What motivates medical students to pursue a certain career path?The answers are both complex and individualized.

Recent data on specialty choicelooks at the question from a broad vantage point.The Association of American Medical Colleges 2019 Graduation Questionnaire asked students why they chose a specialty. The 16,000 plus respondents offered insight on how influentialvariousfactors were in choosing their specialty.

For those considering their steps after medical school,FREIDAs Specialty Guideand correspondingseries of videosoffering expert insight on specialty choiceprovidesa clear, approachable overview ofmedicalspecialties and subspecialties and canhelpyou choosea career path. Its designed to simplify medical students specialty selection process, highlightmajor specialties, detail training information and provide access torelated association information.

Learnaboutthe right time to choose a medical specialty.

Top factors

A career path is a matter of personal preference and interest. In ranking 11 factors that influence specialty choice, student respondents made that very clear.

When asked about the importance of a specialtys fitwith personality, interests, and skills, 87% of respondents indicated that it had a strong influence. Similarly, contentof specialty was selected by 83% of respondents as having a strong influence. The third most frequently cited strong influence on specialty choice by 2019 graduates was rolemodel influence at 50%.

In each of the past five years, according the AAMC, personal fit, content and role modeling were the top three choices among medical school graduates.

Learn ifresidency training length should influence specialty choice.

All 11 factors

Combining the factors that either a strong or moderate influence the entire list reads:

Otherfindings

In terms of the resources students used to research their specialty, the top picks among student respondents were advising and mentoring, which 47% of respondents found very useful and 27% found moderately useful; and participation in in-house and extramural electivesvery useful for 44% and moderately useful for 26%.

Originally posted here:
The 11 factors that influence med student specialty choice - American Medical Association

Newswise JULY 19, 2021, Nutley, NJ Experts from Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine will host a virtual conference July 30 to address the record number of opioid deaths in the nation, treatment options and training clinicians to prescribe addiction medication.

The virtual conference, Recovery from Opioid Use Disorders: State-of-the-Art Science to Advance Clinical Care, will cap a three-year federal grant shared between the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the Seton Hall University College of Nursing, and the Seton Hall University School of Health and Medical Sciences.

The opioid epidemic is one of our nations greatest health challenges, said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, the chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. We are deeply committed to expanding access to care for addiction and mental health issues, better coordinating care and innovating treatment.

More than 93,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, a staggering record that reflects a nearly 30 percent increase from 2019, according to the CDC. Nearly 450,000 people died from overdoses involving both prescription and illicit opioids from 1999-2019, according to the CDC.

The conference features keynote speaker Beth Macy, an award-winning journalist and the New York Times best-selling author of Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, as well as industry leaders in the field of opioid-use disorders. Experts will discuss compelling research and treatment protocols considered best practices.

This is the product of three years of highly collaborative interprofessional work into training future clinicians to be best prepared to combat this epidemic, said Kathleen Neville, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, associate dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the Seton Hall College of Nursing.

This presentation shows whats at stake, and what we can do to save as many lives as possible in the years to come, said Stanley R. Terlecky, Ph.D., associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies, and chair of Medical Sciences at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

According to Brian B. Shulman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, FASAHP, FNAP, dean of the School of Health and Medical Sciences, Research conducted by SHMS faculty and administrators working interprofessionally has helped to expand our knowledge in various disciplines and push the established boundaries of this national epidemic to target the widespread misuse of opioids.

This event caps the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant which was awarded in 2018 to an interprofessional leadership team with members from Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine: College of Nursing Associate Dean Neville; School of Health and Medical Sciences Department Chair and Assistant Professor Christopher Hanifin, Ed.D., PA-C; and Hackensack School of Medicine Professor Terlecky. The purpose of the grant, Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian Health Interprofessional Medication Assisted Treatment Training Program, is to train nurse practitioners, physician assistants and medical students on medication-assisted treatment for individuals with opioid-use disorders.

Additional conference speakers will present on their respective areas of study. Alexis LaPietra, D.O., Chief of Pain Management/Addiction Medicine at the Alternative to Opioid Program at St. Josephs University Medical Center, will present the Alternative to Opioids Program, a unique alternative to opioid treatment for acute pain in the emergency room. Ramon Solhkhah, M.D., Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, will speak on the current status of the opioid-use crisis and evidence-based solutions, and Steve Drzewoszewski, MSW, LCSW, LCADC, CCS, Former Director of Substance Abuse Counseling Services at HMH Carrier Clinic, will present on motivational interviewing and OUDs.

During the event, each project director will also present their respective schools outcomes of their grant, with CEO of Hackensack MeridianHealth Robert C. Garrett introducing the conference with Seton Hall University Provost and Executive Vice-President Katia Passerini.

Recovery from Opioid Use Disorders: State-of-the-Art Science to Advance Clinical Care is on Friday, July 30, 11 a.m. 3 p.m. CME will be offered to healthcare professionals. This educational activity has beenapproved forAMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)

To register for the event and to learn more about the agenda and speakers, visit here.

ABOUTHACKENSACKMERIDIAN HEALTH

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 34,100 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list.

Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit http://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org.

ABOUTSETON HALL UNIVERSITY

One of the countrys leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been showing the world what great minds can do since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous academic programs, Seton Halls academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Seton Hall embraces students of all religions and prepares them to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. In recent years, the University has achieved extraordinary success. Since 2009, it has seen record-breaking undergraduate enrollment growth and an impressive 110-point increase in the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen. In the past decade, Seton Hall students and alumni have received more than 30 Fulbright Scholarships as well as other prestigious academic honors, including Boren Awards, Pickering Fellowships, Udall Scholarships and a Rhodes Scholarship. The University is also proud to be among themost diverse national Catholic universitiesin the country.

In recent years, the University has invested more than $165 million in new campus buildings and renovations. The Universitys beautiful main campus in suburban South Orange, N.J. is only 14 miles from New York City offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Halls nationally recognized School of Law is located prominently in downtown Newark. The Universitys Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. opened in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus houses Seton Halls College of Nursing, its School of Health and Medical Sciences as well as Hackensack Meridian Healths Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

For more information, visit http://www.shu.edu.

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Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and Seton Hall University Opioid Conference to Feature Addiction Experts Working to Combat National Crisis -...

Colleen M Farrell

THE WASHINGTON POST As the coronavirus overwhelmed hospitals in New York last spring, some medical schools offered their final-year students an unusual option: They could graduate early to begin working as physicians on the front line of the pandemic. In her new book, Life on the Line: Young Doctors Come of Age in a Pandemic, Emma Goldberg takes us into the lives of six students who, despite their fears of contracting the novel virus (and in some cases, despite the pleas of their parents), felt themselves called for duty.

These students from New York University (NYU), Mount Sinai and Albert Einstein had already completed all the core requirements of medical school. Had the pandemic not disrupted social rituals, they would have spent the spring celebrating their residency matches and graduations, surrounded by friends and family. Instead, they chose to face the many challenges of being Day One doctors (even a simple Tylenol order prompts an anxious triple-check) amid a pandemic that was overwhelming their senior colleagues, killing hundreds of New Yorkers daily and isolating millions more.

In the opening pages we meet Sam, a NYU medical student. Sam joins the COVID wards at Bellevue Hospital which once cared for more patients with AIDS than any other hospital with a sense of historic purpose.

As I read about Sams entry into Bellevue, I could feel myself standing in the eerily quiet, glass-encased lobby of that hospital. When the pandemic began, I was an internal-medicine resident at Bellevue. Like many health-care workers on the front lines of this crisis, the trauma of the spring surge goodbyes over FaceTime, beds crammed into makeshift intensive care units (ICUs), endless alerts called overhead has left me with scars. It has been hard to revisit that time in my mind without my heart racing and stomach clenching. I worried that reading this book would reopen those wounds.

But remarkably, with her sensitive reporting and deeply human portrayals of Sam, Gabriela, Iris, Elana, Ben and Jay, Goldberg has created a work that not just documents a significant moment in time but helps us heal from it, too. For anyone seeking to understand, or remember, what New York and its hospitals were like in the spring of 2020, Life on the Line is essential reading.

News stories from New Yorks COVID spring emphasised the medical interventions of intensive care: intubation, dialysis, CPR. The new doctors entry into the hospitals is steeped in war metaphors. The vice dean for academic affairs at NYU tells them they are joining the COVID Army. At Montefiore Hospital, they are dubbed the Coalition Forces. Like new military recruits, they don layers of protective gear, put their bodies at risk and witness a horrifying number of casualties.

But the stories in Life on the Line offer a refreshingly different view of the pandemic than those eye-catching headlines and talk of war. Given their inexperience and their institutions appropriate commitments to minimise their exposure to the virus, the interns are largely removed from the adrenaline-pumping action. In one scene, Sam literally has a patients door closed in front of him. Inside the room, the resident physicians perform CPR, trying to resuscitate the patient, whose heart has stopped. Sam stands at a mobile computer in the hallway, placing orders. His is a necessary job, but as Goldberg puts it, if this were a TV medical drama, Sam would be an extra.

The interns distance from life-or-death emergencies allows different, yet vitally important, aspects of pandemic health care to shine through. Iris cares for a man who survived the COVID ICU but still breathes through a tube in the front of his neck and is barely conscious. Not sure how to act around him, she makes a point of cheerily introducing herself to him. After days without him ever seeming to register her presence, when she tells him that his family loves him, she sees a tear fall from his eye.

In one of the most moving passages of the book, we meet Manny, a 38-year-old man with Down syndrome and severe anxiety whom Jay is caring for. Manny initially came to the hospital because his father, his sole family member, was sick with covid. Manny had no one else to care for him, and so the hospital staff allowed him to live in the hospital while his father was admitted. When his father tragically dies of the virus, Manny has nowhere to go, so he is admitted to the hospital as a patient until Alicia, the social worker, can find him a safe home. Jay wholeheartedly devotes herself to Mannys care, even accompanying him on a visit to a group home.

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Fresh out of medical school, they volunteered to help battle the coronavirus pandemic Borneo Bulletin Online - Borneo Bulletin Online

Joel Goodnough freely admits he wasnt always philanthropic.Im not a naturally giving person, he says. But I found that if I take that first step and start giving, it changes your heart, and your actions follow your heart. You become more interested in the people youre giving to, and it just makes you look beyond yourself.

Goodnough, 75, 79 MD, and his wife, Brenda, have found numerous ways to impact the lives of others through giving to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. They gave to The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC James), after a family member of Dr. Goodnoughs was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

An additional motivation for their giving emerged after Dr. Goodnough retired from his Ob/Gyn practice in Chicago about 10 years ago. He and Brenda moved to her hometown of Jackson, in the Appalachian region of southern Ohio. There, the Goodnoughs have seen firsthand how challenging it can be for students to pursue a career in medicine.

The Goodnoughs have established a scholarship fund to cover the costs of one student per year from an Ohio Appalachian county to attend The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Its one way they hope to improve access to care in areas where there are few medical providers.

These counties are underrepresented in medical school, as most rural areas are, but especially in Appalachia, Dr. Goodnough says.

They also support the Ohio State College of Medicines Medical Careers Pathway Post Baccalaureate Program (MEDPATH), which provides an additional year of instruction to students before medical school. MEDPATH is designed to increase the number of students from underrepresented populations in medicine, including those from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds who benefit from the preparatory coursework.

This is particularly good for students coming from some of these smaller high schools in Appalachia, where the graduating class may be 100 to 200 students and the schools just arent as good as you're going to find in some of the Columbus metropolitan areas, so they come out of school already behind the eight ball, Dr. Goodnough says.

Most recently, the Goodnoughs provided funding for the new home that those students will utilizethe Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Center. This reimagined Hamilton Hall will foster the experiences and opportunities necessary for future physicians and health science professionals to grow and become tomorrows health care leaders.

Were placed on this earth to add value to other people, Dr. Goodnough says. Its always good to surround yourself with good people. It makes you a better person, but adding value to others makes you a better person as well.

Read more stories of impact in the 2020 College of Medicine Annual Report.

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Adding Value to Others - Wexner Medical Center - The Ohio State University

A turf war has reignited in Tallahassee between optometrists and ophthalmologists over two newly filed bills in the Florida House and Senate.

The proposals, HB 631 in the House and its Senate companion, SB 876would expand the scope of practice for optometrists to allow them to perform limited surgical procedures and prescribe an expanded list of medications specialties that have long been restricted to ophthalmologists, who have undergone several additional years of specialized training.

Its not a new battle. Similar turf wars between the two groups have flared up in the past, with the pro-optometry side arguing that expanding their scope of practice will introduce competition into the health care market and provide Florida residents with more access to professionalized eye care.

But a statewide association of ophthalmologists says the bill is dangerous and should not be passed.

The idea that an optometrist could become licensed to perform surgery through legislation, instead of completing medical school and residency training, is a dangerous threat to patient safety, saidDr.Sarah Wellik, President of the Florida Society Ophthalmologists. With Florida being the epicenter of the opioid epidemic, it would be catastrophic for the Legislature to expand optometrys prescribing authority to over 4,000 non-medical professionals.

The 2021 battle could soon become more intense as lobbyists line up on both sides to advocate for their respective clients. State Senator Manny Diaz Jr. and State Representative Alex Rizo filed the bills in the Senate and House, respectively. Diaz previously filed legislation to expand the optometrist scope of practice when he served in the Florida House.

While both optometrists and ophthalmologists are both considered eye doctors, optometrists typically undergo four years of instruction after undergraduate school in a professional program that trains them to perform eye exams and vision tests, as well as prescribe glasses and contacts, and monitor eye health for diseases like diabetes, glaucoma and dry eye.

Ophthalmologists, by contrast, have gone to three years of medical school after undergrad, after which they participate in a 1-year internship and a residency of 3 years. Those stints are sometimes followed by a 1 to 2 year fellowship program. Ophthalmologists can perform virtually all of the same procedures as optometrists, but can also perform specialized surgeries and generally can provide a higher level of care for more complex eye problems.

The Florida Optometric Association did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment for this story.

Related

Link:
Florida optometrists push for expanded treatment options, but ophthalmologists arent having it - The Capitolist

(Photo from Hannah Gross)

This year's Wharton Undergraduate Healthcare Conference focused on the impact of COVID-19 on the health care industry, featuring speakers from Moderna and NewYork-Presbyterian.

The conference, titled Healthcare in the Wake of COVID-19: The Future of a Changing Industry, took place virtually on Jan. 30. The event included keynote addresses from NewYork-Presbyterian Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Laura Forese and Moderna Chief Medical Officer Tal Zaks, as well as four panels: Health Disparities & Inequities, The Future Of Health Coverage, Outbreaks Of Disease, and Digital Health.

Panelists included legal, medical, and policy experts from a variety of universities and health systems, who shared their experiences with COVID-19. Speakers also addressed the potential long-term impacts of the pandemic on the United States' healthcare system, including an increase in the prevalence of telemedicine, the confrontation of pre-existing health disparities, and the switch to another model of healthcare, such as a single-payer system.

Forese, who oversees operations at 10 hospital campuses in New York, discussed the importance of leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on its application to vaccine hesitancy and supply chain coordination. Zaks, a professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, discussed the use of mRNA technology in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and other potential uses in healthcare.

During the Outbreaks of Disease panel, panelists discussed the initial response to COVID-19 and attempts to limit its spread.

Abraar Karan, aresident at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, recalled wondering if COVID-19 would be the "next big pandemic" in it's early stages.

"We realized this was going to be really difficult," Karan said. "Its just been a game of trying to stay afloat.

Senior Director of the System-wide Special Pathogens Program at NYC Health + Hospitals Syra Madad said one of the biggest challenges involved adjusting to rapidly changing clinical guidance and resource availability at hospitals.

"Were not used to [the] reuse of PPE, so there was a lot of training that had to go into that, Madad said.

Panelists also discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted all aspects of life, not just health care. Wharton professor Mauro Guilln detailed the pandemic's impact on globalization and business, while Eric Pevzner from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service touched on the role of the CDC and the U.S. government in preventing future outbreaks.

Wharton and College junior and WUHC Conference Chair Eric Hsieh said The Future of Health Coverage panel was particularly interesting because of the diversity of fields the panelists came from, including politics, medicine, and law.

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"This led to a back-and-forth discussion about the actual likelihood of a single payer system and about whether employer-sponsored health coverage is sustainable moving forward," Hsieh said.

Despite the virtual format, Conference Committee member and College junior Timothy Lee said WUHC still witnessed high levels of student interaction during the event. Lee said many attendees submitted questions and interacted directly with the keynote speakers, rather than just typing in a Zoom chat.

"It was definitely challenging transitioning to an online Zoom format, while still maintaining the interactive and engaging nature of the WUHC Conference," Lee said. "However, we realized that having this event online opened up a multitude of possibilities in terms of the speakers we could get and who we could market the conference towards.

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Wharton Undergraduate Healthcare Conference addresses impact of COVID-19 on health care - The Daily Pennsylvanian

DULUTH, MN -- While many are being asked to stay home because of the pandemic, others are headed to the front lines.

Medical schools across the country have seen a huge spike in applicants, including in Duluth.

Applications for the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus increased 77 percent this year.

3,422 people applied for the Duluth campus program, which can take 65 in this cohort.

At the University of Minnesota Medical School's Twin Cities campus, applications went up by 40 percent.

With the added attention on healthcare workers during the pandemic, some are calling this increase the Fauci Effect," in reference to infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Dr. Kendra Nordgren, Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus said the pandemic has created an opportunity for people to pivot from their former career to the medical field.

"Seeing physicians and health care workers is showing them the connection that they can have to community and patients in a way they aren't experiencing in whatever trajectory they're currently on," Nordgren said.

Shane Johannsen first applied to medical school two years ago but did not get accepted. He is currently a medical assistant and EMT.

Johannsen works closely with COVID-19 patients and sees the need caused by the pandemic.

"This is the time to do it," Johannsen said. "This is what I want to do, and I want to become a doctor."

Johannsen decided to reapply to medical school and, weeks ago, found out he had been accepted to the 2021 program.

Johannsen said he is not the only one applying.

"They see all over the media. They say, 'Hey, we need doctors, we need nurses, we need physicians' assistants, we need all these different aspects.' It really just lets people know this is the time to do it. This is when we need it the most," he said.

Nordgren said the attention on healthcare workers is also encouraging non-traditional students to apply.

"Seeing the work that's being put out there and recognized is helping drive this influx," she said.

While being on the frontlines is difficult work, Johannsen is ready to answer the call.

"This is where I belong," he said. "This is what I want to do, and I think a lot of people feel the same way."

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Medical schools see spike in students inspired to apply by the pandemic - KBJR 6

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Discovery could aid early screening, shed light on how Chiari malformation arises

The lowest part of a child's brain is visible below the bottom of the skull in this MRI scan and shows evidence of a Chiari 1 malformation. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that Chiari 1 malformation can be caused by variations in two genes linked to brain development, and that children with large heads are at increased risk of developing the condition.

About one in 100 children has a common brain disorder called Chiari 1 malformation, but most of the time such children grow up normally and no one suspects a problem. But in about one in 10 of those children, the condition causes headaches, neck pain, hearing, vision and balance disturbances, or other neurological symptoms.

In some cases, the disorder may run in families, but scientists have understood little about the genetic alterations that contribute to the condition. In new research, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that Chiari 1 malformation can be caused by variations in two genes involved in brain development.

The condition occurs when the lowest parts of the brain are found below the base of the skull. The study also revealed that children with unusually large heads are four times more likely to be diagnosed with Chiari 1 malformation than their peers with normal head circumference.

The findings, published Dec. 21 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, could lead to new ways to identify people at risk of developing Chiari 1 malformation before the most serious symptoms arise. It also sheds light on the development of the common but poorly understood condition.

A lot of times people have recurrent headaches, but they dont realize a Chiari malformation is the cause of their headaches, said senior author Gabriel Haller, PhD, an assistant professor of neurosurgery, of neurology and of genetics. And even if they do, not everyone is willing to have brain surgery to fix it. We need better treatments, and the first step to better treatments is a better understanding of the underlying causes.

If people start experiencing severe symptoms like chronic headaches, pain, abnormal sensations or loss of sensation, or weakness, the malformation is treated with surgery to decompress the Chiari malformation.

Theres an increased risk for Chiari malformations within families, which suggests a genetic underpinning, but nobody had really identified a causal gene, Haller said. We were able to identify two causal genes, and we also discovered that people with Chiari have larger head circumference than expected. Its a significant factor, and easy to measure. If you have a child with an enlarged head, it might be worth checking with your pediatrician.

To identify genes that cause Chiari 1 malformation, Haller and colleagues sequenced all the genes of 668 people with the condition, as well as 232 of their relatives. Of these relatives, 76 also had Chiari 1 malformation and 156 were unaffected. The research team included first author Brooke Sadler, PhD, an instructor in pediatrics, and co-authors David D. Limbrick, Jr., MD, PhD, a professor of neurosurgery and director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and Christina Gurnett, MD, PhD, a professor of neurologyand director of the Division of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology, among others.

Sequencing revealed that people with Chiari 1 malformation were significantly more likely to carry mutations in a family of genes known as chromodomain genes. Several of the mutations were de novo, meaning the mutation had occurred in the affected person during fetal development and was not present in his or her relatives. In particular, the chromodomain genes CHD3 and CHD8 included numerous variants associated with the malformation.

Further experiments in tiny, transparent zebrafish showed that the gene CHD8 is involved in regulating brain size. When the researchers inactivated one copy of the fishs chd8 gene, the animals developed unusually large brains, with no change in their overall body size.

Chromodomain genes help control access to long stretches of DNA, thereby regulating expression of whole sets of genes. Since appropriate gene expression is crucial for normal brain development, variations in chromodomain genes have been linked to neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays, and unusually large or small heads.

Its not well known how chromodomain genes function since they have such a wide scope of activity and they are affecting so many things at once, Haller said. But they are very intriguing candidates for molecular studies, to understand how specific mutations lead to autism or developmental delay or, as in many of our Chiari patients, just to increased brain size without cognitive or intellectual symptoms. Wed like to figure out the effects of each of these mutations so that in the future, if we know a child has a specific mutation, well be able to predict whether that variant is going to have a harmful effect and what kind.

The association between chromodomain genes and head size inspired Haller and colleagues to measure the heads of children with Chiari malformations, comparing them to age-matched controls and to population averages provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children with Chiari tended to have larger than average heads. Those children with the largest heads bigger than 95% of children of the same age were four times more likely to be diagnosed with the malformation.

The findings suggest that children with larger heads or people with other neurodevelopmental disorders linked to chromodomain genes may benefit from screening for Chiari malformation.

A lot of kids that have autism or developmental disorders associated with chromodomain genes may have undiscovered Chiari malformations, Haller said. The only treatment right now is surgery. Discovering the condition early would allow us to watch, knowing the potential for serious symptoms is there, and perform that surgery as soon as its necessary.

Sadler B, Wilborn J, Antunes L, Kuensting T, Hale AT, Gannon SR, McCall K, Cruchaga C, Harms M, Voisin N, Reymond A, Cappuccio G, Burnetti-Pierri N, Tartaglia M, Niceta M, Leoni C, Zampino G, Ashley-Koch A, Urbizu A, Garrett ME, Soldano K, Macaya A, Conrad D, Strahle J, Dobbs MB, Turner TN, Shannon CN, Brockmeyer D, Limbrick DD, Gurnett CA, Haller G. Rare and de novo coding variants in chromodomain genes in Chiari I malformation. American Journal of Human Genetics. Dec. 21, 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.12.001

This study was funded by Sam and Betsy Reeves and the Park-Reeves Syringomyelia Research Consortium; the University of Missouri Spinal Cord Injury Research Program; the Childrens Discovery Institute of St. Louis Childrens Hospital and Washington University; the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, grant number UL1TR000448 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, award number U54HD087011 to the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Washington University; the Swiss National Science Foundation, grant number 31003A_182632; and the Jrme Lejeune Foundation.

Washington University School of Medicines 1,500 faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals. The School of Medicine is a leader in medical research, teaching and patient care, ranking among the top 10 medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

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Common brain malformation traced to its genetic roots - Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Yale School of Medicine (YSM) students have led the effort, on campus and nationally, to advocate for first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students in medicine, creating organizations and developing resources to help students access and navigate medical school. This includes working to end the default perception that FGLI students are high-risk in medical school, and replace it with the recognition that their diverse perspectives significantly enhance medical education and will improve how health care is delivered.

YSM fifth-year MD-PhD student Mytien Nguyen, MS, played a central role in the creation of two toolkits, one for first-generation medical school students and another for their advisors and families, launched nationally through the AAMC in November 2020. She says the student toolkit would have been helpful when she started medical school, a time when there was no first-generation or low-income identity student group at YSM or any other medical school. Nguyen, who grew up as a low-income refugee after her family immigrated to the United States from rural Vietnam when she was eight, helped spearhead the effort to create such a group.

Individual and small group conversations among YSM FGLI students led to a formal dinner in September 2017, where the idea for the Yale First Generation/Low Income (YFLI) student group was launched, co-founded by Nguyen and fifth-year MD student Seong Im Hong. YLFI now includes 80 MD and MD-PhD students focused on promoting recruitment of more diverse medical students, building a more welcoming community, advocating for mentorship, and helping first-generation American/college students and low-income students navigate medical school.

Current YFLI president, second-year MD student Jamieson O'Marra first-generation college studentis excited to expand YFLI even more. As of January 2021, YFLI has begun to include Yale Physician Associate and Physician Assistant Online students. He hopes to engage Yale School of Nursing students soon and develop an alumni base as the first YFLI members begin to graduate in the coming years.

YFLIs significant impact is reflected in how different the environment was when OMarr applied to YSM from when Nguyen arrived. A significant reason OMarr chose YSM was because he knew it had a strong first-generation community among students, with committed administrative support through the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Community Engagement, and Equity (DICE).

Nguyen believes the school has done so much already these past few yearshonestly, I think that YSM is among the leading institutions of the national FGLI in medicine advocacy movement.

However, Nguyen adds, much remains to be done and it starts with reflecting on the current norms of medical education and how many of those norms were based on the presumption that medical students are from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. As supportive as YSM is, Nguyen explains students faced challenges inherent to medicine, where more than 70% of trainees are from the highest income households in the country, including the stigma surrounding poverty and classism. Nguyen states that the medical training curriculum is not conducive to the success of first-gen and low-income student.

Nguyens frustration led her to reach out to other institutions about their FGLI initiatives and in 2018, students from YSM and Georgetown University School of Medicine launched the National First Generation and Low-Income in Medicine Association (FGLIMed), which now has more than 800 members. Nguyen explains, we realized that in order to tackle classism in medicine and advocate for FGLI students at our schools, we need a national movement. There is nothing more powerful than a national movement. Four of the FGLIMed board members are from YSM: Nguyen, OMarr, second-year MD-PhD student Joanna Chen, and second-year MD student Mursal Gardezi.

FGLIMed provided significant input into the AAMC toolkit project, to which Nguyen devoted close to 100 hours over the past two years. The idea for this resource originated with the AAMC Section on Undergraduate Medical Education of the Group on Educational Affairs. Ten students, faculty, and staff collaborated on the project with the goal of iteratively updating the toolkits.

The student toolkit covers academic support, professional development and career mentorship, emotional support, and financial support, while the advisor/family toolkit focuses on similar topics, plus the learning environment and family connection and engagement.

For each topic, the toolkit provides ideas and resources, as well as specific examples and contact information. Nguyen is listed as a contact for information about steps YSM has taken to change the curriculum to improve the learning environment including, in part, adding health equity to the core curriculum and developing a workshop on teaching first-generation and non-traditional students in partnership with the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.

The family connection and support section discusses how a key way to retain first-generation students is to make their families feel welcome on the campus by creating activities that bridge cultural gaps, inviting them to activities, and providing students tools to communicate about their medical training. Financial assistance from YSM for up to two family members, broadly defined, to attend the White Coat Ceremony is included as an example.

Emotional support, one of the categories Nguyen worked on, discusses how many schools are adopting best practices that celebrate and advocate for the unique strengths of first-generation students and encourages them to use their talents to enhance the medical school experience. It emphasizes that visibility and peer relationships can be important starting points for emotional health and that having a student organization to support first-generation students is fundamental. The section cites YFLIs monthly community dinners, which DICE funds, as an opportunity for students to talk about their experiences in class, on the wards, and throughout medical school.

Having these toolkits as a national resource for all students, especially those from first-generation, low-income backgrounds, signals important messages about inclusion and belonging, states Rochelle Smith, associate dean of diversity and inclusion and associate chief diversity officer.

Deputy Dean and Chief Diversity Officer Darin Latimore, MD, is very proud of the students advocacy. He says that as a first-generation and low-income medical student, he would have benefited from such a resource. Since no one in my family went to medical school, they were ill-equipped to help me and unfortunately my pride often prevented me from reaching out to the schools administrators for guidance. The toolkits are an additional resource that will help make medicine more accessible for FGLI students.

OMarr similarly believes the toolkits will have a significant impact. He says the first-generation community often talks about how you dont know what you dont know, and the toolkits provide a clear roadmap of relevant issues and a wealth of resources.

Looking forward, Nguyen states, Yale has always been a leader in medical education innovation, starting with the Yale System. Im truly hopeful that Yale will also lead the field of medicine in diversifying the socioeconomic diversity of its medical trainees, as well as continuing to support FGLI students along their path to become leaders in medicine.

She shares a personal example of why this diversity is so valuable. I remember when a patient was struggling to navigate unemployment and I was able to assist because I had helped my parents navigate unemployment and other social services since middle school. She adds, imagine if we have a medical school class, a residency class, a physician workforce that reflects the socioeconomic diversity of our patient population. I think that health care delivery would look dramatically different.

Link:
YSM Students Play Key Roles in the Creation of National Resources for First-generation and Low-income Medical Students - Yale School of Medicine

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN (WCCO) More time at home this year has apparently given people more time to fill out graduate school applications.

The number of medical school applicants is up 18% nationally compared to last year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

At the University of Minnesotas Medical School, the surge is even more pronounced.

Dimple Patel, an associate dean of admissions for the school, says applications are up 40% at the Twin Cities campus. Theyre up 77% at the Duluth campus.

All of the many issues related to the pandemic have motivated young people to make decisions about their career and commit to applying to medical school, she said.

Rahi Patel, no relation to Dimple Patel, is a University of Minnesota junior on a pre-med track. She says everything thats happened this year has only cemented her feelings about applying next summer.

You see on the TV the healthcare workers and its obviously really taking a toll, but I think it also just underscores how important they are and the impact that they have, Rahi Patel said. Ive always wanted to be a part of that.

Dimple Patel says she sees the pandemic, and issues of health equity and social justice, mentioned in application essays she reads.

She also says a tough job market can lead to more people seeking out postgrad opportunities.

The elevated profile this year of science and medicine in general helps too.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has become a national figure with his own bobblehead.

In Minnesota, Dr. Michael Osterholm has also become well-known. The University of Minnesota professor is advising President-elect Joe Biden on COVID.

Having Dr. Osterholm being on virtually every news channelreally gets the word of how public health tries to be at that front end, said Laura Fyfe with the University of Minnesotas Pre-Health Student Resource Center.

Even though it could mean more competition for Rahi when she eventually applies, she says its great more people want to pursue medicine.

The demand is going to go up and weve seen the need for healthcare workers now, she said.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

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Med school applications surge as more young people are motivated to join health care industry - LocalNews8.com

Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is set to begin in Texas Dec. 14, according to the Department of State Health Services. UT Health Austin and Dell Medical School at the University of Texas will be among the first four facilities to receive the vaccine in the state. (Jack Flagler/Community Impact Newspaper)

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention have allocated 1.4 million initial doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech to Texas. Of those 1.4 million, the state has a plan to allocate more than 224,000 doses to 109 health care institutions the week of Dec. 14 for frontline health care workers. Eleven facilities in Central Texas are slated to receive a total of 16,575 doses in the initial shipment.

Facilities in the states four largest cities will be first to receive the vaccine Dec. 14, including UT Health Austin and Dell Medical School at the University of Texas, DSHS confirmed. The other three facilities receiving doses are Wellness 360 at UT Health San Antonio, the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

An additional 19 facilities are set to receive their first doses of the vaccine Dec. 15. The remaining 86 institutions tabbed to accept initial shipments would then receive their first doses later in the week. The full list of facilities to receive shipments Dec. 14 and Dec. 15, according to the state, is as follows:

Dec. 14:

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UT Health Austin and Dell Medical School among first facilities in Texas to receive COVID-19 vaccine - Community Impact Newspaper

Los Angeles, California, Nov. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, around 21,000 applicants were accepted to U.S. medical schools in 2018-2019. Medical admissions continue to rise. However, residency programs are not growing at the same rate.

The Residency Problem

Data from the National Resident Matching Program shows that thousands of medical students fail to match with a residency program every year. Failing to match can be the biggest disappointment in your medical career. After all the hard work and the thousands of dollars that have been spent in pursuit of medical education, it can be depressing when you learn that you failed to match with a residency program.

For the last few years, the number of graduates has exceeded the number of residences available. The residency shortage is because of funding restrictions. The Medicare program provides funds for residencies at $10 billion each year. This allocation was determined by Congress in 1997. Since then, it has not been revised. There have been efforts to pass bills to increase the allocation, without success.

The Residency Shortage & Physician Shortage

U.S Census data predicts that by 2025 there will be a shortage of over 130,000 doctors. A third of all doctors are expected to retire in the next decade. In the face of this looming shortage, there has been an increasing demand for doctors because of an aging population and the increase in insured people due to the Affordable Care Act.

The shortage of residency positions will present public health problems. When qualified doctors are not matched, it delays opportunities for them to practice and this hinders efforts to combat the projected physician shortage.

The Residency Shortage Means That Some Graduates Will Not Be Matched

It is all about supply and demand. Because there are limited positions, these positions will go to the best candidates. That matching process has become very competitive. In an ideal situation, each graduate would get a residency. However, this is not the case.

If you apply for a competitive residency such as dermatology or emergency medicine, you might fail to get a match if you didn't have high scores.

Most graduates are applying for residencies in big cities. Therefore, it is easy to miss a spot if you apply for a residency in a city hospital. Contrary, applying for a position in a rural hospital increases the chances of qualifying. That will also help in addressing the medical needs of disenfranchised rural communities.

What Should You Do if You Don't Match?

Don't panic. You should remember that you are not the first and you will not be the last medical student not to match with a resident program. Many students who failed in the first attempt succeeded in subsequent trials.

Failing to match doesn't mean that you are incompetent. The fact that you were admitted to medical school and you completed your studies shows you are qualified. A big part of the problem is the shortage of residency positions versus the high number of graduates.

It is normal to feel depressed. Therefore, you should find a support network. This can be your family members or friends. If you start having symptoms of clinical depression, you should seek professional help.

You might want to evaluate whether to continue in clinical medicine or to pursue other healthcare careers. If being a doctor is a dream that you can't brush away, you need to figure out why you didn't match. At this stage, you require mentorship and support.

Get the Mentorship You Need from Residents Medical

Qualifying for residency in these competitive times has less to do with your academic qualifications and more to do with other factors. Residents Medical will mentor you on how to navigate the murky world of residency admission. You will be empowered with skills that you cannot learn in class. These skills include:

Soft skills

Sound judgment

Physical and mental stamina

Empathy for others

Emotional stability

Learning and functioning in various settings

With Residents Medical, a mentor will guide you by hand until you are matched. For more information, visit https://residentsmedical.com/.

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Residents Medical Combating Shortage In Residency Positions In The US - GlobeNewswire

You could say Nicole Belliard Martuscelli followed her dreams to Hollywood, but not in a typical sense. Her journey towards becoming an international medical student in the US began as a teenager. In her homeland Brazil, she attended an American high school and took an affinity towards learning English which she used to propel herself towards her goals.

Martuscelli first made the bold leap from to the US during her junior year. She enrolled in a high school in Florida (home of the city Hollywood, as well as outlandish news stories), thus laying the groundwork for her life in the US. It was challenging at first; the language and cultural barriers were greater than I expected, and I ended up self-isolating in school and not enjoying it as much as I should have, the 23-year-old tells Study International over e-mail. Despite the challenges, she completed high school and went on to university andapply to medical schools in the US.

Thats when her experience turned around.During my undergraduate years at the University of Miami (UM), I met people from much more diverse backgrounds and developed a strong support system with my new friends. I had such a great experience there, living alone for the first time, learning in a way I never thought I would, and having access to amazing research labs and facilities that would never have been possible back in Brazil, she shares.

Today, Martuscelli goes beyond her medical studies at Pennsylvanias Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) at Thomas Jefferson University to mentor young people who are lonely or unsure, as she once was. She does this as part of F-1 Doctors, a free student-led initiative for international applicants of the medical degree (MD), Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), or residency programmes in the US.Here, this passionate international medical student in the US shares tips and memories from her time in the US.

Nicole Belliard Martuscelli is a second-year medical student at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Source: Nicole Belliard Martuscelli

Originally, I decided to study in Florida because it was one of the closest places I could be to Brazil, and my parents could actually live with me there. Additionally, the weather and culture in Miami are not so different from Brazils. I really enjoyed meeting people from all over the world as well as having access to Brazilian markets and restaurants in Miami, which made me feel more at home. Additionally, I loved my community at the University of Miami and I truly had the best years of my life there.

Now I am in Philadelphia. I never imagined living in a cold state as I am not a huge fan of this weather. However, I have really enjoyed the city and the people I met here. Everyone is extremely friendly and, so far, I have been impressed by how much I enjoy it here.

I graduated from UM with a BS in Biochemistry and Nutrition, and I currently study medicine at SKMC. I have always been drawn to the sciences and, since high school, I have had an interest in medicine. When I arrived at the University of Miami, I picked biochemistry as a major because it was an area that would allow me to study both biology, chemistry and a little bit of physiology; I saw it as a way of exploring the sciences further, and I was right.

I ended up doing neuroscience research for three years while at UM and learning a lot about nutrition, genetics, biology, chemistry and even psychology. During my undergraduate years, I spend numerous weeks shadowing physicians and fell deeper in love with the profession. Those experiences as well as other pivotal interactions I have had throughout the years were what led me to apply to medical school. Today, Im a second-year medical student and I could not be happier with the decisions Ive made so far.

My favourite moments in both the UM and SKMC have been meeting new people and spending time with my friends. I deeply value my relationships, and thankfully I have been able to cultivate amazing ones throughout the years.

When shes not studying, Nicole channels her passion towards travel, dance, and cats. Source: Nicole Belliard Martuscelli

My number one recommendation is for people to give themselves time and be patient. It takes a long time for you to adapt when moving to a new location, let alone a new country. You need to be patient with yourself to learn the language and the ways of life in this new location. I think it is also important to have a good support system, so remaining in contact with family and old friends is huge when adapting to a new situation. It can be scary and overwhelming to have such a huge change in your life when youre alone.

Another thing I would say is to believe in yourself and hear what your conscience is telling you. Believe that you can achieve your goals and that you will adapt, but at the same time, listen to your limitations and be kind to yourself. Theres a long road ahead, and remaining true to your essence should be your priority, the rest will fall into place eventually.

I would also like to encourage any international students out there thinking of going to school for medicine, dentistry and nursing in the US to check out F-1 Doctors. It is a volunteer group comprising pre-medical/dental students, medical/dental students, residents, and attendings that allows students to give and receive free advice from other international students undergoing similar situations.

I plan on advancing my studies and continuing to build and support my family. Academically, my next step is to study for board exams so that I can apply to residency programmes in two years. For now, I plan to remain in the US for residency, but Im always open to new adventures and opportunities.

Read more here:
International medical student in the US followed her dream from Brazil - Study International News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Amid enhanced safety precautions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, medical schools across the country are relying more on virtual reality to help train future doctors and health care workers.

Multiple monitors in large classroom spaces at Kansas City University allow for social distancing, but students also are required to wear masks and time spent on campus is limited. Most lectures have moved online.

Access to in-hospital clinics often is limited as well because of COVID-19, which has led to an increasing reliance on virtual reality to teach future front-line health workers.

Brandon Bishop is a second-year medical student at Kansas City University.

When he's not listening to online lectures, you can find him suited up with goggles and controllers as he enters the virtual world of medicine.

"It kind of puts you in the hospital, so you can interact with the different things you normally would during a patient encounter," Bishop said.

With the controllers, Brandon can access the menu, select instructions for the virtual nurse and choose his treatment plan for the virtual patient.

"If I click on his head, I can communicate with him," Bishop said. "If I click on his body, then I can examine him, so you can do a heart exam, a lung exam."

The virtual session also provides feedback to the students about their performance and makes suggestions for improvement.

Virtual reality learning for medical students is not new, but the level of technology has become increasingly sophisticated.

The new Center for Medical Education Innovation at Kansas City University, which was completed earlier in 2020, was built to make the most of the new technology.

It proved to be a blessing when COVID-19 arrived, allowing Kansas City University students to remain engaged in state-of-the-art learning.

"Things like virtual reality, augmented and mixed reality, we're using life-like simulation with simulated mannequins," Kansas City University Provost of Health Affairs Dr. Darrin D'Agostino said. "We're actually integrating it into our systems courses, so when we're learning about the heart, we're also going to teaching them how to do the ultra sound of the heart."

Bishop has enjoyed the experience.

"Being able to go to the mannequin and actually listen to it and hear what it sounds like, it made difference," he said. "It made it a little more solid in our heads."

Even during the pandemic, medical school enrollment is at an all-time high.

The Association of American Medical Colleges reported a 17% jump in applications for medical school this year. Applications at KCU increased by more than 30%, so there's a waiting list.

Bishop said he's wanted to be a doctor since he was 5 years old. The COVID-19 pandemic only fuels his passion for a career in medicine and likely inspires others as well.

"Seeing that COVID is out there and seeing how it affects people and the way it impacts society, that's the reason I got into medicine," he said. "I want to make a difference."

Kansas City University staff acknowledges that virtual reality and augmented reality will never take the place of professors or completely replace a student's experience with real patients, but it's going to remain a key part of the curriculum even after the pandemic.

"Our accrediting bodies are mandating that we meet the same standards, so, although we are doing it differently, we're still meeting the standards that have been set for medical school and for our clinical rotations," D'Agostino said.

Bishop believes the education he's receiving, combining virtual reality with the chance to work with patients as he transitions to being a resident, will have him well-prepared for his chosen career.

"I think it'll give me a much better foundation," he said.

A foundation of saving lives and making a difference Bishop is building with his wife, Joelle.

See the original post here:
Medical schools increasingly turn to virtual reality amid COVID-19 pandemic - KSHB

Several Harvard Law School professors and affiliates have agreed to assist President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.s transition to the White House as members of agency review teams, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris's transition team announced Tuesday.

The teams will spend the upcoming months learning the operations of each governmental agency to ensure a smooth transition on Inauguration Day. The Biden-Harris transition team aimed to recruit talented professionals with experience in numerous policy areas, according to its website.

The teams have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing Americas most urgent and complex challenges, the website reads.

Law School professor Richard J. Lazarus will serve as a volunteer on the Department of Justice team. This team is also responsible for reviewing eight other agencies, including the Federal Election Commission, the Commission on Civil Rights, and the National Council on Disability.

Lazarus currently teaches courses on torts and environmental law. He has brought 40 cases before the United States Supreme Court, respresenting the United States, state and local governments, and environmental groups.

Lazarus also served as the Executive Director of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission, a group tasked with investigating the causes of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mark Wu 95 Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at the Law School will volunteer with the team focusing on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the U.S. Trade and Development agency.

Prior to entering academia, Wu worked as an economist at the World Bank in China and as the Director for Intellectual Property in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the World Trade Organization Chairs Programme, a body dedicated to fostering understanding of the trading system among academics and policymakers in developing countries.

Wu, who also serves as the Faculty Co-Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, is the only faculty member to have received both the HLS Student Government Teaching and Advising Award and the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence.

Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor Robert T. Anderson will volunteer with the Department of the Interior team. The team will also review seven other commissions, including the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Commission on Fine Arts. Anderson has served as a visiting professor at the Law School since 2010 and a professor at the University of Washington School of Law since 2001. Previously, he served as associate solicitor for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior, as well as counselor to Secretary of the Interior Bruce E. Babbitt and co-lead of the Department of the Interior team during President Barack H. Obamas transition to the White House. Anderson is also a co-author and Executive Editorial Board member of Cohens Handbook of Federal Indian Law.

Executive Director Joseph Goffman and Guest Fellow Cynthia J. Giles of HLSs Environmental & Energy Law Program will both serve as volunteers on the Environmental Protection Agency team, which will also review the Chemical Safety Board.

Current and former Harvard spokespeople including Jonathan L. Swain, Senior Director of Media Relations and Communications for the University and Harvard Medical School professor Atul Gawande also joined Biden's transition team. Swain will lead the Small Business Administration team, and Gawande will serve as a member of the Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board.

Staff writer Kelsey J. Griffin can be reached at kelsey.griffin@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @kelseyjgriffin.

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Biden Recruits Harvard Law Faculty For Transition Team | News - Harvard Crimson

LUBBOCK, Texas Medical schools across the country have seen an increase in applications amid the pandemic, and its no different at Texas Tech. On Wednesday, students explained how COVID-19 had inspired them to go into the field.

It has only increased my desire to go into medicine because I really feel that I want to do a job that is needed and is wanted, said Chuck Guerra, a second-year student at Texas Techs School of Medicine.

As Lubbock county remains a major COVID-19 hot spot, more medical students like Guerra are eager to get on the front lines.

Obviously, I dont want a pandemic to be happening, but when one happens the need is greater, and that makes me want even more to be doing the work that I want to do, said Guerra.

Texas Techs Health Sciences Center has seen a 20 percent increase in applications just this year.

Across the country, medical schools have seen a 15 percent increase, according to the School of Medicines Dean Steven Berk.

The great thing about the 20 percent increase in students applying to medical school is that theyre not afraid of the pandemic, said Dr. Berk. In fact, they see a call to honor or a call to duty.

The school has also changed its curriculum to include more information about COVID-19 and public health as a whole.

Its even made me see ways that Im helpful, even now, especially in my second year, said second-year medical student Jaclyn Jones. We had some lectures on COVID. And that was incredibly helpful to be able to have those, and then even just in day to day conversations, to be able to address times when somebody kind of put something up there that wasnt 100% accurate, and be able to correct that information in the moment.

From creating more advanced telemedicine to greater public health awareness, the medical world has changed significantly during this pandemic. Dr. Berk explained that Texas Tech is doing as much as they can to ensure their students are prepared once they go into the workforce.

I think weve emphasized public health and will emphasize public health even more in the future. So that students are ready for whenever that next pandemic may occur, said Dr. Berk.

Original post:
Texas Tech School of Medicine sees 20% increase in applications - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

This article is part of Harvard Medical Schoolscontinuing coverageof medicine, biomedical research, medical education and policy related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the disease COVID-19.

Surviving severe COVID-19 may depend on the quality of patients antibody development and response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease, according to new research findings from Galit Alter, HMS professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues.

Get more HMS news here

The study, published in the journalCell, used a systems serology approach to profile the antibody immune responses of 193 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The research team compared responses from patients with moderate disease and severe disease, as well as patients who died from COVID-19.

While all patients developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the way the antibodies developed, or evolved, differed between the three groups. For patients who didnt survive the disease, the antibody response never fully evolved.

There was a significant defect in the development of IgG antibodies, which may be essential in the early control and elimination of the virus, said Alter, who is a core member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and co-leads the pathogenesis working group of the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness.

Here, we were able to see the global impact of this defective IgG evolution, resulting in a compromised ability to promote essential viral clearing immune functions, Alter said.

In a mature immune response, antibodies both block infection and direct the immune system to kill infected cells. To guide the killer immune response, antibodies attach to the Fc receptor, a docking site specific to antibodies that is found on all immune cells. Without strong Fc-receptor binding, antibodies may fail to grab and destroy the virus following infection.

Compared to survivors, patients who died from COVID-19 had antibodies that never fully developed the ability to strongly bind toFc receptors and therefore may not have been able to fully trigger immune-killing activity.

Alter and colleagues also found that survivors immune systems could recognize and target an area of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein known as the S2 domain. The S2 domain is found in other coronaviruses that infect humans, so patients whose antibodies can target it may have preexisting immunity to the S2 domain of SARS-CoV-2 because of exposure to other, common coronaviruses.

Patients with antibodies that can recognize S2 domains on different coronaviruses may be able to use this preexisting immunity to generate killer antibodies faster and sooner following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

If we can further understand the importance of cross-coronavirus immunity, researchers may be able to design vaccines able to counteract a much broader range of coronaviruses, said study co-first author Tomer Zohar, graduate student at MIT.

In further studies, Alter and colleagues are working to better understand the nature of protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, including partnering with COVID-19 vaccine developers, with the aim of helping to bring an end to the pandemic.

Study co-first authors also include Carolin Loos, Stephanie Fischinger and Caroline Atyeo.

Adapted from a Mass General news release.

Original post:
Defective Evolution | Harvard Medical School - Harvard Medical School

Even before she knew it, Christie Zhengs experience in an international high school was preparing her for US medical school. Born in New Zealand and raised in China, her international education exposed her to a diverse learning environment: students came from various cultural backgrounds, and the curricula encourage students to explore their passion.

I also had ample opportunities to travel with friends abroad to participate in swimming and business competitions, the University of Virginia medical student tells over e-mail. Fuelled by her love for food, travel, and learning, Zheng was compelled to continue her education abroad. Her decision was sealed when she got accepted by a university close to her heart.

Now, having settled in Virginia, Zheng mentors other international students applying for medical school in the US via F-1 Doctors. Heres what she has to say about her experience so far.

Zheng intends to apply for residency programmes in the US upon completing her course. Source: Christie Zheng

I chose to be a medical student in the US because of the high-quality medical training and cutting-edge research. I am currently studying at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. What attracted me, in the beginning, was the programme itself, but over time, I have also grown to enjoy living in the city. Public transportation is really convenient in Charlottesville and there are many amazing local restaurants to try out as well.

I am currently studying medicine at the University of Virginia. I chose this programme because of the integrated curriculum and the welcoming learning environment. The curriculum at UVA provides us with very early patient exposures and encourages us to think about different perspectives of medicine, including ethics, quality improvement, and social issues. Faculty members I have met are more than happy to provide us with support, which extends beyond the classroom to shadowing and research. We are also proud of the collaborative environment among the student body.

The most memorable time for me was probably spending Chinese New Year with a bunch of friends. We made dumplings from scratch and the master baker of our group also made delicious egg tarts. Nothing is better than celebrating a traditional holiday with close friends and tasty food!

Since there are lots of amazing programmes here, I advise all future medical students in the US to do thorough research on the programmes to gain a better idea of which one fits the best. Some relevant topics include the specific curriculum of the programme, financial aid availability for international students, and location.

I am super excited for the upcoming clinical years and I am planning to apply to residency programmes after completing medical school.

Link:
How a third culture kid found her place as a medical student in the US - Study International News

Rowan University has partnered with LabCorp Employer Services to provide free at-home, self-collected COVID-19 testing for employees and medical school students. Nasal swab tests from Pixel by LabCorp can be ordered online here. The visitor access code to create your account is rowan. For more information about the testing process, contact LabCorps customer support at 1-844-251-6524.

How testing works

The kit, which will be delivered to homes and returned to the lab via FedEx, includes all of the supplies you will need, including detailed instructions to complete your self-collection. Upon completing your test and securing it in the postage-paid, pre-addressed FedEx return package, you will deliver it to a FedEx drop box. All instructions will be in your package.

Timing

According to LabCorp, if you order the test by 3 p.m., it will be sent overnight and delivered to your home by FedEx the next day. If you order after 3 p.m., it will be shipped the following morning.

Completed nasal swab tests must be delivered to a FedEx drop box the same day you collect your sample. You will be able to track your sample on the LabCorp web site.

Results

Once received by the lab, results will be available on the secure, online HIPAA-compliant portal where you requested your kit. You will receive an email when your kit has been received and results are ready to view. Results will be available in two to four days. If your test comes back positive for COVID-19, a health care professional will contact you to help you with next steps. Rowan also will be notified about a positive test result.

About testing

Please understand that a negative test does not tell the whole picture. The incubation period for COVID-19 is 2-14 days, meaning there is a window where someone could be infected and still test negative. A test is simply a snapshot in time.

Stay vigilant

As always, to reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19, public health officials recommend reducing the number of potential exposures you may encounter, wearing a mask, focusing on physical distancing and remaining vigilant.

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Pre-Thanksgiving COVID-19 testing for employees and medical school students - Rowan Today

Amanda Parrish|Middletown Transcript

Headlines November 12, 2020

Here are some of the top stories we're following for Thursday, November 12, 2020.

This Middletown teen is getting a jump on exploring a career in the medical field.

Makayla Boyd, a sophomore at MOT Charter High School, will be a delegate to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders Nov. 21-22.

The congress is an honors-only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields, according to a press release. The event is put on by the National Academy of Future Physicians with the goal to motivate top students from across the country to enter the medical field.

During the two-day Congress, Boyd will join students from across the country and hear Nobel Laureates and National Medal of Science Winners talk about leading medical research; be given medical school advice; and hear stories from patients who are living medical miracles.

This is a crucial time in America when we need more doctors and medical scientists who are even better prepared for a future that is changing exponentially. Focused, bright and determined students like Makayla Boyd are our future and she deserves all the mentoring and guidance we can give her, the press release said.

Boyd was nominated to represent Delaware based on her academic achievement, leadership potential and determination to enter the field of medicine.

More: Free COVID testing at Middletown High every Wednesday in November

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MOT Charter student Makayla Boyd picked for Congress of Future Medical Leaders - Middletown Transcript