Viewpoint
Perspectives
A Word From the President
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
What Americans think about medical schools and teaching hospitals
by Darrell G. Kirch, MD, AAMC President and CEO
“That’s when I knew I wanted to be a doctor”
by Darrell G. Kirch, MD, AAMC President and CEO
Viewpoints
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
A rude awakening
by Julie Kim, MD, PhD
From chronic absences to nasty emails, unprofessional behavior can derail even the most promising medical student’s career. The chair of one school’s conduct committee has a solution.
Monday, June 11, 2018
Cancer and our kids: We can do better
by Lois Ramondetta, MD
Less than half of U.S. teenagers have been protected against HPV. Here’s why physicians must do more to promote timely vaccination—and how.
Every day, 20 people die waiting for an organ transplant. Every 10 minutes, someone new is added to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) national transplant waiting list.
If you need a kidney—the organ most in demand—you might wait three to five years on the UNOS list before being matched. A liver or lung transplant could take six months to a year.
What’s more, the number of people on the waiting list continues to far outstrip supply. In 2016, more than 115,000 Americans were waiting for an organ, but just 16,000 people donated. Yet 5,000 organs were discarded from deceased donors in 2016 alone, according to a 2017 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
In light of these startling statistics, academic medical centers have been exploring new ways to boost the supply of viable organs. The use of organs from so-called marginal donors—defined as those who are older or who have diabetes, hypertension, or even infectious diseases such as Hepatitis C or HIV—has opened new avenues for research, says Janis Orlowski, MD, a transplant nephrologist and AAMC chief health care officer. So has improving the transport of organs to limit tissue damage.
“Reducing the number of discarded organs could help fill a critical need for organs,” Orlowski says.
Academic Medicine in the News
Thursday, August 16, 2018
New program delves into cancer experience
The Patient as Teacher program launched at the University of Toronto School of Medicine offers third-year medical students the opportunity to engage with cancer patients over eight weeks through interactive workshops that culminate in a reflective art project.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Refreshing the medical school curriculum
The University of Kansas School of Medicine recently completed the first academic year with its new ACE curriculum, designed to create an active and hands-on learning environment while preparing students to adapt to the ever-changing practice of medicine.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Fighting back against antimicrobial resistance
Researchers at Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center have shown that copper-coated surfaces could be used to reduce antimicrobial resistance and slow infection rates. The research team noted that copper is helpful because it is self-sanitizing and can fit easily over existing hospital infrastructure, like bed rails.
