New medical school student sees chance to serve El Paso

Posted on by

Click photo to enlarge

First year Medical Students Travis Corgan, left, and Christine Dahlhausen wait to don their white coats during the Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony at the Plaza Theatre.

El Pasoan Victoria Nuez smiled after putting on her white medical coat for the first time during a ceremony Saturday for the newest class of students at El Paso's medical school.

Nuez is one of the 80 students in the fourth class to enter the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Nuez is among 12 El Pasoans in the medical school's Class of 2016.

The new students were given the coats, which are symbolic of the medical profession, during a White Coat Ceremony at the Plaza Theatre. The White Coat Ceremony is a milestone that marks entering the medical field and signifies the responsibility to take care of patients.

Nuez, a graduate of Americas High School and the University of Texas at Austin, said she was happy to attend medical school in her hometown.

"It means so much," Nuez said. "I still have family here. I have that support network from my family. I can give back to my community."

Nuez said she was inspired to become a doctor by her grandfather, Dr. Germinal Nuez, who was a doctor in El Paso before he retired, and her aunt, Dr. Lourdes Nuez of Miami.

Medical school leaders said the new group of students were selected from 2,900 applicants. The school now has 260 students, including the newest class.

The school's first class will graduate next May in what will be a milestone for the medical school, which for decades was only a dream for El Paso, said Dr. J. Manuel de la Rosa, the medical school's founding

Go here to see the original:
New medical school student sees chance to serve El Paso

Postoperative delirium in cardiac surgery patients associated with prolonged cognitive impairment

Posted on by

Public release date: 4-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2600 University of Massachusetts Medical School

WORCESTER, MA Older patients undergoing cardiac surgery often experience changes in cognitive function, such as memory problems or an inability to focus, in the days immediately following their operations. While these changes are usually temporary, for unknown reasons, a significant number of cardiac patients will encounter long-term cognitive problems, lasting as long as a year after their surgeries.

Now, new research published in the July 5 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), establishes a link between postoperative delirium and prolonged loss of cognitive function in cardiac surgery patients. Led by investigators at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Aging Brain Center at Hebrew SeniorLife, the findings suggest that interventions to prevent delirium in advance of surgery could help cardiac patients avoid long-term cognitive consequences.

A state of confusion that can develop following illness, infection or surgery, delirium is one of the most common complications in hospitalized patients over age 65. "Our findings now suggest that postoperative delirium, once thought of as an acute, transient cognitive disorder, may have longer-term effects on cognitive function in patients undergoing cardiac surgery," said co-lead author Jane Saczynski, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

While delirium has been studied quite extensively in other patient populations, including general medical and surgical patients and orthopedic surgery patients, few studies of delirium have targeted cardiac surgery patients. "With the aging of the patient population undergoing cardiac surgery and increases in survival after surgery, clinicians and patients are increasingly concerned with factors associated with quality of life, including cognitive status, as major outcomes of surgery," the authors write. "Whether postoperative delirium is associated with prolonged cognitive dysfunction has been unclear."

The researchers followed 225 patients, aged 60 to 90, who underwent either coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or heart valve replacement surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), UMass Memorial Medical Center or the Boston VA Medical Center, for one year after their surgeries, assessing them for both delirium and cognitive impairment.

"One of the real strengths of our study is that we assessed patients' cognitive function preoperatively and an average of five times during the year after surgery," said co-lead author Edward Marcantonio, MD, section chief for research in BIDMC's Division of General Medicine and Primary Care and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Previous research had shown an association between postoperative delirium and functional decline in activities of daily living [such as grooming and dressing, driving, shopping, preparing meals and managing medications and finances.] But, believe it or not, the one thing that's been most uncertain is the association between delirium and long-term cognitive difficulties. This study allowed us to accurately model the course of cognitive function and to compare the rate of recovery among patients with and without postoperative delirium."

The results showed that compared with patients who did not experience delirium, the 103 patients who developed delirium after cardiac surgery 46 percent of the total experienced a more significant drop in cognitive performance immediately following surgery, as determined by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). They also took significantly longer to recover back to their pre-surgical level of function than did patients who did not develop delirium. For example, five days after surgery, nearly half of those who did not develop delirium had returned to pre-operative levels of function while less than 20 percent of those who did develop delirium had returned to pre-operative level of function; six months after surgery, more than three-quarters of those without delirium had recovered cognitively compared to only 60 percent of those with delirium.

Although patients who developed delirium took longer to recover to their pre-operative levels of cognitive performance, they continued to improve in the weeks and months after surgery. Cognitive performance reached preoperative levels and stabilized one month after surgery in patients who did not develop delirium but continued to improve until six months after surgery in those with delirium.

View post:
Postoperative delirium in cardiac surgery patients associated with prolonged cognitive impairment

Israeli medical students donate books to Patan Academy for the Health Science

Posted on by

Israeli medical students donate books to Patan Academy for the Health Science

Israeli Ambassador to Nepal Hanan Goder-Goldberger on Thursday handed over a collection of books sent from the Medical School for International Health (Soroka University Medical Center), Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel to Prof. Dr. Rajesh Gangol, Dean of the Patan Academy for the Health Science.

The book was handed over to Dr Gangol amidst a ceremony held at the Patan Hospital.

The books have been collected from the students of the Ben Gurion Unitersity School for International Health in Beer Sheva, Israel with the initiative of Professor Michael Alkan for the students of Patan Academy of Medical Science. Prof. Alkan has been instrumental in promoting Patan Academy for Health Science in Israel since its inception in 2008.

In recent years there is ongoing cooperation and sharing of knowhow and exchange of professional staffs from Israel to Nepal and Nepal to Israel.

During the Ceremony Prof. Dr. Gangol expressed his appreciation for the ongoing cooperation between the two hospitals and the two universities. He hopes that this cooperation will further develop in the future.

Ambassador Goder-Goldberger expressed his satisfaction for the ongoing cooperation between two hospitals and said that the Embassy will be happy to see such projects in the future too. nepalnews.com

See the article here:
Israeli medical students donate books to Patan Academy for the Health Science

Class Acts: Linnea Simcik, Bloomfield High School

Posted on by

"We live in a country where people like to point out all the things that are wrong in the U.S. To me, yeah, nothing's perfect, but there are so many things we have right here. To truly be able to be grateful for those things, I need to give back and serve my country." - Linnea Simcik, Bloomfield HS (Courtesy of Linnea Simcik / July 2, 2012)

Linnea Simcik said she wants to go to medical school, and serve her country in the military.

"We live in a country where people like to point out all the things that are wrong in the U.S.," Simcik said. "To me, yeah, nothing's perfect, but there are so many things we have right here. To truly be able to be grateful for those things, I need to give back and serve my country."

Simcik will attend Southern Virginia University in the fall and study biology, with a minor in computer science. She will also attend Virginia Military Institute's ROTC program.

In the future, Simcik said she hopes to be a radiologist and, eventually, a military doctor. She said she is "fascinated" with medicine and how the body works.

"I've always known I wanted to go into a career where I could directly help people," Simcik said.

In addition to playing varsity tennis and leading her church's youth group, Simcik was a member of the National French and Spanish Honors Society and was a battalion commander in JROTC.

Simcik said she received the Yale Book Award and the University of Rochester Academic Award and was a Governor's Scholar Semifinalist, in addition to school achievement awards.

See the rest here:
Class Acts: Linnea Simcik, Bloomfield High School

MEDICAL SCHOOL New bill says school should get $15 million

Posted on by

Posted on | July 3, 2012 | Comments

Newly amended legislation calls on lawmakers to put UC Riversides medical school at the top of the list for any money from the settlement of a federal lawsuit against the Senior Care Action Network health plan.

Until this week, the measure by Assemblyman Jeff Miller, R-Corona, dealt with improving roads needed for fire suppression. It passed the Assembly in May 2011 and was awaiting consideration in the Senate.

Mondays amendments would require the state to give the UCR Medical School $15 million from the impending settlement of what the bill says is the U.S. Department of Justices investigation of the senior health plans payment rates. The states share is expected to exceed $100 million, according to the bill.

Notwithstanding any other law, from any amount paid to the State of California as a result of an investigation into possible overpayments of state funds to the Senior Care Action Network (SCAN) Health Plan and available for expenditure for the purposes of this act, as the highest priority for the use of these funds, fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be transferred to the Regents of the University of California for allocation, without regard to fiscal year, to the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, reads the bill.

Millers district doesnt include UC Riverside. The campus, though, is part of the 31st Senate District, where Miller faces Democrat Richard Roth, a Riverside attorney, in one of the states most competitive races. Roth touted his support for the medical school in campaign mailers leading up to the June 5 primary.

By: Jim Miller

See more here:
MEDICAL SCHOOL New bill says school should get $15 million

MU med school, Cabell Huntington Hospital to be on TV

Posted on by

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Marshall University's medical school and Cabell Huntington Hospital will be featured in Thursday's episode of NBC's Rock Center, the hospital announced Tuesday.

The newsmagazine will feature the Maternal Addiction and Recovery Center at MU's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Cabell Huntington.

NBC will air the newsmagazine at 10 p.m. Thursday on WSAZ-TV.

An NBC news crew spent time at the hospital in early April and interviewed Dr. David Chaffin, a maternal fetal specialist and Dr. Sean Loudin, a neontologist, about the medical school and hospital's work to address the issue of opiate drug addiction by pregnant women and its effect on newborns.

"It is our hope that the national media exposure will give pregnant women who are addicted the courage to seek care in treatment programs like our center," said Dr. David C. Jude, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MUSOM. "Receiving prenatal care early in the pregnancy significantly reduces the likelihood of complications of pregnancy, and we hope that increasing awareness of both the problem and places where help is available will inspire women to seek care sooner in their pregnancy.

"Our experience so far has shown us that a little more than half of these women can either use significantly less or come off the medications completely and by doing so significantly reduces the severity of neonatal withdrawal and may prevent some babies from having withdrawal symptoms," Jude said.

The newsmagazine will feature the Maternal Addiction and Recovery Center at MU's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Cabell Huntington.

NBC will air the newsmagazine at 10 p.m. Thursday on WSAZ-TV.

An NBC news crew spent time at the hospital in early April and interviewed Dr. David Chaffin, a maternal fetal specialist and Dr. Sean Loudin, a neontologist, about the medical school and hospital's work to address the issue of opiate drug addiction by pregnant women and its effect on newborns.

"It is our hope that the national media exposure will give pregnant women who are addicted the courage to seek care in treatment programs like our center," said Dr. David C. Jude, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MUSOM. "Receiving prenatal care early in the pregnancy significantly reduces the likelihood of complications of pregnancy, and we hope that increasing awareness of both the problem and places where help is available will inspire women to seek care sooner in their pregnancy.

View post:
MU med school, Cabell Huntington Hospital to be on TV

Students Interrupt John Key at Medical School opening

Posted on by

Media Release 4 July 2012 For Immediate Use

Student Protestors Interrupt John Key at Medical School opening

A group of students has interrupted a speech from Prime Minister John Key as he opened the new Medical and Health Sciences complex at the University of Auckland yesterday.The students from protest group Blockade the Budget stood in the wind and rain chanting 'We're cold, we're wet, we're drowning is student debt!' - One protestor was able to make her way into the ceremony to address Key directly.

The protest was one of a series of demonstrations against the National Government's recent Budget cuts. The Student allowances will no longer be available for post-graduate study, and access will be limited to 200 weeks for longer courses, including many of the degrees on offer at the Medical School. Commenting at the protest, post-graduate student Wednesday Jones said 'Isn't it ironic that millions of dollars were spent on revamping the Medical School while thanks to his shortsighted, selfish and detrimental budget, the school will only ever be accessed by students from wealthy backgrounds.'

Health Sciences student Mark Nelson added 'There is always money for new buildings or public relations campaigns, but nothing to support students from less privileged backgrounds. We should be able to celebrate these facilities as a benefit for everyone, but we know that the business approach to education means that this is an elite facility that will be out of reach for most of us'

When asked about the protest action, Blockade the Budget replied with 'It's only a few weeks since 43 students were abused and arrested by police for protesting against the arrogance of this Government, now we have John Key up here cutting ribbons and acting like a great benefactor. We want people to know the truth, the National Government is destroying education.'

Students are planning a large public demonstration called 'Show and Tell' for the 21st of July. The issues that the group will be protesting against include $400 Million in cuts to early childhood education, the National Standards program, performance based pay for teachers, charter schools and education as a business, $13 Billion worth of Student Debt, cuts to the student allowance scheme and arts funding, the 7th highest tertiary fees in the world and 15% of tertiary students living in absolute financial distress.

Anyone interested in joining the rally against education cuts are encouraged to meet at 1pm on Saturday 21st July at Britomart, Auckland CBD.

ends

Scoop Media

Continue reading here:
Students Interrupt John Key at Medical School opening

EHRs Can Reduce Doctors' Malpractice Claims: Study

Posted on by

Using electronic health records could help doctors face fewer malpractice suits, a study by Harvard Medical School researchers revealed.

In their study, called "The Relationship Between Electronic Health Records and Malpractice Claims," the Harvard researchers found that 84 percent of respondents were less likely to face malpractice claims after implementing EHR platforms.

The Archives of Internal Medicine, part of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) network, published the findings on its Website June 25.

Between 2005 and 2007, researchers interviewed 275 doctors in the surgical and medical specialties. Of the claims the doctors received during this period, 49 out of 51 involved events that happened before they adopted EHRs.

Participating doctors were members of Harvard Medical School and covered by a malpractice insurer, Controlled Risk Insurance Company/Risk Management Foundation (CRICO/RMF).

"The high quality and availability of proper documentation in EHRs may increase the likelihood of successful defense against malpractice claims," the report stated.

The authors of the study include Dr. Steven Simon, associate professor with Harvard Medical School and chief of general internal medicine at the VA Boston Healthcare System, as well as Dr. Mariah Quinn of the department of internal medicine at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a nonprofit medical group practice serving eastern Massachusetts.

"At the very least, this study should provide doctors and medical groups with further assurance that EHR adoption is very unlikely to increase their odds of a malpractice claim," Simon told eWEEK in an email.

To arrive at the study's results, Harvard researchers used a statistical method called Poisson regression to find a linear correlation between its 2005 and 2007 results.

"Because physicians in the sample were insured for different durations and used EHRs for variable amounts of time, the number of insured years was calculated for each physician before and after EHR adoption," the report stated.

Read more:
EHRs Can Reduce Doctors' Malpractice Claims: Study

12 new medical residents are selected as region tries to address physician shortage

Posted on by

SANTA ROSA The Family Medicine Residency Program at Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa announced its incoming class of 2015, selecting 12 medical school graduates out of 618 applicants about half of the nations 1,200 plus applicants in family medicine.

The three-year program, one of 450 family medicine training programs in the United States, is affiliated with the UCSF School of Medicine and has trained hundreds of family physicians since its inception in 1938.

And its become an increasingly vital asset to the regions health care landscape, as the county, the state and much of the nation confronts a persistent and emerging shortage of primary care physicians.

The county faces a shortage of up to 200 physicians over the next 10 years, according to a study commissioned by the Sonoma County Department of Health Services and the Sonoma County Medical Association. The study said the county has some 350 primary care physicians, which is better than the ideal range of 60 to 80 doctors per 100,000 residents. Still, an estimated 22 percent of the countys primary care physicians expected to retire and another percent 6 to 8 percent planning on leaving the area.

In addition the shortage, the nature of primary care has changed dramatically, with more and more physicians joining larger, more coordinated systems versus running a private practice.

Health care is changing in this country and the old models of family medicine, where a physician sits in the office and waits for patients to come to them, are out-dated. In our recruiting, we have positioned ourselves as one of the innovators in the world of family medicine education, said Jeff Haney, residency program director.

Copyright 19882012 North Bay Business Journal View the policy for linking to website content.

Topics: Kaiser Permanente, physician residency, physicians groups, Santa Rosa Community Health Centers, Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, Sonoma County, Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa | Categories: Employment, Health Care and Senior Living, Industry News, North Bay News, People, Position, Sonoma Report, Spotlights and Profiles, Top News Stories

See more here:
12 new medical residents are selected as region tries to address physician shortage

Coffee Skin Cancer: Caffeine Consumption Linked With Lower Risk Of Basal Cell Carcinoma

Posted on by

In addition to this finding, this finding, this finding and this finding -- all of which came out in the past month or so -- a new coffee study is showing us yet another health benefit of being a regular brew-drinker.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School have found that there seems to be a relationship between increased coffee intake (meaning the more, the better) and decreased risk of basal cell carcinoma -- the most common skin cancer.

But researchers cautioned that if you aren't an avid coffee drinker already, this study shouldn't convince you to try to increase your coffee intake for the sake of protecting against skin cancer.

"However, our results add basal cell carcinoma to a list of conditions for which risk is decreased with increasing coffee consumption," study researcher Jiali Han, Ph.D., an associate professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston and Harvard School of Public Health, said in a statement. "This list includes conditions with serious negative health consequences such as Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease."

This year in the United States, there are expected to be more than 2,000,000 new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The Cancer Research study included analysis of 112,897 people who were in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Over a 20-year period, 22,786 people developed basal cell carcinoma.

Researchers not only found a link between increased coffee consumption and decreased skin cancer risk -- for example, women who drank three or more cups of coffee a day had a lower risk of skin cancer than people who drank less than a cup of coffee a month -- but also a link between overall increased caffeine consumption (like from coffee, soda, chocolate and tea) and decreased skin cancer risk. Meanwhile, there was no link between decaffeinated coffee consumption and risk of the skin cancer.

In addition, there was no link was identified between increased coffee or caffeine consumption and squamous cell carcinoma or melanoma, which are two other kinds of skin cancer.

"These results really suggest that it is the caffeine in coffee that is responsible for the decreased risk of basal cell carcinoma associated with increasing coffee consumption," Han said in the statement. "This would be consistent with published mouse data, which indicate caffeine can block skin tumor formation. However, more studies in different population cohorts and additional mechanistic studies will be needed before we can say this definitively."

However, there is such a thing as too much caffeine. The Mayo Clinic says that consuming heavy amounts of caffeine each day (500 to 600 milligrams a day, or more) can lead to muscle tremors, insomnia, irritability, restlessness and even upset stomach. But the Mayo Clinic did note that getting about 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine per day -- that which is in about four cups of coffee -- for adults is not a detriment to health.

Visit link:
Coffee Skin Cancer: Caffeine Consumption Linked With Lower Risk Of Basal Cell Carcinoma

Cloudera Chief Scientist Jeff Hammerbacher Teams With Mount Sinai School of Medicine to Solve Medical Challenges Using …

Posted on by

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire -07/03/12)- Cloudera, the category leader that is setting the standard for Apache Hadoop in the enterprise, today announced that Cloudera Cofounder and Chief Scientist Jeff Hammerbacher will be leading a revolutionary project with Mount Sinai School of Medicine to apply the power of Cloudera's Big Data platform to critical problems in predicting and understanding the process and treatment of disease.

"We are at the cutting edge of disease prevention and treatment, and the work that we will do together will reshape the landscape of our field," said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, The Mount Sinai Medical Center. "Mount Sinai is thrilled to join minds with Cloudera."

As a founder of Cloudera, Hammerbacher fully appreciates the technology's potential for solving previously intractable or even un-askable questions in medicine. In concert with Mount Sinai's clinical and academic community, he will help to develop solutions designed to enable performance scalable data analysis and multi-scale measurements in areas such as genotype, gene expression and organ health for medical research and discovery. The new software will also provide real-time feedback and guidance for treatment to improve patient outcomes.

"We can improve healthcare delivery and treatment through new technology and acquired knowledge," said Eric Schadt, PhD, director of the Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai. "I am delighted that Jeff will be collaborating with the Institute of Genomics and Multiscale Biology and look forward to working together to dramatically change how we think about medical analysis and reporting."

Hammerbacher is enthusiastic about the implications of Big Data in medicine and, with support of Cloudera's Data Science team, will be dedicating a portion of his time to this collaboration. Areas of research include analysis of human and bacterial genomes, study of the metabolic pathways of normal and disease states in the organism, structure and function of molecules used in treatment of disease, and more.

"I'm excited to work closely with one of the world's best research and teaching hospitals, as we expand what it means to be in the Data Science field," Hammerbacher said. "The value of Hadoop lies not in the technology itself, but in the real world problems it can solve."

Solving practical problems is core to Cloudera's focus; recent examples include using Hadoop to gain new insights for the FDA on adverse drug reactions across up to four drug combinations, and helping Opower customers to be more energy efficient as a result of visibility and connections drawn from disparate data.

About The Mount Sinai Medical CenterThe Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. Consistently ranked in the top 20 hospitals in the United States, Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and US News and World Report and whose hospital is on the US News and World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place. For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/

About ClouderaCloudera, the leader in Apache Hadoop-based software, services and training, enables data driven enterprises to easily derive business value from all their structured and unstructured data. Cloudera's Distribution Including Apache Hadoop (CDH), available to download for free at http://www.cloudera.com/downloads, is the most comprehensive, tested, stable and widely deployed distribution of Hadoop in commercial and non-commercial environments. For the fastest path to reliably using this completely open source technology in production for Big Data analytics and answering previously un-addressable big questions, organizations can subscribe to Cloudera Enterprise, comprised of Cloudera Support and a portfolio of software including Cloudera Manager. Cloudera also offers consulting services, training and certification on Apache technologies. As the top contributor to the Apache open source community and with tens of thousands of nodes under management across customers in financial services, government, telecommunications, media, web, advertising, retail, energy, bioinformatics, pharma/healthcare, university research, oil and gas and gaming, Cloudera's depth of experience and commitment to sharing expertise are unrivaled. http://www.cloudera.com

Connect with ClouderaRead the blog: http://www.cloudera.com/blog/ Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/cloudera Visit on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cloudera

Read more here:
Cloudera Chief Scientist Jeff Hammerbacher Teams With Mount Sinai School of Medicine to Solve Medical Challenges Using ...

Medical pioneers

Posted on by

Pinoy Kasi By: Michael L. Tan Philippine Daily Inquirer

The commencement exercises were held last June 2, somewhat atypical in the Philippines, where these rituals are usually held in April. The togas and capes were different, too: as befitting the medical graduates, they had the color green, but this was combined with gray, associated with a business degree.

The graduating class was from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health (ASMPH), the first of a unique program that allows these new doctors to add MD as well as MBA (master of business administration) after their names.

The brain behind the medical school was Dr. Alfredo Bengzon, who wanted a new medical curriculum that would produce not just excellent clinicians but also public health experts and administrators. It was a 21st-century vision that began in the 20th when Bengzon was building up Medical City from a small hospital to the large medical complex that it is today. Other ideas came in when he was health secretary, the first after the 1986 Edsa revolt, when he had to fight many battles around inefficiency and corruption.

Our panganay (eldest), said Dr. Ma. Eufemia Yap, one of the associate deans, with pride and a bit of relief. It wasnt just taking care of the students through the five years of medical school, but also the many years of planning that went into the medical school.

The Ateneo Board of Trustees approved the creation of the school in 1997, after much discussion. But it was to take another 10 years before the school opened its doors to this first batch. There were numerous meetings and workshops all through those years, literally from one millennium into the next, to discuss how this medical school would be different, and what dual degrees could be offered. An MPH (master of public health) was considered, as well as an MM (master of management). In the end, the choice of the MBA was partly out of convenience: Ateneo already had years of experience with its MBA programs offered in its Makati campuses, including degrees specific for health professionals with strong exposure to public health and management.

I was roped (or, I felt at times, lassoed) in to help think of the inputs for the social sciences and to train teachers and mentors to lecture, with the aim of developing cultural competence, which isnt just sensitivity to peoples cultures but also the ability to harness peoples own knowledge, and practices, to keep healthy and fight disease.

MBA oath

I was initially uncomfortable with the MBA degree, in part because of public perceptions that an MBA produces business people, and that doctors are already too good at making money. But interactions with the Ateneo MBA staff have convinced me that we need more of these MBA programs for other professionals as well, to run government as well as private companies. The trajectory of todays MBA is well summarized in an MBA oath first crafted by the 2009 graduates of Harvard Business School and which has since been signed by thousands of other MBA graduates around the world, including, I hope, the new ASMPH graduates.

The oath begins with a recognition of MBA graduates role in society: first, to lead people and manage resources to create value that no single individual can create alone, and second, that their decisions affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside [their] enterprise, today and tomorrow. The oath has several promises concerning ethical conduct and the protection of human rights and dignity in the pursuit of value creation. How appropriate, I thought, for todays physicians, who create value by keeping people healthy.

Read more:
Medical pioneers

What It Means to Be a ‘Disadvantaged’ M.D. Applicant

Posted on by

Med school applicants from rural areas are among those who can claim disadvantaged status.

Many premedical students have encountered some form of hardship. So when medical school applicants see the category "Disadvantaged status" on the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), they may wonder what a disadvantaged status really means.

Officially, AMCAS states that applicants determine whether to designate themselves as disadvantaged. Each medical school has its own policies on how it handles applicants who self-declare the disadvantaged status, or whether it treats those applications differently. AMCAS also provides certain categories for guidance in determining status:

Underserved: If you grew up in an underserved or rural area up until the age of 18, AMCAS states that you can identify yourself as a disadvantaged applicant. When you generate your AMCAS application, you can mark your county of residence as rural (R), medically underserved (U), or both.

[Learn what to consider when applying to med school with a low GPA.]

Immediate family: If you have a situation involving your immediate family that affected your educational opportunities or social circumstances, you can self-designate as disadvantaged.

State and federal assistance programs: If your family received state and federal assistance because of socioeconomic other circumstances, it would be considered appropriate to self-designate as disadvantaged by AMCAS.

If you think there are other circumstances that have contributed to your disadvantaged statues that are not listed on the AMCAS page, don't feel constrained by the above. In addition to requesting family financial data, AMCAS provides the opportunity for a 1,325 character statement explaining why you feel you should be considered a disadvantaged applicant.

In June 2009, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) published a compendium of examples of disadvantaged applicant statements, as well as other data that characterized admissions statistics of that group.

[See why minorities still don't feel completely comfortable in medicine.]

Go here to see the original:
What It Means to Be a ‘Disadvantaged’ M.D. Applicant

Steven L. Galetta, MD, Appointed Chair of the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center

Posted on by

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

NYU Langone Medical Center announced today that Steven L. Galetta, MD, has been appointed the Philip K. Moskowitz, MD Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology, andLaura Balcer, MD, MSCE, has been appointed vice chair of the department. The appointments are effective November 1, 2012.

A nationally recognized leader in neurology and medical education, Dr. Galetta joins NYU Langone from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) where he is the Ruth Wagner Van Meter and J. Ray Van Meter Professor of Neurology, vice chair of the department, and director of the Division of Neuro-Ophthalmology. During his tenure at Penn, Galetta led the Department of Neurology residency program for an unprecedented 23 years. He also leads the neuro-ophthalmology fellowship program and serves as associate dean of admissions of the medical school.

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Galetta as chair of neurology, said Robert I. Grossman, MD, dean and CEO at NYU Langone. As one of todays leading clinical neurologists, he brings a depth and breadth of experience and expertise in neurology, neuro-ophthalmology, and program development, making him the ideal chairperson to lead our already stellar department to even greater heights.

Often noted for his abilities as an educator, Dr. Galetta has received nearly 50 awards including the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, Penns highest teaching award. In 2004, he was also honored for his role as an educator by receiving the American Neurological Associations Distinguished Neurology Teacher Award, granted to only one teacher in the U.S. each year, as well as the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Additionally he received the Palmer Parker Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Dr. Galetta was the recipient of the Louis Duhring Outstanding Clinical Specialist Award at Penn in 1998. His areas of expertise include research and advances in the treatment of double vision, multiple sclerosis (MS), neuro-ophthalmology, and optic nerve disorders.He is a prolific researcher and has authored more than 200 original papers, as well as 113 editorials and serves on the editorial boards of Neurology and the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology. Additionally, he served as president of the Philadelphia Neurological Society in 2004.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Dr. Galetta received his undergraduate degree from Penn in 1979, and in that same year received the Class of 1915 Award, which is presented annually to the senior male student-athlete who shows outstanding athletic, academic and leadership qualities. Additionally, in 2005 he was inducted into Penn Athletics Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in both lightweight football and track during his undergraduate career. Dr. Galetta received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1983.He completed his neurology residency training at Penn and his neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Florida.

It is an honor to join NYU Langone, and I am delighted to return to my roots in New York City, said Dr. Galetta. I am eager to begin this next chapter of my career and to lead NYU Langones already world-class Department of Neurology in delivering exceptional patient care, advanced scientific research, and quality graduate education.

The principal investigator for several notable clinical trials that examine strategies and potential roles for early therapy in MS, Dr. Galetta is also an outstanding mentor, inspiring his trainees to become physician-scientists in neurology and neuro-ophthalmology. In fact, Dr. Galetta introduced one of his first neuro-ophthalmology fellows, Dr. Balcer, to MS as an area for vision research. Since then, they have been teammates and collaborators for over 20 years at Penn, where she serves as a professor of neurology and division chief for MS since 2004, leading a diverse group of physician-scientists, clinicians and staff. She will now join Dr. Galetta in steering the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone.

Dr. Balcer was one of the first epidemiologists within the field of neuro-ophthalmology. She is an established clinical investigator whose teams work has focused on the development of visual outcome measures for MS. Dr. Balcers research, through collaborative efforts with researchers from several other leading institutions, first identified structure-function correlations in the visual pathway that now allow the measuring of axonal and neuronal loss in patients with MS and optic neuritis. She has co-authored more than 150 publications, and is the principal investigator for NIH and foundation grants totaling more than $1 million.

Visit link:
Steven L. Galetta, MD, Appointed Chair of the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center

Arizona's Newest Medical School Opens

Posted on by

PHOENIX, June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Creighton University 's School of Medicine Regional Campus at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Arizona opens its doors today as 42 future physicians attend their first classes.

The new regional campus of the medical school is a partnership between Arizona's oldest teaching hospital and the nationally recognized Omaha-based university. Prior to this launch, the two organizations had enjoyed a more informal relationship for many years. Now, the two have expanded their commitment and established a fully operational regional campus of Creighton's School of Medicine.

Students, who began their medical school studies in Omaha, will complete the last two years of their medical education In Phoenix. The new regional campus becomes the second allopathic medical school in Arizona offering a Doctor of Medicine, M.D., degree.

"This is a game changer for the medical industry in Arizona," said Patty White, president and CEO of St. Joseph. "For St. Joseph's, the new regional medical school campus underlines our commitment to academic excellence and patient care. Together with Creighton, we are creating the medical professionals of the future."

"This affiliation is transformational and strengthens both institutions. It expands student educational opportunities, allows for the vital recruitment of more students as our country struggles with physician shortages, creates collaborative research opportunities and leverages the faculty and administrative expertise from both organizations," said Creighton President Timothy R. Lannon, S. J.

Creighton School of Medicine was established in 1892 as part of the Catholic, Jesuit institution. Creighton graduates practice medicine in all 50 states. Last year the school had more than 6,206 applications for 126 openings. In 2012, Creighton matched 97 percent of its graduating students with their specialties of choice.

2-2-2 Arizona's Newest Medical School Opens 2-2-2

The new Arizona regional medical school campus is the latest chapter in St. Joseph's long history as a teaching hospital. Academic affairs at St. Joseph's began in 1936 with the hospital's first intern class of eight trainees. Today St. Joseph's sponsors 10 graduate medical residency programs with more than 200 graduate medical residents and 12 specialty fellowship programs. More than 150 residents and 240 medical students from Arizona and around the U.S. come to St. Joseph's annually for training from their home programs.

"We will be offering an environment that allows these students to excel in the practice of compassionate medicine while learning from some of the best doctors in the nation," says James Balducci, M.D., and associate dean of the campus.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said that the partnership between Creighton and St. Joseph's is "fantastic news not only for Arizona's medical students, but for the State as a whole. With the new Phoenix campus, Arizona is one step closer to becoming a national and international destination for medical care and research innovation."

Read more here:
Arizona's Newest Medical School Opens

Western Michigan University medical school building to be named after W.E. Upjohn

Posted on by

KALAMAZOO, MI Leaders of the Western Michigan University medical school announced Thursday the future downtown Kalamazoo campus will be named the W.E. Upjohn Campus for the founder of The Upjohn Co.

Last December, MPI Research announced it would donate a building near the northwest corner of Portage and Lovell streets to WMU for the medical school.

The more than 300,000-square-foot building was part of the downtown campuses of pharmaceutical companies Upjohn, Pharmacia and then Pfizer, and has been known as Building 267. It is slated to undergo renovations and a small expansion starting later this summer, and is scheduled to be ready for use by August 2014 for the opening of the medical school.

W.E. Upjohn founded what became The Upjohn Co. in 1886 and was its president for 43 years.

"This property represents the beginning of the greatly expanded Upjohn campus, which included this building throughout the life of the company," William U. Parfet, the great-grandson of W.E. Upjohn who is now chairman and CEO of MPI Research, said in a statement released from WMU. "It only makes sense to our family that this would be the headquarters for the WMU School of Medicine."

The medical school, being developed by WMU in partnership with Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare, is awaiting accreditation. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education recently granted the school "candidate medical school" status. According to a statement from WMU, the committee is planning a preliminary accreditation visit to the campus.

WMU last year announced it had received a $100 million gift for the school from anonymous donors.

Originally posted here:
Western Michigan University medical school building to be named after W.E. Upjohn

UMass Medical School researchers discover a new role for RNAi

Posted on by

Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School

WORCESTER, MA Organisms employ a fascinating array of strategies to identify and restrain invasive pieces of foreign DNA, such as those introduced by viruses. For example, many viruses produce double-stranded (ds)RNA during their life cycle and the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism is thought to recognize this structural feature to initiate a silencing response.

Now, UMass Medical School researchers have identified a mechanism related to RNAi that scans for intruders not by recognizing dsRNA or some other aberrant feature of the foreign sequence, but rather by comparing the foreign sequences to a memory of previously expressed native RNA. Once identified, an "epigenetic memory" of the foreign DNA fragments is created and can be passed on from one generation to the next, permanently silencing the gene.

A remarkable feature of this RNAi-related phenomenon (referred to as RNA-induced epigenetic silencing, or RNAe), is that the animal carries a memory of previous gene expression. This memory of active genes serves as an "anti-silencing" signal, which protects native genes from RNAe and under some circumstances appears to adopt foreign genes as self. These findings, described in three studies (including a study by Eric Miska and colleagues of the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge and Wellcome Trust, UK) published online yesterday and to appear in the July 6 issue of Cell, provide new insights into how identical organisms can have the same DNA sequence but opposite patterns of gene expression and thus dramatically different phenotypes.

"If a worm modulates gene expression by carrying a memory of the genes it expressed in previous generations, perhaps other organisms (including humans) can as well. If so, mechanisms of this type could have an important impact on evolution," said Craig C. Mello, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and distinguished professor of molecular medicine and cell biology. "The RNAe mechanism could accelerate evolutionary change by increasing heritable phenotypic variation (without the need for DNA mutations). There is growing evidence that many organisms can track and respond epigenetically to gene expression patterns. Our findings provide insight into a whole new level of sophistication in the recognition and memory of gene expression programs."

Dr. Mello and colleagues knew that when a foreign piece of DNA encoding the green fluorescent protein, or GFP, was inserted into the small roundworm C. elegans, some of the worms would silence the newly introduced DNA while others would express the GFP gene. They then explored a role for RNAi in the decision to silence or express GFP. RNAi is a process whereby cells modulate the activity of their genes. In RNAi-related phenomena, Argonaute proteins interact with and use small RNAs as little genetic guides to recognize target nucleic acids through base-pairing interactions.

Based on their findings, Mello and colleagues posit a model comprised of three separate Argonaute systems that work together to scan, identify and silence foreign DNA, while protecting the expression of normal genes. In this system, an Argonaute called PRG-1 (Piwi) bound to piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) is responsible for scanning molecules of RNA as they leave the nucleus of the cell and determining if they are indigenous to the organism or foreign. If PRG-1 and its piRNA cofactors identify a foreign sequence, it initiates (or activates) the second Argonaute system, known as WAGO, which turns the genetic material off so it can't be expressed.

Once the DNA is identified as foreign and silenced, an epigenetic memory is created that silences the foreign gene from one generation to the next. While the inheritance of this memory requires further exploration, the authors showed that successive generations of C. elegans are unable to express the foreign DNA even if the corresponding piRNA is absent.

"It appears that piRNAs are responsible for the initial scanning and identification of foreign nucleic acids," said Darryl Conte Jr., PhD, research assistant professor of molecular medicine and one of the co-authors on the Cell papers. "Because the foreign DNA in successive generations is being silenced, even in worms that don't have the piRNA, the information necessary for silencing is being passed on epigenetically and independently of the initial scanning done by the piRNA complex in the previous generations."

Visit link:
UMass Medical School researchers discover a new role for RNAi

Students petition Medical School to reinstate diversity office

Posted on by

Amid protests in a student-led petition, the Perelman School of Medicine announced its new plan for promoting diversity on Tuesday.

The online petition which has received over 800 signatures from students, faculty and other supporters criticizes the Medical School administration for eliminating the Office for Diversity and Community Outreach. Perelman for Diversity, a student group that formed in mid-June in response to this decision, also formally submitted a letter to the administration on June 25.

The next day, Senior Vice Dean for Education Gail Morrison issued a letter to all medical school students outlining the Medical Schools plans to restructure its diversity and inclusion programs.

She announced that intensive care specialist Horace Delisser had been appointed to the new position of Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion within the Academic Programs Office, and emergency room physician Iris Reyes had been named Associate Dean for Student Community Outreach. In addition, Morrison stated that a new faculty Council on Diversity and Inclusion, headed by Neurology professor Roy Hamilton and Psychiatry professor Benoit Dube, would begin working with the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid and the Office of Student Affairs starting July 1.

In the letter, Morrison also wrote that Karen Hamilton and Hilda Luiggi who worked in ODCO for a combined 30 years would be stepping down from their positions.

A tradition of support

Founded in 1968 as the Office for Minority Affairs, the ODCO was the first minority support office in the country. Responsible for minority student recruitment and retention as well as mentoring programs for college, medical and high school students, Hamilton and Luiggi also provided advising and support to all minority student groups within the Medical School.

In the petition, students wrote that this move would negatively affect the generations that follow because for many, the warm and welcoming environment uniquely provided by these individuals [was a] major contributing factor in their decisions to attend Perelman. The students also felt the manner in which Hamilton and Luiggis departure was announced was without explanation and with only a months notice before the ODCOs planned dissolution.

According to a Medical School student who wished to remain anonymous because she is involved with the petition, news of ODCOs elimination reached some minority student groups in mid-June. On June 20, the Medical School Government notified student group leaders of a meeting with Morrison on July 3 to give feedback on the decision.

Medical School spokesperson Susan Phillips explained that Hamilton and Luiggi are not physicians, and that Reyes and Delisser who are both active clinicians would be a significant advantage for students that need support in their career at Penn.

View original post here:
Students petition Medical School to reinstate diversity office

Phoenix St. Joseph's Hospital to host 3rd-, 4th-year Creighton medical-school students

Posted on by

by Ken Alltucker - Jun. 27, 2012 06:59 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center today adds a new designation: medical-school campus.

The Phoenix hospital becomes a campus for Creighton University's School of Medicine as the initial class of 42 students begins its studies.

The students, who completed their first two years of instruction at Creighton's main campus in Omaha, Neb., will finish their third and fourth years at St. Joseph's. A second class of 42 students will follow next year, giving the Phoenix hospital a constant rotation of 84 third- and fourth-year medical-school students studying in class and roaming the hospital floors on clinical rotations.

The arrangement fulfills St. Joseph's long-sought goal of being a medical-school campus for a Jesuit Catholic university. Creighton, which has long sent medical-school students to St. Joseph's for one-month rotations, pursued the arrangement to expand west with a new campus for its expanded medical school.

Both St. Joseph's and Creighton University touted the relationship as a boon for metro Phoenix's burgeoning medical-education industry and a potential source of future doctors.

"We looked at our long-term commitment to education, improving the health of this community and educating our future health-care providers," said Linda Hunt, area president for San Francisco-based Dignity Health, which owns St. Joseph's Hospital. "We are really excited about the students being here."

Five years ago, metro Phoenix did not have an "M.D." medical school. The University of Arizona College of Medicine opened its Phoenix campus in 2007. Creighton University becomes the region's second allopathic medical school granting doctor of medicine, or M.D., degrees. And Mayo Clinic is ramping up its planning for a branch of Mayo Medical School that expects to open on Mayo's Scottsdale campus in 2014.

The UA College of Medicine this summer will welcome its largest-ever class of 80 students, up from 48 students per year. UA expanded its class size with this summer's opening of the new copper-clad Health Sciences Education building at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.

The building will allow the addition of three lecture halls, an anatomy lab and a simulation center as well as administrative offices for medical-school staff. The 268,000-square-foot building will also host Northern Arizona University's physician-assistant and physical-therapy programs.

Go here to read the rest:
Phoenix St. Joseph's Hospital to host 3rd-, 4th-year Creighton medical-school students

Penn State Hershey Medical Center Selects Avantas for Healthcare Enterprise Labor Management Solution

Posted on by

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

(HFMA ANI Booth # 1661) Avantas, a leading provider of strategic labor management technology, services and strategies for the healthcare industry, today announced that Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and its associated Medical Group has selected its consulting services and solutions in an effort to improve labor performance across the entire university-based enterprise.

Penn State Hershey will partner closely with Avantas to ensure efficient operations across the entire organization while optimizing its largest expense, labor, through the implementation of Avantas proven Healthcare Enterprise Labor Management (HELM) methodology. As a large, educational health system, our labor management issues are incredibly complex and represent a very large cost for the enterprise, said Sherry Kwater, Chief Nursing Officer, Penn State Hershey. After careful consideration, we chose Avantas because we believe that implementation of its HELM model will help us achieve efficiencies and cost-savings across our entire enterprise including 58 practice sites within The Medical Group; all while continuing to provide high quality patient and family centered care to the residents of central Pennsylvania.

This implementation will be rolled out across three distinct phases, the first of which is currently underway. During this phase, Avantas labor management experts will provide in-depth analysis of the health systems labor workforce and operational practices. This includes identifying utilization trends, designing strategies based on demand information, outlining the workforce demographic, identifying trends in staff dissatisfiers and quantifying high-margin opportunities. Subsequently, Avantas will work with Penn State to re-design its resource plan and integrate proprietary, customized predictive analytics. We are excited that our HELM approach to labor management that we have been touting for years is finally becoming an accepted industry model, as evidenced by recent market demand for our consulting services and technology, said Chris Fox, Senior Vice President of Growth and Innovation, Avantas. When a premier academic medical center like Penn State Hershey invests in Avantas at this level, it is great validation of the value of our model.

HELM represents a disruptive innovation for the healthcare industry, challenging organizations to rethink what is possible with regard to labor management in all departments. The approach is comprehensive and sophisticated combining the science of workforce planning, demand forecasting, operational best practices, and a complete set of scheduling and staffing tools. Avantas has leveraged unique client experiences across large, multi-site healthcare organizations to detail effective methodologies that help them rise above departmental silos and implement a consistent and effective way to integrate labor across the enterprise.

To learn more about Avantas and its industry leading labor management solution and services, please visit booth # 1661 at HFMAs 2012 Annual National Institute at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center in Las Vegas June 25 & 26.

About Penn State Milton S. Hersey Medical Center

Founded in 1963 through a gift from The Milton S. Hershey Foundation, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is one of the leading teaching and research hospitals in the country. The 491-bed Medical Center is a provider of high-level, patient-focused medical care. The Medical Center campus also includes Penn State College of Medicine (Penn States medical school), Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, and Penn State Hershey Childrens Hospitalthe regions only childrens hospital. The Medical Center campus is part of Penn State Hershey Health System, which also includes the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Penn State Hershey Rehabilitation Hospital, and other specialty facilities.

About Avantas

Avantas is an Omaha, Neb.-based company devoted to serving the healthcare industry. Its proprietary scheduling and productivity solution, Smart Square, is the only comprehensive labor management platform developed by healthcare professionals for healthcare professionals. Additionally, its consultation services provide its clients tailored best practice labor management strategies designed to drive substantial and sustaining cost and quality improvements across the enterprise. For more information, please visit the Avantas website at http://www.Avantas.biz.

Read more from the original source:
Penn State Hershey Medical Center Selects Avantas for Healthcare Enterprise Labor Management Solution