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What makes for the best premed school? 4 key considerations – American Medical Association

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Danzig

Is there an ideal educational destination to prepare you for medical school? If there is, its going to depend on a number of individualized factors, according to one expert who has been working in the field for more than four decades.

According to Robert Cannon, PhD, professor emeritus in the biology department at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) who has advised prospective medical students for 40-plus years, there are two common metrics that any medical school applicant who attends any undergraduate institution will apply with: scores on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and a grade-point average (GPA).

Beyond that, he said, medical schools are looking for people who know why they want to be doctors and, more importantly, have done things to prove it. That includes hands-on patients care, in-depth health-related or other sorts of volunteerism, and some physician shadowing.

Much of the criteria Cannon lays out can be gained through most undergraduate institutions. Still, there are a few factors he pointed to that may make some colleges better for premeds.

Just about any accredited, brick-and-mortar university is going to give students a path to get their medical school prerequisites. For those who have fears that smaller liberal arts colleges may be viewed differently by admissions officers, Cannon said not to fret.

You could look at those schools as schools of both liberal arts and sciences, he said.

In terms of the size of a university: Its possible that a big university that has a lot more majors might give a student more choices. The issue there is, can a student who is in a nonscience major fit the premed prerequisites in their course schedule? The prerequisites may be taken as electives outside your major. At my university, for example, to be a music performance majorit takes extraordinary time and effort. Can a student fit in the premed requirement in addition to the major requirements? It would be hard.

GPA is among the most heavily weighted factors in the medical school admissions process. The mystery of that number comes in terms of how GPAs are weighted depending on the perceived prestige of where they were earned.

Medical school admissions committees, Cannon said, may be prone to judging applicants based on preconceptions about the competitiveness of a given college or university based on previous experiences with applicants from those colleges and universities.

College such as the Ivies, private university with medical schools, and large state universities that have research missionsthese are elite college and universities that accept students with high [high school] GPAs and high standardized test scores, Cannon said. Applicants from these schools may be favored over students who come from universities that arent quite as elite.

Cannon is leery of undergraduate institutions that tout the number of graduates who move on to medical schools. Instead of looking at that numberwhich the majority of institutions dont publicize in any casehe advised looking at the support programs a school has that let students find the right volunteer opportunities and help to make them more competitive medical school applicants.

These days, all colleges and universities know that they have to do more than just deal with students in the classroom, he said. The key is the whole experience.

Universities have student-services offices related to community service and leadership. Cannon cautioned that students should demonstrate a commitment to the kinds of activities that would translate to a career in health care.

Its not that you had 18 different volunteer experiences, he said. Medical school admission deans arent looking for dabblers. They are looking for people who really showed depth of commitment to serving others who are often different from themselves.

Getting into medical school isnt easy. Undergraduate institutions that offer some assistance, typically in the form of an experienced prehealth adviser or a prehealth advising office, can help students reach that goal.

A school that has experienced health professions advisersthat would be a good school to think about going to, Cannon said.

Those opportunities may be more readily available at a college with larger enrollment.

Some larger universities have decided to put premedical/health professions advising into their career centers, Cannon said. They are often staffing these offices with individuals who arent necessarily academics. Their full-time jobs are to do everything they can to help students prepare for their post-college health careers.

Bill Gates daughter Jennifer engaged to fellow Stanford alum – East Bay Times

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Danzig

MADRID, SPAIN MAY 17: Jennifer Gates and Nayel Nassar during Madrid-Longines Champions, the International Global Champions Tour at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid on May 17, 2019 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Samuel de Roman/Getty Images)

(CNN) Bill Gates daughter Jennifer Gates has announced her engagement.

The Microsoft founders eldest child shared a photo on her Instagram account Wednesday revealing that she had accepted the proposal of Nayel Nassar.

Nassar, 28, is a professional equestrian with the Paris Panthers, the team that Jennifer Gates manages and also rides for. Born in Chicago, he competes under the flag of his parents homeland, Egypt, and he helped that nation qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Both Gates and Nassar attended Stanford University. She graduated in 2018, he in 2013.

Nayel Nassar, you are one of a kind. Absolutely swept me off my feet this past weekend, surprising me in the most meaningful location over one of our many shared passions, Gates, 23, wrote alongside a photo of the pair sitting on snow.

She added that she cant wait to spend the rest of our lives learning, growing, laughing and loving together.

Gates told CNNs EQ equestrian show last year: Horses are just one part of our life, but we love the sport.

Hes a professional, and I do this as an amateur. So, to be able to share our love and passion for horses with each other is just incredible.

In an interview last summer with CNN Sports, Gates said she will go on to medical school after taking some time off for the equestrian tour.

Gates said she planned to attend the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. The New York Post reported that her parents bought a $5 million condo on Fifth Avenue adjacent to the campus.

In October, Nassar helped Egypt qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games by winning the CSIO4*-W Nations Cup of Rabat. The feat led to the countrys first Olympic qualification for the sport in 60 years.

Nassar also posted two other photos of the wintry proposal on his own Instagram account Wednesday, writing: SHE SAID YES!!

Im feeling like the luckiest (and happiest) man in the world right about now, he captioned his pictures with his wife-to-be.

Jenn, you are everything I could have possibly imagined and so much more. I cant wait to keep growing together through this journey called life, and I simply cant imagine mine without you anymore.

While Bill Gates has yet to release a statement on his daughters pending nuptials, his wife, Melinda, shared their daughters post on her Instagram story and said she is thrilled for the couple.

Bill and Melinda Gates have two other children: Rory, 20, attends the University of Chicago, and Phoebe, 17, is a high school junior with an interest in dance.

More Medical Students Are Disclosing Their Disabilities, and Schools Are Responding, Study Finds – Michigan Medicine

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Danzig

Meeks and her colleagues, including senior author Bonnielin K. Swenor, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Johns Hopkins Universitys Wilmer Eye Institute, note that their results arent necessarily representative of all medical schools, because of lower participation in the survey by schools in the south and the studys focus on allopathic schools.

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However, the schools that participated represent more than 41,000 medical students in 2018.

Doctors with disabilities have a valuable perspective that can uniquely drive scientific innovation and improve patient care," says Swenor. "While our results signal a promising increase in representation of persons with disabilities in medicine, further work is needed to determine if representation translates to inclusion, which is critical to achieving diversity in medicine."

The new study comes at a time of increased attention to the issue of disability and health among medical trainees.

The AAMC is committed to working with leaders at the nations medical schools and teaching hospitals to shape the culture, establishing accountability and allocating necessary resources to enhance access and inclusion for individuals with disabilities, said Geoffrey Young, Ph.D., senior director of student affairs and programs at the AAMC.

The 2018 report, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians With Disabilities, served as the first comprehensive examination of the experiences of medical learners with disabilities and gave a voice to medical students, residents and physicians with physical, psychological, sensory, learning or chronic health disabilities, he says. Since the publication of this report, we have begun collecting data on the percentage of students who self-identify as having a disability and whether they requested and received accommodations. We are using this data to provide enhanced support to students.

Meeks own institution has made a commitment to accommodating admitted students with disabilities.

SEE ALSO: A Seat at the Table: Why U-Ms Medical School Wants More Students with Disabilities

At Michigan, we are committed to a more inclusive learning environment in the fullest sense of the word, says Rajesh Mangrulkar, M.D., the associate dean for medical student education at the U-M Medical School. The crucial, ongoing research that Dr. Meeks and her team are doing show that we are beginning to move the needle on understanding the lived experience for our medical students who have both apparent and non-apparent disabilities. And while we are making progress, far more work is required for us to build the culture for these students to thrive and develop; all for the betterment of their future patients.

"Students with disabilities who have been admitted to medical school have already shown academic excellence to a significant enough extent to make them attractive candidates for admission," adds Steven Gay, M.D., M.S., assistant dean for admissions at the U-M Medical School. "A better understanding of their needs and potential accommodations they may require works to not only to insure their success, but to insure better healthcare to all of the diverse populations we hope to serve."

The authors are already conducting further research that will go beyond documenting the current rates of disability disclosure and accommodation. Theyre seeking to better understand issues such as the career trajectories and experiences of medical students with disabilities, and the potential benefit to patients of having a doctor who has a disability.

In addition to Meeks and Swenor, the papers authors include Ben Case, M.P.H., and Melissa Plegue, M.A., of U-M, and Kurt Herzer, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., of Johns Hopkins.

Paper cited: Change in Prevalence of Disabilities and Accommodation Practices Among US Medical Schools, 2016 vs 2019, JAMA. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2019.15372

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More Medical Students Are Disclosing Their Disabilities, and Schools Are Responding, Study Finds - Michigan Medicine

Awareness of Physician Burnout Has Peaked, But What Is the Next Step In Addressing It? – Medical Bag

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Danzig

When the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) released its comprehensive report in October, Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout, an estimated 40% to 54% of US physicians reported experiencing burnout.1 In light of this, burnout is increasingly being recognized as a crisis in healthcare.1-5

The NAM report found that physicians in private practice are at significantly higher risk for burnout (almost 30% greater) than physicians in university-based settings, and physicians in specialties with high patient contact such as medicine, family medicine, general internal medicine, and neurology reported higher rates of burnout than other disciplines.1

Burnout is thought to be the direct result of occupational demands that consistently outweigh the physical, mental, and psychological abilities of individuals suffering from it. While the problem has been well documented and studied since the 1990s, the scope of burnout has only increased over the past decade.1-4

Categories of Symptoms

The Maslach Burnout Inventories, the most common tool used to assess burnout, identifies 3 main categories of symptoms associated with occupational stress.1-4:

Other descriptions have attempted to capture the distress of burnout. A 2017 review by DeCaporale-Ryan defined it as the emotional manifestation of a profound mismatch between high expectations for ones future and the reality of daily life.5

Burnout can occur in all phases of a physicians career, from medical school to advanced practice.3 The consequences often extend to physicians personal relationships and can compromise their desire and ability to perform job functions, which can lead them to consider leaving their jobs and even the medical profession.1,2,4 In a 2017 study of 1289 physicians, a sense of calling was strongly associated with a high perception of meaning in life.6 Another study found that physicians with burnout were less likely to identify medicine as their calling.7

Factors Contributing to Burnout

The literature shows that the issues contributing to burnout are institutional and systemic, including excessive workloads, insufficient staffing, procedural inefficiencies, poor leadership culture, and lack of support for physicians contributions and individual needs. These large-scale issues have a negative impact on physician satisfaction with their work and impede their ability to effectively perform their jobs.

Numerous occupational stressors have also been identified1-4:

Lack of Autonomy

Recent studies have pointed to high degrees of oversight by regulatory agencies and healthcare organizations and the restrictions posed by insurance companies as major contributors to physician burnout.2,4 Fred and Scheid observed that physicians may feel constrained in their decision-making abilities regarding time spent with patients, tests ordered, and treatment choices.2

Interrupted Workflow1,2

Time Management Challenges1,2

Electronic Health Record

The requirement to maintain electronic health records (EHR) has been cited in the literature as a major stressor that affects all 3 Medicare Administrator Contractor Satisfaction Indicator (MSI) domains by depersonalizing the physician-patient interaction, extending the administrative functions physicians perform, and shifting the focus from the patient to the task.1,2 The NAM report stated that clinicians view administrative tasks as less meaningful work, and incomplete mastery of the system extends the time required to perform EHR tasks, which can increase frustration at work.1

Conclusion

Awareness of physician burnout has peaked in the past few years with many new investigations exploring its underlying systemic causes. However, while interest in burnout research has increased, changes to the way in which physicians practice are slow in coming. Until the culture of medicine begins to shift, clinicians will continue to be exposed to situations that set the stage for individual burnout.

References

1. Taking action against clinician burnout: a systems approach to professional well-being. National Academy of Medicine, 2019. http://nap.edu/25521. Accessed 10/30/19.

2. Fred HL, Scheid MS. Physician burnout: causes, consequences, and (?) cures. Tex Heart Inst J. 2018;45(4):198-202.

3. Dyrbye LN, Varkey P, Boone Sonja L, et al. Physician satisfaction and burnout at different career stages. Mayo Clin Proc. 2013;88(12):1358-1367.

4. West CP, Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD. Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions. J Intern Med. 2018;283:516-529.

5. DeCaporale-Ryan L, Sakran JV, Grant MBE, et al. The undiagnosed pandemic: Burnout and depression within the surgical community. Curr Prob Surg. 2017;54:453-502.

Tak HJ, Curlin FA, Yoon JD. Association of intrinsic motivating factors and markers of physician well-being: a national physician survey. J Gen Intern Med. 2017;32(7):739-746.

Jager AJ, Tutty MA, Kao AC. Association between physician burnout and identification with medicine as a calling. Mayo Clin Proc. 2017;92:415-422.

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Awareness of Physician Burnout Has Peaked, But What Is the Next Step In Addressing It? - Medical Bag

Students reflect on cost of applying to medical school – The Michigan Daily

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Danzig

Engineering senior Ryuji Arimoto is on the tail end of the stressful cycle of medical school applications. After multiple rounds of online applications and 10 interviews, hes finally started to receive acceptances.

But Arimotos hard-earned acceptances have come at a cost. Factoring in testing fees, his primary and secondary applications to 40 different medical schools and the travel costs of interviewing at schools across the country, Arimoto estimated hes already approaching $10,000 in total expenses, and he hasnt finished the process yet.

Thats an obscene amount of money, Arimoto said.

The pricey application process begins with the Medical College Admission Test, or the MCAT. According to Arimoto, many students take a prep course, which can cost a few thousand dollars. The test itself costs over $300, and its not uncommon for students to take the MCAT several times.

Second-year University of Michigan Medical School student Vy Tran, a first-generation college graduate who identifies as someone from a low-income background, said even though MCAT preparation is expensive, she took a course to make sure she was setting herself up for success.

Medical school is a huge process, Tran said. You want to do everything you can, you dont want to be cheap on these things.

Next come the primary applications. Primaries are streamlined so students submit a single application package through the Association of American Medical Colleges online service. Students who applied this past cycle paid $170 for the first school and $40 for each additional one. For the 2019-2020 cycle, students applied to 17 schools on average, according to the AAMC.

If a student meets the qualifications for a medical school, theyll be asked to submit a secondary application answering school-specific questions. The cost of secondaries varies, but Arimoto said its often around $100 per school. The U-M Medical School charges $85. After secondaries, Arimoto said his total application costs were already in the range of multiple thousands of dollars, not including MCAT-related fees.

Secondary is a cash grab, Arimoto said. Obviously, you dont need a hundred dollars from every single applicant for them to send you, what, two essays?

Without family support, Arimoto said, he would have been in financial distress at this point in the cycle.

Even before my interviews started, I wouldve just been drained monetarily, Arimoto said. There would have been no question about that.

Steven Gay, assistant dean for admissions at the U-M Medical School, said though secondaries are expensive, the school-specific aspect makes sense.

Every school has its own secondary, and I think thats very appropriate, Gay said. Just like students are looking for certain things in schools, we should be attempting to get the best students to succeed in our curriculum, to become the type of physicians we feel its our mission as an institution to create.

Gay acknowledged the cost of secondaries, noting the U-M Medical School does try to alleviate it by offering fee waivers to students who reach out and demonstrate need. In addition, Gay said when the University began accepting a people skills test called CASPer as part of medical school applications, the Office of Admissions did not raise secondary fees, recognizing that students were now paying to submit those scores.

Weve worked to keep our secondaries lower in terms of the top institutions, Gay said.

There are also some scholarships available through the AAMC. For instance, Tran said she was able to get 15 or 16 schools worth of primary and secondary application fees waived, covering all the schools she applied to.

As a final step, qualified applicants hear back from medical schools with interview invitations. Arimoto said someone who applies to 20 schools might expect to get five interviews if theyre fortunate. The travel costs are not reimbursed.

If youre lucky enough to get interviews, they dont pay for your interviews, Arimoto said. If you have to fly out to California from Michigan, its like $500, and then you have to buy a hotel, thats $200 a night, and if you have to spend two nights there, then youre already at a grand for one interview.

Gay said medical schools have some ways of mitigating the cost of attending interviews. Schools in similar locations may try to coordinate interview dates so students only have to make a single trip. In addition, Gay said the U-M Medical School works to provide interviewees with more affordable housing, food and transportation options, as well as travel reimbursements for some applicants.

We tend to give travel reimbursement for our students who are low-income so that its not an issue to travel, Gay said. We have an extensive program where students can stay with other students on their visits and arent paying for places to stay.

Tran received a $200 reimbursement from the University to support her interview. She also tried to offset travel costs by grouping interviews in similar locations.

I tried to group my interviews together, Tran said. There are things like that that you can do, but that being said, sometimes you dont have that choice because the school will pick a date for you.

Tran said hearing back from the University of Michigan, one of her top schools, by early October spared her the cost of additional interviews. In addition to seeking out schools that offer a quick turnaround, she said applicants should think carefully about what schools are truly a good match, rather than just applying to as many as possible.

There are some people who dont need to apply to that many, and there will be people applying to schools that are not a good fit for them, Tran said. Just think about what the schools values are.

Gay echoed Trans sentiments, noting the one-size-fits-all primary application, which allows prospective medical students to apply online to dozens of schools at once, may encourage people to apply to more schools than necessary. He said applicants should narrow down which schools actually match their interests. For instance, some schools might better prepare students for medical research, while others might fit students aspiring to become primary-care physicians.

Part of applying to medical school, just like applying to undergrad, is the onus of when its easy to apply to all of them, you just apply to all of them, Gay said. There is responsibility on the student to be an informed consumer with some discretion, saying, these are actually the things I want.

Gay said increasing the number of schools one applies to doesnt necessarily improve the chances of getting an interview. Medical schools have specific criteria, so Gay said applicants need to be honest with themselves about what schools they are likely to be accepted to.

The application process isnt a lucky thing, Gay said. Students do the very best they can to prepare themselves to be the best candidates for medical school. But once they have done that, its important to assess what you look like as a candidate and have others with experience frankly assess what your candidacy looks like.

One thing medical schools can do to help applicants make educated choices, Gay said, is to be open with pre-med advisers and prospective students about what requirements and values theyre looking for in an applicant.

All of us, as medical schools, should be transparent in our processes, Gay said. We should be very open with letting students know how we are trying to assist them, knowing that finances can be a significant barrier to the application process. But students, equally, should work hard to pick schools they feel they have not only the best opportunity of getting into but fit who they wish to be.

Arimoto, who applied to 40 schools an above-average number said hed already accepted that going into medicine would put him into debt. The cost of applying and interviewing seemed almost insignificant compared to the overall cost of becoming a doctor.

Trying to go into healthcare in general is just such a ludicrous business in itself, in that, even though this seems like a ton of money, you compare it to the tuition of a school, and its minuscule, Arimoto said. For example, if you want to attend Harvard Medical School, per year the amount of money that youre going to pay is around $95,000. And they dont hand out any merit-based scholarships.

Tran said its important to be financially savvy when applying to medical school, noting people do find ways to handle the cost. For instance, Tran worked all through college, accruing savings, and also managed to graduate from college relatively debt-free. She said these factors prepared her for applying to and paying for medical school. Still, Tran said she recognizes how stressful the costs associated with medical school are and understands the solutions people find are not always easy.

Tran added shes considered different ways medical schools could make application costs less of a barrier.

I especially advocate for people of low-income backgrounds or first-generation students like myself, Tran said. I support myself; I still have to support my family during this process. I feel it should not be a deterrent of medical school.

Arimoto said if anything, the expense of becoming a doctor has made him sure this is the career he wants to pursue.

I feel like that also allowed me to think in a way that may be more genuine towards the field, Arimoto said. Its like, Okay, I actually want to do this, Im giving up a lot, but even with that on the table, I still dont want to do, for example, research or engineering. I still want to do this. It provides a little bit of conviction.

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Students reflect on cost of applying to medical school - The Michigan Daily

Medical school rort is fraud and students misusing taxpayer money should be reported to the police – Stuff.co.nz

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Danzig

OPINION:On Monday, professor Barry Taylor, dean of Otago Medical School, publicly stated that 53 students from University of Otago campuses in Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington did not attend their 12-week placements at locations overseas and their qualifications would be withheld.

Instead, the soon-to-be doctors were on an overseas jaunt courtesy of taxpayers. The 12-week elective term is funded by a Government stipend of $6689 paid as part of the $26,756 awarded to medical trainee interns in their final year.

Fifty-three students amounts to one-in five of Otago's final-year medical students.

If I were a gambling man, I would bet this rort has been going on for years and there are plenty of practising doctors hoping it all goes away. The public would be naive to believe this behaviour is restricted to just this year's cohort of final-year medical students.

READ MORE:* Placement scam medical students 'let off with a slap on the wrist'* Auckland medical students to face scrutiny after Otago students faked placements* Medical student overseas placement holiday rort 'widespread' - GP

Stuff

One in five final-year University of Otago medical students will not graduate this year after faking documents for their overseas work placements.

Taylor admitted that himself, when he saidt: "If it has been happening it's probably been ... building up over two or three years". That could possibly be the understatement of the year, depending on how much is unravelled in the weeks to come.

According to Stuff, one doctor who graduated from Otago said: "[In] my graduating year I know 100 students who spent one week or less on actual elective placements". In other words, it could also be feasible that this practice was a rite of passage and Otago turned a blind eye to it, or worse still, unofficially condoned it.

Now, the University of Auckland the only other university offering the six-year bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery qualifications has stated it is also conducting an investigation into its students.

I hope Otago and Auckland conducts thorough investigations of overseas work placements from previous yearsand perhaps decades. This lot were busted because some of them couldn't resist posting photographs of their overseas jaunts on social media.

Ten or 20 years ago, no-one was uploading images online of themselves tiptoeing on the beach with a duckface, so the chances of doctors getting caught back then were slim in comparison to now, with the "look-at-me"era.

Also, why are taxpayers funding overseas "training"in the first place? Students can choose to do their placement in New Zealand or overseas some elect to do it overseas and we pick up the tab for it. If they want to "train"overseas, let them do it at their own expense.

We are short of doctors on the ground here, so unless they need to learn how to deal with non-routine injuries or illnesses they perhaps wouldn't be exposed to here, their training should be in New Zealand hospitals and medical centres.

After all, we the taxpayers fund three-quarters of the cost of their six-year medical training.

We also pick up ongoing costs when they graduate too. For example, back in 2013, Stuff reported that "on-duty resident doctors have not paid for a meal since 1948" and were clocking up "$9 million of taxpayer-funded free lunches a year". How dare we feed the hungry kids at schools the doctors must be fed first.

Further, being a doctor remains one of the highest-paid professions in the country, with senior doctors earning an average annual salary of about $200,000.

Yet, despite their forecast large salaries and free lunches, this bunch of privileged student doctors has lied about their taxpayer-funded overseas work placementand has been let off with a slap on the wrist.

I suppose a slap on the wrist was appropriate, especially since Taylor said those affected were "heartbroken". Taylor went on to say: "The students have been quite seriously affected by the investigation.The majority have seen themselves as really honest people doing medicine for the sake of other people".

Oh, diddums.

Honest people don't commit fraud. Yes, they committed fraud.

As we all know, the Government will not hesitate to prosecute beneficiaries for fraud relating to as little as $1000. However, if you come from the right background and are at medical school, the chances of being prosecuted for fraud are zero.

Let's prove me wrong, then. Taylor, please attend your nearest police station and make a formal complaint, naming the 53 students and how each misspent taxpayers' dollars earmarked for trainingto go on holiday.

Otago University has an ethical responsibility to the public of New Zealand to report this matter to the police. I wait with bated breath.

Steve Elers is a senior lecturer at Massey University, who writes a weekly column for Stuff on social and cultural issues

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Medical school rort is fraud and students misusing taxpayer money should be reported to the police - Stuff.co.nz

Medical students get free tuition for promising to practice in rural Arizona – AZCentral

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Danzig

Some University of Arizona medical school students are gettingfree tuition in exchange for a promise to practicein underserved rural areas for at least two years after they graduate.

The scholarship money is from state funds earmarked to alleviate a physician shortage that is particularly acute in rural Arizona, where more than one-quarter of primary-care physicians plan to retire in the next five years.

Arizona currently ranks among the worst in the country 44th of 50 statesin its number of active primary-care physicians per capita, UA officials say.

Most primary-care doctors in Arizona work in heavily populated Maricopa and Pima counties, creating vast inequalities between provider coverage in urban and more rural areas of the state.

A combined 94 students who attend the UA College of Medicine-Tucson and the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, which isnearly one-10th of the students at both medical schools, will receive free tuition in exchange for practicing in a rural area for at least two years,UA officials announced Friday morning.

The commitment must be started within six years of graduation from medical school and completed within 10 years of graduation. Once begun, service must be continuous. Students who don't fulfill the commitment will have to return the tuition money, UA officials confirmed.

"It is a huge deal. It is very exciting," saidDr. Jonathan Cartsonis, director of the rural health professions program at the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix. "... It's an investment in the future of Arizona and in ensuring that rural areas of Arizona have access to even basic medical care."

There's also a looming problem with what are known as "ob deserts" where rural expecting mothers can't remain in their community during the later stages of pregnancy because there is no one to deliver their baby.

"It's already happening," Cartsonis said.

La Paz and Greenlee counties have no maternal care, research from the UA Center for Rural Health shows. The same research shows Pinal, Graham, Cochise andSanta Cruz counties have limited access to maternal care.

Ensuring every Arizona resident, whether in rural communities or urban cities, has access to quality health care is a top priority for Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey said in a written statement. The University of Arizona Primary Care Physician Scholarship is another example of the innovative steps the state is taking to address this critical workforce shortage facing Arizona and the entire nation."

Medical students can be reluctant to serve in rural areas because of a number of barriers, including student debt that can exceed $100,000 by the time they graduate. Rural health jobs, particularly in primary care, oftenpay less than those in urban areas,Cartsonis said.

Also, many students have grown up in urban areas and that's all they know, he said, stressing that the scholarships are only one component of getting providers into rural areas. Students need the righttraining, too, he said.

"In a vacuum, I'd say it might not be the best plan, to just drop a large amount of money to scholarships to go to rural areas to practice medicine," he said. "But that's not happening. We have our rural health professions program, which prepares students and supports a medical school track in rural medicine."

'A PIPELINE ISSUE':Rural Arizona wrestles with serious doctor shortage

The UA is already supporting clinical education from six weeks to more than six months in far-flung areas of the state, including Williams, Fort Defiance, Page and Williams.

Another key pieceis finding students who grew up in rural areas and want to serve their home communities as health-care providers, he said.

"Pipeline programs are really important. It's so important we identify the talented and motivated youthin rural areas who want to go into medicine," he said. "We're working hard to recruit at younger and younger ages students from underrepresented backgrounds, including geography."

The scholarships will be available to incoming first-year students, as well as students in their second, third and fourth year at both medical schools, UA officials said.To be eligible, applicants must be an Arizona resident.

Arizona needs nearly 600 primary-care physicians today, and the number is expected to grow to more than 1,900 by 2030, said Dr. MichaelDake,senior vice president for UAHealth Sciences.

As the states only two designated medical schools, the College of Medicine-Tucson and the College of Medicine-Phoenix are taking full advantage of the public investment approved by our state legislators, who recognize the time to address this shortage is now.

The money is coming from $8 million in annual funding appropriated by the Arizona Legislature in May. The remaining funding is being used to expand the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix's class size.

Under the new scholarship programs guidelines, a primary-care physician is someone who successfully has completed medical school at the UAand completed residency or fellowship training in one of the following specialties: family medicine, general internal medicine, geriatric medicine, general pediatrics, psychiatry, or obstetrics and gynecology.

The scholarships are a step in the right direction, but it will be important to carefully select the students who receive them, said Dr. Judith Hunt, who has been practicing internal medicine and pediatricsin Payson for the past 24 years.

Practicing medicine in a rural area is not urban medicine in a small community, she said. Students need to be prepared for what it means for themselves and for their families, she said.

"There are fewer job opportunities for their spouses. They may feel more isolated," she said. "Rural medicine takes an incredible amount of creativity."

There may not be specialists to consult and the work is demanding.

"We are slammed. We have probably half of the primary-care doctors that we need," she said. "For patients who are new to the community, it's difficult to get a primary-care doctor. So we have higher ER visits because patients don't have access to their doctors."

A graduate of the UA College of Medicine-Tucson, Hunt initially moved to Payson fromPhoenix Children's Hospital to fill a need Payson did not have a pediatrician.

"I fell in love with the community, became part of the community. It's my home, it's my daughter's home," she said.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG BOOM:Millions of opioid pills flooded Arizona communities

Thenext step in addressing the physician shortage should be creating more postgraduate residency spots inArizona, Cartsonis said.

Mostmedical school graduates who take residency positions in other states will notreturn to Arizona, data shows.

Reach the reporter at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. Follow her on Twitter @stephanieinnes.

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Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2019/11/22/medical-students-get-free-tuition-promise-practice-rural-arizona/4259862002/

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Medical students get free tuition for promising to practice in rural Arizona - AZCentral

Medical Education – Harvard Medical School

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Danzig

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4 New Jersey Doctors Who Turned Hard Times Into Inspiration – West Orange, NJ Patch

Posted on October 26, 2019 by Danzig

WEST ORANGE, NJ A daughter of immigrants rises from poverty to become a respected doctor. A man uses his triumph over childhood cancer as inspiration to enter the medical field. An AmeriCorps volunteer who once lived on food stamps now helps the homeless. A soldier who suffered through the "carnage of war" is planning to become a pediatrician.

New Jersey is full of stories about people rising above their personal challenges to pursue a common goal: healing others. Learn about a few of them below.

'Carnage Of War' Transforms Army Veteran Into Pediatrician

When Saul Bautista joined the U.S. Army, he had no idea he'd end up trading bombs and bullets for healing and hope. But that's what witnessing the "carnage of war" can do to a person, the Newark resident says.

The tragic epiphany came while he was serving as a lab tech at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest U.S. military hospital outside the United States. There, while helping to treat soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bautista encountered a critically wounded patient freshly airlifted from a war zone.

And it changed who he was forever.

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Hoboken Woman Grew Up Disadvantaged. Now She Trains Doctors

Growing up, Maria Soto-Greene lived in a four-room flat in Hoboken. Neither of her parents, who came to New Jersey from Puerto Rico, graduated from high school. Her mother was still a teenager when she was born. At 16, they had little money, no health insurance and couldn't afford a telephone.

The same year, her 15-year-old brother died before being diagnosed by a doctor. Soto-Greene, an internist, said he went blind and believes her brother probably had a brain tumor. After his death she became the "go to" person to handle family concern.

Four years later, as she was about to graduate from what is now Douglass Residential College, an assistant dean at New Jersey Medical School, who taught a course she took at Rutgers University, gave her some life-altering advice. When Soto-Greene told him that she planned to begin her career as a medical technologist, he recognized her potential and encouraged her to pursue a career as a doctor. That led to the work she has been doing over the past three decades to improve the lives of minority students and encourage them to go into the medical and other health professions field.

Read the full article

West Orange Man Beats Childhood Cancer, Enters Medical Field

West Orange High School alum Joseph Ippolito doesn't remember most of his acute treatment for stage four neuroblastoma. After all, he was only 5-months-old at the time. But the medical student does remember what came afterward: years of chemotherapy, surgeries and doctor visits.

Now, after triumphing against childhood cancer, Ippolito has embarked on a new quest to dedicate his life to performing miracles for others.

Read the full article

Rutgers Medical Students Care for Area Poor and Homeless

Stephanie Oh knows what it's like to live at the poverty line. After graduating college with a degree in bioengineering, she volunteered for AmeriCorps and subsisted on food stamps. "This experience made me better understand the struggles people face trying to live healthy on a limited income," says Oh, now a medical and doctoral student in neuroscience at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick.

Today, Oh puts her knowledge of medicine and indigent and homeless populations into practice as the student director of the Promise Clinic, an initiative that provides primary health care for clients of Elijah's Promise Community Kitchen.

Read the full article

Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Send feedback and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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4 New Jersey Doctors Who Turned Hard Times Into Inspiration - West Orange, NJ Patch

How to Close the Gender Pay Gap in US Medicine – Harvard Business Review

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Danzig

Executive Summary

Indefensible differences in salary between women and men persist in medicine, with female primary care and specialist doctors earning 25% and 36% less, respectively, than their male counterparts. These differences are especially egregious given that female physicians actually outperform male physicians in some areas. Its hard to imagine by what calculus a health care organization would pay women less than men for their better outcomes. The solutions to this unacceptable state including transparency around salary data, focused coaching and sponsorship, and equitable promotions.

Despite increased attention to gender disparities in the workplace, indefensible differences in salary between women and men persist in medicine. One national study of academic physicians in 24 public medical schools found that female physicians make about 10% less than their male counterparts at all academic ranks, even after adjusting for specialty, hours worked, and other variables. Medscapes 2019 Physician Compensation Report finds even greater disparities, with full-time female primary care and specialist doctors earning 25% and 36% less, respectively, than their male counterparts.

These differences are especially notable and disappointing given that female physicians actually outperform male physicians in some areas; one study of 1.5 million Medicare hospitalizations found that female doctors patients had significantly lower mortality and fewer rehospitalizations. Its hard to imagine by what calculus a health care organization would pay women less than men for their better outcomes.

The solutions for closing this gap are complex, but achievable. Drawing on existing research, lessons from other fields, and our own experience as researchers and leaders committed to gender equity, we believe that organizations should pursue three approaches to address the problem.

Enhance Salary Data

Lack of accurate salary data creates a major barrier both to leaders seeking to address inequities and to female physicians as they negotiate. Pay audits and increased transparency could help. Organizations outside of medicine have effectively used audits to reveal pay discrepancies and enhance pay equity. For example, after a 2015 analysis of more than 17,000 salaries at Salesforce, the company found that 6% of the employees (about equally split between men and women) required a salary adjustment, including, CEO Marc Benioff told CNN, quite a few women who were paid less than men.

To create the most useful audits in healthcare it will be essential to assure that they capture total compensation. Many physicians, particularly those practicing in academic settings, receive compensation from both clinical and non-clinical activities. Evidence from outside of medicine suggests that women are more likely to volunteer or be volunteered for non-promotable work, and, within medicine, women perceive that they are more likely to be given uncompensated work (such as unpaid committee or teaching positions and office-improvement projects) alongside clinical care. Comparing compensation for clinical activities alone would not capture these differences which contribute to lower overall salaries for amount worked.

In addition, auditing should take into consideration the demands that female physicians patients make relative to those made of male physicians. There is evidence that female physicians have more female patients, and more patients with psychosocial complexity, than their male counterparts do. Patients in both groups often require longer visits and more management time outside the office. Further, research shows that patients tend to seek a different (and more time-consuming) kind of care from female doctors, often talking and disclosing more and expecting more empathic listening. Accurate auditing will need to account for patient complexity in addition to number of patients seen or the number of patients a physician has on their panel to accurately assess clinical load.

Providing salary transparency is a more controversial approach to promoting equal pay that has been explored in other industries. Public universities such as the University of California system have made compensation data publicly available for many years. In Canada, public disclosure of faculty salaries above a certain threshold reduced the gender pay gap. Some private entities have joined the trend as well. At the software startup Buffer, publicly publishing pay data did not eliminate gender-based salary discrepancies. However, it did push the company to identify and address potential sources of inequity, such as subjectivity in assessing experience and readiness for promotion. While there isnt a case of a health system that has published salary data and demonstrated the subsequent effects, experiences from other industries suggest this approach is worth discussing. We acknowledge that there are certainly many potential negative effects of pay transparency on organizational dynamics, and any transparency initiative should be rolled out with caution. A medical institution considering transparency would need to ensure careful auditing of data ahead of publication, and to have well thought out plans for addressing potential conflicts among staff, as well as between staff and management, that might emerge.

Data from the Harvard Kennedy School shows that women negotiate for lower compensation than men do in the absence of clear industry standards but negotiate for equal salaries when standard salary information was available, suggesting the value of creating environments in which information about compensation is shared across gender lines.

Engage Allies in Coaching and Sponsorship

Much of coaching and peer support for women physicians has focused on same-gender mentorship and peer groups. While these provide female physicians with role models similar to themselves and create comfortable spaces for reflection, given evidence that men are more likely to get explicit information about paths to advancement in management or to receive mentorship or sponsorship at all, they should be engaged as allies in systematic ways. Men can serve as sponsors who recommend women for new opportunities or as coaches who share a different perspective on salary negotiation or insight about the opportunities being presented to male mentees. Studies in other industries show that male sponsorship is crucial to closing the gender pay gap, and theres every reason to think it could have a similar impact in health care. Mixed-gender peer coaching groups can provide similar opportunities for sharing salary or tactical data.

While the most natural source for recruiting an institutions mentors and coaches is from within, there may be value to engaging diverse external coaches as well. At Brigham and Womens Hospital, we have started providing female faculty with access to external coaches in the areas of leadership, network development, time management, and technology use, in addition to more traditional peer support and individual coaching.

We acknowledge that in the MeToo era some men have shied away from mentoring or coaching women altogether, which is a loss for all involved. Its up to health care organizations to encourage mixed-gender mentorship, provide the training and guidelines needed to do it well, and outline clear consequences for inappropriate behavior or abuse of the relationship.

Facilitate Equitable Promotion

Much of the pay disparity in in academic medical centers is driven by academic rank differences, making facilitation of equitable promotion a priority. A small proportion of full medical professors across the U.S. are female, despite increased representation of female physicians on faculty and among medical school graduates (in 2017, for the first time, women outnumbered men entering U.S. medical schools).

These data suggest that new approaches are needed to ensure promotion of women in academic medicine. These may include: 1) revamping promotion guidelines to create tracks that reward activities aside from grant-funded research, such as teaching, that are often not rewarded in traditional promotions but are central to academic medicine; 2) requiring that female physicians be included on all search and promotion committees; 3) ensuring that open leadership positions are widely publicized rather than privately directed to a select group of candidates; 4) providing grants to support womens career advancement, including family travel grants that facilitate womens attendance at conferences with children and childcare providers; and 5) providing one-on-one external coaching to help female physicians create career roadmaps, tailor their CV for promotions, and identify what they need to accomplish in order to be ready for the next step in promotions.

While no institution yet serves as a clear beacon in matters of promotion equity, several have instituted programs that may help narrow the recognition and promotion gap. For example, Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston names its most accomplished clinicians as Senior Institute Physicians, ensuring that those excelling in clinical care are recognized for their efforts. Many institutions, among them UCLA and Duke, have several promotion tracks for faculty to ascend, including ones that focus on clinical care rather than research.

The initiatives we propose are just a start in solving a complex and persistent problem, and the data on what approaches will be most successful. Its high time that health care aggressively engage in and rigorously evaluate efforts to close the unproductive and unjustifiable pay gap in medicine.

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How to Close the Gender Pay Gap in US Medicine - Harvard Business Review

Construction begins on first of three buildings to replace U. Med … – Salt Lake Tribune

Posted on July 2, 2017 by ev1

The ambulatory care complex will house 125 exam, procedure and consult rooms and is expected to support 100,000 new outpatient visits per year, according to the U. Currently, ambulatory care is housed in the medical school building and has 114 exam and procedure rooms.

U. officials said Friday the new building won't serve a significantly higher number of patients, but that it will increase efficiency. Exam rooms, for example, can be used by any department at any time instead of being designated to a specific department as is currently the case, said Kathy Wilets, U. spokeswoman.

Mary Beth Scholand, outpatient chief value officer in the U.'s Department of Internal Medicine, said Friday that officials tried to design the building to improve patient experience.

The focus was "to create a pleasant, inviting space for our patients, where they feel comfortable and where clinic flow is efficient and easy," Scholand said. "And I think we've achieved this."

Construction on a 170,000 square-foot rehabilitation hospital, also currently housed in the medical school building, will begin in about six months and is estimated to cost $95 million. Funding for this building will come from operating revenue bonds and private donations.

The rehab hospital also will be completed in summer 2019. Once patients are moved from the medical school building to the two new buildings, the medical school will be demolished. This is expected to cost $12 million and take six months, officials said.

At that point, construction will begin on the third and final building. The 350,000 square-foot Medical Education and Discovery building will go up where the current medical school is located. It will house the medical school, the Global Health Institute and "collaborative spaces for clinicians, researchers and students," according to the U.'s website.

Officials estimate the building will cost $185 million, paid for through $50 million from the state Legislature and $135 million of private donations. The expected completion date is the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.

"After about 2021, there's not going to be any other place to build on this campus," Betz joked Friday.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Gordon Crabtree, CFO and interim CEO of U. Health, recognition of former Health Sciences Vice President Vivian Lee's contributions to the project was met with applause.

Lee resigned in April after weeks of turmoil that began with her firing of Huntsman Cancer Institute CEO and director Mary Beckerle, who later was reinstated by the U. President David Pershing. Betz, Lee's predecessor, quickly was brought in to serve in her role until a permanent replacement is picked.

"Without [Lee's] community involvement, legislative support and vision for these facilities, this whole transformation initiative would not have gained traction and we thank her for that," Crabtree said.

astuckey@sltrib.com

Twitter @alexdstuckey

OUR OPINION: New medical school brings promise to region – Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Posted on August 8, 2017 by ev1

A new medical school set to open this month in Jackson represents a significant step forward for Mississippi in cultivating an environment of excellence in medicine, which will surely find its way to Northeast Mississippis already vast, far-reaching health care ecosystem.

Gov. Phil Bryant, University of Mississippi Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter and others gathered to dedicate the five-story, $74-million structure at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, as reported by the Associated Press.

The new facility, leaders say, could be a shot in the arm for a physician-starved Mississippi.

The medical school will expand to 155 incoming first-year students when class starts Monday, growing to 165 students in 2018, according to the AP. But the building has space to grow more, maybe as high as 200 students in each class. The student mailroom has 783 mailboxes, but only 489 currently have names on them.

The facility will utilize some of the most modern medical education technology by allowing students to simulate hands-on medical procedures through multifunctional electronic mannequins, among other innovative methods. The simulation area will move from a series of closets and converted classrooms in the old facility to an entire wing, including an operating room that could actually be used for real patients in a disaster scenario.

The dedication of the facility, which will officially open its doors Aug. 14, comes at a critical time for Mississippi as the state has fewer doctors per capita than any other state in the country, according to a report from the Association of Academic Medical Colleges. As reported by Mississippi Today, many at the University of Mississippi Medical Center the health sciences campus to the universitys main campus in Oxford and in the Capitol believe the best way to attract more doctors to the state is to invest in the medical school and its students.

Vitter called the universitys medical school one of our crown jewels. He hopes to see the program grow larger over time now that class sizes can comfortably increase.

The investment, funded through a combination of mainly state bonds but also funding from a HUD Community Development Block Grant through the Mississippi Development Authority, is an impressive one for Mississippi and should hopefully send a message loud and clear to prospective students and doctors alike across the country.

While the physical location of this facility is outside of Northeast Mississippi, make no mistake that its impact could be substantial for our region. The thriving health care industry thats already here will serve as a strong foundation when the medical school begins producing top-tiered doctors that will hopefully be eager to stay and practice in Mississippi.

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OUR OPINION: New medical school brings promise to region - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

UB medical school welcomes 190 new physicians to WNY – University at Buffalo Reporter

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Fredricko

One hundred and ninety newly minted MDs marked a critical milestone in their professional lives earlier this week when they became medical residents of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

After graduation from medical school, medical residents are matched with a residency program, where they train in a medical or surgical specialty from three to seven years.The residents who took part in the long white coat ceremony on June 27 in the Center for Tomorrow chose to start their careers as physicians in Buffalo at UB. They will provide patient care under the supervision of UB medical school faculty in Western New Yorks hospitals and clinics.

The long white coat is not only a symbol of the profession, but it also symbolizes the trust patients place in their physicians and the responsibility to act professionally while serving patients and the public, says Roseanne Berger, senior associate dean for graduate medical education in the medical school and associate professor of family medicine.

To celebrate the transition, UBs newest medical residents donned the long white coats that indicate they have graduated from medical school, leaving behind the short white coats they received when they entered medical school.

At the ceremony, medical residents recited the Hippocratic Oath and the UB Resident Code of Conduct.The ceremony took place on Education Day, during which residents received information on topics ranging from health issues in Buffalos population and communication and cultural issues to patient privacy, quality improvement and safety. There also was a focus on resident well-being, highlighting institutional support resources and advice from current residents.

It was part of UBs five-day medical resident orientation, which includes background on UB, the Western New York community, its population and its health care systems. During orientation, residents visited UB-affiliated teaching hospitals, interacted with program faculty and, in some cases, worked with UBs Clinical Competency Center to assess interactions, with actors playing patients. Before arriving on campus, residents completed online tutorials, including modules on addiction, pain medicine and safe prescribing practices.

This years class of residents of 81 women and 109 men includes 120 U.S. citizens and 70 citizens of at least 17 other countries, including 24 from Canada, nine from Pakistan and six from India.

Forty of the new residents are UB alumni 32 graduated from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and eight graduated from the School of Dental Medicine.

The long white coat ceremony was planned in collaboration with UBs Richard Sarkin/Emeritus Faculty Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which launched the tradition of holding white coat ceremonies in the 1990s to symbolize that humanism remains at the core of all medical care.UB is one of only 14 medical residency programs in the U.S. that is home to a residency chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

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UB medical school welcomes 190 new physicians to WNY - University at Buffalo Reporter

Medical school researchers find why prostate cancer could be more … – GW Hatchet (subscription)

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Fredricko

Medical school researchers found that prostate cancer tumors in black men have a genetic variation that may make them more aggressive and resistant to drug treatments.

Researchers said the study, which was published Friday in the journal Nature Communications may help explain why black men are diagnosed with prostate cancer at higher rates and often have a worse prognosis than white men, according to a release.

Norman Lee, professor of pharmacology and physiology said he started the project to study disparities in prostate cancer from a genetic perspective.

Why is it that the African American population has a higher incidence of prostate cancer and a worse prognosis compared to those of European American descent? Lee said in a release. In trying to understand the genetic basis, we found that part of it may have to do with differential RNA splicing.

Lee and his team found that tumors present in black men varied from those found in whites because the tumors generate different proteins. These proteins can make the tumors more aggressive, according to the release.

The team also found that these types of proteins can lead to drug resistance.

We found that the protein isoforms expressed in African-Americans with prostate cancer do not always respond to targeted therapies, whereas these drugs were found to be effective in European Americans with prostate cancer and do end up killing off the cancer, Lee said in the release. This is a mechanism for drug resistance.

Lee said future research should examine the impact of genetic variations in other types of cancer to gain insight into why certain cancer treatments may be ineffective.

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Medical school researchers find why prostate cancer could be more ... - GW Hatchet (subscription)

Editorial: Medical school’s expansion boosts area – Times Record

Posted on July 2, 2017 by ev1

What promised to be an exciting summer for the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education and the Fort Smith area got even more exciting last week.

The school, set to welcome its inaugural class at the end of July, announced plans for a second college a $15 million, 60,000-square-foot College of Health Sciences.

The new college is expected to be ready for classes in 2020 and will be home to several disciplines, including a master of nursing program, a physician assistant program and a post-baccalaureate masters program, ACHE President and CEO Kyle Parker said at a news conference Tuesday.

The schools expansion will mean wonderful things for this area. Weve already seen tremendous growth at Chaffee Crossing, including the recent opening of a Mercy clinic across from the medical school and ongoing plans for businesses at the Warehouse District. Now, Fort Smith is poised to brand itself as a top-notch location for health-care education, with the hope that these future doctors will remain in our area and provide services to what Parker called the most medically under-served area in the United States.

The school has worked hard to make things a little easier on its new students. The Residents, the schools student-housing apartments, are integrated with the school, so if a student is sick, he or she can watch class from home. The school is also paying for all utilities for the apartments. In addition, ACHE announced plans to expand the apartments by 80 units to accommodate students attending the new college when it opens in 2020.

ACHE also also plans to develop a 228-acre neighborhood withassistance fromFort Smith, Barling and the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, Parker announced. The neighborhood will feature restaurants, grocery stores, apparel stores and more while generating $25.9 million in taxable sales, in addition to 1,900 new housing units planned within the next decade or so.

In other words, the possibilities are endless at Chaffee Crossing and the ACHE. The future is now.

FCRA Executive Director Ivy Owen said he was overwhelmed with pride and joy to hear the expansion announcement, pointing out that the students who stay in the area when they graduate will offer an economic boost to the area, as will the extra generated sales tax.

According to the ACHE, 64 percent of its first class of students comes from the colleges service area of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri. Forty-three percent of the students are from Arkansas, and 23 percent are first-generation college graduates in their families, the college previously stated. The remaining group of students comes from outside the area, as do a number of the schools professors. What a thrill it is for us to have people from throughout the country come to our neck of the woods to be part of the ongoingdevelopment of Fort Smith into a health-care hub.

Were excited to see the progress and are delighted with the economic and health-care prospects on the horizon. We cant help but feel the rest of the state must be envious of our area because of what the ACHE does and will do for this region. We are fortunate the college decided to call Fort Smith home, and were eager to see how its development plays out in the coming years. It's only going to get bigger and better.

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Editorial: Medical school's expansion boosts area - Times Record

I’m the head of a medical school. But doctors like me are going back to the frontline – The Guardian

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Danzig

There has been a lot of public debate over the last few weeks over the role scientists are playing during the coronavirus crisis. In the space of just a few weeks, the likes of Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, and Patrick Vallance, the governments chief scientific adviser, have become household names.

As Covid-19 spreads around the world, scientists are taking a prominent role in advancing public knowledge about the virus by advising world leaders, providing expert comment in the media and urgently researching new ways of tackling the pandemic. We are lucky here in the UK: the scientists we have at the moment are as good as it gets. Whitty is a professor of epidemiology this is what he does.

But as this crisis deepens the role of researchers will become even more fundamental as many are now being called upon to join the NHS frontline. Thankfully, we understand within the community that research can go on hold. Whats more, much of it has to because of social distancing.

We have taken the decision to release all our clinical staff from academic and research responsibilities at UCL, where I am head of the medical school, as part of a national effort to staff hospitals. These are medically trained staff, who work across the faculties of population health, medical, life, brain and engineering sciences. I expect we will see the same measures enacted soon nationwide. The medical community needs to do everything possible in response to this epidemic.

In nearly 35 years as a doctor, the coronavirus pandemic is like nothing I have witnessed a global crisis, which will likely overload the health service in every country if it hasnt already done so. By this, I mean, health services will be overwhelmed by the demand put on them by the number of patients requiring treatment. I fear we have to see doctors and nurses working double, or even triple shifts. Many, themselves, will of course get sick, and will have to self-isolate, further compounding the problem.

My work at UCL requires me to look after the largest group of biomedical scientists in Europe. Two weeks ago, I started a regular, albeit occasional, clinical service as a consultant respiratory physician at Londons University College hospital alongside this. I always enjoy leaving the desk work behind and returning to my roots as a clinician. As things progress, I am in no doubt that I will spend more and more time on the frontline.

My first week working in the wards was unremarkable. But by week two last week everything had changed. The ward became eerily quiet. Very few patients were referred to the respiratory team as we prepared for the expected influx of patients infected with the Covid-19 virus. Patients were moved to different wards or different hospitals, personal protective equipment arrived and the infectious diseases team grew overnight.

Then, the patients with Covid-19 started to arrive. As expected some were well, some poorly and new unexpected challenges emerged. Can a patient who is a contact of a patient with Covid-19 have an MRI scan? How can we get a patient home if their carer(s) are unwilling to look after them?

We live in unprecedented times, at least for my generation of 50-something doctors. We are three-four weeks behind Italy and the full force of the pandemic is about to break in the UK which it is thought will not peak until mid-June. The horrific images that we see from Italy are likely to play out here. Of course I might get ill myself, but this is a challenge faced by everybody. Ideally, I hope I will be fine, but if I get it, I get it. I will self-isolate and hope I am fine.

The demand for beds and intensive care facilities, the difficult decisions with limited resources and the pressure on staff, will all build over the coming weeks and months. I have heard that many colleagues have offered to volunteer and have received numerous positive messages from our hospital colleagues. The government has said it will provide training for anyone who feels it is necessary.

Our senior students will also be given the opportunity to help and dozens of other highly skilled scientists working in our labs with relevant transferable skills will also be freed up. But UCL is not mandating this, it will be down to individual choice.

Whatever may happen over the coming weeks and months, I have never been so pleased that we have a joined-up public health structure, a top down NHS, dedicated and loyal staff from across the clinical field and the brightest and best-informed people advising the government on the way forward. Everyone is now stepping up in this new healthcare environment: health professionals doing what they do best. We are professionals, this is what we do. This is our moment. We have to step up and deliver.

Prof David Lomas is vice provost (health), UCL and head of UCL medical school

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I'm the head of a medical school. But doctors like me are going back to the frontline - The Guardian

Young Medical Graduates Find Themselves on the Front Lines of Italy’s Coronavirus Fight – TIME

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Danzig

On the morning of March 8, Francesca Tamburelli was in her apartment in Heidelberg, Germany, when she learned that part of Italy was entering lockdown due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Upon hearing the news the 25-year-old, who graduated from medical school just last summer, quickly boarded a bus to her hometown of Turin. Within a few days, she was working in a hospital in Cremona, a city in the epicenter of Italys outbreak, where nearly 500 patients suffering from COVID-19 are treated. Other than internships and volunteer work in Tanzania, its her first professional experience in a hospital.

Tamburelli is one of the many young doctors in Italy responding to the calls recently put out by local administrations to meet the shortage of medical staff in hospitals experiencing unprecedented levels of pressure. Italy is one of the worst affected countries by the coronavirus; over 86,000 people here have so far tested positive, and more than 9,000 have died. In the most severely hit cities like Cremona, entire hospitals have been converted to centers for the exclusive treatment of COVID-19 patients. Every doctor, whether they specialize in dermatology or gynecology, is drafted in to deal with the virus.

On her first day on the job, Tamburelli was assigned to the pulmonology ward, which treats patients with serious respiratory problems not yet requiring intensive care. After four days she was moved to the neurology department, converted to a ward where COVD-19 patients are in less critical condition. I am learning a lot every day, but even specialists with 20 years of experience are learning. Its a new experience for everyone, she says. The hospital hierarchical structure has changed suddenly: now its the pulmonologists and anesthesiologists who are at the top.

Although her hospital hasnt yet suffered from the shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) seen in many other medical facilities, she is taking a risk, like the majority of doctors in this moment. In total, nearly 6,500 doctors and nurses in Italy have contracted the disease. I know theres a strong chance that Ill be infected too, says Tamburelli. Its not easy thinking that I dont know when Ill see my family and my boyfriend again, but they support me and I know Im doing the right thing.

Tamburelli is staying in a hotel with a former university classmate, Ornella Calderone, originally from Messina, in Sicily. Calderone, 32, has a degree in biology and one in medicine. Until last week she was studying for the entrance exam to specialize as a surgeon while working several temporary jobs. After applying to help at the worst-hit hospitals, she received a call within two hours. It was an unknown number and I realized immediately that my life was about to change. In the two days before arriving at the hospital she studied like crazy, she says, looking for practical information and updates on procedures she had never seen done live, such as ventilation. She is now on the pulmonology ward, one of the hospitals most critical. I cant say that I felt prepared to set off immediately, but since I arrived in Cremona there hasnt been a single second when Ive felt I wasnt in the wrong place, says Calderone.

Not every recent graduate feels ready for the front lines. Paolo Rubiolo, 26, completed his studies in medicine at the University of Turin just last week and says he is now thinking about how he could best help out. I dont feel Im ready to work on the hospital wards, he admits. I think Id be more useful in helping provide services that have been disrupted due to the emergency, such as primary health care or medical care for the elderly who have problems other than the virus, he says.

But the front lines are where the doctors are most needed. Apart from the government decree allowing hospitals to contract doctors just out of school, the Civil Protection Agency recently put out a call to create a task force of another 300 volunteers. Doctors Without Borders is providing support to hospitals in areas most in need, and reinforcements are also coming from other countries. Experts and supplies have arrived from China and Russia, while last week a brigade of 52 doctors and nurses from Cuba landed in Lombardy. In the parking lot in front of Cremona hospitals main building is now occupied by a field hospital run by the medical staff of a U.S. Christian organization.

It is easy to compare this scenario with that of a war, talking about trenches and heroes, says Samin Sedghi Zadeh, 29, who has been working on the pulmonology ward in Cremona for the past three weeks. But I dont like this comparison. War is something we bring on ourselves, this is an emergency that we are all trying to get out of together. Sedghi Zadeh was born in Italy to Iranian parents, and earned his medical degree in Turin a year and a half ago. Until the crisis began, he was employed as a doctor at an e-commerce company. He says hes now glad to have the opportunity to be helpful in the public health system.

The three young doctors, Sedghi Zadeh, Tamburelli and Calderone, are technically only contracted to work for one month. But all think their contract will probably be renewed at least until the end of the emergency whenever that is. Afterwards theyre all ready to go wherever the need is greatest. The experience we are accumulating could be useful in other places in Italy or in the world, and I dont think any of us will back out, Sedghi Zadeh says. When you are a doctor, youre not an Italian, French or Greek doctor. You are a doctor and you go where you are needed.

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Young Medical Graduates Find Themselves on the Front Lines of Italy's Coronavirus Fight - TIME

COVID-19 relief bill: What residents, students need to know – American Medical Association

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Danzig

While the most wide-ranging and significant benefits related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security(CARES) Act for medical students and residents are related to student loans, there are other provisions that could be of use.

Heres a look at benefits within the CARES Act that could be helpful to medical students and residents.

Direct deposits of $1,200 for single taxpayers and $2,400 for taxpayers who are married filing jointly are available as a result of the bill. As are additional credits of $500 per child. On the individual level, the full payments are available to anyone making $75,000 a year or less. For couples, that number is $150,000 a year or less.

Not factoring in spousal earnings, at an average salary of around $60,000, according to a 2019 Medscape survey, most medical residents are eligible for the full amount.

To qualify for payments, you need to have filed a tax return in either 2018 or 2019, even if you earned no income. For medical students, that likely means you are eligible if you filed taxes. The only exception is that if a medical student is still listed as a dependent on their parents tax return they are not eligible for the tax rebate.

A handful of the provisions in the CARES Act could potentially aid medical students.

Additional financial aid: The Cares Act calls for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants that can be used as emergency aid. Those additional grants are disbursed at an institutions discretion and can assist graduate students, including medical students, who have unexpected expenses or are unable to meet a financial need. However, it is unclear how widely available these grants are. For medical students looking to learn more, your best bet is to reach out to your schools financial aid office.

Work study flexibility: If students were enrolled in a federal work-study program, they are able to continue to access those funds, even if they are unable to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those funds should remain available to medical students, as agreed upon, until the qualified emergency has ended.

Continuing education at affected foreign institutions: For medical students paying for their education with federal loans at medical schools outside the country, one common stipulation is for those funds to be available, the student must be physically on campus. With many international medical schools going to remote learning during the pandemic, students will be able to continue to be eligible for, and receive, their federal loans despite temporarily switching to online learning.

The bill has several financial considerations that could be impactful for residents.

Employer loan assistance: Under the Cares Act, residents who may receive some sort of loan assistance from an employer will get that aid provided to them tax-free on a temporary basis. Under the provision, an employer may contribute up to $5,250 annually toward an employees student loans, and such payment would be excluded from the employees income. Payments made by the employer can go to the employee directly or to the lender. Additionally, payments can cover both the principal and interest of the qualified student loan.

Child-care assistance: States have discretion to give health care sector employees subsidies for child-care by allowing them to receive reduced cost child-care at a participating provider of their choice.

National Health Service Corps flexibility: The National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program offers medical school scholarships for students who are willing to work in underserved areas as residents. The program currently has more than 13,000 clinicians. Residents that are part of the National Health Service Corps program, who volunteer tohelp care for COVID-19 patients can do so within in a reasonable distance of the site to which the resident was originally assigned, and count the total number of hours served toward their commitment.

The AMA has developed aCOVID-19 resource centeras well as aphysicians guide to COVID-19to give doctors a comprehensive place to find the latest resources and updates from the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionandtheWorld Health Organization. The AMA has curated a selection ofresources to assist residents and medical students during the COVID-19 pandemicto help manage the shifting timelines, cancellations and adjustments to testing, rotations and other events.

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COVID-19 relief bill: What residents, students need to know - American Medical Association

Doctors go back to school to learn the business of medicine – FierceHealthcare

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Danzig

When Ed Hellman, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon in Indianapolis, was learning to be a doctor he wasnt focused on the business of medicine.

When he was in medical school, it was about medicine, he says. When he was doing his residency, it was about orthopedics.

But times have changed and Hellman is now a physician leader at OrthoIndy, a very large orthopedic practice. The organization includes a physician-owned and operated hospital, OrthoIndy Hospital, which specializes in orthopedics, as well as numerous clinics, physical therapy locationsand an urgent care center.

Its a very complex group, says Hellman, who is a member of the Board of Directors and a physician owner in the hospital.

RELATED: AMA pushes medical schools to offer more training on health economics

Like many doctors, when Hellman graduated from medical school in 1985, he says there was absolutely no focus on the business side of medicine. But for doctors today who want to be part of an organizations leadership, theres a need to know more beyond just clinical practice, he says.

So, Hellman went back to school to get an MBA or masterin business administration degree. And hes not alone.

Stephanie Page, M.D., a hospitalist at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, also got her MBA. Like Hellman, she got her degree from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business which has a Physician MBA programset up specifically for doctors. Its a program designed for mid-career doctors who want to make changes in the healthcare field.

Page says she got absolutely zero training on the business side of medicine when she was in medical school. She didnt want to do a program that was completely online, so Page traveled once a month from Boston to Indianapolis where she spent a two-day weekend in classes.

As a physician who works in a hospital, Page says she isnt involved in running a physician practice but she wanted a greater understanding of the financial workings of the healthcare system. Being able to talk the samelanguage as hospital administrators,she can bring the clinicians voice into discussions.

RELATED: More doctors seek MBAs to navigate the business of medicine

I see myself as a clinician first, she says. But to represent my fellow clinicians I felt I had to learn more of the lingo.

She liked the fact she was in a physician-focused program where projects immediately related back to healthcare.

Its important that doctors understand finances and recognize the cost of care, she says. Doctors need to choose wisely when they order tests for patients and business training can help provide better care at lower costs.

Most doctors would rather not have to worry about the business of running a healthcare organization and would prefer to focus on taking care of patients, saysAaron Hattaway, M.D., a Florida radiologist, who is a current student in the physician MBA program and expects to graduate in May.But intodays world, you better learn it, he advises. Its what runs the world.

RELATED: How the Mayo Clinic involves doctors in action learning-based leadership

Hattaway now has a leadership role in Brevard Physician Associates, a physician-owned and operated Florida group practice where he is the chief financial officer. The practice specializes in anesthesiology, emergency medicine and radiology and has more than 100 doctors, 125 mid-level practitionersand 75 support staff.

If physicians want to be part of leadership in a healthcare organization, they need to have an understanding beyond what they learned in medical school, says Hellman.

In his organization, its not just running a practice. Were also running a hospital. Were dealing with insurance companies, he saysabout the complexity of medicine.

While medical schools once provided little if any training on business, that has started to change.

The American Medical Association last year adopted a new policy that calls on medical schools to incorporate additional training on health economics into theircurricula.

Thegoal is to ensure physicians are taught crucial health systems science topics such as cost-effective use of services, practice management24and risk management in a way that fits into their overall medical education.

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Doctors go back to school to learn the business of medicine - FierceHealthcare

Washington University to break ground on major neuroscience research hub Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis – Washington…

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Danzig

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New construction will inspire discovery, collaboration, faculty recruitment at School of Medicine

Washington University in St. Louis will begin construction in March on an 11-story, 609,000-square-foot neuroscience research building on the School of Medicine campus. The project initially will bring together more than 100 research teams focused on solving the many mysteries of the brain and the bodys nervous system.

Washington University in St. Louis will begin construction in March on what will be one of the largest neuroscience research buildings in the country. Located on the School of Medicine campus, the 11-story, state-of-the-art research facility will merge, cultivate and advance some of the worlds leading neuroscience research.

The 609,000-square-foot facility and interconnected projects initially will bring together over 100 research teams focused on solving the many mysteries of the brain and the bodys nervous system. Those teams, comprising some 875 researchers, will come from a wide array of disciplines, including the medical schools neurology, neuroscience, neurosurgery, psychiatry and anesthesiology departments.

Washington University is one of the premier institutions in the world in neuroscience research, with faculty known for their contributions to the understanding of normal brain development, how nerve cells communicate, neuroimaging, neurological diseases such as Alzheimers disease, and surgical treatments for cerebral palsy, among other contributions, said Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. With this new building, we are able to offer the neuroscience community a central home and a laboratory environment that can inspire entirely new concepts that allow us to grasp a much deeper understanding of the brain and have a global impact on health and science.

The School of Medicine has a long history as one of the worlds foremost centers for neuroscience research, including as a leading institution in the study of Alzheimers disease. Its scientists have identified key molecules involved in sculpting nervous system development and triggers of neurodegenerative diseases, mapped connections from brain region to brain region, and developed pioneering surgical treatments for nerve injuries, among other groundbreaking discoveries.

David H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of the School of Medicine, and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor, said the new facility will open the door to bold new research initiatives and partnerships.

Understanding the brain is key to addressing some of the most devastating afflictions that affect mankind, Perlmutter said. So many of us have been touched by the inexorable decline of our loved ones due to diseases and conditions such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons, brain trauma, glioblastoma and severe mental illness, and we have learned that the development of effective therapies has proven formidable. As scientists, we believe that a deeper understanding of cognition and emotional regulation can help us address major public health problems such as obesity, substance abuse, depression and suicide.

The initiative will increase synergy and facilitate greater collaboration between scientists in the medical schools neuroscience-focused departments and researchers in related disciplines, especially those whose work requires close collaboration with neuroscientists.

This rendering shows a view from the west of the planned neuroscience research center.

Collaboration across disciplines will be key to advancing our understanding of this new frontier in medicine, Perlmutter said. For example, new studies have recognized the importance of the microbiome and its interaction with our immune system in shaping the development and function of the brain. Work on synaptic connections in the nervous system is also critical to the development of machine intelligence and socially interactive robots that could solve many of the most important challenges of modern society. This building will be dedicated to advancing our global leadership position in solving these very big problems with imagination and rigor.

The new research center also is expected to inspire health-minded entrepreneurial pursuits and synergy with visionary business developers situated within a stones throw of the new research center. The building and related construction, which will be built at an expected cost of $616 million, will sit at the eastern edge of the Medical Campus, in the 200-acre Cortex Innovation Community, one of the fastest growing business, innovation and technology hubs in the United States and home to numerous biotech startups founded by Washington University faculty, staff and students.

We are constructing the building at the intersection of Cortex and the Medical Campus to encourage efforts by Washington University neuroscientists to transform their research into innovations that can move rapidly to improve medical care and quality of life for people with neurological conditions, said Jennifer K. Lodge, PhD, the universitys vice chancellor for research.

Among Washington Universitys achievements in the field of neuroscience, two Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been won by scientists at the university. In 1944, Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser won the Nobel for their work studying nerve fibers. They showed that the conduction velocity of nerve impulses is faster in thick nerve fibers than in thin fibers, and identified numerous other properties of sensory and motor nerves. And in 1986, Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini won the Nobel for discovering chemical growth factors essential for cell growth and development in the body. In the 1950s, they discovered nerve growth factor, a protein crucial for building networks of nerves.

The School of Medicine has a longtime, deep commitment to understanding, treating and preventing Alzheimers in particular. In the U.S., 5.8 million people are living with the disease, with the number projected to rise to nearly 14 million by 2050. Alzheimers and other dementias cost the U.S. a staggering $290 billion in 2019, and the cost is predicted to climb as high as $1.1 trillion by 2050, according to the Alzheimers Association.

The new center is intended to complement and build on The Brain Research Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative (The BRAIN Initiative), an extensive effort launched in 2013 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to revolutionize our understanding of the brain and brain disorders. Despite tremendous advances in neuroscience, the causes of numerous neurological and psychiatric conditions remain unknown. Like The BRAIN Initiative, Washington Universitys leadership understands how critical that information will be to figuring out how to effectively counter these diseases and help the many people suffering from them. In fact, several research projects led by Washington University investigators are funded by The BRAIN Initiative and will find a home in the new neuroscience building.

The medical schools faculty have long been lauded for the collaborations they develop across the university, and the new research facility is intended to boost and significantly drive such efforts. The building will feature research neighborhoods and a shared area on each floor to spur conversation and collaboration. The neighborhoods will be organized around research themes among them, addiction, neurodegeneration, sleep and circadian rhythm, synapse and circuits, and neurogenomics and neurogenetics that bring together people with common interests from multiple departments. The first researchers are slated to move into the building in 2023. While the initial construction will accommodate more than 100 research teams, additional shell space could be built out later for another 45 research teams.

This rendering shows a view from the southwest of the planned neuroscience research building.

The additional space created in this building represents the next step in the schools strategic plan to increase its research base by more than 30% over the next 10 years. The school is currently ranked fourth among U.S. medical schools in NIH funding and aims to leverage the breadth of its basic and clinical research assets, together with existing and new industry partnerships, to enhance its core mission in discovery and development of new treatments.

We have been very successful at attracting top-notch researchers and their teams to the School of Medicine, and this continues to be a chief goal, Perlmutter said. The focus on neuroscience in this building is also integral to our aspirations across the Medical Campus to utilize the paradigm of personalized medicine and to address the problems of aging and degenerative diseases.

Added David Holtzman, MD, the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of the Department of Neurology: A key goal for the neuroscience center is to take what we discover in our laboratories and get it out into the public sector so patients, and society as a whole, can benefit. This building and the collaborations it will grow will position us to achieve meaningful breakthroughs in science and medicine.

An internationally renowned expert on the causes of Alzheimers disease, Holtzman and his team helped develop antibodies aimed at preventing dementia by reducing deposits of the Alzheimers proteins amyloid beta and tau in the brain, and have advanced the understanding of how sleep and apolipoprotein E the most important genetic risk factor for Alzheimers contribute to brain injury. Holtzman also is involved in a project led byRandall J. Bateman, MD, the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology, to develop a blood test that can measure levels of amyloid beta and other proteins in the blood with the goal of diagnosing Alzheimers before symptoms develop.

The new neuroscience facility to be located at 4370 Duncan Avenue extends the School of Medicines reach eastward. As part of the construction, the university will add to its network of elevated, connected walkways, known as the Link, to reach the neuroscience research hub, and also will build a utility plant. In addition to the facilitys labs and research-focused areas, the new building will have event space, a large seminar room and a food-service area, as well as an 1,860-space parking garage. The architectural firms Perkins and Will, and CannonDesign are the projects designers, and McCarthy Building Companies will oversee construction.

Neuroscience research is a synergetic enterprise that depends on the expertise of people in many fields, Holtzman said. By bringing together so much knowledge, talent and passion, this new facility will make it considerably more likely that people will have the kinds of water-cooler discussions that lead to interdisciplinary game-changing ideas and projects. Im very excited to see what we will do.

Neuroscience research highlights

Washington University researchers:

Through ongoing research, they are:

Washington University School of Medicines 1,500 faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals. The School of Medicine is a leader in medical research, teaching and patient care, ranking among the top 10 medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

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Washington University to break ground on major neuroscience research hub Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis - Washington...

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