Inside peak: Test-driving clinical skills before rotations
The rising third-year student, tongue between his teeth, slowly drove his needle into a silicone pad meant to mimic human skin, then pulled his thread tight and started in again.
Steady hands and keen focus meant clean stitches at the suturing table, one of seven skills stations at the clinical skills workshop.
Theodore Zaki sealed up the gash with a classic horizontal mattress suture, not unlike the stitches in a baseball, then straightened up and took a satisfied breath.
“You want to do anything you can to avoid looking like an idiot on the first da...
Source: AMA Wire - July 11, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
How one physician uses his PDMP to help patients
Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) can be an effective clinical tool to assist physicians in making prescribing decisions. Effective PDMPs can help identify red flags in prescription use, and provide information when assessing and making treatment decisions. Learn how one physician in New York uses his PDMP to inform treatment options and discuss safety issues with patients.
What a PDMP can do for patients and physicians
“The bottom line is that New York’s PDMP is a good tool to use to get some information for your assessment and discussion with your patient,” said Frank Dowling, MD, clinical associate ...
Source: AMA Wire - July 10, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Senior physicians recognized for caring for the underserved
Four physicians are being recognized by the AMA Foundation for showing an extraordinary commitment to leadership, community service and care for those in need—each with decades of service that run the gamut from Ebola research to primary care. Find out who has been awarded this year’s honors.
Serving underserved international populations
The AMA Foundation presented this year’s Excellence in Medicine Awards to physicians June 10 at the 2016 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Jennifer A. Downs, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the Center for Global ...
Source: AMA Wire - July 8, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
How med schools are training tomorrow ’s physician leaders
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Medical school faculty members recognize that, as the health care delivery system changes, curricula must incorporate new classes and hands-on experiences to create future leaders in medicine. Find out what several schools are doing to better prepare the next generation of physician leaders. < /p > < p >
These leadership curriculum changes are part of the schools ’ work with the AMA’s < a href= " http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/strategic-focus/accelerating-change-in-medical-education/innovations.page " target= " _self " > Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium < /a > . The consortium...
Source: AMA Wire - July 7, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
How med schools are training tomorrow’s physician leaders
Medical school faculty members recognize that, as the health care delivery system changes, curricula must incorporate new classes and hands-on experiences to create future leaders in medicine. Find out what several schools are doing to better prepare the next generation of physician leaders.
These leadership curriculum changes are part of the schools’ work with the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium. The consortium is working to modernize and reshape the way physicians are trained. It brings schools together to share ideas and experiences with new programs designed to improve competency, leade...
Source: AMA Wire - July 7, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Resident burnout: Unearthing the bigger picture
To fortify our understanding of burnout among residents, we have to widen the list of themes we consider, a leading scholar told a gathering of physicians from across the medical continuum. Learn what guidance he had to offer.
A broader conversation
The conventional focus on the work and learning environments, though important, is not enough to address burnout in residents, said DeWitt Baldwin, MD, senior scholar in residence at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
In his remarks to the council’s first Symposium on Physician Well-being—part of the ACGME’s larger effort to transform ...
Source: AMA Wire - July 6, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Inside look: A physician ’s success story as a prediabetic patient
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As a patient enrollee in her local diabetes prevention program, Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD, didn ’t want anyone to know she was a physician. But now she’s sharing her experience far and wide because it quite possibly changed her life. < /p > < p > < strong > Altering her family history < /strong > < /p > < p > “My father had his first heart attack when I was in ninth grade, and he died at 62—a diabetic,” Dr. Nielsen, an internal medicine physician, told physicians last month. “So were both his parents and seven of his eight siblings. And so I knew: With a sedentary lifestyle, I was a prime candida te.” < ...
Source: AMA Wire - July 6, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Inside look: A physician’s success story as a prediabetic patient
As a patient enrollee in her local diabetes prevention program, Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD, didn’t want anyone to know she was a physician. But now she’s sharing her experience far and wide because it quite possibly changed her life.
Altering her family history
“My father had his first heart attack when I was in ninth grade, and he died at 62—a diabetic,” Dr. Nielsen, an internal medicine physician, told physicians last month. “So were both his parents and seven of his eight siblings. And so I knew: With a sedentary lifestyle, I was a prime candidate.”
Dr. Nielsen last month spoke to two groups of physician...
Source: AMA Wire - July 6, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
What Supreme Court ruling on admissions means for med schools
The Supreme Court of the United States has made a ruling in a case considering race as one factor in academic admission, which allows medical schools to create a more racially and ethnically diverse physician workforce that more closely reflects the patient population and can combat racial disparities in health outcomes.
Where the case began and its result
In Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, Abigail Fisher, a white applicant, was rejected from the University of Texas undergraduate college and sued the university, asserting that the school preferred African-American students over whites and that she would have b...
Source: AMA Wire - July 5, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Lessons from Rwanda: The intersection of care abroad and at home
When it comes time to build or reinforce health care infrastructure in resource-poor areas of the world, what role should aiding physicians play—and what can they learn in the process?
“Global is all the world, not only Africa or … foreign countries,” said Agnes Binagwaho, MD, PhD, the minister of health in Rwanda, in a podcast interview featured in the July issue of the AMA Journal of Ethics®.
Similar disparities at home and abroad
An article featured in this month’s issue, “Why U.S. health care should think globally,” suggests that learning from practitioners in resource-poor settings can help allopa...
Source: AMA Wire - July 5, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Overcoming barriers, physicians use EHRs in innovative ways
Even with the current limitations of electronic health records (EHR), Vanderbilt University School of Medicine has tapped into physician ingenuity to overcome problems with the technology and access the wide range of data available to improve patient care.
When he got to Vanderbilt several years ago, Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, an anesthesiologist and AMA board member, created a team that was focused on helping physicians better use technology that was already at their fingertips.
Two ways Vanderbilt is using EHR data
“We have all of this data, we click buttons and check off boxes, and we enter in fields, but we never get...
Source: AMA Wire - July 4, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
The road less traveled: Non-traditional careers for physicians
Not every young physician plans to pursue the conventional course to a clinical career in medicine. Learn more about other options and what inspired physicians to follow them.
Researcher, political adviser, medical director for a jail—these and other options were on the table during a workshop titled “Shaping unique careers in medicine,” part of the 2016 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Inspiration in surprising places
Outside-the-box choices can excite the imagination and bring a satisfying and inspiring career in sometimes unexpected places.
“We had an appetite for doing something other than clinical practi...
Source: AMA Wire - July 1, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Become a part of the AMA-WPS policymaking process
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Consider joining one of the AMA Women Physicians Section (WPS) committees that contribute to the section ’s policymaking process: < /p > < ul > < li >
The AMA-WPS Policy Committee is a new group that will be responsible for generating resolution ideas and working with the section ’s delegate and alternate delegate to vet potential resolutions for the AMA House of Delegates meetings. Individuals joining the committee are requested to make a one-year commitment. < a href= " mailto:wps@ama-assn.org " rel= " nofollow " > Email the AMA-WPS < /a > to join this committee or obtain more information. In preparation...
Source: AMA Wire - July 1, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Show appreciation to someone who ’s made a difference in your professional life
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Acknowledge the people who have made a difference in your professional life by nominating them to be a part of the AMA Women Physicians Section (WPS) < a href= " http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/women-physicians-section/physician-mentor-recognition-form.page " target= " _self " > Inspirational Physician Recognition Program < /a > . < /p > < p >
As a member of the AMA-WPS, you are invited to tell us about a professional colleague or teacher who has served a special role in your life and career. The individual may have inspired you to greater heights, steered you into a s...
Source: AMA Wire - July 1, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Apply by July 31: Joan F. Giambalvo Fund for the Advancement of Women
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The < a href= " http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/ama-foundation/our-programs/public-health/joan-f-giambalvo.page " target= " _self " > Joan F. Giambalvo Fund for the Advancement of Women < /a > was established by the AMA Women Physicians Section and the AMA Foundation with the goal of promoting women in the medical profession and strengthening the ability of the AMA to identify and address the needs of women physicians and medical students. < /p > < p >
Recent topics have included empathy and burnout among emergency medicine residents; reproductive barriers and outcomes among female medical students an...
Source: AMA Wire - July 1, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
