows him to reflect on the effects of climate change, with a reminder that unlesswe update our infrastructure, we must be prepared for the deadly consequences associated with climate change.

I think that these recent fires have taught us that the infrastructure around us is more vulnerable than we ever thought it was, offers Biddinger. I dont think we had ever thought we would intentionally be turning off the power to hospitals and communities to try and protect them from the effects of climate changebut thats what we need to do in certain circumstances.

Many of us in hospital emergency preparedness are worried that the grid and other utilities are less reliable than we had thought they were because of climate change, and therefore weve had to really reassess our plans for when and how we need to try for independence and/or we need to improve our evacuation plans and systems, adds Biddinger.

But its not only wildfires we need to be concerned about, Biddinger explains. I think it's not just wildfiresincreasingly both at the coasts for flooding, as well as inland, we are seeing flooding forcing the evacuation of more and more hospitals, the result of more powerful superstorms and hurricanes over the past decade.

Biddinger adds that we are seeing this pattern with these storms with predictability and recurrence, either because of hurricanes and storms that come off the sea or due to greater amounts of precipitation over longer periods of time.

These are several reasons, likely directly related to climate change, that we can expect to see both hospital and patient populations displaced, he offers.

Beyond winds and torrential rains associated with such powerful storms, the ability to sustain power in the midst of such natural disasters is a key challenge.

It was definitely floods, but also power loss emphasizes Biddinger, who worked in a shelter in Queens during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Part of it was flooding, but also electricity failures that we confronted in a medical shelter.

Biddinger also cites the voluminous amounts of rainfall and duration of Hurricane Harvey in Houston in 2017 as evidence that you dont have to live on the coast to be at risk for severe effects of such powerful storms.

We saw this around Houston, that you don't necessarily just have to be coastala lot of the flooding is coming from the severity of precipitation and the length of the storms, lasting longer and moving more slowly so they dump a greater volume of rain, he explains.

Parodis warnings that we must enact change now to combat climate change, and improve upon existing hospital protocols for such disasters is a reminder of the key role that health care institutions serve as climate change continues to affect our lives.

He also describes the sheer devastation from the recent fires and their impact on normal hospital operations, requiring a large scale effort to transfer all types of patients and illustrating how fragile life can truly be. It shows how natural disasters, including hurricanes and tornadoes, can interrupt scheduling of planned or elective surgeries and medical care we typically take for granted.

Its an incredibly complicated calculation of risk when you know a threat is coming, explains Biddinger. You want to pare down your hospital operations to the absolute minimum so that you don't have people in the operating room or intensive care unit (ICU) who will be at risk if you have to evacuate.

But its not an interruption of elective care or even scheduled care, Biddinger argues-its the continuum of all patient care. These are important and life-sustaining elements of patient care, whether its a cancer-related surgery or even a scheduled cardiac bypass surgery.

That necessary calculation that Biddinger eloquently describes-not to do scheduled procedures and surgeries as a natural disaster approaches due to a greater riskultimately has downstream consequences impacting patient care and outcomes. This disruptive aspect to patient care is the new normal that we must contain in the throes of climate change. Its akin to choosing between the lesser of 2 significant evils, he warns.

Biddinger also stresses that all physicians, not just emergency and disaster physicians, should be well aware of the effects of climate change on health care delivery and patient outcomes.

Because we know it adversely affects the health of our patients, as well as undermines the ability of the medical system to deliver care, we really all have to pay attention and advocate for change.

Go here to see the original:
Medical Evacuees From The California Fires: The New Refugees Of Climate Change - Forbes

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Refuge for DMST (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) is collaborating with the Department of Psychiatry at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin to help improve the lives of young people recovering from sex trafficking by providing care at The Refuge Ranch -- the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation facility for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States.

As part of this collaboration, two senior Department of Psychiatry faculty members, Jeffrey Newport, MD and Valerie Rosen, MD oversee psychopharmacological and evidence-based psychotherapeutic treatment, respectfully, and a senior psychiatry resident provides weekly psychiatric services. Together, the team conducts diagnostic assessment and psychiatric treatment planning for child survivors currently living at The Refuge Ranch.

The Dell Med team, led by Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD, professor and acting chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, also plans to conduct research with The Refuge Ranch therapeutic and medical staff to better understand the specific needs of young people who have experienced sex trafficking.

The research component would involve following the child survivors at The Refuge Ranch for the next 1.5 to 2 years, from when they were first admitted, to their discharge, then during their transition from The Refuge Ranch to a new living environment. During that time, data could be collected to determine the effectiveness of various trauma-focused therapies and identify the best predictors of treatment response.

"The Refuge is an extraordinary resource, a one-of-a-kind facility for treating those who have experienced trafficking and is unique in the nation for its current level of care," said Dr. Nemeroff. "This is an extremely vulnerable group of young people who have significant health needs stemming from trauma. Understanding those particular needs requires research that's carefully conducted with appropriate safeguards in place to protect these young women during their recovery," he said.

"Our goal is to provide the very best care available for child survivors of sex trafficking," said Brooke Crowder, CEO and Founder of The Refuge for DMST. "With faculty from Dell Med rounding out our psychiatric care, The Refuge Circle of Care that wraps around each girl is complete. Through research collaboration, we also see the potential to gather empirical data about a population that has been hard to study. Trafficked children frequently run away as a self-defense mechanism and it's hard to turn off, even when they feel safe. The Refuge Ranch is a place where the girls can finally turn off that hyper-aware state of fight-flight-or-freeze and be a kid again. In this safe environment, psychiatrists can help us to assess what treatments work best. This ground-breaking data could help other facilities work with their state legislatures to inform policy decisions. With empirical data in front of them, it should be easier for states to help the most vulnerable children in the child welfare system."

The Refuge Circle of Care provides comprehensive treatment for young survivors, with trauma-focused programs addressing their unique psychological, physical, educational, social, spiritual needs, while improving community connections with relatives, and teaching independent living and job skills.

These new psychiatric services will add to current services provided by The Refuge Ranch staff, which already include weekly one-on-one therapy sessions with in-house licensed therapists specializing in Developmentally adaptive Cognitive Processing Therapy (D-CPT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), plus Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, sand tray therapy, experiential therapy, equine therapy, and more, based on their individual needs. The girls also have the opportunity to participate in group therapy with other survivors. To round out the holistic approach, The Refuge Ranch provides art, farming/agricultural activities, gardening, yoga, dance, self-defense, music, etc., plus daily enrichment options for self-regulation and body awareness.

All of the The Refuge for DMST staff, not just the therapeutic staff at the ranch, are trained in Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), and they receive other on-going professional training specific to the care of child survivors of sex trafficking.

The Institute for Early Life Adversity Research is within the Department of Psychiatry and a component of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences.

About The Refuge for DMSTThe Refuge for DMST (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has developed The Refuge Ranch, a long-term, residential, therapeutic community for 48 girls, minors through age 19, who have been rescued out of sex trafficking. Built from the ground up on 50 acres in a beautiful and restorative setting outside of Austin, TX, The Refuge Ranch provides trauma-informed, holistic care for the girls on site, including: psychiatric services provided by Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Psychiatry and the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research; education provided by the University of Texas-University Charter School (UT-UCS); medical services by community partners; and various therapeutic programs uniquely designed for the development of a child survivor. The Refuge Ranch is the largest long-term, live-in rehabilitation facility for child survivors of sex trafficking in the United States. For more information, go to http://www.therefugedmst.org.

For B-roll, photographs, logos, relevant statistics and recommended reading, visit The Refuge Press Page at https://therefugeaustin.org/press-kit.

The rest is here:
Dell Med Joins Efforts With The Refuge For DMST To Care For Recovering Survivors Of Child Sex Trafficking At The Refuge Ranch - inForney.com

Soon after, the Health Sciences Center School of Medicine and Texas Tech University, the undergraduate campus in the Texas Tech system, announced that they would begin considering race in admissions. Mr. Clegg challenged the decision on the ground that race should be used only as a last resort.

But for the fall 2014 class, the undergraduate campus removed any consideration of race in admissions. As a result, the Education Department dismissed the case.

The department continued to investigate the Health Sciences Center, and found that the medical school was continuing to use race-conscious admissions, according to documents in the case.

The policies had a significant effect on the makeup of the medical school. Enrollment went from 9 percent Hispanic in the class that entered in 2004 to 16 percent in the class that entered in 2018. The university said that it was trying to recruit more Hispanic students in part to send more people to practice medicine in underserved communities in West Texas, according to documents in the case.

Mr. Clegg said the investigation, which had begun during the George W. Bush administration, had lasted through the Obama years, which suggests that even under a liberal Democratic administration, there were problems with admissions practices.

The medical school defended race-conscious admissions by saying it needed to recruit students who showed the cultural sensitivity that would allow them to serve racially diverse patients, according to a letter from the Education Departments civil rights office. Federal officials were concerned that the medical schools admissions process violated civil rights law.

Eric D. Bentley, vice chancellor and general counsel of the Texas Tech University System, said in a letter to the civil rights office that while the medical school believed it was in compliance with the law, it was agreeing to stop using race in admissions in an effort to resolve this matter and focus on educating future health care providers.

The decision was effective March 1, according to the agreement, and set a deadline of Sept. 1 to revise all admissions and recruitment materials to reflect the changes. It did not, the agreement said, constitute an admission that the university had run afoul of civil rights law.

Originally posted here:
Texas Tech Medical School, Under Pressure From Education Dept ...

Dean Olsen Staff Writer @deanolsenSJR

Expanding a program that cultivates high school students interest in the medical profession and helping future doctors avoid unconscious bias are among the goals of a new associate dean at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

This job will give me the opportunity to be a collaborator, a change agent, Dr. Wendi Wills El-Amin said.

Wills El-Amin, 46, a family medicine physician, began her new role Aug. 1 as associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion. She previously was an academic strategist in SIUs department of medical education and treated patients through the department of family medicine.

The Springfield resident succeeded Dr. Wesley Robinson McNeese, who helped launch SIUs office of diversity, multicultural and minority affairs in 2001.

McNeese, 69, who is African-American, is a Christian minister who pastors a Springfield church. He has been hired to work part-time on diversity initiatives throughout the SIU system, including the campuses in Carbondale and Edwardsville.

Wills El-Amin, who also is African American, was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Houston, Texas. She said she will take on McNeeses role of mentoring minority medical students. Among other duties, she also will oversee the Physician Pipeline Preparatory Program, or P4, which McNeese founded in 2009.

The P4 program enrolls Springfield-area high school students interested in potential careers as doctors. The after-school program provides mentors and exposure to the medical field.

Wills El-Amin said she would like to expand the program so parts of it reach students in the elementary and middle-school grades. Many of these young people would benefit from learning that a career as a doctor is a possibility, she said.

Wills El-Amin said her most influential teacher was in third grade a woman she knows today as Mrs. Creole.

She was the teacher who really made me believe I had a lot of potential, El-Amin said.

McNeese and Wills El-Amin come from different backgrounds.

McNeese said he grew up very poor in East St. Louis. He was salutatorian of his high school class and served in the Air Force in Vietnam before working as a journalist in East St. Louis and a paramedic.

He enrolled at Illinois State University at age 30 and later took part in SIUs Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program (MEDPREP) before earning his medical degree at SIU and working a decade as an emergency room doctor. He now is a father of four. His new title with SIU will be system executive director for diversity initiatives.

Since McNeese began his work on diversity at SIU, the school has definitely made strides in the percentage of minority students enrolling and graduating as doctors, he said.

SIU currently ranks in the top 3 percent to 4 percent of medical schools nationwide when it comes to the percentage of black students graduating, he said, though the share of doctors who are black nationwide 4 percent remains low.

The P4 program, which has served many students who are minorities since its inception, could produce medical students for SIU eventually, McNeese said.

Its a grow-your-own type of idea, he said.

Wills El-Amin, the mother of three girls, grew up the daughter of an internal-medicine physician, but like McNeese, she said she experienced racism as she grew up and as a professional.

She earned a bachelors degree from Hampton University in Virginia and a medical degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., before completing a family medicine residency at the University of Texas at Houston.

She joined SIU in 2013 and before that was director of the University of Virginias cancer center disparity initiative and the outreach center on health disparities. She is chairwoman of the womens health section for the National Medical Association, an organization of African American doctors.

Wills El-Amin said she will work to help all SIU medical students, minority and non-minority, understand how the health of their patients can be influenced by factors outside the exam room. Those factors, known as the social determinants of health, can include poverty, education and crime.

She said she also wants to equip medical students with tools to avoid burnout a common problem among the ranks of physicians. Im very invested in cultivating resiliency, she said.

Unconscious biases can shape the way doctors interact with patients, Wills El-Amin said. She said she plans to use data on those biases to shape the curriculum for medical students and create a different approach when theyre dealing with their patients.

The medical schools staff already has received some training on eliminating institutional racism. That training will continue and will promote equitable treatment regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, Wills El-Amin said.

My approach is more of how to teach people cultural humility, she said.

Dr. Jerry Kruse, dean and provost of the medical school, said McNeese has done an excellent job for the school. Kruse said Wills El-Amin is an accomplished medical educator. She has a focus in her heart on the students.

Wills El-Amins annual salary as associate dean will be $210,000. The salary for McNeeses salary for his new job was unavailable. His salary as a medical school associate dean was $210,000, according to SIU officials.

Contact Dean Olsen: dean.olsen@sj-r.com, 788-1543, twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.

Read more from the original source:
SIU med school administrator to expand diversity promotion efforts - The State Journal-Register

Interventional Cardiology in Secaucus, New Jersey

Dr. Jaffar A Raza, MD, is an Interventional Cardiology specialist in Secaucus, New Jersey. He attended and graduated from medical school in 1993, having over 24 years of diverse experience, especially in Interventional Cardiology. He is affiliated with many hospitals including Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, North Shore University Hospital. Dr. Jaffar A Raza accepts Medicare-approved amount as payment in full. Call (551) 257-7038 to request Dr. Jaffar A Raza the information (Medicare information, advice, payment, ...) or simply to book an appointment.

Medical Doctor

Doctor of Medicine (MD or DM), or in Latin: Medicinae Doctor, meaning "Teacher of Medicine", is a terminal degree for physicians and surgeons. In countries that follow the tradition of the United States, it is a first professional graduate degree awarded upon graduation from medical school.

Dr. Jaffar A Raza has been primarily specialized in Cardiovascular Disease for over 24 years of experience.

Cardiovascular Disease

An internist who specializes in diseases of the heart and blood vessels and manages complex cardiac conditions such as heart attacks and life-threatening, abnormal heartbeat rhythms.

Family Medicine

Family Medicine is the medical specialty which is concerned with the total health care of the individual and the family. It is the specialty in breadth which integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. The scope of family medicine is not limited by age, sex, organ system, or disease entity.

Internal Medicine

A physician who provides long-term, comprehensive care in the office and the hospital, managing both common and complex illness of adolescents, adults and the elderly. Internists are trained in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, infections and diseases affecting the heart, blood, kidneys, joints and digestive, respiratory and vascular systems. They are also trained in the essentials of primary care internal medicine, which incorporates an understanding of disease prevention, wellness, substance abuse, mental health and effective treatment of common problems of the eyes, ears, skin, nervous system and reproductive organs.

Cardiovascular Disease

An internist who specializes in diseases of the heart and blood vessels and manages complex cardiac conditions such as heart attacks and life-threatening, abnormal heartbeat rhythms.

Interventional Cardiology

An area of medicine within the subspecialty of cardiology, which uses specialized imaging and other diagnostic techniques to evaluate blood flow and pressure in the coronary arteries and chambers of the heart and uses technical procedures and medications to treat abnormalities that impair the function of the cardiovascular system.

Contact Dr. Jaffar A Raza by phone: (551) 257-7038 for verification, detailed information, or booking an appointment before going to.

Follow this link:
Dr. Jaffar A Raza - Secaucus NJ, Interventional Cardiology

Julia Pian is a third year medical school student at Harvard Medical School, the #1 ranked medical school in the world. If you want to study at Harvard, apply for a free education assessment here: https://community.crimsoneducation.or... Crimson Education is the world leader in global admissions consulting.

Julia enrolled in Harvard Medical School soon after graduating from Harvard College, and she plans on becoming a pediatrician after medical school. Learn about a day in the life of a Harvard med student, the difference in schedules from first through fourth year of medical school, and Harvard's unique "pathways" approach to medicine. And hear about Julia's inspiring story, why she decided to pursue medicine and pediatrics, and what stellar admissions advice she would give to aspiring medical students!

Subscribe To "Crimson Education" Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/2ha5MAAFor more content from current "Harvard Med" Students, click HERE: http://bit.ly/2hXNy20To "Ask" other Harvard Med Students a Question, click HERE: http://bit.ly/2hoXssF Like "Crimson Hub" on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/2hSv4muFollow "Crimson Hub" on Instagram HERE: http://bit.ly/2hXKZgv

Interested in getting into an Ivy League visit "Crimson Education" for a FREE consultation, HERE: http://bit.ly/2iBB0RD

We'll be releasing more brilliant content fortnightly.

Watch thousands of free videos anytime, anywhere at Crimson Hub. Try it now! http://bit.ly/2hXNy20

Crimson Hub aims at reducing the informational barriers present around degrees, universities, and careers. We have filmed current and past students at some of the world's best education havens such as Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and much more. Whether you're wanting to learn about the secret societies at Yale, the party life at Harvard, the academics at Oxford, or the university classes at Stanford, we have it all. Oh, and best of all - it's free.

Disclosure: We are in no way affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Read the rest here:
A Day in the Life: Harvard Medical School Student