Perspectives
A Word From the President
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Building a Framework for Clinician Well-Being and Resilience
by Darrell G. Kirch, MD, AAMC President and CEO
Viewpoints
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Humanism Increasingly Important in a Changing Health Care Landscape
by Richard I. Levin, MD, President and CEO of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation
As the academic medicine community faces new demands, maintaining a human connection with our patients is more crucial than ever.
Monday, July 24, 2017
Humility, Empathy Required to Create Inclusive Research Culture
by Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, MSCI, and Victoria Villalta-Gil, PhD
Why are racial and ethnic minorities less likely than the general population to participate in clinical trials? Researchers have tried several strategies to get these populations involved, and while some have been successful, minority participation in clinical research remains low. However, by making an effort to understand the cultural and historical factors at play and involving minority groups in solutions, investigators can go a long way toward encouraging underrepresented groups to participate in clinical trials.
Back in 2003, researchers surveyed thousands of medical residents on cross-cultural care, attempting to tease out a clearer picture of the residents’ ability to practice medicine in ways that could eventually narrow health disparities.
The results, published in 2005 in JAMA, found that while nearly all respondents believed it was important to address cultural issues in care delivery, fewer than half felt well prepared to treat patients from diverse cultures, underserved populations or different socioeconomic classes, and racial and ethnic minority groups. The findings “set the stage” for developing a disparities-focused curriculum for graduate medical education (GME) that was practical, actionable, and discipline specific, said Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, one of the study’s authors.
“It’s important that medical students get a good foundation in this topic,” said Betancourt, director of the Disparities Solution Center and multicultural education at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. “But as a med student, it’s still fairly theoretical. It’s in the GME space that you develop habits and behaviors, and that’s why it’s essential that we really embed this in resident education.”
Academic Medicine in the News
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Researchers Develop Regenerative Medicine Breakthrough
Tissue nanotransfection (TNT), a new regenerative medicine technology, can generate any cell type of interest for treatment within the patient’s own body. Developed by researchers at The Ohio State University (OSU) Wexner Medical Center and OSU College of Engineering, TNT can repair injured tissue or restore function of aging tissue, including organs, blood vessels, and nerve cells.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Expanded Global Health Opportunities for Faculty, Students
In partnership with Bangkok Dusit Medical Services and Mahidol University in Thailand, OHSU Global in Oregon has created opportunities for students, residents, and faculty in Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. Areas of focus include ophthalmology, nutrition, occupational health, emergency medicine, dentistry, nursing quality and leadership training, informatics, pediatric care, rehabilitation, and infectious disease research.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Mixed Reality Gives Neuroanatomy Lessons a Boost
This fall, thanks to Microsoft HoloLens and mixed reality technology, students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine will get to visualize the brain’s 3D structure in a way they never have before. UBC teamed up with a group of interns and developers at the Microsoft Garage in Vancouver to develop a new app for HoloLens, the world’s first fully self-contained holographic computer. The new app will serve as an interactive teaching tool to guide students through a virtual exploration of the brain.