Survey Spotlights Ongoing Concern for Physician Well-Being; Med Students Tell Their Stories (in 55 Words); ARPA-H to Invest in Developing Hospital Cybersecurity Tools; and Other Items of Interest
Fortune covered a recent Doximity compensation survey shining a light on the ongoing well-being challenges facing U.S. physicians. More than 80% of the 33,000 physicians surveyed in 2023 said they were overworked, with closer to 90% saying that the shortage of physicians is hurting their practice. A similarly high number said they’re concerned about the U.S. health system’s ability to care for aging populations. A growing number of doctors in wide regions of the country are additionally not seeing pay increases or improved reimbursements to keep pace with workload. And the gender pay gap, while improving, still remains wide.
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AAMCNews featured 55-word stories from medical students who shared aspects of their medical school experiences — from meaningful patient encounters to moments of joy and heartbreak. Just one of many examples: “Of all the awards, achievements, and accolades, all the tests passed, challenges overcome, and concepts mastered, the most important event I experienced in medical school was a sick patient telling me, ‘Thank you for being kind.’ Even at the most difficult of times, I would do it all again if that was the final reward,” wrote De’mond Glynn, of the University of Kansas School of Medicine. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read all the moving stories (even busy faculty have time to read 55 words).
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Ascension is still struggling with the fallout from the May 8 cyberattack that forced its staff to resort back to using pen and paper to log patient care, reported NPR. As of Tuesday, “Ascension still had no timeline for when the issues might be resolved, and reported that it continued to work with ‘industry-leading cybersecurity experts’ to investigate the ransomware attack and restore affected systems.”
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In related news, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced that it’s investing more than $50 million to develop tools that IT teams at hospitals can use to enhance their cybersecurity, reported Health Leaders.
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A U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that pharmaceutical companies are allowed to limit and impose conditions on pharmacies who participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, reported Healthcare Dive. “Today’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia allows drug companies to continue their egregious restrictions on 340B discounts for drugs dispensed by contract pharmacies and puts care for disadvantaged patients at risk,” said Beth Feldpush, DrPH, senior vice president of policy and advocacy for America’s Essential Hospitals. The ruling is seen as a win for drug manufacturers, who previously were threatened with federal fines for violating guidance regarding where they would extend drug discounts to pharmacies.
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Patients who report that they were denied emergency abortions and other emergency care can now file complaints directly with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), reported the Washington Post.
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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a law on Tuesday that prohibited gender transition services for minors, reported the Associated Press, making it one of more than two dozen U.S. states with significant restrictions on gender-affirming care. The new law bars health care workers from performing gender-affirming surgeries, prescribing puberty blockers, and overseeing hormone treatments for patients under 18.
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STAT+ covered the fundamentals behind positive news in some hospital finances related to increases in health care demands among an aging Baby Boomer population, greater patient flow, and a drop in the extremely expensive contract care that ate into profits during COVID-19 surges.
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But financial challenges are still widespread. Due to a lack of resources to meet rising care demands, contract labor expenses, and supply chain costs, Tufts Medicine will lay off 174 employees, mostly including those in administrative and nondirect patient care roles, but also including some in leadership roles, reported Modern Healthcare.
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Postdoctoral researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine voted to unionize with a union affiliated with the United Auto Workers, reported Inside Higher Ed.
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Most studies looking at gene variants associated with the risk of breast cancer involve people with European ancestry, but a genome-wide association study published in Nature Genetics examined breast cancer in roughly 40,000 people of African descent and promises a leap forward in scientists’ knowledge of breast cancer genetics in people of African ancestry, reported STAT.
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Removing race from an equation used to assess lung function in patients “would mean that the lung disease of nearly half a million Black Americans would be reclassified as being more severe, and that Black veterans could receive more than $1 billion in additional disability payments,” reported STAT in coverage of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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The price of diabetes drugs often makes them out of reach for lower-income patients, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai designed a regenerative medicine therapy to speed diabetic wound repair, reported Health Leaders.
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Surprisingly, although there may be advantages to participating in a clinical trial for cancer treatments, improved survival isn’t one of them, according to an article in Science that covered a study published in JAMA.
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ADHD is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in adults, but there are no federal guidelines for diagnosing and treating patients with the condition beyond childhood, reported the New York Times.
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Syphilis has reached alarming rates not seen in the United States since the 1950s. AAMCNews explored steps to halt increases and prevent dramatic health problems.
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The National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises, of which the AAMC is a working group member, has launched the Core Competency Implementation Pilot Project. The initiative seeks forward-thinking health professions education and practice institutions committed to transformative change in substance use care to implement the action collaborative’s Core Competency Framework — a comprehensive set of foundational competencies designed to enhance coordinated, interprofessional, high-quality, and person-centered care. Interested organizations can learn more and apply by May 31.
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The 4th World Summit on Competency-Based Education in the Health Professions will be held Aug. 22-23, immediately prior to AMEE 2024 (Association of Medical Education Europe, the International Association for Medical Education). The two-day event is designed to bring together those across the health professions who are interested in the implementation of competency-based education worldwide.
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Prepare to welcome this year’s matriculants and onboard new advisors, including specialty-specific advisors, using helpful resources from Careers in Medicine® (CiM®) (advisor sign-in required). View all relevant resources for this time of year in the curriculum map.
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The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB, a CFAS-member society) told the story of Melissa Ramirez, PhD, a scholar in the Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) program. The MOSAIC program consists of two components: an institutionally focused research education cooperative agreement (UE5) and an individual postdoctoral career transition award (K99/R00) to enhance diversity in biomedical research. The AAMC, along with the ASBMB, the American Society for Cell Biology, and the the American Society for Microbiology are the four UE5 grantees. Dr. Ramirez’s MOSAIC project is titled “Methods for Enantioselective Spirocycle Synthesis and Radical Hydroamination of Trisubstituted Alkenes.”
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Mark Rapaport, MD, CEO of the recently established Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI) at the University of Utah and former CFAS rep, will be convening a summit focused on combating the stigma related to mental and substance use disorders. A collaboration of national mental health organizations has come together in a “grand challenge” called Stop Stigma Together. The summit will include greetings from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, as well as a keynote address by Olympian Apolo Ohno. It will be held at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City June 24-26. Full program and registration information is available online.
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Karen Antman, MD, announced plans to step down as dean of Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine and provost of the medical campus and return to the medical school a faculty member once her successor is named. Dr. Antman has served in her roles for 19 years. She was chair of the AAMC Council of Deans Administrative Board in 2015 and also served on the AAMC Board of Directors.
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Ioannis Koutroulis, MD, PhD, MBA, has been appointed associate dean of the Office of MD Admissions at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Koutroulis is an associate professor of pediatrics, emergency medicine, and genomics and precision medicine at the GW SMHS.
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Zachary Morris, MD, PhD, has been named chair of the Department of Oncology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, effective June 2. Dr. Morris is a radiation oncologist at UW Health and an associate professor of human oncology at the school.
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Sana Karam, MD, PhD, has been named the James S. McDonnell Professor of Radiation Oncology and head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, effective Oct. 1. Dr. Karam serves as the Marsico Endowed Chair of Head and Neck Cancer Research and a professor and vice chair of translational research in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
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Myles Wolf, MD, MMSc, has been appointed chair of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective July 1. Dr. Wolf is chief of the Division of Nephrology and the Charles Johnson, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine.
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Ravindra Kolhe, MD, PhD, has been named chair of the Department of Pathology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, effective June 1. Dr. Kolhe is a molecular pathologist and director of the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Pathology Laboratory at MCG.
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Huiping Zhou, PhD, has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Dr. Zhou is a professor with tenure of microbiology and immunology at VCU School of Medicine.
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Eric Duncavage, MD, has been named director of the Division of Genomic and Molecular Pathology in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Duncavage is a professor of pathology and immunology at the medical school.
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The concept of the “superspreader” is familiar to those who study infectious disease, but there’s another group of superspreaders wreaking havoc: those who spread misinformation online, specifically through the social platform X, previously known as Twitter. A study in PLOS One looked at the characteristics of “superspreaders of low-credibility content on Twitter,” concluding all it takes is 10 (10!) effective superspreaders of bad information, including reams of misinformation about COVID-19 and public health, to advance up to 34% of all low-credibility Twitter content over an eight-month study period.
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And finally, it’s a holiday weekend. And not just any old holiday weekend, but the unofficial start of summer. Good news! Peer-reviewed science says it’s good to get outside and enjoy not just the sights and sounds, but also the smells of nature. In a new paper published in Science Advances, researchers from the University of Washington with colleagues from around the world explored the olfactory pathway to human well-being. It’s a complex route, intertwining culture, memory, and universally similar reactions humans experience with smells recognized as “good” and “bad.” And if smelling your way through a natural environment isn’t fully pushing you over the edge to optimal well-being, look upward at the birds. A new paper in the Journal of Environmental Psychology describes how birdwatching among a group of people who are experiencing psychological stress (in the case of this study, college students!) leads to better psychological well-being — and they didn’t even need to leave the campus to get there, literally or figuratively: the paper is titled “Birdwatching Linked to Increased Psychological Well-Being on College Campuses: A Pilot-Scale Experimental Study.” Have a great Memorial Day weekend wherever you go or whatever you smell!
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Visit the CFAS Resources page for an archive of the previous edition of CFAS News as well as our People of Academic Medicine page, which features a running list of academic promotions, appointments, and departures.
Your comments and news tips are always welcome. Please email them to Eric Weissman at eweissman@aamc.org.
Read the previous edition of CFAS News.
Eric Weissman
Senior Director, Faculty and Academic Society Engagement
AAMC
eweissman@aamc.org
www.aamc.org/cfas