By IOL Reporter Feb 8, 2021

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DURBAN - THE University of KwaZulu-Natal has slammed the media reporting on matters in relations to 'Operation Clever', an investigation into allegations of fraud at its medical school.

The allegations, which were exposed by the Sunday Tribune, came to light in 2016, following allegations of bribery to gain placement at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine.

According to UKZN acting corporate affairs executive, Normah Zondo, the four-year investigation involved no less than 31 employees, and resulted in suspensions, disciplinary inquiries, resignations and dismissals. In addition, students and external parties were also implicated.

She said that after due consideration of the allegations at the time, UKZN instituted a wide-scope forensic investigation.

"Insofar as the criminal prosecutions are concerned, it is pertinent to record that UKZN laid criminal charges in 2017 with the police. Subsequent to the appointment of an investigative team by the state, UKZN has at all material times co-operated to the full extent with the investigating officers and National Prosecuting Authority. The investigations are accordingly in the hands of the Hawks of the SAPS, as they have been for a considerable time, and UKZN is informed that they are still ongoing," Zondo said.

She said in 2019, businessman, Visham Panday, an anti-corruption activist and the founder of VP Justice Foundation, brought a High Court application against the university to be supplied with the outcome of the internal investigation, a copy of a written report of the outcome, a timeline on how long a safe house was provided to the investigator, documents of proof reflecting the cost of the safe house, costs and proof of bodyguards provided for the safe house and the cost of conducting Operation Clever from inception to date along with accompanying documents.

Zondo said UKZN opposed Panday's application.

"It was essential in UKZNs view, supported by the SAPS, to protect the integrity of the investigation as disclosure of all information and reports requested would compromise it. The court, however, ordered that four aspects pertinent to the investigation be disclosed to Mr Panday, in connection with various costs of the investigation. Although UKZN has received legal advice that even those orders are appealable in law on the facts relevant to the application, UKZN will accede to the court ruling and not make any endeavour to appeal it. This is because that information will not compromise the integrity of the investigation; and because as an institution, UKZN is and has always been committed to transparency and accountability," Zondo said.

She said Panday had applied to the court to grant him access to seven areas of the investigation, including the release of the report.

"The court refused to grant all of the relief he had sought. Against that background, UKZN wishes to set out the following in light of the negative, and often incorrect, reporting of this matter in the press, Zondo said.

The KPMG report, commissioned in 2016 by previous Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr Albert Van Jaarsveld, focused on allegations of corruption involving admissions to the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, as well as colleges and university operations.

"The University at the time uncovered a criminal syndicate working together with a small number of UKZN employees to admit students to the medical school. The internal investigation was concluded, and the matter was handed over to the State criminal prosecuting authorities in 2017, including the Hawks, for further investigation and possible criminal prosecution.

Criminal prosecutions are not within the powers of UKZN. Whilst UKZN is in fact extremely keen to expose those involved in corruption, and it has done so to the extent that it can internally, it must await the outcome and decisions of the SAPS and prosecuting authorities regarding any criminal prosecutions. As was pointed out by the Judge himself, any request for a written report into Operation Clever is premature."

The cost of the investigation to date is R73 560 829.00, which comprises:

Zondo said the lead forensic investigator was provided with a safe house and bodyguards as a result of threats to her life.

An extensive audit was done, involving inter alia the SAPS, into the threats and they were found to be credible justifying the investigators protection, she added.

The university argued in court against the release of the report as it would compromise and prejudice the investigators safety and would also divulge the identities of people implicated in the investigation as well as any involvement of possible syndicates, thereby compromising the investigation.

The university wishes to emphasise that it was legally and ethically obliged to conduct this investigation to protect the integrity of its academic excellence, its reputation and to be in compliance with the code of good governance. To this end the University would like to express great appreciation to its stakeholders for their unwavering support and similarly extend its gratitude to all staff members for their co-operation, fortitude and understanding throughout the investigation thus far, Zondo said.

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UKZN sets the record straight on 'Operation Clever' probe into fraud at medical school - IOL

The light blue mask covers Theresa Weilers face, but it cannot hide her emotion.

Weiler, a nurse and COVID-19-unit supervisor at Marshfield Medical Center in Wisconsin, fought back tears as she addressed her health systems leaders about life on the front lines battling SARS-CoV-2. Her voice trembled as she described the horror of watching colleagues with pools of sweat in their masks perform CPR for 40 minutes and not be able to resuscitate a patient, and the agony of having to tell families they cannot see their loved ones with COVID-19 a final time before they die.

For five minutes, Weiler describes being exhausted and overwhelmed by the realities of the ongoing pandemic. Video of the speech is gut-wrenching, but it is an address that everyone should watch to get a better understanding of the hardships and pressure being placed on the medical community. That is what leaders at Marshfield Clinic Health System thought when they posted the video to its social media channels as a way to educate the public.

On Facebook, the caption to the video reads, COVID-19 is very real and it is very serious. We see it every day in our hospitals. Please take this seriously and take necessary precautions to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Marshfield is an AMA Health System Partner.

The video is the most popular on the systems Facebook page, and that speaks to the importance of letting health care workers speak out about the realities they are experiencing, said Bill Melms, MD, chief medical officer at Marshfield Clinic. Dr. Melms discussed his health systems approach to helping physicians amplify their voices during COVID-19 in order to engage with their patients, combat misinformation and share their experiences during a recent episode of the AMA COVID-19 Update.

That video of Weiler worked very well, Dr. Melms said, because it did exactly what we needed it to do in terms of raising awareness for the public as to the importance of this and the seriousness of all of this.

Find out more from the AMA about why patients should #MaskUp to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Marshfields approach to social media shifted as a result of the pandemic. Previously, the systems leaders viewed social channels primarily as an advertising mechanism to get information out about the Marshfield itself, including new services offered at its respective health centers. With the arrival of COVID-19, Dr. Melms said the health system viewed social media as a place to be a voice of public health.

He explained that getting physicians and other health professionals in front of cameras and on social media was a way to dispel myths and inaccuracies about COVID-19 and help them build and maintain trust with patients. This public engagement, particularly as it relates to social media, is not something physicians typically learn in medical school. While future physicians will likely be more adept at social media than their predecessors, there still are components they need be taught, Dr. Melms said.

They certainly have an advantage in the tech over me, he said, but some of the younger physicians don't necessarily have a good grasp on the gravity of what they say and the impacts of what they say. That's probably where the learning needs to take place.

Marshfield Clinic will continue to offer that type of education to its doctors.

This has underscored the absolute importance of the physician voice, Dr. Melms said. I'm not looking for a paradigm shift, but we have learned a lot during the pandemic. We'll continue to develop the physicians voice, we'll continue to provide support and offer opportunities for coaching.

Laura Fegraus, vice president of external affairs, communications and brand at The Permanente Federationanother AMA Health System Partneralso detailed how their organization has adjusted their strategy amid the challenges of the pandemic.

Learn more about how the AMA Health System Partner Program helps improve outcomes, elevate recognition and drive value.

Read more:

Giving health care heroes a voice on social media - American Medical Association

STONY BROOK, NY, February 8, 2021A study of 240 intubated and critically ill Covid-19 patients at Stony Brook University Hospital showed that by using an anticoagulation therapy based on blood serum D-dimer levels, mortality was significantly reduced. The team of clinicians led byApostolos Tassiopoulos, MD, found that 27 percent of those in the protocol died, but 58 percent of those not part of the protocol died. Details of the findings are published in a paper inFrontiers in Medicine.

The Stony Brook study is the first to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of adjusting blood thinner doses to the level of blood clotting. Other studies have used a fixed dose of blood thinners. This winter the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released unpublished national data that blood thinners decreased the need for life-support in severe Covid-19 patients and improved patient outcomes. For more on these details, see thisNIH press release.

Blood clots can lead to life-threatening conditions, and patients with critical Covid-19 illness are vulnerable to clotting. D-dimer levels are measurements of the protein fragments produced by the body when a blood clot gets dissolved in the body. During the pandemic a significant increase in D-dimer levels has been noted in hospitalized Covid-19 patients with high D-dimer levels often linked to worse outcomes.

Our team developed an aggressive protocol for anticoagulation treatment that was escalated based on D-dimer levels, explains Dr. Tassiopoulos, Professor of Surgery at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and Director of Vascular Surgery. The study appeared to prove that our belief that the increase in D-dimer levels reflects a more severe prothrombotic state, meaning there is an increase in the risk of dangerous blood clots forming in the large or small blood vessels of the body.

Our data strongly suggest that controlling the amount of blood clotting, measured by D-dimer levels, improves outcomes in Covid-19, adds Sima Mofakham, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and co-author.

The study was a multidisciplinary collaboration between the Departments of General Surgery and Neurosurgery. Surgery led the patient care and Neurosurgery in collaboration with Vascular Surgery completed the data and statistical analyses.

Of the 240 patients, all received the same form of Covid-19 treatments in the critical care setting. However, 91 were placed on the aggressive anticoagulation protocol and 104 received standard thromboprophylaxis treatment. All of the patients were treated in the Stony Brook University Hospital Intensive Care Unit from February 7 to May 17, 2020.

In addition to discovering that the overall mortality was significantly lower in on-protocol patients compared to off-protocol patients, average maximum D-dimer levels were significantly lower in the on-protocol patients, as was serum creatinine. The patients with poorly controlled D-dimer levels had higher rates of kidney dysfunction and mortality.

Overall we found that the D-dimer driven anticoagulation therapy was safe in patients, improved survival, and improved kidney function too, concludes Dr. Tassiopoulos.

In response to the clinical data and greatly improved results with some critically ill Covid-19 patients, Stony Brook Medicine adopted the protocol system-wide for patients in this condition.

The study was supported by a SUNY seed grant (1160738-1-87777).

About Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University:

Established in 1971, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University includes 25 academic departments. The three missions of the School are to advance the understanding of the origins of human health and disease; train the next generation of committed, curious and highly capable physicians; and deliver world-class compassionate healthcare. As a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and a Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited medical school, Stony Brook is one of the foremost institutes of higher medical education in the country. Each year the School trains nearly 500 medical students and more than 600 medical residents and fellows. Faculty research includes National Institutes of Health-sponsored programs in neurological diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disorders, biomedical imaging, regenerative medicine, infectious diseases, and many other topics. Physicians on the School of Medicine faculty deliver world-class medical care through more than 31,000 inpatient, 108,000 emergency room, and 940,000 outpatient visits annually at Stony Brook University Hospital and affiliated clinical programs, making its clinical services one of the largest and highest quality medical schools on Long Island, New York. To learn more, visitwww.medicine.stonybrookmedicine.edu.

Continued here:

Study Reveals Anticoagulation Therapy in Intubated Covid-19 Patients Reduces Mortality | | SBU News - Stony Brook News

With the September announcement of a record $250-million donation to the University of Torontos medical school, renamed the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, three of the six medical schools in Ontario are now named after wealthy donors.

Should we simply celebrate philanthropic donations to medical schools or hospitals for that matter? There are reasons to look closer. As political scientist Rob Reich of Stanford University notes:

Philanthropy is an exercise in power . In a democratic society, wherever we see the exercise of power in a public setting, the first response it deserves isnt gratitude but scrutiny.

All 17 universities with faculties of medicine in Canada are public universities part of Canadas largely public higher education landscape.

Similarly, Canadian hospitals are almost all public institutions, the result of policy developments that culminated in the the Canada Health Act in 1984.

In Ontario, 145 of 155 hospitals in the province are public hospitals. These institutions are funded by taxpayers money and work within the rules set forth by the act prohibiting user fees and mandating public administration.

But defunding of both higher education and health has occurred, in the form of direct cuts and indirectly through stagnant budgets in the face of rising costs and yearly inflation starting in the 90s onwards. This defunding has presented institutional administrators with significant financial challenges.

In post-secondary institutions, part of the solution has been to seek and secure private donations from wealthy individuals or corporations.

It is not very different in the public health-care system, where entire hospitals or important parts including health-care programs are also named after wealthy donors.

The root cause for this pervasive and insidious practice is the lack of adequate government funding.

The practice should be challenged for many reasons, including the transparency and democracy of public institutions, institutional independence and equity in education and health-care delivery.

The rightful owners of a public institution are citizens and taxpayers. Although the share of public funding of universities has been slowly eroded, government funds and student fees still make up the largest proportion of revenue together, at 46 per cent and 30 per cent respectively, while private/corporate funds makeup 24 per cent.

Whether a charitable donation to a university or hospital is large enough to cover an entire years budget or not, many many more years of funding post-donation are still needed to run these institutions over the long term.

Even according to the logic of business and shareholders, how is it that the smaller contributor/donor (minor shareholder) gets their name on the front door?

How is it that such important decisions are made without transparent or wide consultation with the people that are the soul of these institutions and that make them what they are?

Here, I mean the nurses, physicians, allied health providers and communities of patients in the case of hospitals or faculty members, students and alumni in the case of universities. Where is institutional transparency when deals are announced as fait accompli after theyve been signed behind closed doors?

Not uncommonly, large donated funds are earmarked for specific educational, research or health-care services, as requested by the donor, and potentially set priorities for the recipient university or hospital.

In a publicly funded institution, such priorities should be set independently by the institution itself, informed by societal and community needs.

We should be seriously concerned about potential donor influence in institutional decisions, such as selection of leadership positions. The University of Torontos law school recently faced criticism after allegations that a donor influenced a hiring decision, prompting the Canadian Association of University Teachers to pass a motion of censure.

Equity in access to health care and education remains a reason to justify public funding.

Many factors clearly influence medical institutions ability to garner donations: these include the geographic location of institutions (affluent versus poorer neighbourhoods or cities); how some diseases, often those that have captured mainstream attention and affect the more affluent, can more easily attract donors; or what may be deemed the business relevance or marketability of particular specialities or programs. By extension, philanthropy can impact inequitable service provision.

When a rich familys name is on a faculty building and new medical students see this as they arrive on campus especially those who already experience wealth inequities or other structural barriers such as racism what kind of message do they receive about exactly whos in power and what their place may be?

Until adequate funding for medical education and health care is restored, public universities and hospitals will continue to struggle financially.

The solution on a more fundamental level must, at least in part, be in the taxation of wealth, as supported by a majority of Canadians, to ensure adequate funds and to level wealth inequity, which is a critical determinant of health, among other inequities.

Meanwhile, if we accept that large private and corporate funding is essential to the very sustenance of these institutions, they must ensure contributions are universal, transparent and regulated.

I propose a number of measures to minimize the detrimental impact of large private and corporate donations:

Ideally, donations would be anonymous (and no, this does not make large donations impossible), so that brand advancement is not a given with philanthropy. Where this is perceived as impossible, a name on a plaque with the prohibition of any naming of whole institutions or part should suffice.

Donors should strictly deal with the institutions foundation department. Any direct contact between faculty, deans and physician leaders should be prohibited.

Agreements regarding major donations should be made public and presented for binding consultation with institutional stakeholders named above.

There should be a transparent process of vetting the business practices of major donors on an ethical basis (for example, as related to fair labour practices or how they engage with Indigenous land rights).

There should be a truly independent body to investigate complaints exposing influence and coercion and to protect whistleblowers.

Scrutiny and strict regulation of corporate funding of public universities and hospitals is essential for maintaining institutional independence and equitable provision of education and health care. Such regulation must be coupled with demands for increased government funding.

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Half of Ontario's medical schools are now named after wealthy donors - The Conversation CA

I have some news to tell you, I texted my friend.

Are you pregnant? she replied.

No, Im going to try for medical school, I wrote back, not at all surprised by her response since I had heard it so many times.

Oh, she replied, I really thought youd be pregnant by now.

As I announced my decision to pursue medical school in my mid-twenties to friends and family, I could see their brains making the calculations: a year of a post-baccalaureate program to complete the slew of prerequisite requirements, a year off to apply, four years of medical school and three to seven years of residency and fellowship training. The math did not add up; how did this leave any room for the babies, especially since my husband and I had been married for four years already. How much longer could we wait?

I was not sure myself. I spent hours on Student Doctor Network (SDN) and other sites trying to find out how doable it would be to have children in medical training. Nothing made me feel better. Every point of time along the path sounded impossible.

If I had a baby the first year, what would I do about mandatory anatomy labs and the resulting formaldehyde exposure? In second year, I would be pregnant during Step 1, which seemed equally unworkable. Third year would mean being pregnant on rotations, and fourth year on residency interviews. If I became pregnant during residency, I would have to juggle working 80+ hours while pregnant and then nursing. As an attending, I would have more responsibility and could be penalized for taking leave due to my salarys dependence on productivity. It also did not help to see the shining photos of Instagram doctor moms who seemed to have immaculate homes and four babies on their hips. My life was not that put together on any given day, so I had doubts I could pull this off with a baby.

Then it hit me: you know what else seems impossible? Medical school. The amount of material you need to learn in such a short timeframe. Memorizing all of First Aid for an eight-hour board exam. Despite these seemingly unachievable undertakings, we put our heads down and start chipping away at the work before us. We want to be doctors. This goal is non-negotiable. The conversation is not about whether we should do it but how. We bend our lives to fit around this goal.

Having a family, for some of us, is also non-negotiable. We want to be moms, and we have the right to pursue more than just medicine. So let us flip the script in our mind. Our mindset should not be a question: Can I have a baby during my training? Instead, let us decide, I will have a baby during my training, and this is how. Own it. Do not apologize for it. Just as we bend our lives to fit this goal, medicine must also bend itself to fit our goals. Our childbearing years are short, yet our careers are long. It would be wise for medicine to work around these years to secure the talent of its female trainees for the long term.

***

Lets consider how to have a baby in medical school and pursue motherhood in training. Here are ten tips to make the seemingly impossible, possible:

1. Determine if YOU are ready to have a baby.

Do not wait for when your training timeline is ready for you to have a baby.

There will never be a time in your medical training when it will be convenient for you to be pregnant, nursing, or raising a family. As physicians-in-training, we know that pregnancy and fertility are precarious. Children may have special needs. All children get sick, which means scrambling for care at the last minute when the daycare calls you to pick them up. There is no magical time during your physician career when it will be easier to take on the inconveniences inherent to parenthood. If you are waiting for permission to have a baby, you will not find it.

Give yourself permission to accept the risks and joys of parenthood. Proceed confidently.

2. Inform your program about your plans.

Do not apologize or ask for permission. Know your rights.

If and when you have decided to have a baby and if you are comfortable, reach out to your Dean or program director to let them know your plans. Again, this is not to ask permission. Instead, use the conversation as an opportunity for information gathering so that you can plan to the best of your ability (while still recognizing that you cant plan for everything). Here are some questions I asked my Dean: What support structures are in place for when I have a baby? Are there school- or hospital-sponsored daycares? What is the process for taking a year off? Can I do research during this time? What flexibility can you give me if I decide not to take a year off? For example, can I take a couple of blocks off during my third year and start my rotations a bit later than my classmates? In the preclinical years, can I take a block off and complete the requirements during the summer break? How can we rearrange my schedule in case I give birth early or have an unexpected medical issue?

In these conversations, be sure to know your rights! Under Title IX, your medical school must accommodate your pregnancy and pumping, if you so choose. As COVID-19 has shown us, the timeline for completing medical school requirements are not set in stone. Rotations can be moved around or completed at a later time than your classmates. Lectures can be attended remotely. Respirators can be provided for anatomy lab. Your school should be creative about helping you reach graduation.

3. Gather your tribe. You cannot do it alone.

It is difficult to raise a child on your own, especially within medicine. You need a tribe. This can be made up of your partner, local daycare, a nanny, and/or family and friends.

Partner:If you have a spouse or partner, engage in conversations early on to set realistic expectations. Most likely, your partner will have to take on the bulk of the childcare given the inflexibility of our career choice. If your significant other is also in training or works a demanding job, you will need serious discussions about how to balance two careers. My school allows for using a year off in blocks of months at a time, rather than all at once; ask your school if this is possible for you. Perhaps you both take a year off in six-month increments, alternating the time spent at home with the baby. Maybe you need to invest in a live-in nanny. Regardless of the solution, do not fall into the trap of assuming roles based on gender! Encourage your partner to also take leave. All working partners, regardless of gender, are afforded twelve weeks of leave (albeit unpaid) to bond with a baby under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Daycare/Nanny:Daycare is expensive and can easily surpass your rent costs. Prior to getting pregnant, I called local daycares and the hospital daycare, which is subsidized by my university, to get a sense of the cost. My husband and I started to put away the estimated monthly daycare costs for about two years before our daughter was born. It proved to us that we could manage the price and created a financial cushion for the years ahead. In our case, it helped fund my husbands unpaid portion of paternity leave. If both of you are in training, talk to financial aid about increasing your loan amount to cover daycare costs.

Another option to consider is a nanny. Nannies are more expensive than typical daycares but can offer greater flexibility in medical school. Home daycares are another alternative; they tend to be cheaper and smaller. We ultimately chose the option of home daycare because it was closer to our apartment. Our runner-up was the subsidized hospital daycare due to its expanded hours and proximity to the hospital.

Be sure to place your child on the waitlist immediately after you get the positive pregnancy test (or if you adopt, the moment you hear the news of a placement). Unfortunately, waitlists are also expensive so prepare to shell out hundreds of dollars for the process. If you decide to go with a home daycare, know that the spots are limited; word of mouth or neighborhood Facebook groups and listservs can help you find these daycares and know about any openings.

Family and Friends:Another option is to have family and/or friends help create a support structure. This can allow for tremendous cost savings while also giving you the flexibility you need. Moreover, it encourages bonding between your baby and family. Start the conversation with your family now. Would they be willing to help with the baby? Can they take care of the baby during stressful pre-exam times? Can they help with call nights? Even if your family is further away, think creatively. Perhaps they can fly in during particularly stressful times.

4. Plan to take a standard maternity leave. Do not assume you need a year, but if you do, take it.

I felt that the consensus online was to take a year off medical school after giving birth. While I was pregnant, particularly in the time of COVID, this seemed to be my schools preferred option. However, this was not my schools decision to make. I ended up asking for what I wanted: twelve weeks off for maternity leave. In order to take this time off, I had my baby during my third year, which was more flexible than my first two years of medical school. My Dean told me that all students get 20 weeks of flex/vacation time that can be used throughout the third and fourth years. The plan was to use 12 of the 20 weeks for my maternity leave. This would mean that my fourth year would have fewer vacation weeks, but I was fine with this trade-off.

Of course, I also had the option of taking a full year off. Luckily, my school also had some flexibility with this. They would have allowed me to take it in monthly increments so that I could spread the year out however I wanted. For example, I could take four months upfront and then take the remaining months at a later time (perhaps to have a second kid and take another maternity leave).

During my maternity leave, I realized that I was accomplishing quite a bit of my research project with my baby sleeping on my lap, so I was able to ask the school to designate some of the time as research weeks. At the twelve-week mark, I felt ready to return. My husband took over baby-duty by exercising his right to twelve weeks (partially unpaid) of FMLA (see step 3 on how to save for this).

Personally, I would not have been happy taking a full year off, but everyone is different. Do not assume how much time will feel right for you prior to having the baby. Keep your options open and consider working with your school to have multiple plans in place that may include a year off, a year off in monthly increments, a research year, a dual degree, or several weeks off that will allow you to graduate on time while also taking some time to adjust to motherhood.

5. Reconceptualize time.

During my maternity leave, I read I Know She Does it: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time by Laura Vanderkam. This book helped me to re-think time. Often, we think about the time we spend away from our babies but not enough about the time we spend with them. Even when we dedicate 70 hours a week to working and studying, that leaves 98 hours to sleep, eat, and spend time with family. I have started to think of my time more holistically. Demanding months like my Medicine and Surgery clerkships may be balanced by elective and research months that require fewer hours than even the typical nine-to-five job. Furthermore, by having my daughter in my late twenties and not during my forties as an attending, I have added ten extra years of time with her. Time that I hope will allow me to see weddings, graduations, and grandchildren.

On a smaller scale, I find it helpful to go to bed earlier around 8:30 PM and wake up around 4:30 AM to study before heading to the hospital. This leaves my evenings free for baby time.

6. If you are taking a board exam, sign up for accommodations.

While I was pregnant, I did just fine in all my courses while carrying my baby and was in the process of diligently preparing for Step 1. I joked that I had two brains, which gave me more intellectual power.

But it is important to know that Sophie Currier won us the right to have pumping and breastfeeding accommodations while taking our Step examinations. These accommodations allow for extra break time to pump or use the bathroom and stretch during pregnancy. You will need a letter from your provider documenting the need for accommodations and your due date. I wrote a detailed letter about the risk of prolonged sitting in pregnancy, given the increased risk of DVTs, back pain, and frequent need to urinate. This sped up the process since my midwife just reviewed the letter, signed it, and placed it on letterhead. If you need a sample, email me. NBME also allows you to bring a pillow as a personal item exception, so dont forget to make yourself comfortable.

In case you are wondering, I did not end up taking Step 1 pregnant because of delays caused by COVID. However, I feel that I would have been able to take it in my second trimester with no issues. My third trimester would have necessitated many more bathroom breaks but would still have been doable. From my estimates, even pumping would be doable with the extra Step 1 accommodation time.

7. Pick a health care provider close to school.

Make sure to pick an OB/Gyn near your classes or rotation sites to make your treks to prenatal appointments more convenient. I decided on a private practice OB rather than an academic practice to ensure that my classmates or future residents would not be involved in my care. My OB delivered at my schools academic hospital, making it the best of both worlds. My medical school classmates did not participate in my labor and delivery, but they did visit us on the postpartum floors. My daughter was the most popular baby on the wards!

8. Reach out to your insurance company.

Prior to medical school, I worked on the issue of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a federal service fellow, so it was always important to me to understand health coverage and to avoid surprise billing. I was able to find an in-network OB/GYN provider who delivered at the hospital affiliated with my school. I triple checked my required co-pay for the delivery, and we set that amount of money aside in our Flexible Spending Account (FSA) the year prior to giving birth. It gave us peace of mind to know that we were covered and had the money set aside when the time came. We also saved money with the tax benefits of the plan. If you do not have access to an FSA, it still makes sense to set that money aside to avoid a large bill upon returning from the hospital.

Under the ACA, women also have access to free breast pumps. Reach out to your insurance company around the third trimester to find how to obtain it.

9. Plan for the worst.

Given how much I depend on my husband to help care for our daughter, we knew that we needed term life insurance. In my second trimester, we started looking in earnest for coverage for my husband for the next ten years. We started with a simple question: if something happened to my husband, how much support would I need to complete my medical training? We then calculated the amount that a live-in nanny and daycare would cost (we figured I would need both) and went from there. I was also able to get myself insured by the American Medical Association in case something happened to me.

10. Lastly, it is all about priorities.

Let us be brutally honest. You cant be June Cleaver at the same time as a physician mom. You wont have a perfect house. Youll miss out on some milestones and bedtimes when you are on call. On the flip side, you may say no to projects and opportunities in order to protect time with your child. You cant have it all at least not all at once.

Sit with yourself and reflect on what you want out of life. Reflect on what you value and what you can let go of. For me, I decided to give up on pumping. I did not want to miss a second of rounds; my learning was too important, and my baby was just fine with formula. My weekends are still spent preparing for shelf exams and practical exams. And my husband spends the bulk of his time caring for our daughter so that I can invest in my training. I have decided: I will not let having a baby make me any less of a practitioner. My future patients deserve my dedication. But just as importantly, I will not allow this career choice to forfeit my having a family.

***

Ultimately, being a mom-in-training has its challenges but is far from impossible.

Sometimes the Instagram doctor moms do a disservice by not highlighting the tribe that helps support their ambitions. Do not be ashamed to ask for help. For some reason, modern society has decided to place the bulk of childrearing on the shoulders of women; however, it was never meant to be a solitary pursuit.

Embrace your career, motherhood, and the support structure that enables it. Own it. And whatever you do, do not apologize.

Good luck!

Image credit: Mother with twins, 1999(CC BY 2.0)bySeattle Municipal Archives

Contributing Writer

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Marlise is a third year medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. Prior to medical school, she graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a master's degree in public affairs, with a focus on health policy. She also worked for several years on federal and state public policy. She enjoys podcasts, long stroller walks with her daughter and husband, and watching the "Great British Bake-Off" after a long day on the wards. She hopes to pursue a career in child neurology and advocacy.

Excerpt from:

Yes, It's Possible To Have a Baby In Medical School Here's How - Pager Publications, Inc.

Eli Kirshbaum | Dec 14, 2020

Californias growing racial and ethnic diversity is not reflected in the states medical workforce, according to a recent California Health Care Foundation press release. The release references a report, conducted by researchers at the University of California San Francisco, that shows a lack of diversity in Californias medical schools.

According to the report, this is likely due to lingering effects of Prop. 209. This proposition was passed in 1996 and prohibits California schools from considering race in their admissions process.

The report includes the following recommendations to improve equity:

This report offers recommendations for policymakers committed to increasing diversity in our medical school system, said Janet Coffman, MPP, PhD, professor of health policy at the Healthforce Center at UCSF. We should not think that without affirmative action, nothing can be done to allow our medical schools to look more like the rest of the state. There is plenty of evidence of what kinds of approaches work. And if we invest in proven strategies, we can achieve more.

Proposition 16 aimed to end the ban on racial considerations in the admissions process, but it was rejected by voters in November.

The report shows the proportion of Black and Latinx matriculants significantly decreased after Prop. 209s passage. Although matriculation rates of these populations have slightly increased since then, their representation in medical schools is still not reflective of their current share of the population.

The diversity of our states workforce is nowhere near where it needs to be, said Alicia Fernandez, MD, director of the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence.

According to the report, Californias Latinx population grew from 26 percent in 1990 to 39 percent in 2019. During the same period, the number of Latinx medical students only increased from 11 percent to 14 percent.

The report also highlights the negative impacts representation disparities have on health equity. Racial minorities in California are less likely to have a doctor who looks like them or who speaks their language.

The report points to successful efforts such as the UC PRIME program and the creation of the UC Riverside Medical school campus in 2013, which likely contributed to the rebound in representation after 1996.

The UC PRIME program increased the number of physicians who worked in underserved communities, the report says. There was a notable increase in Latinx and Black medical school enrollees after UC PRIMEs first program in 2004.

The UC Riverside medical school campus was established in 2013,according to the report. It prioritizes students who commit to providing care for underserved Californians.

Implementing more programs like these will help make Californias medical workforce more diverse, the report says. It also notes that private medical schools have particularly low representation levels.

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California's medical school diversity "nowhere near where it needs to be" - State of Reform - State of Reform

For medical school students, beyond the science of what they need to learn to become physicians, there is also learning how to interact with patients: what questions to ask to find out a problem and work to a solution; what physical exam to perform to spot any physical abnormalities; and what things a doctor can do to provide information and comfort to their patients.

In March 2020, all medical education became virtual across the country due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were pulled from clinical rotations, classes were mandated to be online so students, faculty, staff, and patients could remain safe. This sudden stop of in-person learning posed a tremendous challenge to medical schools across the country to keep the students on track for graduation without sacrificing the institutional goals and expectations of their graduates.

The need to transition to virtual presented complications for medical education, which is often very hands-on due to the nature of our students future careers, said Rick Vari, senior dean for academic affairs at theVirginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Our students learn best by doing through patient interactions, observing faculty and peers, practicing hands-on skills, and more. The entire faculty made mammoth shifts to try to reach the same educational outcomes virtually.

When VTCSOM switched to virtual classes in mid-March, one of the major challenges was figuring out how to properly and fairly administer exams. Assessment is a critical part of our students education, Vari said. Beyond knowing that they are learning what we think is important, they also have to pass national exams in order to continue their medical education path. So, it is critical that we assess them to give them the skills and confidence to successfully complete those required exams.

One challenge was figuring out how to move exams, normally administered at the school, to each students home environment realizing that the students were scattered across the country. The customized assessment service we use for exams in the first two years of the curriculum was not going to be an option, said Brock Mutcheson, assistant dean of assessment and program evaluation. They didnt have a secure platform to allow us to administer exams remotely.

Mutcheson explained, There were no other online options that would work for the content we were covering in our curriculum at that time, so we began blueprinting and developing our own institutional exams. We called on our local domain leaders, content experts, and block directors to put in a lot of extra effort.

Between March and June, the school administered almost 50 exams sessions remotely. You can imagine what it was like delivering exams to more than 40 people at a time in concurrent sessions across the country with a new secure testing platform and system, Mutcheson said. New guidelines required us to split into smaller testing groups which resulted in more sessions. I have to express my gratitude to Assessment Coordinator Caitlin Bassett, who stepped up, learned the new system, and took on extra proctoring, as well as the IT team who made extraordinary adjustments.

In addition to exams that can be measured through multiple choice or short written answers, medical students practice and are assessed on how they interact with patients and their physical exam skills using standardized patients, who are essentially patient actors the students can interact with in a safe environment. This proved more challenging in a virtual environment.

All Year 3 clerkship clinical skills exams were canceled at VTCSOM in March. However, one of the larger exams with standardized patients routinely is administered at the end of that year. It is a comprehensive exam wherein they rotate through 12 patient stations and showcase their ability to interview patients and perform proper physical exams.

The clinical assessment team began planning for this exam to shift to virtual. This was keeping in line with the virtual national exams that were being developed for a national licensing exam. In essence, students were still able to interview the patient in a similar way to an in-person experience, but they had to verbalize everything else they normally would have performed.

We developed a verbal physical exam checklist, said Heidi Lane, assistant dean for clinical skills assessment and education. In order to determine your diagnosis, if I was going to need to listen to your heart, I would verbalize something like, Im going to listen to your heart in four places. We had to develop that checklist and share with students so they would know what we would assess.

Tarin Schmidt-Dalton, associate dean for clinical science years 1-2, oversees the clinical science curriculum for first- and second-year students. The changes due to the pandemic came along fast in both the clinical setting where I see patients and also trying to adapt the medical school clinical skills curriculum without any previous experience to fall back on.

In March, the second-year students had already transitioned to research and prep for their first national exam, but first-year students were reaching a critical point in the clinical skills curriculum.

The first-years were in an extremely heavy, intensive physical exam portion of their studies, Schmidt-Dalton said. The block of study included probably the hardest physical exams for them to learn: the neurological exam and the head and neck exam. That was an added challenge. So, we looked at what could we potentially do remotely in a way that would still be effective? And it focused more on interviewing skills.

When we think of medicine, we look at physical exams as really being important, and they are. However, just as important, if not more so, is taking the patients history, said Allie Strauss, student and vice president of the class of 2023. Its about asking the right questions to unveil parts of the story that may be relevant for the diagnosis. I think a lot of our class was worried about falling behind in our clinical skills, but we got a lot of good practice in interviews virtually and are now working to catch up on physical exam skills.

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Medical School Keeps Students on Track By Switching to Virtual and Back - The Roanoke Star

Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is set to begin in Texas Dec. 14, according to the Department of State Health Services. UT Health Austin and Dell Medical School at the University of Texas will be among the first four facilities to receive the vaccine in the state. (Jack Flagler/Community Impact Newspaper)

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention have allocated 1.4 million initial doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech to Texas. Of those 1.4 million, the state has a plan to allocate more than 224,000 doses to 109 health care institutions the week of Dec. 14 for frontline health care workers. Eleven facilities in Central Texas are slated to receive a total of 16,575 doses in the initial shipment.

Facilities in the states four largest cities will be first to receive the vaccine Dec. 14, including UT Health Austin and Dell Medical School at the University of Texas, DSHS confirmed. The other three facilities receiving doses are Wellness 360 at UT Health San Antonio, the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

An additional 19 facilities are set to receive their first doses of the vaccine Dec. 15. The remaining 86 institutions tabbed to accept initial shipments would then receive their first doses later in the week. The full list of facilities to receive shipments Dec. 14 and Dec. 15, according to the state, is as follows:

Dec. 14:

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UT Health Austin and Dell Medical School among first facilities in Texas to receive COVID-19 vaccine - Community Impact Newspaper

DULUTH, MN -- While many are being asked to stay home because of the pandemic, others are headed to the front lines.

Medical schools across the country have seen a huge spike in applicants, including in Duluth.

Applications for the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus increased 77 percent this year.

3,422 people applied for the Duluth campus program, which can take 65 in this cohort.

At the University of Minnesota Medical School's Twin Cities campus, applications went up by 40 percent.

With the added attention on healthcare workers during the pandemic, some are calling this increase the Fauci Effect," in reference to infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Dr. Kendra Nordgren, Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus said the pandemic has created an opportunity for people to pivot from their former career to the medical field.

"Seeing physicians and health care workers is showing them the connection that they can have to community and patients in a way they aren't experiencing in whatever trajectory they're currently on," Nordgren said.

Shane Johannsen first applied to medical school two years ago but did not get accepted. He is currently a medical assistant and EMT.

Johannsen works closely with COVID-19 patients and sees the need caused by the pandemic.

"This is the time to do it," Johannsen said. "This is what I want to do, and I want to become a doctor."

Johannsen decided to reapply to medical school and, weeks ago, found out he had been accepted to the 2021 program.

Johannsen said he is not the only one applying.

"They see all over the media. They say, 'Hey, we need doctors, we need nurses, we need physicians' assistants, we need all these different aspects.' It really just lets people know this is the time to do it. This is when we need it the most," he said.

Nordgren said the attention on healthcare workers is also encouraging non-traditional students to apply.

"Seeing the work that's being put out there and recognized is helping drive this influx," she said.

While being on the frontlines is difficult work, Johannsen is ready to answer the call.

"This is where I belong," he said. "This is what I want to do, and I think a lot of people feel the same way."

Originally posted here:

Medical schools see spike in students inspired to apply by the pandemic - KBJR 6

Whether its preparing for residency interviews and the steps of training that extend beyond medical school or key exams that will take place in the spring and summer months, the second half of the academic year is rigorous for medical students.

The weeks of breaks during the holidays can represent some much-needed time to rejuvenate. Even during the pandemic, they may represent a time for students to get away from campusassuming they do so responsibly, by knowing which risks to avoid and following CDC recommendationsand focus on something other than study. For other students, breaks may represent a time to catch up.

Heres what academic faculty members at one prestigious medical school recommend to medical students about how to best spend their holiday time off.

Should you study?

How much time you devote to your studiesif anyduring winter break, may depend on where you are in your coursework and how you feel about your standing.

At Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, a member school of theAMA Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium, first-year students go on break in the middle of a course block, meaning they will complete that course upon returning from break. Other years typically go on break with their academic tasks wrapped up.

Thats always a big conundrum for Vanderbilts first-year students, said Beth Ann Yakes, MD, an associate professor of internal medicine at the Nashville medical school. I dont want to forget everything Ive learned over the past six weeks, so maybe I should study over the two-week winter break.

Other students are tired, Dr. Yakes added. They have been doing this since mid-July and need a break. What we tell first year students is that they have had their nose to the grindstone since mid-July. It is OK to take some time off and figure out whatever it is that you need to rest and rejuvenate but then come back ready to dive back in.

If you are feeling behind, a combination of rest and review might be in order.

We dont look at students and tell them to stay as far away from hospitals and clinics as possible, said Michael Fowler, MD, an associate professor of medicine in Vanderbilts diabetes division. A lot of times they will look at their weaker areas and study them.

Learn about eight ways to cut medical student burnout.

Try to avoid looking ahead

The second half of the academic year is going to bring key milestones from all medical students. That includes, perhaps most notably, studying for the With those exams usually coming at the end of second year, following a dedicated study period, we actively encourage our second years not to study for Step 1 over that winter break when they are M2s, Dr. Fowler said.

Wellness is individualized

Vanderbilt focuses on wellness throughout its four years of training. The holidays are no different.

Even for the two-week winter break, we have conversations in small group settings about what it means to recharge, Dr. Yakes said. Weve talked about things like mindfulness and reflective writing, reading outside of medicine. You can keep up your hobbies whether that [is] music or sports or art. We talk about binging on Netflix with friends and family and how that can be helpful.

We dont prescribe for them what it means to recharge. Thats up to students.

Learn about four keys to maintaining personal wellness during USMLE prep.

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How to make the most of holiday time off as a medical student - American Medical Association

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UT's Dell Medical School is expected to receive a shipment of about 3,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Monday. It will be the first health care institution in Central Texas to get the vaccine.

Beginning Tuesday, UT Health Austin the clinical practice of Dell Medical School will start administering the vaccine to 2,925 front-line health care workers. The university says it is deciding who gets priority based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which puts health care professionals and other high-risk groups at the front of the line.

2020-12-14_Vaccine_Arrival_B-roll.mp4

The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, with the second given about three weeks later. UT Dell Med says these workers will be receiving that initial dose. Another shipment of the vaccine will be sent later in January.

"It's a very big day," Dr. Amy Young, chief clinical officer at UT Health Austin, said. "This has brought a lot of hope, I think, to the providers, but I think to the community as well."

She called the vaccine distribution a "first step to getting us back closer to a normal life," but also urged people to continue wearing masks, social distancing and practicing good hygiene until herd immunity is achieved.

Dr. Mark Escott, Austin Public Health

Austin Public Health's interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott also said he was encouraged by this first delivery of vaccines to the Austin-area, but that doesn't mean people should let their guard down.

Illness and disease and death, right now, [are] like deaths that happen in the war when the peace is already being negotiated, he told KXAN Monday morning. We are negotiating the surrender of this virus through a vaccine; now is the time to be vigilant and not take risks.

As the number of cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in Austin-Travis County, Escott has warned the area could enter the highest level of risk stage 5 as early as this week. He says if that happens, he would recommend a curfew in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

He said the area could see a surge in cases several times worse than it did in June and July if people aren't careful.

But Escott said theres no question Travis County will get enough doses of the vaccine for everyone; it will just take time for those doses to be delivered. Right now, he said, the area needs about 200,000 doses to vaccinate individuals over 60, which could help the city and county avoid overloading the health care system.

But it will take a while to get 5-, 6-, 700,000 doses that we need to really feel comfortable, he said.

UT Health Austin is one of four sites in Texas receiving the vaccine Monday. The Texas Department of State Health Services said it is also sending vaccines to UT Health San Antonio, Methodist Dallas Medical Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The total number of doses across the four locations is 19,500.

Another 75,075 doses will arrive at 19 other sites Tuesday.

Nathan Bernier contributed to this report. This story has been updated.

Got a tip? Email Nadia Hamdan at nhamdan@kut.org. Follow her on Twitter @nadzhamz.

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it. Your gift pays for everything you find on KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.

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UT Austin's Dell Medical School Is The First Institution In Central Texas Receiving Shipment Of COVID-19 Vaccine - KUT

This article is part of Harvard Medical Schoolscontinuing coverageof medicine, biomedical research, medical education and policy related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the disease COVID-19.

Since thenovel coronavirusemerged at the end of 2019, scientists around the world, including immunologist Dan Barouch, The William Bosworth Castle Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, have been developing vaccines to protect against COVID-19 and to put an end to the pandemic.

As of November 2020, three pharmaceutical companies released early data showing high rates of protection in phase III human trials for their vaccines, but questions remain about how the body develops and maintains immunity after vaccination or infection.

Get more HMS news here

In a new paper in the journalNature, Barouch, director of theCenter for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess, and colleagues shed light on the role of antibodies and immune cells inprotectionagainst SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in rhesus macaques.

In this study, we define the role of antibodies versus T cells in protection against COVID-19 in monkeys. We reportthat a relatively low antibody titer [the concentration of antibodies in the blood] is needed for protection, said Barouch. Such knowledge willbe important inthe development of next-generation vaccines, antibody-based therapeutics and public health strategies for COVID-19.

Building on previous findings that SARS-CoV-2 infection protects rhesus monkeys from re-exposure, Barouch and colleagues purified and collected antibodies from animals that had recovered from infection.

They administered the antibodies at various concentrations to 12 uninfected macaques and observed that protection against SARS-CoV-2 challenge was dose-dependent.

Animals that received higher amounts of antibodies were protected more completely, while animals that received lower amounts of antibodies were less protected. Similarly, when the researchers administered various concentrations of the purified antibodies to six macaques with active SARS-CoV-2 infection, those given higher doses demonstrated more rapid viral control.

In a second set of experiments, Barouch and colleagues evaluated the role of specific immune cells, CD8+ T cells, in contributing to protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection by removing these cells from animals that had recovered from the virus. Removal of these immune cells left the animals vulnerable to infection after re-exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Our data define the role of antibodies and T cells in protection against COVID-19 in monkeys.Antibodies alone can protect, including at relatively low levels, but T cells are also helpful if antibody levels are insufficient, said Barouch, who is also a steering committee member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard.

Such correlates of protection are important given the recent successful vaccine results from human trials and the likelihood that these and other vaccines will become widely available in the spring. As a result, future vaccines may need to be licensed based on immune correlates rather than clinical efficacy.

Thework was supported by the Ragon Institute, Mark and Lisa Schwartz Foundation, Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (grant INV-006131), and National Institutes of Health (grants OD024917, AI129797, AI124377, AI128751, AI126603 and CA260476).

The authors declare no financial conflicts of interest. Barouch is a co-inventor on provisional SARS-CoV-2 vaccine patents (62/969,008; 62/994,630).

Adapted from a Beth Israel Deaconess news release.

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Degrees of Protection | Harvard Medical School - Harvard Medical School

NYU Langones Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has long been a leader in providing telepsychiatry to young patients and in research, education, and advocacy aimed at advancing the use of this modality to bring mental healthcare to underserved populations. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has accelerated these efforts on every level.

For more than a decade, NYU Langone has partnered with the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) to provide telepsychiatry services to several psychiatric facilities in rural upstate communities. The Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry also established a training clinic in pediatric telepsychiatry for NYU Langone residents and NYU Grossman School of Medicine students in partnership with the Rockland Childrens Psychiatric Center, an OMH-run institution in Orangeburg, New York. While preparing future practitioners, this clinic offers remote mental healthcare via school-based programs in Ulster and Sullivan Counties.

In 2017 Shabana Khan, MD, assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry and director of child and adolescent telepsychiatry, joined the faculty of the Child Study Center, part of Hassenfeld Childrens Hospital at NYU Langone, to promote the expansion of such services in the New York City area and beyond. Partnering with NYU Langone HospitalBrooklyn, the center launched telepsychiatry programs at two public schools in the largely low-income Sunset Park neighborhood, with the goal of reaching school-based mental health programs throughout the borough.

In addition, Dr. Khan collaborated with Sandra M. De Jong, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Telepsychiatry Committee to develop a nationally accessible online pediatric telepsychiatry curriculum for use by child psychiatry fellows, fellowship program directors, and faculty.

Since arriving at NYU Langone, Dr. Khanwho is co-chair of the AACAP Telepsychiatry Committeehas contributed to many efforts to inform state and federal policy, ranging from White House conferences on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid telemedicine coverage to discussions with Drug Enforcement Agency officials on regulations governing telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances.

When COVID-19 caseloads began mounting in March 2020, telepsychiatrys potential to solve a new problemproviding mental healthcare without exposing patients or providers to the risk of contagionquickly became apparent. Before the pandemic, legal, regulatory, and reimbursement hurdles often limited the legitimate practice of telemedicine. The rapidly rising rates of COVID-19 across the United States served as an impetus for flexibilities related to telehealth at the federal and state levels.

The Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry was well positioned to take advantage of these changes. Because we had that technology infrastructure and training already in place, we were able to rapidly transition to remote care throughout the NYU Langone Health network and at other sites where our faculty members practice, Dr. Khan explains.

From the Child Study Center outpatient practice to the upstate programs, most on-site visits were converted to telepsychiatry sessions conducted via smartphone, tablet, personal computer, or landline wherever both parties could access a connection. (Many college students, forced to return to their parents homes out of state, were thus able to receive uninterrupted care.) NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, which had not previously offered telepsychiatry, made the switch seamlessly under the leadership of director Alan D. Schlechter, MD, clinical associate professor of child and adolescent psychiatry.

Perhaps the most extensive transformation took place in the school-based programs overseen by Aaron O. Reliford, MD, clinical assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone HospitalBrooklyn, and associate medical director of the Behavioral Health ProgramFamily Health Centers at NYU Langone. As New York schools shifted to online-only classes, Dr. Reliford and the leadership team at the Sunset Terrace Family Health Center at NYU Langone succeeded in expanding telepsychiatry services from the original 2 sites to all 20 Brooklyn schools whose clinics are affiliated with the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone. All patient visits handled by these clinics would now be conducted remotely.

The transition entailed significant challenges, such as ensuring that families had appropriate Wi-Fi connectivity and devices to conduct the video visits, being creative in conducting play therapy sessions with younger children, and finding space in cramped apartments for patients to speak privately with therapists. We were able to work through such issues with the strength of our clinicians and the alliances we forged with parents, Dr. Reliford says, and the results were amazing. Patient volume soared and remained elevated even over summer vacation, when engagement typically dips. Meanwhile, show rates improved to more than 75 percent.

Telepsychiatry has enabled us to serve more students during the pandemic than wed done previously, Dr. Reliford notes. And connecting with children in their homes has allowed us to engage more children and families, with comparable quality of care.

Overall, the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has seen a more than 10-fold rise in telepsychiatry visits over the past year, from approximately 2,400 in fiscal 2019 to more than 30,000 in fiscal 2020an increase almost entirely attributable to COVID-19. In the process, thousands of children and their parents have discovered that telepsychiatry offers advantages beyond those associated with the pandemic. The feedback were hearing is overwhelmingly positive, says Dr. Khan. Patients and their families are thrilled with the convenience and accessibility. Theyre getting the same expert care they would normally receive, without having to leave home.

Members of the department are taking steps to ensure that widened access to telepsychiatry persists beyond the pandemic and that lessons learned during the crisis are incorporated into public policy and day-to-day care. Dr. Khan, for example, is helping AACAP and the American Psychiatric Association develop state and federal legislation that would permanently extend COVID-19inspired flexibilities in coverage. She is also working with AACAP to update best-practices guidelines for pediatric telepsychiatry and is leading NYU Grossman School of Medicines Telemedicine Task Force to build a telehealth curriculum for medical students. Dr. Reliford recently submitted a proposal to OMH that would enable NYU Langone to continue providing school-based telepsychiatry services to patients homes after the crisis recedes.

Research has shown for years that telepsychiatry produces very high satisfaction rates among both patients and clinicians and outcomes comparable to in-person care, but one of the biggest challenges was getting clinicians and patients to try it, Dr. Khan observes. Now that the pandemic has given them that opportunity, I believe theres no going back.

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The Pandemic Thrusts Telepsychiatry to the Fore | NYU Langone News - NYU Langone Health

This article is part of Harvard Medical Schoolscontinuing coverageof medicine, biomedical research, medical education and policy related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the disease COVID-19.

What does SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, do once it enters a persons airways, and how does infection in lung cells affect patients immune responses?

New research led by Harvard Medical School investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and published inNature Communicationsprovides insights that could help improve treatment strategies for infected patients.

Get more HMS news here

The findings suggest treatments that target viral replication, such as remdesivir, may be effective only in the early phase of infection, according to the study authors.

To analyze SARS-CoV-2 at the tissue level, the scientists examined autopsied material from 24 patients who died from complications of COVID-19.

The analyses revealed two phases of infection in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

The early phase is defined by high levels of virus in the lungs that trigger patients cells to express genes involved with the interferon pathway, a critical part of the immune response. In the later phase, virus is no longer present, but the damage to the lungs is too severe for recovery.

The interferon response to SARS-CoV-2 indicates that peoples immune systems are able to attack SARS-CoV-2, but the response is variable between patients and even in different parts of the lung of the same patient, making a one drug fits all therapy approach difficult, said co-corresponding author David Ting, HMS assistant professor of medicine and associate clinical director for innovation at the Mass General Cancer Center.

The team also found that there is surprisingly very little viral replication in the lungs, which suggests that the virus is mostly replicating in the nasal passages and then dropping into the lungs, where it can cause pneumonia and other complications.

It will be important to conduct additional autopsy analyses to better understand the extent and timing of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lungs and other tissues, which could lead to improved treatment strategies for patients with COVID-19, the authors said.

In the study, the team used a method called RNA in situ hybridization to visualize SARS-CoV-2 in human lung specimens.

This assay is now a clinical test being used at MGH to understand what tissues can be infected by the virus, Ting said.

Adapted from a Mass General news release.

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Two-phase Infection | Harvard Medical School - Harvard Medical School

The Texas A&M University Health Science Center Round Rock campus.

Texas A&M Health Science Center

TheTexas A&M University College of Medicine will grow the educational opportunities on its Round Rock campus by allowing students to once again choose it as the site of their clinical training.

Starting with the class of 2024, medical students at Texas A&M can choose Round Rock for their clinical training. All Texas A&M medical students complete their first 18 months of medical school in Bryan-College Station before moving to one of the colleges regional medical campuses in Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Houston or, now, Round Rock, for the remainder of their four years.

Developing our clinical partnerships in Round Rock-Austin is a critical element of the colleges growth strategy and allows us to continue increasing the size of our medical school class, said Dr. Amy Waer, interim dean of the College of Medicine. We look forward to exploring opportunities to further grow our presence in this dynamic metro area in the coming years.

The multi-campus model allows the college to expand its geographic reach and offers students opportunities in different cities with unique populations and health care landscapes.

We feel confident that in the coming semesters, we will be able to offer a full array of clerkships and electives in Round Rock, Waer said. Starting in the spring of 2021, we will offer pediatric and emergency medicine clerkships and a number of electives in all disciplines.

The current fourth-year students on the Round Rock campus will graduate in May 2021, and the medical school class of 2025 will have the option to begin their clinical rotations in January 2023.

See more here:

Texas A&M To Grow Medical Education In Round Rock, Surrounding Area - Texas A&M University Today

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A University of Pittsburgh cardiologist who faced backlash over an opinion piece he wrote criticizing affirmative action is suing his employers, the American Heart Association and the company that published and then retracted his article, alleging that he was demoted and defamed because his views were unpopular.

Dr. Norman C. Wang, who is a faculty member in Pitts School of Medicine and a doctor with University of Pittsburgh Physicians, was removed from his position as director of UPMCs clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellowship program in August days after his article was noticed by other cardiologists on Twitter.

Whats remarkable about this is that he was not punished for an inappropriate joke or an intemperate remark in the classroom, but for publishing a thoroughly researched article in a peer-reviewed journal, said Terry Pell, the president of the Center for Individual Rights, which is representing Wang in his suit.

This should concern anybody concerned about academics and free speech regardless of whether it challenges conventional thinking.

Wang filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court alleging that university officials retaliated against him for exercising his First Amendment rights. The complaint also includes claims for defamation, breach of contract, tortious interference and retaliation under Pennsylvanias Whistleblower Law.

Named defendants include the University of Pittsburgh; UPMC; University of Pittsburgh Physicians; the American Heart Association; Wiley Periodicals Inc., which publishes the Journal of the American Heart Association; Samir Saba, who is the chief of cardiology at the school of medicine and Wangs supervisor; Mark Gladwin, the chair of the department of medicine; Kathryn Berlacher, a professor in the cardiology division; Marc Simon, a cardiology professor and several people who are unnamed.

David Seldin, a spokesman for Pitt, said in a statement, We are aware of the complaint and will respond appropriately. The University of Pittsburgh took no improper action against Dr. Wang, and we remain fully committed to advancing the value of academic freedom.

Wang, who is an American citizen and ethnically Chinese, wrote an article called Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: Evolution of Race and Ethnicity Considerations for the Cardiology Workforce in the United States of America From 1969 to 2019, that was published by the Journal of the American Heart Association in March.

The article traced the history of the use of race and ethnicity relative to admission into medical school, residency programs and fellowships. Wang said in the article that the use of racial preference in bringing minorities into medical schools can put them at a disadvantage in the long term and concluded that it hasnt worked to diversity the medical profession.

None of that is controversial, Pell said. Its based on data. Its been written about before.

The article, Pell continued, was peer-reviewed and went through the journals traditional process. It was published in March, but didnt become a hot-button topic until months later.

At a July 31 meeting, Wang told Saba and Berlacher that the School of Medicines selection process violated federal law because of the preferences used for selecting and favoring some applicants over others based on race and ethnicity.

Shortly thereafter, the lawsuit said, Saba removed Wang from his role as director of the clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellowship program. In addition, the lawsuit claims that a few days later, after the tweet storm began, that Wang also was forbidden from having contact with any people in UPMC fellowship programs or with residents or students in the medical school.

Colleagues and other took to Twitter to criticize both Wang and the Journal of the American Heart Association and its editors for allowing his article to be published.

Among those offering opinions were Dr. Robert Harrington, a past president of the American Heart Association, as well as Dr. Sharonne Hayes, the Mayo Clinics director of diversity and inclusion, who wrote: Rise up, colleagues! The fact that this is published in our journal should both enrage & activate all of us. She included #BeAntiracist.

At the same time, the lawsuit said, several unidentified Pitt Medicine or UPMC employees began a systematic attack campaign against Wangs article, alleging it contained miscitations and misquotations.

They called on the American Heart Association and Wiley to retract it, which they did, without providing Wang any evidence of the wrongdoing or errors it contained, the lawsuit alleged. The article can still be viewed online with the words retracted article in bold on every page.

On Aug. 3, the journal editor Barry London issued a statement saying that the article does not reflect in any way my views, the views of the JAHA Editorial Board, or the views of the American Heart Association. We condemn discrimination and racism in all forms.

In a statement announcing the retraction, the AHA wrote: The authors institution, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), has notified the Editor-in-Chief that the article contains many misconceptions and misquotes and that together those inaccuracies, misstatements, and selective misreading of source materials strip the paper of its scientific validity.

In another statement the following day, they wrote that the views expressed in the article are a misrepresentation of the facts and are contrary to our organizations core values and historic commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in medicine and science.

The American Heart Association claimed Wangs article was inaccurate and wrote that it can and will do better, the lawsuit said.

Wang claims in his lawsuit that the statements made by University of Pittsburgh employees were false and that the American Heart Association published them with malice and reckless disregard for the truth.

He contends that they damaged his reputation in both medicine and in academics.

Pell said that no one has been able to show Wang any evidence that his article misquoted or misstated anything.

It was a serious, researched article and shouldnt have been lumped into anti-black speech and silenced, Pell said. The fact is, Wang supports education diversity.

In the conclusion of his now retracted article, Wang quoted a previous article in the New England Journal of Medicine: We will have succeeded when we no longer think we require black doctors for black patients, Chicano doctors for Chicano patients, or gay doctors for gay patients, but rather good doctors for all patients. Evolution to strategies that are neutral to race and ethnicity is essential. Ultimately, all who aspire to a profession in medicine and cardiology must be assessed as individuals on the basis of their personal merits, not their racial and ethnic identities.

Pell said that what happened to Wang is part of cancel culture.

University officials, unfortunately, caved from the pressure of these tweets without looking at the article or the claims in it, he said.

As the tweet storm continued, Pell said, the university ratcheted up its discipline to appease the people who were criticizing it.

In our view, the job of a university is to protect its researchers and faculty members from anti-intellectual mobs, Pell said. Instead, university officials joined in the mob attack and simply silenced him.

Separately, on Oct. 7, the U.S. Department of Education sent a 13-page letter to University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher in which it said officials were aware of facts suggesting the university improperly targeted Wang with a campaign of denunciation and cancellation because of the article.

The letter informed Gallagher the department was opening a civil investigation regarding previous non-discrimination assurances the university executed, which allowed it to spend $1.6 billion in Title IV funds from fiscal year 2015 to 2020.

On Oct. 27, a vice provost and dean of the School of Medicine rescinded the order precluding Wang from having contact with medical students. However, the rest of the prohibitions remain in place, the lawsuit said.

Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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Pitt cardiologist sues school after backlash to his article on affirmative action - TribLIVE

In early June, Columbia University Irving Medical Center held a vigil featuring nine minutes of silenceone for each minute that George Floyds life ebbed as a police officer kneeled on his neck in Minneapolis. The employees who gathered in front of university and hospital buildingsand others who paused in their work across campus or at their remote work locationsto stand or kneel were joining forces with tens of thousands of protesters who peacefully assembled across the United States and around the world to call for police reform and an end to systemic racism.

Like medical schools everywhere, VP&S felt the weight of respondingacknowledging the role of structural racism in health disparities and in patient care, education, research, and work- place environments. In the months since, VP&S and other medical schools have worked to find solutions unique to their missions: augmenting a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, staff, and patients; conducting research that improves health care; combating health disparities; expanding community programs; and strengthening education and training. A task force with multiple working groups across Columbia University Irving Medical Center was formed in the summer.

The institutional reflection sparked by the summer protests coincided with the greatest public health crisis in modern history and heightened white Americans awareness of race-based health disparities. As COVID-19 affected Black Americans at more than twice the rate of white Americans, the social faults that give rise to disparities stood out in stark relief. Suddenly, the deaths of Black Americanseither at the hands of police or through a virus no one knew existed a few months earliercollided, and for many protesters, the hazard of coronavirus infection paled in comparison to the brutal consequences of systemic racism. As a Black physician, wrote emergency medicine physician Steven McDonald, MD, in a New York Times opinion piece, I understand that the protests are the necessary medicine for both ills.

The statistics of illness and death from the pandemic make clear that the virus and racial injustice are interwoven into the fabric of this part of our history, says Anil K. Rustgi, MD, now interim EVP and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine. Just as we have learned much about COVID-19 this year, we also have acknowledged that we are in a unique position to have an impact on health care disparities. We can work toward health equality by examining the education of health care professionals, the way we care for patients, and how our research can improve health outcomes.

At VP&S, 13% of students in the entering Class of 2024 are Black (an additional 9% are Latino with a combined total of 22% for underrepresented students, above the national average), compared with 7% nationally. (Slightly more than 5% of all U.S. physicians are Black.)

Students are actively involved in the work toward change. Our VP&S students, led by our Black student leaders, brown students, and white allies and supported by faculty and administration, have catalyzed a process for effecting long overdue change, says Lisa Mellman, MD, interim co-vice dean for education. We are proud of our students, united in our commitment, and grateful to collaborate across the school, the campus, and with the community.

Adds Jonathan Amiel, MD, interim co-vice dean for education: Our responsibility to improving health care for all begins here at VP&S. We must enhance equity and justice within our own academic medical center and ensure that our training programs equip health care providers to advocate for equity and justice in their work. Our staff and faculty share this commitment with our students and are already hard at work moving ahead with curricular innovations.

As VP&S redoublesits efforts to promote racial justice, a few Black medical students and physicians at VP&SHilda Hutcherson, MD, Steven McDonald, MD'14,Taiwo Peter Alonge21,Ogoegbunam Brian Okolo23, andKeyanna Jackson23shared their thoughts on navigating this historical momentwhat one calls a perfect storm.

When Hutcherson arrived at VP&S, she became the first Black woman resident in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Those early days were really difficult because there were so few Black people among the residents or faculty; it was very isolating. Discussions about race, racism, equity, and inclusion didnt take place. As a minority physician, you learned to put your head down and forge ahead.

In the years that Hutcherson has led the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, the representation of students underrepresented in medicine has increased. For more than 10 years, Black, Hispanic, and Native American students have ranged from 20% to 24% of each entering class. Increasing the diversity of the health care workforce is an important first step to decrease health disparities in minority communities.

The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd and other African Americans by police caused us all to look squarely in the face of racism in our society and how our institution may have contributed to this social ill. As an adviser for students of color, I have heard, firsthand, the pain and anguish of implicit bias and racism. We are working hard to extinguish systemic racism at our institution and the community at large.

Structural change often comes slowly, says Hutcherson, and depends on the synergy of collective action and strong leadership. You need a critical mass of people getting togetherwhere all of us, putting our energy together, say The status quo is no longer acceptable. There is a need for change. And you have to have a leader who says, This is important, who takes those recommendations and makes them happen. I am confident that our current leadership, with Dean Rustgi at the helm, will make lasting systemic change that will make VP&S a place where everyone feels comfortable and supported.

As the son of a physician and a nursing school dean, Steven McDonald, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine, has long believed that working in medicine was a way to be on the good side of injustice. He was running the Boston Marathon in 2013, the year a bomb went off at the finish line. He rushed to the scene to help. I wasnt needed, says McDonald, but that experience made me wish I knew a bit of emergency practice, so I went back and did a round of emergency medicine.

The training altered his professional trajectory; today in addition to teaching at VP&S, he treats patients in three New York City emergency departments. Emergency medicine is social justicea majority of the patients we serve are Black and Latinx, he says. People who are left disenfranchised by the system are ultimately cared for by emergency medicine.

Since the pandemic began, McDonald has expanded his focus. As COVID started to ramp up, I felt that I needed to amplify my voice as much as possible to communicate what I was seeing. He began speaking to the press about the intersection of his experiences as a Black man and a doctor and penned opinion pieces for the New York Times and Atlantic magazine.

At protests, McDonald has noticed more of his non-Black colleagues present, including hisformer educators. Theres been a real societal shift since the death of George Floyd, he notes. I cant tell you why it took his death over Trayvon Martins or Michael Browns, but theres a real change in public support for the Black Lives Matter movement. To the extent that medicine is lifelong learning, my white peers are seeing that it includes learning about anti-racism.

When fifth-year medical student Taiwo Alonge becomes a doctor, he plans to serve Black and brown communities. When Trayvon Martin was murdered while I was in high school, I knew that if I was going to be a doctor, I needed to serve people who looked like me, he says.

Since then, he has worked to understand our current health care system, especially the disparities between communities of color and white communities. Studying both medicine and public health (in the Mailman School MPH program) has allowed him to understand how to treat issues that plague Black and brown communities, while also working to find solutions that promote preventive care. Oftentimes, issues like hypertension and diabetes add up in patients,he explains. But if we could treat those smaller things before they get too big, we can make health care better and our patients healthier. To me, thats a doctors job.

Alonge says much of the work it takes to truly understand health disparities starts when students enter medical school. For a long time, he was skeptical whether the changes he wanted to see in his field would happen.

I think every medical institution is trying to figure out how to have these conversations, especially now. Theres this feeling that something has to shift, he says. But if students are going to be involved in lecture conversations about race, potentially re-traumatizing themselves to try and educate other people, there needs to be some sort of compensation. Because of what weve seen happen with George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDadeon top of being forced to stay inside for three monthsfuture doctors will have the opportunity to learn about systemic racism in their coursework. I hate that it took this awful perfect storm for it to happen, but this change could dramatically impact what its like to be a person of color in America, even outside of medicine.

When asked what it feels like to be Black in his program at Columbia, Okolo recounts a particular struggle at the intersection of his racial and professional identity. It is truly a privilege to be at Columbia, but as one of a few Black med students here, Im continuously reminded of the exclusivity associated with highly academic spaces, he says.

Born into a Nigerian immigrant family, Okolo aspires to uplift and advocate for Black and brown communities as a health care provider. Okolo chose to study at VP&S because of the sense of support he felt when visiting, especially within the BALSO (Black and Latino Student Organization) community. It is hard to imagine navigating medical school without the support of BALSO. It has been particularly valuable to me now, amidst the widespread anti-Black racism that we continue to face.

When he first heard about the murder of George Floyd, the news sat with him in a way he knew it did not for his white peers. The weight of realizing that could be me, and having to grapple with that realitywhile trying to study for an exam to maintain my status as a medical student, was something I was really struggling with, he recalls. The very next day, I had to go to class as if everything was normal. It was difficult for me to balance my identity as a Black student and a med student in a space where the guise of professionalism leaves little room for these important conversations to happen. It is vital for medical institutions to critically examine the practices that contribute to racial injustice that has been invisibilized for far too long.

Keyanna Jackson grew up in Wilson, North Carolina, a small town where local medical care was substandard. Her family drove to a hospital 30 minutes away, one with a better reputation. But that didnt always mean better care. My grandfather had an older white doctor who was dismissive, she explains. He had hypertension and the doctor would speak about it as if it were normal.

Eventually the family switched doctors. The new doctor, a woman, was attentive, explained complex issues, and even allowed Jackson to shadow her throughout high school. Having a woman pour so much into me and my family allowed me to see what was possible, says Jackson.

At VP&S, Jackson facilitates mutual support among fellow Black medical students. As president of the Black and Latino Student Organization (BALSO), the Columbia chapter of the Student National Medical Association, and the Latino Medical Student Association, she works to connect her peers and faculty to one another for academic support and mentorship. BALSO also partners with local schools to encourage children to pursue a career in medicine.

Yet Jackson laments that more robust structures were not already in place through VP&S to facilitate this work. There needs to be a better understanding of what the invisible labor looks like for Black faculty and students to show up as mentors, or explain health disparities in our communities to our white peers, she says. It can be hard to navigate white spaces, or sit in class and hear about how certain diseases affect my community without much context or explanation on why that might be.

In recent years, VP&S has revamped its curriculum to include more anti-racist content. Jackson says thats a start, and she would like to see more done within the curriculum to ensure that Black students alone are not forced to explain anti-racist concepts to their non-Black peers in discussions of race and medicine. People can do the reading and take what they want from it. There should be opportunities to have these types of conversations about race, she says. Maybe tap on those outside of the medical field to facilitate this. Students have been asking for it.

This article was originally published in the 2020 VP&S Annual Report.

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At a Crossroads: Medicine and the Movement - Columbia University Irving Medical Center

University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann today announced that the term of J. Larry Jameson as executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of Penns Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) has been extended until June 30, 2025.

As we continue confronting a global pandemic and envisioning our future as a University and a society, Larrys leadership of Penn Medicine and the Perelman School coupled with his consummate university citizenship are universally praised and admired, Gutmann said. He has done a superb job in leading our integrated academic medical center in its tripartite mission of education, research and clinical care.

In deciding to extend Jamesons term, Gutmann consulted with leaders across the University, including the elected chairs of the Perelman School of Medicine and Penn faculty senates, the basic science and clinical department chairs in PSOM, the senior leadership teams at both PSOM and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, senior officers of the University and the executive committees of both the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees and the Universitys Board of Trustees.

Among the many markers of Jamesons service as executive vice president and dean that Gutmann cited are the growth in both quality and diversity of PSOMs faculty, staff and students; the strength of both educational and research programs; strong financial performance and fundraising; improvements to facilities and infrastructure; and important and measured growth of the health system. Gutmann also specifically lauded Jamesons efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion across Penn Medicine and the University.

Penn Provost Wendell Pritchett praised Jamesons accomplishments as dean: Larry has done an exceptional job leading the Perelman School of Medicine. He is deeply committed to the success of our students, and he has been tireless in working across the University to ensure a synergy in all that we do in the health fields.

We are supremely confident that Larry Jameson will continue to lead Penn Medicine to new and impressive heights, working with a spectacularly talented, dedicated, and collaborative team, Gutmann concluded. Larry will continue to be a major contributor to the senior Penn leadership at Penn. Under his tireless and value-based leadership, Penn Medicine will continue to thrive as a national and international model for the performance, potential and promise of an integrated and aligned medical school, academic medical center and health system.

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Jameson's term extended as head of Penn Health System and Perelman School of Medicine - Penn Today

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nevada's largest school of medicine and the state's only school of osteopathic medicine, has announced that its Class of 2021 achieved an impressive 99.2 percent average COMLEX-USA Level 1 first-time pass rate the highest of any osteopathic medical school in the nation. Similarly, the Class of 2021 currently has a 100 percent success rate in the COMLEX-USA Level 2CE examination and again is on track to being top in the nation. The Class of 2022 has also achieved an impressive pass rate of 98.3 percent on Level 1, with the national average for COMLEX Level 1 (2020 results so far) being 94.6 percent. Currently, there are 37 schools of osteopathic medicine nationwide.

"I am proud of everyone who studied and worked hard to achieve this accomplishment, which is a true demonstration of our students' commitment and enthusiasm to excel in their studies and continue on their paths to become esteemed doctors," said Wolfgang G.Gilliar, DO, FAAPMR and Dean, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Touro University Nevada. "Not only did these students pass the COMLEX exam, they placed first among all osteopathic medical students across the U.S. or are right at the top in both classes. I can't wait to see our students go on to do remarkable things, especially here in Southern Nevada where we hope they will serve as well as throughout the entire region and beyond."

The COMLEX-USA Level 1 is a licensing exam given to osteopathic medical students between second and third year to demonstrate competence in the areas of foundational biomedical sciences, osteopathic principles and related physician competency domains for osteopathic medical care of patients. Passing the exam is required to enter supervised patient care settings and to continue lifelong learning. THE COMLEX-USA Level 2 CE is administered during the students' clinical years, typically at the end of year three or the beginning of year four of their osteopathic medical school training.

ABOUT TOURO UNIVERSITY NEVADATouro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUNCOM) is Nevada's largest school of medicine, the state's only school of osteopathic medicine, fully accredited, and a private, non-profit, Jewish-sponsored institution. Opened in 2004, Touro University was established to help address critical needs in health care and education and as a resource for community service throughout the state. Touro is now home to nearly 1,500 students, in a wide variety of degree programs including osteopathic medicine, physician assistant studies, education, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and medical health sciences. The university's Henderson campus includes a multi-specialty health center and a multi-disciplinary Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. For more information on Touro, visit http://www.tun.touro.eduor call 702-777-8687.

SOURCE Touro University Nevada

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Touro University Nevada's College of Osteopathic Medicine Class of 2021 Achieves the Highest COMLEX Exam Pass Rate in the Country - PRNewswire

Experts with Houston Fights Covid are answering your questions about a new COVID-19 vaccine.

Watch our Facebook Live, Thursday December 3 at 5pm on ABC13's Facebook page. Have a question for the #HoustonFightsCOVID experts? Submit them below and the experts might answer your question live!

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Dr. Fragoso moved to San Antonio where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from St. Mary's University with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. She then went on to obtain her medical degree from UTHSC - Houston Medical School (now known as McGovern Medical School at UT Health). Following medical school, she completed her residency through a program known today as Houston Methodist Family Medicine Residency.

Initially in private practice, Dr. Fragoso went on to work as a clinician and associate professor for UT Physicians and later practiced as a visiting physician. She says it was a great experience because she would care for homebound and disabled patients. Her longtime mentor, the founder of the Texas Center for Drug Development, Dr. James Mitchell, led her to clinical research where she says she was inspired by his passion for science and patient care. Today Dr. Fragoso is serving as Principal Investigator of several COVID vaccine trials at TCDD. In her role, she supervises the clinical research and ensures the protection of participants' rights, safety and welfare.

Speaker: Christene Kimmel, Moderna COVID Vaccine Trial Participant Christene Kimmel, a wife, mother and employee at the Baker Institute at Rice University, was the first participant in the Moderna Phase 3 trial at TCDD in Houston. Christine said, "The inspiration for my participation in the Moderna Phase 3 Vaccine Trial comes from needing to help and wanting to 'make a difference' - as the mosaic reads on the back of the Baker Institute at Rice. I, like other Houstonians, have wanted to help from the start of the pandemic. Houstonians pride ourselves on our crisis response, we are a culture of helpers. I was struggling with where and how I could help. Putting my arm out in order to receive the vaccine, helps Houston and the world get one step closer to a day where we can all safely hug each other again."

Through their partnerships with preeminent global pharmaceutical partners, they're bringing opportunities to the community to participate in cutting-edge research, under the careful medical supervision of local physicians. The research organizations are proud of their Houston roots, with over a decade and a half serving the community and their leadership in the industry. Earlier this year, they were nominated by the World Vaccine Congress for the Best Clinical Trial Site Award. Over the years, the team, with the support of thousands of Houstonian participants, has played a key part in vaccine trials to help protect Americans against threats from Ebola and Anthrax to Pneumonia and the flu.

The fight against COVID is certainly the most important of our time. Houstonians have stepped up to the cause in record numbers. About 1400 have already received the study vaccines. But we still have a long way to go and need your help.

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Hear what the experts from Houston Fights COVID have to say about a new vaccine - KTRK-TV