NewsPublicHealth.com : Public Health News

Singularity University (SU) — the academic institution with the goal of preparing the next generation of leaders to address “humanity’s grand challenges” — announced the dates for the second year of its Graduate Studies Program (GSP), and a 200% class size increase to accommodate 80 of the top students from around the globe…

The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) today announced the 10 winners of the second AspiringDocs.orgVideo Contest. As part of the AAMC’s AspiringDocs.org campaign-a Web site and outreach effort to encourage diversity in the medical field-college students from across the country were asked to submit a two-minute video explaining what motivated them to increase diversity in medicine…

A new report released by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) details how the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals are advancing science and stimulating economic growth one year after passage of an additional $10 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)…

Are you or your staff in contact with people who have suffered mental distress? Have you identified a need to enhance knowledge and understanding of the issues? Despite the increasing numbers of individuals suffering mental ill health there is still a significant amount of stigma around seeking help…

According to the U.S. Labor Department, employment opportunities for health information and medical records professionals are expected to increase by twenty percent in the next eight years — far outpacing the growth rate of other occupations…

News outlets report on the pharmaceutical industry’s involvement in doctor training and its role in shaping the health care overhauls pending in Congress…

The Joan C. Edwards Charitable Foundation has announced that it will make a significant investment in the city of Cleveland to create a medical education pipeline for students from traditionally underrepresented minorities and low-income backgrounds. The first phase of the Joan C…

A collaboration between the Center for Robotic Surgery at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the University at Buffalo’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has produced one of the world’s first simulators that closely approximates the “touch and feel” of the da Vinci™ robotic surgical system…

An online tool to help educators teach the next generation of nurses and physician assistants about genetics and genomics has been launched by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health…

Most directors of internal medicine residency training programs would prefer not to accept pharmaceutical support for the residencies they oversee, but more than half report doing so, according to an article in the February 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals…

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced federal funding of over $1.5 million to the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) to strengthen the postgraduate medical education system. The funding will help provide physicians in training with the necessary skills to meet the health care needs of Canadians…

Almost half of UK doctors surveyed by the BMA are missing out on essential training, since the implementation of the 48 hour week in August 2009, a BMA conference was told last week. The conference, attended by junior doctors and key stakeholders, explores the impact the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) has had on training…

More than 1,000 future physicians are expected to attend the American Medical Student Association’s (AMSA) 60th Annual Convention , March 11-14, at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif., to discuss the evolution of 21st century medicine…

Physicians would be better prepared for the accelerating rate of scientific discovery – and more in step with the latest in patient-care – if they added an important tool to their medical bags: a plan for how to keep pace with emerging health-care advances…

An award from the National Science Foundation will boost a Kansas State University professor’s contribution to the study of proteins while also helping college and high school science teachers learn more about computational and structural biology. Jianhan Chen, an assistant professor of biochemistry, is receiving more than $670,000 as a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation…

UCSF prevention experts have released the Positive Prevention Toolkit, a collection of resources designed to enable HIV/AIDS caregivers to provide prevention messages when interacting with HIV-positive patients. The goal is to help patients modify their behavior to reduce risk and decrease the spread of HIV…

AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D…

NPR reports on the high cost of medical school, focusing on one student, Sarah Rosen. The interest rate on her school loans “shot up to eight and a half percent, almost twice the rate [her parents] are paying after refinancing their mortgage…

The Board of Directors of the American Association of Anatomists (AAA) has approved a set of guidelines to govern programs accepting the donation of bodies for education and biomedical research. The guidelines cover the minimum requirements that should be met by any Willed Body Program…

The New York Times: “The General Assembly became the first state legislature to approve a measure that bucks any effort by President Obama and Congress to carry out a national health care overhaul in individual states.” Numerous Democrats joined the Republican majority to support the measure 80-17 in the House of Delegates (3/10)…

At the request of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce as part of an investigation into preventable medical errors, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued a report recommending further restrictions regarding duty hours for resident physicians and other actions to reduce resident fatigue and ensure patient safety, according to an article published in the January issue …

Now Is The Time For Latinas To Speak Up The Houston Chronicle Sometimes, if constituents lead, the leaders will follow. And that’s why, at this moment, the voices of Latinas in Texas need to be at the forefront of this debate (Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, 1/4)…

The Los Angeles Times examines the International Medical Corps’ work in Afghanistan. “Although less well known than the Nobel-winning Doctors Without Borders, the [International Medical Corps] shares a reputation with its gutsy counterpart for working in places where no one else will go. …

SNM’s Conjoint Mid-Winter Meetings, Jan. 27 – Feb. 2, 2010, in Albuquerque, N.M., will bring together four scientific meetings under one umbrella. The meeting, which provides attendees with the opportunity to earn up to 25 continuing education credits, will highlight the latest advancements in molecular imaging and nuclear medicine…

UroToday.com – Urology residents are involved with performing transrectal-ultrasound (TRUS) guided prostate biopsies during their training. Satisfactory accomplishment of this skill is a competency necessary for urologic practice…

The Graduate Training Program in Translational Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been awarded a four-year, $700,000 “Med into Grad” renewal grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The HHMI Med into Grad initiative encourages graduate schools to integrate medical knowledge and an understanding of clinical practice into their biomedical Ph.D. programs…

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will host its annual High School Student Symposium at the New Orleans Marriott on Thursday, December 3, at 8:00 a.m. CST. The symposium, which encourages an interest in hematology, the biological sciences, and medical research, is held in conjunction with the Society’s 51st Annual Meeting…

A new study using solid-state NMR spectroscopy to analyze intact bone paves the way for atomic-level explorations of how disease and aging affect bone. The research by scientists at the University of Michigan is reported in the Dec. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society…

The worldwide safety experience of endoscopist-administered propofol sedation now exceeds 600,000 patients…

Personality characteristics play a major role in determining who succeeds in medical school, according to new research published in the November issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology…

As the population of people with chronic conditions and health care costs rise, so do opportunities for implementing health prevention strategies. Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health at the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine, believes a critical strategy for reforming the health care system lies in teaching medical students about prevention and public health…

With medical schools flooded with applications, three industrial-organizational psychologists have conducted a study to determine if giving personality tests to prospective students would enable admissions officers to better predict which applicants will be successful. “Our findings show that personality factors do have a predictive value as to the success rate of admitted medical students…

A UT Southwestern Medical Center program designed to teach medical basics and clinical research to graduate students has received $700,000 from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The funding from HHMI’s Med into Grad Initiative supports a program begun in 2008 by Dr. Helen Yin, professor of physiology at UT Southwestern…

The BMA’s Junior Doctor Committee (JDC), called on the Department of Health to halt their review of training funding as it threatens to cut millions of pounds from junior doctor training. The review of the Multi Professional Education and Training Levy which will decide the future of how NHS training funding is distributed is currently underway…

After 10 weeks of intense study during gross anatomy class Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) students bid farewell to their most intimate and greatest teachers during a blessing ceremony where they gave thanks to those who gave the ultimate gift…

CNN reports that five years ago “roughly half the doctors leaving medical school entered the work force as primary-care physicians; just 20 percent of current medical students are planning to work in primary care.” The shortage is acute in rural areas, CNN reports…

1. Less Invasive Core Needle Biopsy Almost as Effective as Open Surgical Biopsy for Breast Lesion Diagnosis Women suspected of having breast cancer are usually referred for a breast biopsy to determine whether the lesion is cancerous. In most cases, breast lesions are not cancers and do not require further treatment…

BusinessWeek: “Presuming Congress passes some version of a health-care bill and it is signed into law, some 30 million currently uninsured people will suddenly find themselves with access to doctors. But there may not be enough doctors to see them…

Expanding Michigan State University’s global health outreach, a team of researchers is working in the Dominican Republic to establish a model for HIV/AIDS care that can be exported to other resource-limited countries. The team, led by Reza Nassiri, the director of MSU’s Institute of International Health, is treating patients and educating doctors at the Santo Domingo HIV/AIDS clinic…

The new year promises new health care industry jobs around the country, but in some places, such as Indiana, a shortage of nursing instructors could lead to fewer trained nurses to fill those jobs…

With medical schools flooded with applications, three industrial-organizational psychologists have conducted a study to determine if giving personality tests to prospective students would enable admissions officers to better predict which applicants will be successful. “Our findings show that personality factors do have a predictive value as to the success rate of admitted medical students…

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will host its annual High School Student Symposium at the New Orleans Marriott on Thursday, December 3, at 8:00 a.m. CST. The symposium, which encourages an interest in hematology, the biological sciences, and medical research, is held in conjunction with the Society’s 51st Annual Meeting…

A new study using solid-state NMR spectroscopy to analyze intact bone paves the way for atomic-level explorations of how disease and aging affect bone. The research by scientists at the University of Michigan is reported in the Dec. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society…

The worldwide safety experience of endoscopist-administered propofol sedation now exceeds 600,000 patients…

Personality characteristics play a major role in determining who succeeds in medical school, according to new research published in the November issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology…

As the population of people with chronic conditions and health care costs rise, so do opportunities for implementing health prevention strategies. Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health at the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine, believes a critical strategy for reforming the health care system lies in teaching medical students about prevention and public health…

The Graduate Training Program in Translational Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been awarded a four-year, $700,000 “Med into Grad” renewal grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The HHMI Med into Grad initiative encourages graduate schools to integrate medical knowledge and an understanding of clinical practice into their biomedical Ph.D. programs…

Medical students are commonly stuck by needles – putting them at risk of contracting potentially dangerous blood-borne diseases – and many of them fail to report the injuries to hospital authorities, according to a Johns Hopkins study published in the December issue of the journal Academic Medicine. Researchers surveyed surgery residents at 17 medical centers and, of 699 respondents, 415 (or 59 percent) said they had sustained a needlestick injury as a medical student.

UroToday.com – Urology residents are involved with performing transrectal-ultrasound (TRUS) guided prostate biopsies during their training. Satisfactory accomplishment of this skill is a competency necessary for urologic practice. A group from the Glickman Institute at the Cleveland Clinic evaluated whether with proper training and supervision, resident urologists are able to perform TRUS biopsy with comparable proficiency to staff urologists.

The Miami Herald reports: “Some parts of the country already lack an ample supply of general internists, pediatricians and family physicians, forcing patients to drive further or wait longer for care. If a comprehensive health reform bill passes and extends coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, many are asking if there will be enough primary-care doctors to handle the increased demand for medical services.