Bob Bowlsby's flight touched down the afternoon of July 21. The Big 12 commissioner was on a routine campus visit to Kansas.

"My phone went off," Bowlsby recalled. "It was about 3 o'clock."

It truly was one of those where-were-you-when moments. Major news broke that day: Texas and Oklahoma are in talks to join the SEC.

It was true, and it was awful for the Power Five's most experienced commissioner and his eight remaining schools. The shock hasn't worn off for the 69-year-old administrator.

Bowlsby still believes ESPN conspired with SEC and American to (perhaps mortally) wound his league. Bowlsby has not shared evidence to this end; both ESPN and AAC commissioner Mike Aresco denied the accusation.

"You know me well enough," Bowlsby told CBS Sports this week. "I wouldn't have said it unless it was absolutely true."

Bowlsby hasn't lost any part of his bravado since that day. Asked if it's possible to mend fences with a powerful rights holder in future negotiations, Bowlsby did not relent.

"Any time you speak truth to power, you run risks," he said.

That's a glimpse of the Big 12 five weeks removed from the Texas-Oklahoma news and one week away from its 27th season. Things were never supposed to be this uncertain. At the Big 12 Media Days last month, Bowlsby kiddingly thanked reporters for not "asking the expansion question. I think I won five bucks on that."

Now, you can't think of the Big 12 without thinking of expansion for an entirely different reason than the league's ultimately fruitless look at adding members five years ago.

Asked how he's doing lately, Bowlsby sarcastically replied, "Oh, I'm having a wonderful time."

"It's been a long month," he added. "There's not any way to put a good face on it. We were shocked at the announcements. We were given no indication of displeasures on [Texas and Oklahoma's] part. I share those feelings, and everybody associated with us shares those feelings."

CBS Sports spoke to Bowlsby on a variety of subjects regarding his conference during an unprecedented time of upheaval. Safe to say it has suddenly become the Big 12 against the world.

Industry sources say the league's media rights value has decreased at least 50% with the losses of Texas and Oklahoma.

The Pac-12 has decided it will not expand for the moment, eliminating safe haven for any Big 12 schools that were looking West. The Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 went off on their own to form an alliance largely to fight perception of the SEC's growing power.

"Hopefully this will bring some much-needed stability to college athletics," Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said. " Some of the events over the last couple of months have shaken the foundation of the beliefs of college athletics."

None of the alliance conferences called Big 12 to participate.

"We want and need the Big 12 to do well," ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said. "The Big 12 matters in Power Five athletics."

Actually, what was once a Power Five now looks more and more like it will be a Power Four unless the Big 12 expands. You can understand the angst at the conference headquarters in Las Colinas, a planned development in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

"Not surprisingly, everybody is watching their backside," Bowlsby said. " Trust in the athletics ecosystem is not very high right now."

It is a tenuous existence for the Big 12. Publicly, it plans to hold Texas and Oklahoma to the terms of the current ESPN/Fox contract, which runs four more years. But inside the conference, there's a feeling the two giants will use any available excuse or legal maneuver to bolt early.

As such, the Big 12 in late July formed an expansion subcommittee made up of officials from Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Texas Tech.

"As you would expect, [it is] a smaller group that can facilitate thought and conversation that we can bring back to the presidents and athletic directors," said Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, one of the subcommittee members.

The Big 12 is in the ironic position of needing expansion candidates it rejected five years ago. Those would include UCF, Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston and BYU, among others. Back then, the Big 12 chose not to exercise a clause in its ESPN/Fox contract that would pay $1 billion if it added any four schools.

The league stayed at 10, in part, so as not to antagonize its rightsholders. Now the commissioner who helped make that decision is at odds with ESPN.

There is the uncertain possibility of Kansas basketball -- a top-five program -- playing in the AAC or Mountain West. That is possible because, even in its depressed state, Kansas football would bring 80% of the value to any conference contract. In other words, it's unlikely that basketball alone will carry Kansas through to another Power Five conference.

Even if the Big 12 continues at eight teams, its budgets will most likely be slashed because the league's worth has taken a hit. Will Iowa State be able to keep Matt Campbell? Will top-flight coaches in any sport be attracted to the Big 12? What will happen to the massive athletic debt services on some of these campuses?

Without the $37 million per school it gets from its media rights deal, will the Big 12 remain a Power Five conference? It may be four potentially agonizing years until the league knows as it waits for its current deal to run out.

"That isn't going to happen for a while," Bowlsby said. "I don't have any particular reason to be concerned about it."

He would like to be around for all of it. Bowlsby's contract runs through June 2025, the month that media rights deal expires.

With the news of the week -- alliance formation, Pac-12 standing pat -- there may some certainty. With no additional movement coming at the top, the Big 12 suddenly has expansion leverage over Group of Five conferences. That means the eight remaining schools, nicknamed "The Hateful Eight", just might stay together after all.

The best news: There is "significant interest" in the Big 12 from other schools, according to Hocutt. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported Friday "at least 15 schools" are interested in joining the Big 12.

Oliver Luck -- the former West Virginia AD, NCAA executive and XFL commissioner -- is consulting with the Big 12 on expansion.

The league must proceed cautiously. If it expands too soon, that could give Texas and Oklahoma the legal leverage they need to leave the Big 12 before the end of the current contract in 2025. The schools would have to pay up to $80 million in penalties each to leave early. However, the Big 12 would still control the schools' TV rights.

The animosity towards Texas and Oklahoma will likely reveal itself on the field and courts as long as the two schools are in the Big 12. The blowback this time could be different than when Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M left the league. The Longhorns and Sooners are two of the biggest sports brands in the country.

Mark your calendars for Oct. 2. That's the date both Texas (at TCU) and Oklahoma (at Kansas State) play their first conference road games since the announcement.

"We'll do every last thing we can to make sure their student-athletes have a great experience and fair experience and have the best circumstances they possibly can," Bowlsby said. "That's what we're professionally obligated to do."

There are already examples of untidy exits. In November 2010, Nebraska played its last Big 12 road game at Texas A&M on its way to the Big Ten. By the end of the 9-6 loss, the Cornhuskers were called for 16 penalties to the Aggies' two. There are accusations of conspiracy. At the time, the Big 12 commissioned an independent review of the officiating. It found no wrongdoing.

"I can't see Texas and OU waiting," said former Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin. "It's going to be next year. One more year. As an experienced person, it was no fun being at A&M going through a conference schedule in the Big 12. I was heckled everywhere I went."

Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012.

Bowlsby remains a member of the College Football Playoff subcommittee that proposed a 12-team bracket expansion still under consideration.

One of his league presidents, West Virginia's E. Gordon Gee, told WVU's school newspaper the proposal is "on life support" and would not receive his vote due to the uncertainty created by Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC. Earlier this year, Gee was enthusiastically in favor of expansion.

Another example of things changing rapidly in the Big 12.

Elsewhere for Bowlsby, life is good. God is good. His granddaughter's recent successful heart surgery allows him to see past any league matters. The commissioner praised pediatric surgeon Charles Fraser, who is in residence at the Dell Medical School in Austin, Texas.

Fraser just so happened to attend Texas for medical school. Some things are more important.

"Chuck Fraser is an unbelievable, unbelievable guy," Bowlsby said. "Humble as the day is long, spends eight hours a day in little children's chests. He is an amazing healer. You're just a nicer person when you've been around your grandchildren."

See the original post:
Big 12 vs. The World: Conference eyes expansion as commissioner stands by collusion accusations - CBS Sports

Thats a sentiment shared by Yang Li, asecond-yeardoctoralstudent from China who is earning her degree in higher education.Li has taken the typical CGE experience a step further by working for the center as part of her graduate assistantship. Li said its a choice shes glad she made.

I have made most of my friends through the CGE and enjoy many research opportunities, she said. My research interest is international student success in the UnitedStates,and I am exposed to so muchoftheinternationalstudent experience here on campus.I feel lucky to work there.

Opportunities for travel and culturally immersive experiencesare offeredthroughFSUprogramssuch asGlobal Scholars,Global Exchanges,Beyond Borders, theMoellership ProgramandInternational Programs.

International opportunities are also found in classrooms across campus. One example is at the College of Law where students can take a class in international human rights. The course includes about 30 students, 15 of them domestic and 15 from schools of law around the world, said Terry Coonan, an instructor in the course and the director of FSUs Center for the Advancement of Human Rights.

Its a dynamic experience in which we are working with superb law schools around the world to confront human rights issues that are worldwide, he said. For our FSU students,especially, its a great reminder on a weekly basis of how international the field of human rights is.Its one of the great classes I am so fortunate to teach.

FSUs Global Citizenship Certificate is another opportunity for students to plug international learning and experiences into their classes.The certificate requires students takefour courses with a global or cross-cultural themeand engage in intercultural experiencesto help themlearnto meet the new challenges of living and working in the global society of the 21st century.

HennaAwad, a senior from Jacksonville, Florida,saidthe certificate helped her build her cross-cultural knowledge in profound ways.

Ihad the opportunity to travel a lot before I came to FSU and I could maybe identify a different culture but not how or why it was different, she said.Like the perspective on time can be different between cultures. The certificate programimproves your critical thinking skills.Its just been a really great opportunity.

FSU womens soccer player Gabby Carle,anative of Levi, Quebec, Canada, didnt have international experiences on her mind when she chose to take her talents to Tallahassee over offers from other American universities.

Carle,whosefirst language is French, is set to graduate next spring withadegree in exercise physiology.

The biggest concern for me was I was looking to play soccer at the highest level, she said, before adding that sheaccomplishedthat goal and much more. I plan to play soccer professionally either here or in Europe. Then, post soccer, I plan to go to medical school and become adoctor.

Carle said the experience of being an international student at FSU was unquestionably a positive one and while her teammates hail from England, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Japan, IrelandandFinland to name a few, she said the international influence at FSU is everywhere.

One time,I was in biology lab andwaspaired with some classmates.We startedsharingstories and four out of five of us werefrom differentcountries, she said.I think when you walk on campus the diversity iseverywhere. Maybe sometimes you cant see it,but when you sit down and talk to your classmates,theres a lot of diversity here at Florida State.

For more information about International Education Month, visit global.fsu.edu/iem.

Read the rest here:
International influences and opportunities abound at FSU - Florida State News

Visit the News Hub

Effort could aid study of addiction, eating disorders, other neuropsychiatric conditions that involve faulty decision-making

By studying animals choosing between two drink options, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that the activity of certain neurons in the brain leads directly to the choice of one option over another. The findings could lead to better understanding of how decision-making goes wrong in conditions such as addiction and depression.

When you are faced with a choice say, whether to have ice cream or chocolate cake for dessert sets of brain cells just above your eyes fire as you weigh your options. Animal studies have shown that each option activates a distinct set of neurons in the brain. The more enticing the offer, the faster the corresponding neurons fire.

Now, a study in monkeys by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that the activity of these neurons encodes the value of the options and determines the final decision. In the experiments, researchers let animals choose between different juice flavors. By changing the neurons activity, the researchers changed how appealing the monkeys found each option, leading the animals to make different choices. The study is published Nov. 2in the journal Nature.

A detailed understanding of how options are valued and choices are made in the brain will help us understand how decision-making goes wrong in people with conditions such as addiction, eating disorders, depression and schizophrenia.

In a number of mental and neuropsychiatric disorders, patients consistently make poor choices, but we dont understand exactly why, said senior author Camillo Padoa-Schioppa, PhD,a professor of neuroscience, of economics and of biomedical engineering. Now we have located one critical piece of this puzzle. As we shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying choices, well gain a deeper understanding of these disorders.

In the 18th century, economists Daniel Bernoulli, Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham suggested that people choose among options by computing the subjective value of each offer, taking into consideration factors such as quantity, quality, cost and the probability of actually receiving the promised offer. Once computed, values would be compared to make a decision. It took nearly three centuries to find the first concrete evidence of such calculations and comparisons in the brain. In 2006, Padoa-Schioppa and John Assad, PhD, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, published a groundbreaking paper in Nature describing the discovery of neurons that encode the subjective value offered and chosen goods. The neurons were found in the orbitofrontal cortex, an area of the brain just above the eyes involved in goal-directed behavior.

At the time, though, they were unable to demonstrate that the values encoded in the brain led directly to choosing one option over another.

We found neurons encoding subjective values, but value signals can guide all sorts of behaviors, not just choice, Padoa-Schioppa said. They can guide learning, emotion, perceptual attention, and aspects of motor control. We needed to show that value signals in a particular brain region guide choices.

To examine the connection between values encoded by neurons and choice behavior, researchers performed two experiments. The study was conducted by first authors Sbastien Ballesta, PhD, then a postdoctoral researcher, and Weikang Shi, a graduate student, with the help of Katherine Conen, PhD, then a graduate student, who designed one of the experiments. Ballesta is now an associate professor at the University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France; Conen is now at Brown University.

In one experiment, the researchers repeatedly presented monkeys with two drinks and recorded the animals selections. The drinks were offered in varying amounts and included lemonade, grape juice, cherry juice, peach juice, fruit punch, apple juice, cranberry juice, peppermint tea, kiwi punch, watermelon juice and salted water. The monkeys often preferred one flavor over another, but they also liked to get more rather than less, so their decisions were not always easy. Each monkey indicated its choice by glancing toward it, and the chosen drink was delivered.

Then, the researchers placed tiny electrodes in each monkeys orbitofrontal cortex. The electrodes painlessly stimulate the neurons that represent the value of each option. When the researchers delivered a low current through the electrodes while a monkey was offered two drinks, neurons dedicated to both options began to fire faster. From the perspective of the monkey, this meant that both options became more appealing but, because of the way values are encoded in the brain, the appeal of one option increased more than that of the other. The upshot is that low-level stimulation made the animal more likely to choose one particular option, in a predictable way.

In another experiment, the monkeys saw first one option, then the other, before they made a choice. Delivering a higher current while the monkey was considering one option disrupted the computation of value taking place at that time, making the monkey more likely to choose whichever option was not disrupted. This result indicates that values computed in the orbitofrontal cortex are a necessary part of making a choice.

When it comes to this kind of choices, the monkey brain and the human brain appear very similar, Padoa-Schioppa said. We think that this same neural circuit underlies all sorts of choices people make, such as between different dishes on a restaurant menu, financial investments, or candidates in an election. Even major life decisions like which career to choose or whom to marry probably utilize this circuit. Every time a choice is based on subjective preferences, this neural circuit is responsible for it.

Ballesta S, Shi W, Conen KE, Padoa-Schioppa C. Values Encoded in Orbitofrontal Cortex Are Causally Related to Economic Choices. Nature. Nov. 2, 2020. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2880-x

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers R01-DA032758, R01-MH104494 and F31-MH107111; and the McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience.

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.

Read the original:
New insight into how brain neurons influence choices Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis - Washington University School of Medicine...

As Minnesota students continue to go back to the classroom some after nearly a whole year of distance learning via Zoom an impassioned debate over how to safely open schools amid an ongoing pandemic has only intensified, mired in the politics of the statehouse, school districts and teachers unions.

Those who want kids back in school point out that remote learning is exacerbating achievement gaps already very present in Minnesotas education system. Others worry kids are suffering social, mental and learning setbacks as a result of staying home.

Advocates of continuing distance learning cite ongoing transmission of the COVID-19 virus, a shortage of vaccines that makes them unavailable to many teachers, and the need to keep both kids and their families at home safe.

What does the science say about whether its safe to resume in-person schooling?

These questions are coming to a head at the national level as the Biden administration prepares to release federal-level guidance on reopening schools as early as this week. In January, President Joe Biden set a goal to open most schools within his first 100 days in office (around mid-April). More recently, the administration lowered expectations, saying the goal would be to have more than half of schools have some in-person teaching at least one day a week by the hundredth day. Hes also proposed more than $130 billion funding to pay for increased school staffing, ventilation improvements and protective equipment.

Until recently, much of the research on the reopening of schools amid COVID-19 had come from overseas, conducted in countries that had a better handle on the pandemic than the U.S. (The U.S. accounts for less than 5 percent of the worlds population and 20 percent of its documented COVID-19 deaths to-date.)

Article continues after advertisement

But theres a growing acknowledgment that schools may be able to reopen relatively safely in the U.S., even in spite of still-uncontrolled levels of COVID-19. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that suggests schools may pose little risk of COVID-19 transmission compared to their surrounding communities when following proper COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as the use of masks, distancing and keeping students in smaller groups.

The CDC tracked COVID-19 in 17 K-12 schools with 4,876 in-person students in rural Wood County, Wisconsin, between Aug. 31 and Nov. 29, 2020, a time that included massive escalation in Wisconsins statewide COVID-19 case rates. The schools used several mitigation strategies to reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission: classes were limited to between 11 and 20 kids who stuck together throughout the school day; everyone maintained 6 feet of distance whenever possible and used masks (a grant helped buy students layered masks); and the school quarantined people who had been exposed to the virus.

During the study, 191 cases of COVID-19 were identified among the 4,876 students and 654 staff, seven of which (all students) were believed to have been tied to schools.

While students were not systematically tested for COVID-19, the rate of cases in schools was much lower than it was in the community at the time: 3,463 cases per 100,000 residents for people who were attending schools (which included cases among school-goers who got the disease in the community) versus 5,466 cases per 100,000 residents in the county at-large. That led the researchers to conclude that even in communities with high levels of COVID-19 transmission, students and staff may be more likely to pick up the virus in the community than in schools when proper mitigation strategies are used.

Article continues after advertisement

Wisconsin was right in the middle of a community outbreak at that point in time, but they actually saw very little transmission in the school, said Dr. Beth Thielen, an infectious disease physician with the University of Minnesota Medical School and M Health Fairview.

Instead, the research found students and staff members much more often getting COVID-19 in the community and rarely spreading it in schools. That, to me, was very interesting because it showed even in a setting of community transmission you can actually contain the virus, Thielen said.

Thielen sees the mismatch between infection rates in the community and within schools as a suggestion that doubling down on infection control measures could help. People, she said, arent very good at assessing what activities are risky.

Dr. Beth Thielen

Of course, adherence to transmission-reducing mitigation strategies appears to be a significant factor in the level of spread in schools, Thielen said.

As of Thursday, Minnesota had listed 71 schools with COVID-19 outbreaks, meaning they had five or more cases among students or staff who spent time in the school building while they were infectious during a two-week period. That doesnt mean those cases were necessarily picked up in school.

The Wisconsin data, which differs from early studies done across the world in that it seems pretty much as close as you can get to Minnesota, Thielen said, suggests it might be possible to do in-person school safely.

The Wisconsin study cited several limitations to its data, among them that mask-wearing data was obtained through an unscientific survey; the study didnt explore a causal relationship between the mitigation strategies and low disease spread; it did not collect data on ventilation; did not track asymptomatic spread through screening (though research through blood tests has found spread among young children, symptomatic or not, to be minimal).

The Wisconsin study isnt the only one in the U.S. to find that cases in schools, with proper measures in place, can be lower than in the community. A study by Duke University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, released in January, found that in a given period among 100,000 K-12 students and staff in 11 districts in North Carolina, there were 773 community-acquired infections and 32 school-acquired ones.

Other studies have suggested certain conditions should be met before schools reopen.

Article continues after advertisement

A Tulane University study based on national data that was published in December found that when new COVID-19 hospitalizations were at lower levels, between 36 per 100,000 residents and 44 per 100,000 residents per week, the opening of schools did not have a discernible effect on COVID-19 hospitalizations. When hospitalizations were at higher levels, though, the effect of opening schools was less clear. The researchers have been keeping data updated and as of the last week of data, the most recent update, all of Minnesotas counties but one, Olmsted, were below the hospitalization range cited as low level in the study.

A study on Michigan and Washington schools, likewise, found that where transmission was low, the opening of schools didnt seem to have an effect.

Another study, from Florida, found that COVID-19 infections increased among high school students after schools reopened (there is evidence that younger children are less likely to transmit the virus as compared to older ones).

But while the U.S.-based research is starting to coalesce around conditions under which it might be safe to reopen schools, theres one big caveat: We dont yet know what new variants of COVID-19 that have emerged and are expected to begin circulating more widely in the U.S. mean for all this schools research, which is predicated on plain old COVID-19.

Still, as research piles up, officials at the top levels of government are articulating that it might be time to open schools, under the right conditions. On Thursday, CBS News reported that a draft summary of forthcoming CDC recommendations includes phased reopening based on community transmission levels. And Dr. Anthony Fauci has supported getting students back in the classroom based on CDC findings.

I would back the CDC recommendations because that is really based on data, Fauci said in an interview in January after the release of the findings. We didnt fully appreciate that early on but the fact is that when you look at a community and look at the penetrance of the virus in the community and its spread at the community level compared to the school in that community, its less likely for a child to get infected in a school setting than if they were in the community.

The rest is here:
More Minnesota students are heading back to school. What does the science say about the safety of reopening? - MinnPost

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Independence Science has been recognized by the National Federation of the Blind for technology that makes science more accessible to blind students.

The company received a 2021 Jacob Bolotin Award on July 10 during the National Federation of the Blind's virtual national conference. Independence Science created the Sci-Voice Talking LabQuest 2, a hand-held, talking data logger that connects to more than 75 sensors and probes. The sensors and probes collect quantitative data across subject areas including biology, chemistry, physics, and earth and space sciences.

Michael Hingson, spokesman and business development analyst at Independence Science, said blind students listen to the data as it is being collected. They also have access to the data afterward for additional analysis.

"Blind students remotely control the Sci-Voice TLQ2 device that is connected to the teacher's host computer. They can start and stop data collection, graph data and explore data tables," Hingson said. "By sharing audio in the virtual meeting platform, the JAWS audio feed made possible by our partner VISPERO comes through the blind student's speaker on their home computer. It is this interface that made scientific data collection possible during a global pandemic."

The Jacob Bolotin Award is named for the first documented blind doctor in the United States, living in Chicago in the late part of the 19th century. Hingson said Bolotin faced ignorance, prejudice and discrimination in medical school and his medical practice. Bolotin was driven to remove barriers to the inaccessible medical education he was faced with, and to educate classmates, faculty and eventual colleagues about the capabilities of the blind in medicine.

"We are extremely honored to receive this award, which recognizes us as being a pioneering positive force in the lives of blind people," Hingson said. "This award is a testimony to Independence Science's commitment to raising the bar for what is possible in science access for the blind in a remote laboratory science learning context."

Independence Science is headquartered at the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette. It conducts demonstrations and presentations at conferences and offers free webinars on its products and services. It also offers remote and on-site consultations to train teachers and/or students on its science access methodologies.

Writer: Steve Martin

Source: Michael Hingson

See the original post:
Independence Science receives award from National Federation of the Blind for making science more accessible - Purdue News Service

Sam Smith, a University of Colorado Boulder grad who is applying to medical schools, says he has been inspired by the example of health care workers during the pandemic. He plans to specialize in infectious diseases. "I want to be on the front lines of the next one," he says. Meredith Nierman hide caption

Sam Smith, a University of Colorado Boulder grad who is applying to medical schools, says he has been inspired by the example of health care workers during the pandemic. He plans to specialize in infectious diseases. "I want to be on the front lines of the next one," he says.

When COVID-19 restrictions reduced his work schedule at the National Institutes of Health, Sam Smith decided to turn to another time-consuming job: applying to medical school.

He'd always wanted to go into medicine, but what was happening in the world had a big impact on the kind of medicine he hopes to practice. Now Smith wants to specialize in infectious diseases.

The experience of the past year "makes me think, there's probably going to be another pandemic" in the future, said Smith, 25. "So I want to be on the front lines of the next one."

Even as college and university enrollment overall has dropped this fall, Smith is part of a wave of what officials say is a record number of applicants to medical school.

The number of applicants is up 18% this year over last year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, driven by the example of medical workers and public health figures such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"It's unprecedented," said Geoffrey Young, the AAMC's senior director for student affairs and programs, who compares it to another response to a traumatic moment in American history: the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"After [Sept. 11], there was a huge increase in the number of men and women that were entering into the military," Young said. "So far in my lifetime, at least, and for as long as I've been in medical education, that's the only comparison that I could make."

Stanford University School of Medicine reports a 50% jump in the number of applications, or 11,000 applications for 90 seats. Boston University School of Medicine says applications are up 27%, to 12,024 for about 110 seats.

"That, I think, may have a lot to do with the fact that people look at Anthony Fauci, look at the doctors in their community and say, 'You know, that is amazing. This is a way for me to make a difference,'" said Kristen Goodell, associate dean of admissions at the school of medicine at BU.

Medical school admissions officers have started calling this the Fauci Effect.

Kristen Goodell is associate dean of admissions at the Boston University School of Medicine, which has seen a 27% increase in applications. "People look at Anthony Fauci, look at the doctors in their community and say, 'You know, that is amazing. This is a way for me to make a difference.'" Meredith Nierman hide caption

Kristen Goodell is associate dean of admissions at the Boston University School of Medicine, which has seen a 27% increase in applications. "People look at Anthony Fauci, look at the doctors in their community and say, 'You know, that is amazing. This is a way for me to make a difference.'"

It's "very flattering," Fauci said. "Probably a more realistic assessment is that, rather than the Fauci Effect, it's the effect of a physician who is trying to and hopefully succeeding in having an important impact on an individual's health, as well as on global health. So if it works to get more young individuals into medical school, go ahead and use my name. Be my guest."

Among other reasons admissions officials cite for the increase in prospective medical students is that the pandemic has given people more free time to complete the arduous application process.

"A lot of the plans they made postgrad honestly fell through," said Sahil Mehta, a practicing radiologist and founder of MedSchoolCoach, which prepares students for the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT.

When the dermatology practice where she was working as a medical assistant shut down temporarily because of COVID-19, Mary Grace Kelley had the chance to retake the MCAT and improved her score.

"This is a perfect time of no distractions," said Kelley, 23, who lives in the Boston suburbs and is applying to medical schools this year.

The deluge of applications comes as the nation faces a projected shortage of physicians.

The United States will be short 54,100 to 139,000 physicians by 2033, the AAMC estimates. More than two out of every five doctors now practicing will reach retirement age over the next 10 years.

Thirty-five percent of registered voters in a survey last year said they'd had trouble finding a doctor, up from 25% in 2015.

Medical school graduates finish with a staggering $241,560 of student loan debt, on average, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, discouraging many would-be doctors.

Eight percent of medical students are Black and 7% Hispanic, both proportions smaller than their share of the population. (Ten percent identify themselves as multiracial.)

"I do think that the debt probably scares off some people," said Goodell, who is also a former chair of the Council on Graduate Medical Education.

This year's many medical school applicants appear undeterred.

"Everyone feels some sort of responsibility," Kelley said. "There's definitely a call to arms thinking that, if there's another pandemic, it'll be up to us."

Fauci said he sees the flood of medical school applicants as a sign that people are thinking about social justice "that you have responsibility not only to yourself, but as an integral part of society."

He said he hopes the trend will counterbalance and "maybe would even overcome the other side of the coin, which is the really somewhat stunning and disturbing fact that people have no regard at all for society, only just focusing very selfishly on themselves."

This was produced by The Hechinger Report in collaboration with GBH Boston. Additional reporting by Kirk Carapezza.

Here is the original post:
'Fauci Effect' Drives Medical School Interest As US Faces Physician Shortage - NPR

ST. LOUIS A groundbreaking new housing project is coming to Forest Park Southeast. Union At The Grove will house 160 units with over 80 units having workforce-targeted rents.

Union At The Grove, which includes six individual buildings is being developed by Green Street St. Louis.

The buildings are on Hunt, Vista and Norfolk Avenues, between Newstead and Taylor Avenues, east of Kingshighway

Union At The Grove is a natural extension of Green Streets continued commitment to the City of St. Louis and Midtown redevelopment through partnership and community revitalization, Joel Oliver, Green Street Senior Vice President for Development said. Green Streets innovative workforce housing model has enabled us to create, protect and cultivate income inclusive neighborhoods where they are needed most.

Union At The Grove teamed up with BJC Healthcare and Washington University School of Medicine to provide workforce housing.

Under workforce housing, about 52% of the units will have attainable rents so health care employees and medical school staff can live near where they work.

The project contributes to the resurgence process within the city. Other recent developments included the first fully protected bike and pedestrian infrastructure that will connect the Tower Grove Park and the Shaw neighborhood to Forest Park Southeast and Cortex.

The total cost of the development is $40 million dollars. They expect to begin construction Feb. 1 with the official groundbreaking ceremony in the Spring.

For more information, visit union-stl.com.

Follow this link:
Union At The Grove housing project to provide affordable rent for medical students - fox2now.com

Eliminating medical student-loan burdens for future physicians with financial needs can create a more diverse medical school applicant pool, student body and health care workforce, says a JAMAHealth Forum article examining the impact of efforts at a New York medical school.

The article, "Debt-Free Medical EducationA Tool for Health Care Workforce Diversity," looks at Weill Cornell Medicine's commitment to making medical education debt-free, which started in 2019, and the early results that it has produced.

To understand the impact of this program on the incoming Class 2024, Weill Cornell compared medical student applicants and matriculants in 2020 with those from the 4 previous years (2016-2019). In 2020the first full admissions cycle in which the program was in placeWeill Cornell Medical College's applications rose 11%. "Among matriculating students we observed statistically significant increases in the percentage of students from groups underrepresented in medicine (from 20% to 29%)," wrote the authors, YoonKang,MD, and Said A.Ibrahim,MD, MPH, both of Weill Cornell Medicine.That equates to a 45% increase.

The state of debt

Cornell's program is being funded with an initial $160 million endowment. The article points out that additional funding will be necessary to keep the program intact in perpetuity.

The program's aim of eliminating medical student-loan burden is ambitious. Three out of four 2019 medical school graduates had debt, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges cited in the article. The median education-related debtincluding application fees, fees for testing and test preparation, and expenses for professional attire and travel to medical school and residency interviewswas $200,000, and those numbers were more daunting for certain underrepresented groups, with the article noting that "not only did a higher proportion of Black students graduate with debt (91% of Black students vs. 73% of all students), but the median debt was higher ($230,000 for Black students vs. $200,000 for all students)."

Learn how a record-setting gift may help tomorrow's Black physicians.

Addressing debt, physician representation

Cornell's program aims to offer all attendees a debt-free education. Although many schools have offered full tuition scholarships to under-represented students, Cornell's debt-free program goes a step further to include costs of attendancetuition and living expenses, such as housing and health insurance. A survey of students entering the medical school indicated that they were aware of the program and counted it as a factor in their decision to apply.

About three-quarters of incoming students in Cornell's most recent class qualified for the debt-free program, which is based on financial need. The authors offered the early returns on the program as, at the very least, anecdotal evidence that debt-free medical education can help meet the needs of the patient population.

"Our preliminary observations indicate that the implementation of a debt-free medical education program for students with proven financial need might offer yet another potential approach to help to diversify medical school enrollment," the authors wrote. "This is an essential step in addressing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in health care."

The article's lead author said that decreasing the debt burden is a first step in expanding the diversity of the physician body.

"Effective diversification of the physician workforce requires a "long-lens" approach," said Dr. Kang, Cornell's senior associate dean for education. "We need increased focus on the early stages of the pipeline into medical school and increased diversification of the applicant pool."

Find out why this Black medical resident, a grandfather, worked many years as mechanic.

Making physician diversity a priority

The AMA is looking to address physician diversity on several fronts. The AMA Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium has worked with Morehouse and other member medical schools to share strategies for enhancing recruitment, fostering viable pathways into medicine, promoting holistic admissions processes and creating inclusive learning environments. The ultimate goal is to generate a physician workforce that more closely resembles that of the nation.

The group has shared a process ofinstitutional diversity and inclusion self-studyand issued a statement toprotect diverselearners during educational disruptions related to COVID-19.

TheAMA Doctors Back to School program, meanwhile, introduces children to professional role models and shows kids of all ages from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups that a career in medicine is attainable for everyone. Learn more about the AMA Minority Affairs Section, which gives voice to and advocates on issues that affect minority physicians and medical students.

Launched last year, theAMA Center for Health Equityhas a mandate to embed health equity across the organization so that health equity becomes part of the practice, process, action, innovation and organizational performance and outcomes.

Read the original:
How this New York medical school boosted diversity by 45% - American Medical Association

Lobe Sciences Ltd. is pleased to announce the launch of preclinical research studies using psilocybin and N-Acetylcysteine for the treatment of mild traumatic brain injuryconcussion with post-traumatic stress disorder . The study is in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of scientists and physicians at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine under the lead of Michael E. Hoffer, M.D., professor of

Lobe Sciences Ltd. (CSE: LOBE) (OTC Pink: GTSIF) (Lobe or the Company) is pleased to announce the launch of preclinical research studies using psilocybin and N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) for the treatment of mild traumatic brain injuryconcussion (mTBI) with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study is in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of scientists and physicians at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine under the lead of Michael E. Hoffer, M.D., professor of otolaryngology and neurological surgery.

NAC has been shown to be safe and efficacious in a phase I human clinical study in treating military personnel who had suffered mTBI. The initial research focus is to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the combination of psilocybin and NAC using broadly accepted rodent models. Final results are expected in 2021. Once this is established, more specific work can examine dose response, medicine uptake, and medicine levels. The research team at the Miller School of Medicine has conducted prior studies involving NAC with mTBI and has a license from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to conduct research using Schedule I controlled substances, which includes psilocybin.

The Miller School of Medicine is an internationally recognized leader in medical research, ranked No. 39 among the top medical schools in the nation by Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. In 2019, the medical school submitted 1,968 research proposals and was awarded $149 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Advances in neuro-diagnostic assessment have revealed mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) is more common than previously thought and potentially associated with a host of negative health outcomes. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there are 3 million emergency room visits and over 230,000 hospitalizations due to TBI in any given year in the United States alone. Also, at the same time there are 5.3 million Americans living with the effects of mTBI (a 53% increase over ten years ago). The World Health Organization calls traumatic brain injury a silent epidemic that affects over 70 million individuals across the world. The United States Department of Defense estimates that over 345,000 individuals are affected by mTBI and that 20% of all service members who deploy suffer mTBI. mTBI and PTSD are significant health care issues that often co-occur and impact each other.

Dr. Hoffer, the principal investigator on the study, said, This a very important extension of our work with NAC and other medicines to identify new treatments for mTBI and PTSD. We are hopeful that this new combination of psilocybin with NAC will lead us to better solutions for those suffering from mTBI and/or PTSD.

Maghsoud Dariani, Chief Science Officer of Lobe said, We are very excited to begin the preclinical studies in collaboration with Dr. Hoffer and his team at the University of Miami. They have made significant in-roads studying psychedelic medicine specifically as it relates to mTBI and PTSD. NAC has been shown as the only compound that has adequate pre-clinical studies to validate use and, to date, remains the only compound that has successfully completed a phase 1 equivalent trial in a population of individuals who had acute mTBI. Given there are currently no proven effective medical treatments for the treatment of mTBI and PTSD, we feel this is an important study that can lead to human clinical trials and eventually therapeutics to make a positive impact in the physical and mental wellbeing of millions of people.

About Lobe Sciences Ltd.

Lobe Sciences is a life sciences company focused on psychedelic medicines. Lobe conducts drug research and development using psychedelic compounds as well as development of innovative delivery mechanisms to improve mental health and wellness.

For further information please contact:

Lobe Sciences Ltd.Thomas Baird, CEOinfo@lobesciences.comTel: (949) 505-5623

THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Disclaimer for Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as will, may, should, anticipate, expects and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company, the Companys expectations surrounding its development of treatments and/or therapeutics for mTBI and PTSD, goals and results of the preclinical research studies with the Miller School of Medicine and future expectations surrounding additional studies, research and development using NAC and psilocybin, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys expectations are risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of the forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including changes to the regulatory environment; and that the current Board and management may not be able to attain the Companys corporate goals and objectives. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and the Company does not intend to update any of the included forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable Canadian securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/69106

Go here to see the original:
Lobe Sciences Announces Launch of Preclinical Study in Collaboration with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine - Investing News Network

Orthopedic physician Dr. Randon Hall brought along a few case studies for his NERD Hours talk.

By Lana Sweeten-ShultsGCU News Bureau

Its 7 p.m. on a Thursday and instead of binging Netflix, a smattering of Grand Canyon University health care students are scattered in a socially distanced way in the Technology Building anatomy lab, seated at long lab tables and visible to Dr. Randon Hall on a Zoom call.

Pre-med junior Alyssa Deyo created NERD Hours.

Other students are remotely attending Halls talk, the latest in the NERD Hours series created by junior biology/pre-med student Alyssa Deyo. She has connected with such groups as GCUs chapter of HOSA Future Health Professionals, mentored by Dr. Mark Wireman, and the Master Anatomy Program, mentored by Michael Bodeen, to reach as many pre-health students as possible.

Hall, an orthopedic physician at Phoenix Childrens Hospital, doesnt waste any time launching into his guess-the-bone-break-and-suggest-a-treatment portion of his talk.

He shares his screen and an X-ray of a young patient who was thrown off a mechanical bull and fractured his wrist.

What kind of injury is this? he asks the students while presenting this particular case study.

After a flurry of answers via the comment section of Zoom, he bobs his head in agreement: Yes, a distal radius fracture.

A lot of people say this has to be fixed, said Hall. But it doesnt have to be. In young patients, you can leave this like this. As long as we can straighten it up a little bit, they should do OK.

Then Hall opened the door to something personal.

Hall also spoke about his residency experiences and work-life balance.

This was one of the cases I saw early on in my career, when I started working, and I was losing sleep all over it. I was worried the kids arm was going to be crooked and terrible and just needed to be fixed, and so I called one of my older colleagues and they said, Trust me, dude, itll be fine.

About six months later, You could not tell the kid had any issue at all.

Its the kind of insight Deyo looks for from NERD Hours, which stands for Networking, Educational, Resources Done Online. The virtual series for pre-health students came about as a way for them to continue to connect with mentors and get real-life experiences, even during the pandemic.

I know for myself and for others, the pandemic really hurt some of our hours for shadowing and for clinicals for pre-med, Deyo said.

Pre-med students, pre-physician assistants, pre-physical therapy students and the like wanting to enter the health care field normally learn by shadowing a physician or landing an internship at a health care facility.

Deyo spent time last summer wondering how students would be able totalk to those key medical personnel anytime soon. Then I thought to myself, you know, Im a pretty smart girl. I can get some connections really quick.

Self-starter that she is, she did.

She knew Hall from her high school, where he was the team physician and she assisted the athletic trainer. She also was one of Halls patients.

Orthopedics is definitely one of those top-tier specialties, she said. To get to talk to them (physicians) about their lifestyle, their day-to-life balance stuff like that its crucial for us so we can also understand, before we get to medical school, and start to weigh these decisions.

Not that Deyo seeks only physicians in those top-tier specialties.

GCU alumnus Thomas Varkey spoke to students about what its like being a med school student.

Medical students and GCU alumni Thomas Varkey, Zack Merhavy, Colton Zeitler and Cheney Huls all have spoken at NERD Hours about the application process.

Even myself, when I first came to college, I was like, Oh, THIS is how much medical school costs, THESE are the different specialties. I didnt know the whole extent of it. I wanted graduate students to sit down with us and tell us the reality, tell us the pricing, tell us what theyre learning.

Varkey, adjunct faculty in the Colangelo College of Business and a third-year medical student at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, said it was a blast for him to get to speak to GCU students who are about to embark on the journey hes currently taking.

I was so glad to have been given the chance to provide practical advice I wish I had been given as an undergraduate.

Assistant Dean of Science Dr. Jon Valla spoke about letters of recommendation.

Another speaker, Dr. Jon Valla, Assistant Dean of Science in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, spoke to the students about the letters of recommendation process and how students should go about developing the relationships they need for strong faculty recommendations for graduate school.

Valla said Deyo approached him in August about coming up with a way to help students replace their experiential hours, or those real-life experience and observation hours, that are harder to find because of the pandemic.

While there essentially is no replacement for true experiential time, Valla said, Alyssas plan to bring in alumni and practitioners provides an invaluable service to our pre-health students. Its to her credit that she has been able to routinely bring in speakers with a valuable perspective and have them share with her classmates.

It also helps keep our famous GCU community alive, as well, giving students good cause to safely gather, learn some great information and be able to have casual but meaningful conversations with peers and future colleagues.

Hall agreed.

It is inspiring to see students take the initiative like this because they could have easily just used the current situation as an excuse to do less, he said. I love the passion for learning, for getting better, for gaining experience. That is the characteristic you want to see in someone pursuing medicine.

Another goal of NERD Hours is for students to network with professionals in the fields they want to enter.

Deyo said another goal of the series is to help students network, so we get our foot in the door, at least, so that we have them (physicians, medical students and other speakers) as a connection.

Ultimately, she wants to find health care professionals for NERD Hours who love what they do and can share that with her and her classmates.

I want to find physicians who are passionate, she said. If Im reading articles about someone and they seem passionate about what theyre doing, Im definitely reaching out to them.

One of the fun parts of NERD Hours, Deyo added, is hearing speakers just talk, casually, about their work and nonwork lives.

Hall spoke about how you might not want to be a surgeon if you dont want phone calls at 2 a.m. Instead, you might want to become an orthopedic physician, like him. His work hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. four days a week with one half day, along with working as a team physician for various high schools.

Im never on call. I dont work any weekends, which is not the same for the surgeons, he said.

Students at his NERD Hours talk wondered how hard medical school and his residency were.

A lot of times I feel like people want to describe it in a way that It was torture. But it wasnt really torture, he said. Though it was hard hours, as a resident, he got paid, and he got help from his fellow medical school students, who all were trying to reach their goals. To me, it was more a community of like-minded people. We went to the gym, we had parties, we did all the fun stuff.

In a way, no worries.

Its that sense of camaraderie, in the end, that Deyo wants her fellow students to find in her NERD Hours series.

Just because were speaking through a screen, she said, doesnt mean we cant have a heart-to-heart.

Contact GCU senior writer Lana Sweeten-Shults at [emailprotected] or at 602-639-7901.

****

Related content:

GCU Today: Alumnus returns to help patients after COVID battle

GCU Today: GCU alumnas challenging med school journey

GCU Today: Pre-med students sharpen skills in mini-interviews

Read the original post:
Pre-med student has creative pandemic prescription - GCU Today

When Courtney Soliz was in a terrible car wreck in high school, she got an up-close look at the medical field. That experience inspired her to pursue a career in medicine to help others the same way doctors and nurses helped her.

Everyone, from doctors and nurses to my physical therapists, made it a personal goal to see me recover, Soliz said. They put in so much effort and pushed me to heal. They never let me fall, and it really showed me how being there for others is so important.

Soliz, who lives in Victoria, recently was named the Fall 2020 Outstanding Undergraduate Student for the University of Houston-Victoria School of Arts & Sciences. Kaila Sevilla of Houston was named the schools Outstanding Graduate Student.

Courtney and Kaila are two examples of the many incredible, intelligent students we have at UHV, said Beverly Tomek, interim dean of the UHV School of Arts & Sciences. They have put so much effort into earning their degrees, and I am proud to see them and all of our graduates move into the next phase of their lives.

Each semester, professors from UHVs three schools select outstanding graduates to be honored during commencement. UHV will hold two sets of commencement ceremonies for 2020 graduates after the spring ceremonies were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first three ceremonies will be Dec. 12 at the Leonard E. Merrell Center, 6301 S. Stadium Lane in Katy. The second set of ceremonies will be Jan. 9 at Faith Family Church, 2002 E. Mockingbird Lane in Victoria. Ceremonies at each location will be at 10 a.m. for UHV School of Arts & Sciences graduates, followed by School of Business Administration graduates at 1 p.m. and School of Education, Health Professions & Human Development graduates at 4 p.m. A livestream of the ceremonies will be available at http://www.uhv.edu/graduation.

Looking back at her life after the wreck, Soliz is amazed at how far shes come. When it happened, she was four months away from graduating from Victoria West High School. Instead, she had to homeschool the last part of high school while she was recovering.

After she received her diploma, she spent her freshman year at Victoria College in a wheelchair. In addition, some of the medications she was taking made it difficult to stay awake during the day. But through it all, she continued working toward her degree. Although she originally planned to transfer to the University of Texas at San Antonio, Soliz decided to go to UHV after she took a few classes while also enrolled at VC.

UHVs faculty members are wonderful because they push their students while also helping them understand and apply difficult concepts, she said. The biology faculty, especially Daniel White and Hashimul Ehsan, taught me how to study well and see how everything was connected. It was clear that their main goal is to help their students reach graduation and succeed.

When she transferred to UHV halfway through her sophomore year, Soliz began studying every morning on the third floor of the UHV University Center, where she became friends with Jesse Pisors, vice president for advancement and external relations. Pisors helped her make other connections on campus, and she eventually worked as a tutor for other students and even spoke during a UHV donor event.

At the end of the fall semester, Soliz will receive a Bachelor of Science in biology. After she graduates, she plans to take the Medical College Admission Test in March so she can apply to medical school. She wants to go into emergency medicine.

For Sevilla of Houston, UHV was the only school to which she applied because she wanted to study forensic psychology. However, the program was different than what she expected.

I had studied forensic science and psychology separately, so I was expecting some focus on criminology and looking at how and why someone commits crimes, Sevilla said. Instead, the program was more focused on mental health and how to offer treatment to people, which is something I want to do.

As part of her practicum, Sevilla worked at the Jester prison unit in Sugar Land. During her time there, she did interviews with inmates and took part in mental health examinations, checkups and checked how medication was affecting them. The overall goal was to ensure that prisoners adjusted to prison with few issues.

The experiences she had during her practicum were eye-opening and helped Sevilla set a goal for her future career. When she graduates at the end of the fall semester with a Master of Arts in forensic psychology, she plans to apply to doctoral programs in clinical psychology. Eventually, she hopes to work at a hospital, mental health clinic or prison.

Ill be happy as long as I can help underprivileged people move forward, she said. Ill be taking what I learned at UHV and my practicum experience with me as I pursue my doctorate, and Im looking forward to being able to help people who really need it.

Receiving the Outstanding Graduate Student award was a welcome surprise for Sevilla, and she is grateful for everyone who supported her through her studies, especially her classmate, Kathy Crumpler, and her practicum supervisor, Danielle Todaro, a UHV adjunct faculty member.

Soliz also is grateful to those who have supported her, including her classmate, Keir Walker; Sara Thurmond, a UHV Student Success coach and foster care liaison; her boyfriend, Alfred Garcia; and her family. She is one of four graduates in her family this semester. Her mother will be graduating from college, and two of her siblings will be graduating from high school and middle school.

Im so grateful to everyone who has supported me and to UHV, Soliz said. The environment at UHV is so welcoming, and I can tell that everyone wants to see the students succeed.

The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.

See the rest here:
UHV NewsWire - Outstanding students persevere to find ways to help others - NewsWire

MARTINSBURG Hoping to address the emotional and mental toll months of isolation and stress have had on the community at large, behavioral health leadership at West Virginia University Medicine East is hosting a Mini Med School program, Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic, to offer tools and advice toward weathering the storm in the coming winter months.

According to a release from the hospital system, WVU Medicine East and the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center Eastern Campus are sponsoring the virtual community program on mental well-being during a pandemic in hopes of helping curb some of the lesser-talked-about mental effects of the pandemic on both adults and children.

Co-leading the program with Michael Ang-Rabanes, assistant clinical professor and the medical director of psychiatry, Stephanie McGraw, training director for the doctoral internship program and assistant clinical professor through the school of medicine, said the pandemic has created a myriad of issues that are not as easily address with current restrictions.

What I know is that human beings, during times of stress and distress, never outgrow their need to turn to others. We are hard-wired for human connection, McGraw said. So now, we are confronted with a time where those innate evolutionary needs are also what puts us at risk for a life-threatening illness that really threatens our emotional health and well-being. The longer that we continue in this pandemic, individuals mental and emotional resources are being depleted, and that puts that them at an increased risk for developing psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation or completed suicides.

According to McGraw, the strategies behavioral health professionals would typically recommend to help individuals cope with kind of stress - like exercise, being outdoors and spending time with loved ones- are not readily available due to the pandemic.

So its important for us to think as a community and a people to best meet everyones physical, psychological and emotional (needs) to weather this storm. And thats what we hope to do in Tuesdays presentation, McGraw said.

According to McGraw, some symptoms behavioral health professionals have noticed in both children and adults as a result of COVID-19 have included people reporting not feeling like themselves; a sense of emptiness; feeling tearful; struggling with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness; further isolation; increased anxiety; increases in impulsive behavior; and an increase in irritability.

We are noticing that some of these symptoms have presented during our initial surge, but there were a lot of protective things going on that time. As COVID lingers and we gear up for winter, we are noticing that people are feeling more depleted, and that puts them at an increased vulnerability for feeling these symptoms and may lead them to respond in a number of ways, such as indulging in risky behaviors; some may choose to decide theyre over COVID and choose to engage in behaviors that puts them, their loved ones and community at increased risks; or some may begin isolating even more.

McGraw said it is their hope to cover not only the basics of self-care during this unprecedented time, such as sleep, diet, exercise and meditation recommendations, but to offer other sources of connection and care to help people withstand the seasonal depression and anxieties seen typically as the winter months kick in, on top of the COVID-19 stresses being experienced already.

The virtual mini-medical school program is being offered free to the public as a community service of WVU Medicine and the WVU Health Sciences Center and will be broadcasted via the WVU Medicine Easts Facebook page on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.

Closed caption will be offered for the hearing impaired.

Go here to see the original:
'Coping with COVID' Mini Med School to help address pandemic's unseen effects - Martinsburg Journal

Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday announced $298,317,492 has been awarded to Public School and College Authority (PSCA) projects to 20 entities around the state.

The Public School and College Authority was established with the intent on tackling long-standing school infrastructure projects or educational upgrades that have been delayed due to limited funding, Governor Ivey said. Im pleased to announce these 20 projects with the people of Alabama in full transparency. The announcement today marks a significant investment in the future of this state. Im grateful to the Alabama Legislature for the enabling legislation which established the PSCA and the astute work of State Finance Director Kelly Butler for positioning the bond sale in the best way possible.

During the 2019 State of the State, Governor Ivey announced her support of SB 242, the PSCA Bond Issue for public schools to use toward construction, safety improvement or technology upgrades. The PSCA is comprised of Governor Kay Ivey, State Finance Director Kelly Butler and Alabama Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey.

I am thrilled that the PSCA is able to provide these funds to worthwhile projects throughout the state, Director Butler said. I am grateful to the legislature for authorizing the sale and to Governor Ivey for her leadership in supporting this transaction. The successful sale is the result of outstanding work by the financing team, and I thank them for all of their efforts.

SB 242 authorized the PSCA to sell up to $1,250,000,000 in bonds and allocated money to every city and county K-12 school system and to higher education institutions. The money was divided with 73% going to K-12 schools and 27% going to two-and four-year colleges.

Because of very low interest rates, the bond sale resulted in the PSCA receiving over $300 million in premium revenues. The true interest cost of the bonds is 2.145% over the 20-year repayment period.

The PSCA projects funded from the premium revenue and announced today are as follows:

University of Alabama Huntsville

Huntsville Regional Lab and Morgue 11,000,000

HudsonAlpha

Expansion of Biotech Campus/designate Alabama the Discovery

Life Sciences Global Headquarters 15,000,000

Auburn University

New STEM & Agricultural Sciences Complex 50,000,000

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Genomic Medical & Data Sciences Building 50,000,000

Troy University

Center for Materials and Manufacturing 9,450,000

Alabama Center for Arts

Dorm 15,000,000

University of South Alabama

New Medical School Building 50,000,000

University of North Alabama

Computer Science & Mathematics Building 15,000,000

Alabama School of Deaf and Blind

North Alabama Campus 28,519,992

Alabama Aviation College

Phase 2 renovations of Barnett Building and upgrade the hanger floor 500,000

Lauderdale County

Workforce Development Center 8,000,000

Alabama Shakespeare Festival

Renovations & Repairs 5,000,000

Alabama School of Math & Science

Science Research Center 6,000,000

Outdoor Classrooms 235,000

AIDT

Toyota/Mazda 8,000,000

Jacksonville State University

Randy Owen Performance Center 15,000,000

The American Village

Central Independence Hall & Tower Classrooms and Experiences 5,000,000

Alabama A&M University

Library Roofing 907,500

Wilson Hall, Drake Hall, Carnegie Hall wood restoration project 605,000

University of Montevallo

Residence Halls HVAC/Roof Repair 1,000,000

University of West Alabama

Brock Hall 2ndFloor Renovation 2,600,000

Alabama State University

Friendship Manor 1,500,000

Total298,317,492

Continue reading here:
Governor Ivey Awards Nearly $300 Million to 20 High Schools and College Across Alabama - Alabama News Network

The statistics you frequently hear on TV during medical stories dont necessarily come from the physician being interviewed. Often, they come from a crucial, but unsung, biostatistician.

These individuals often play a key role in designing studies and makesure they adhere to proper medical/scientific guidelines. Biostatisticians generally arent recognized in popular media for the studies to which they may have made important contributions. Its tough to explain in a one-minute story just what biostatisticians did, say, for a study showing a drug has treatment efficacy for 30 percent of people with diabetes.

A clinician using the new drug with patients is front and center for an interview with a reporter. Biostatisticians remain behind the scenes. To use a sports analogy, theyre best known for helping plan game strategy, rather than playing the game. Many medical experts refer to biostatistics as the science of obtaining, analyzing, and interpreting data in order to understand and improve human health. That information is at the heart of those study conclusions.

According to Dr. Kavita Batra, a new biostatistician at the UNLV School of Medicine, biostatisticians notonly can assist in designing studies;they review the data, perform quality assurance to statistical methods and outputs, and help interpret results of analyses to relay meaningful information to inform public health policies. Academic medicine, she notes, is evidence-based.

When Batra explains what she can bring to collaborations at the medical school, her scientific voice is evident: I bring my analytic, problem-solving, and communication skills to the School of Medicine. I perform advanced quantitative analysis modeling, bootstrap, meta-analysis etc. and have a firm grasp over the survey-based research. With my dental background [Batra is a former dental surgeon], I have a complete understanding of medical terminologies, which I get to apply and integrate with my statistical expertise to various areas across the school of medicine.

Dr. Deborah Kuhls, the interim assistant dean for research at the medical school, said that in hiring Batra the school found someone who has a skill set for academic medicine that is multidisciplinary. She can work as a key member of interdisciplinary research teams that include physician-scientists, residents, fellows, and medical students. Helping develop funding applications and contributing to proposal and budget development are also key parts of the job.

Batra, a native of India, received her Ph.D. in public health from UNLV in May. She focused on maternal and child health, assessing the health and financial burden of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Four years earlier, she earned her masters degree in public health at UNLV, writing a master's thesis analyzing the effectiveness of the national diabetes prevention program in reducing weight and promoting physical activity among adult Nevadans.

Cant isnt a word used much by Batra. Her personal story is a large reason for that.

Having had polio has made me stronger, said Batra, who now is matter-of-fact about the disease she contracted at the age of 6 months. Itparalyzed her lower right side, and it took five operations between the ages of 2 and 22 for her to walk well on her own. She says as a young girl she fell in love with numbers because she used to count the days she had to remain in a full-body cast after an operation.

Often it wasnt the physical problems that caused her the most distress as a young girl. Schools in India, believing her physical problems would translate into teachers having to spend time with her that didnt involve academia, wouldnt admit her. I was homeschooled by my mother. I missed being in school like other kids, she recalled.

Finally, when she passed all of a schools entrance exams, a school admitted her. My intellectual ability overcame my physical disability. She ended up skipping several grades, quickly catching up with her age group.

Emotionally, she said, her disability was difficult. When other kids were on the playground, she sat on a bench and wished she was there. People gave her strange looks when she moved. People imitated her gait. Sometimes I cried, but I was disciplined with my studies. If I couldn't be ahead with walking, Id be ahead with learning. Other students, often older, began to respect her because she could help them with their studies. Bullying ended.

As a 7-year-old,Batra began askingher parents questions that ultimately resulted in her going into medicine. I constantly asked, Why did this happen to me? Why am I different? The more I talked with them, I wanted to help people through medicine.

She initially wanted to go to medical school but decided against it because she didnt think she could move fast enough in an emergency. Instead, she went to one of Indias most prestigious dental schools. Dentists, she noted, are often the first health care professionals to recognize and identify various diseases, ranging from hypertension to oral cancer.

For five years she practiced dentistry. Then she became a public health officer, working heavily with statistics. I liked working to prevent diseases like polio, she said. I found it challenging and exciting to combine biology, statistics, and social science to address a health problem.

At the age of 30, she moved to the U.S. with her husband. The couple he works for Caesars now has an 8-year-old daughter. In addition to her studies at UNLV, she also has worked as a research coordinator and data analyst for Nevada Orthopedic & Spine Center and as an adjunct faculty member for UNLV, the Arizona College School of Nursing, the College of Southern Nevada, and Southern New Hampshire University (online).

Batra is excited about the statistical research shell be doing with the UNLV School of Medicine. I will be providing statistical consultation for research being conducted by faculty, residents, staff, and students. I will be providing support in empowering researchers in the study planning, developing the statistical models, power estimation, and interpreting results. I think the exciting piece is about the thrill of discovery, learning, and challenging your assumptions. One of the great things about statistics is that each investigation is new and unique, involves new data and hypotheses to explore, and new conclusions to be reached.

Original post:
Medical School Research Growing With Addition of Biostatistician - UNLV NewsCenter

Universities need to rethink their approach to healthcare education to get more students in the door and fill the opportunity gap in medical jobs.

No industry has been spared massive disruption from the coronavirus pandemic and resulting rapid digitalization. But for both higher education and healthcare, disruption had already been a way of lifejust on a more gradual scale. The pandemic has further driven down college enrollment numbers that were already on a decade-long decline, leaving many institutions in unprecedented financial distress. Meanwhile, healthcare providers are being pushed to simultaneously deliver higher quality care at a lower cost.

Shiv Gaglani, Osmosis.org

For university leaders, medical education presents an ideal opportunity to address current gaps in enrollment, while also positioning the institution to meet future demands. Not only are we experiencing greater demand for healthcare workers (indeed, six of the fastest 10 growing professions in the U.S. are in healthcare), but the growth of emerging fields like advanced technology, population health, and care coordination means traditional medical schools are not adequately equipped to address current needs.

Expanding healthcare education certificate and degree programs enables universities to get more students in the door today while positioning them for long-term stability through massive transformation. But it involves rethinking the traditional approach.

Since 2002, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has reported a 31% growth in enrollment at medical schools. Its no wonderhealthcare is where graduates will find jobs today and tomorrow. The U.S. population is growing older and sicker, with comorbidities like heart disease and diabetes on the rise. At the same time, 33% of working nurses will reach retirement age in the next 8 years. And though the nursing shortage is the most egregious, by 2030, we can expect to see a worldwide shortage of 15 million healthcare workers as the demand for jobs across health systems will likely double.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare jobs are expected to grow at a faster pace than any other industryup 14% from 2018 to 2028. These jobs appeal to a diverse population of students, too, offering a variety of entry points, educational requirements and salary expectations. A surgical technician could meet job qualifications in a shorter period of time and still expect to earn $48,000 while a nurse pursuing a RN degree will enter a labor market with a median salary of $73,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

But traditional higher education is simply not equipped to handle the surge of people pursuing degrees in healthcare. Over the last ten years, the number of people applying to medical school has increased by 25%, but there are not enough openings at medical schools to accommodate them. Todays social distancing guidelines in classrooms and residency programs add further strain.

So how can universities adapt to address this opportune gap?

Closing the gap in high-quality medical education is not as simple as launching new degree programs. Just as there are shortages of healthcare workers and medical education spots to train applicants, there are also not enough instructors to meet the demand. And with expansive real estate footprints becoming burdensome when competing with hybrid and online campuses, universities must get creative to maximize their human and real estate capital. The key is to integrate traditional and digital learning techniques.

Digital tools like educational videos and experiential recordings can supplement an instructors knowledge as well as spotlight the latest advancesno matter where they occur. Additionally, as emerging fields grow in popularity, supplemental digital tools provide universities with greater flexibility to apply content to various specialties and learning paths. And considering the speed of technological advancements, relying solely on traditional in-person instruction sets students and institutions behind.

Given that not all healthcare education can be done virtually, its important that there be physical spaces where trainees can meet standardized patients as well as practice on simulated cases and mannequins. As traditional college buildings empty, many of these spaces can be repurposed to provide healthcare training and potentially even basic healthcare to the communities they serve.

Digital content also gives students greater control over their education, enabling them to more extensively pursue topics that interest them the most. Plus, as more people pursue their education while working, for example, a registered nurse studying to become a nurse practitioner, the demand for flexibility in content delivery will only increase.

On-demand content delivery is here to stay and the need for additional medical education will only continue to grow. Combining these two trends presents an ideal opportunity for universities seeking new ways to increase enrollment and strengthen their foundation for the future.

Shiv Gaglani is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Osmosis.org, a health education platform with an audience of current and future clinicians as well as their patients and family members. Gaglanis primary passion is developing innovative and scalable solutions in the fields of healthcare and education. To this end he curated the Smartphone Physical, which debuted at TEDMED, and the Patient Promise, a movement to improve clinician-patient relationship through partnership in pursuing healthy lifestyle behaviors.

More here:
Higher ed's response to growing demands for medical education | - University Business

DAnthony FauciAnthony FauciOvernight Health Care: COVID-19 cases rising in every state | Wisconsin health official warns state nearing 'tipping point' | Fauci predicts data from Moderna vaccine within a week Fauci reacts to Bannon: 'That's not the kind of thing you think about' at medical school Fauci predicts data from Moderna COVID-19 vaccine within a week MORE, the nation's top infectious diseases specialist, said formerTrump adviser Stephen Bannon calling for his beheading isnot the kind of thing you think about when you're going through medical school.

Bannoncaused outragelast week when he said that he wanted to put Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wrays heads on pikes.

Fauci was asked on the Australian TV news program "The 7:30 Report" what it was like managing a pandemic and dealing with Donald Trump at the same time.

Well, it's obviously been very stressful, Fauci responded in an interview published Wednesday. To deny that would be to deny reality, when you have public figures like Bannon calling for your beheading, that's really kind of unusual, I think. That's not the kind of thing you think about when you're going through medical school to be a physician. But I've gotten through it by really focusing like a laser beam on exactly what my goal is.

President TrumpDonald John TrumpState Department won't give Biden messages from foreign leaders: report Arizona's GOP AG says people voted Republican, but not for Trump On The Money: Biden wins America's economic engines | Progressives praise Biden's picks for economic transition team | Restaurants go seasonal with winter shutdowns during pandemic MORE himself has also suggested he might fire Fauci, who said he is trying to focus on developing vaccines and treatments and encouraging Americans to take public health precautions like wearing masks and maintaining distance from others.

If you focus on that and don't get distracted by all the other noise, then it's not as bad as you might think it is. It's when you start to focus on that other junk as I call it, it's noise. It's meaningless. People calling for you to be beheaded, fired, thrown in the fire pit or whatever, that's just noise, he said.

He also said lockdowns should be a last resort and instead is focused on getting more Americans to take precautions like wearing a mask.

Fauci indicated he has not been in touch with President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenBrewery launches new Biden beer described as 'inoffensive and not too bitter' Deb Haaland says 'of course' she would serve as Interior secretary under Biden State Department won't give Biden messages from foreign leaders: report MOREs transition team, as Trump has not conceded the race and his administration has not taken steps to begin the transition process, including on the coronavirus response.

Right now, the situation, as you well know, is a rather tense situation in the United States regarding transitions, so right now things are on hold for the time being, Fauci said.

Asked about the performance of the World Health Organization, which has come under fierce criticism from Trump, Fauci said in the future it should respond in a timely manner without any indication of worrying about political ramifications.

We need countries like China to allow other scientists and health officials to look around and see what's going on, he added. That would be helpful. They did not allow that in the beginning. They essentially did not allow travel to Wuhan. Thats not a good thing.

Here is the original post:
Fauci reacts to Bannon: 'That's not the kind of thing you think about' at medical school | TheHill - The Hill

Media Credit: Courtesy of Harrison Jones

GW's COVID-19 vaccine research team plans to have a working vaccine completed by the end of 2020, researchers said at a press conference.

Officials from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences said they project to have an efficacious COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the calendar year at a press conference Wednesday.

Medical school administrators said GW is being assessed to be part of another COVID-19 vaccine trial, run by the Coronavirus Prevention Network, the segment of the National Institutes for Health that is running the current trial SMHS is conducting. David Diemert, the principal investigator for the trials and a professor of medicine, said the trials volunteers should be commended for pushing the research teams work forward despite national concerns about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine once it is available.

I have to say that we are particularly grateful for our volunteers given all of the negative press that has been floating around regarding vaccines, and they are really taking a step to volunteer and to control whether or not there will be a vaccine moving forward, Diemert said.

He said the trial team keeps in touch with participants on a weekly basis through telehealth visits and electronic diaries. He said several of the trials participants have developed symptoms related to COVID-19, but just one participant has tested positive for the virus so far.

After their second dose of vaccine, which is four weeks after the first, we are going to be in contact with them monthly through either in-person visits or telehealth visits, Diemert said in an interview.

Half of the vaccine trials participants are Black or Latino, surpassing the researchers goal for diversity.

Barbara Lee Bass, the dean of the medical school, said the medical community is still unsure when a widespread vaccine will be available, but theyre hopeful that high-risk groups of people, like health care workers, will be able to receive the vaccine by early 2021. She said Mayor Muriel Bowsers office has started a task force, on which an SMHS faculty member serves, to create a plan for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available.

I think that most people in this business think its probably going to be some time 2022 before we have widespread vaccination available, she said. Thats kind of what Im hearing, not necessarily based on inside knowledge by any means.

Moncef Slaoui, the chief adviser for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 vaccine development initiative Operation Warp Speed, said he is grateful to the people who have participated in the trial so far.

I really warmly thank the volunteers, the two who are with us today, but also the almost 30,000 who have participated in this particular trial of the Moderna vaccine, he said.

Slaoui said he encourages community members to participate in the trials.

There are six vaccines being tested, two of which are almost fully completed, he said. Two more are trying to restart imminently, most likely later this week, next week, and there will be two more late in December and early December.

Wilma Capriles, a housekeeper from D.C. and a participant in the study, said she wanted to participate in the trial to help a vaccine be widely available.

I recommend it to everybody, she said. I think it is safe. I think its good for everybody, especially for Latino people.

Stay up to date on GW, D.C. news related to the virus. READ MORE

This article appeared in the October 26, 2020 issue of the Hatchet.

Read the original here:
SMHS researchers expect effective COVID-19 vaccine by end of 2020 - GW Hatchet

In an August column in STAT News, Megan Mahoney, MD, Stanford Health Care's chief of staff, wrote, "In medical school, I was diligently trained to report to my attending physicians the age, race, and gender of my patients -- in that order."

She wondered how a doctor would describe her, a biracial woman, and what the medical consequences might be for her.

For a 1:2:1 podcast, I spoke with Mahoney, a family medicine clinician, about her background; about race and how it plays out in clinical settings; and about what needs to change to overcome systemic racial inequities in the nation's health care system.

This Q&A is edited and condensed from that conversation.

You wrote in your column: "It's time to stop using skin color and race in medicine and see patients for who they really are." It came out of your experience as a biracial woman. Tell me about your parents.

My father was born to Irish-American parents. After graduating from prep school and the U.S. Naval Academy, he married, but he lost his wife to meningitis. He decided to go into the priesthood. As a priest, he began working in Memphis and became very active in the civil rights movement.

My mother was born in Memphis -- the Jim Crow South -- as one of 13 children. Sometimes all the family had to eat were peaches from the trees in their backyard.

She received a full scholarship to a small Catholic college in Kansas. She returned to Memphis after college to teach at a high school. She also was treasurer at the Catholic parish church where my father served, which is how they met.

My mother received a PhD in mathematics, and later was one of the first African-American women in the United States to become a university president. She served as president of Lincoln University of Missouri for seven years.

My father was by her side throughout her career. It was quite a love story.

When were you first aware of being biracial?

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio. I was in kindergarten, the very first day of school, on the playground with a group of kids. They looked at me quizzically, trying to size me up, and asked, "So, what are you?" I had no idea what they were referring to.

Later, at the dinner table, I asked my parents, "There's this question I'm not really sure how to answer." They told me to go back the next day. If I was asked again, I should respond, "I'm mixed." I felt very prepared. I went back and was asked again, "What are you?" I responded, "I'm mixed up."

As you moved through life, college and medical school, how did being a biracial woman impact you?

For most of my adult life, I was categorized as "other." On applications for various schools, I've had to be limited in how I describe my racial background. They'd ask, White, African American, Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic, but there often was not a box that gave me an opportunity to write in, "White and Black."

When I was in high school, my counselors were pushing me towards Ivy League colleges, but I selected a school -- UC Berkeley -- because of its racial diversity.

For the first time, I could experience being surrounded by people of all different backgrounds. I can just share with you that that sense of belonging was truly cherished. For once, I didn't have to be asked, "Where are you really from?" It didn't matter.

In your opinion piece for STAT news, you write that it's time for medicine to look beyond race as a determinant factor and see people as individuals.

The practice of medicine has not truly accounted for mixed-race individuals and lacks the precision to recognize our whole, inclusive identities. A lot of it is based in our history in medicine.

Fortunately, there is now a greater appreciation that race is a social concept, rather than a genetically bounded category, thanks to the genomic revolution. We know now that we, as a species, share 99.9% of our DNA with each other, and that our traits that are typically associated with race are not linked genetically to health-related genes.

There is a greater appreciation for the role of environmental, social and behavioral factors, their influence on health outcomes, and how they probably determine over 70% of what determines health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That exceeds the contribution made by genetics and even medical treatment.

Black Americans have higher rates of morbidity and mortality for COVID-19. Systemic inequities also bear out for Latinos and Indigenous Americans. Are racial inequities baked into the health care system?

Sadly, racism and bias are baked into most, if not all, of our institutions. We need to identify where they exist and then address and change them. I'm committed to that.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that one in five Black Americans say they've experienced discrimination while seeking health care in a clinic.

That's a stark statistic, and it likely does reflect the experiences of Black Americans. I think that we as physicians are morally obligated to practice cultural humility -- the fact that we all carry unconscious biases. We all do. We have to become aware of that and approach it with a certain level of humble inquiry, questioning ourselves in how we're practicing medicine.

How do the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others, and the data you're talking about, meet this particular moment? Are we at an inflection point?

I think so. There is a greater interest in raising our collective awareness around these issues. I've also noticed that there is a concerted effort behind wanting to make curricular changes in medical school, so we are understanding how race and racism impacts health and health outcomes.

I'm seeing changes I've never witnessed before, happening throughout our institutions.It's really an important time.

Top image of Megan Mahoney, MD, with a patient by Steve Fisch. Family photos courtesy of Mahoney.

See original here:
Biracial Stanford physician: We must look beyond race in medicine - Scope

The Global Medical Education Market report is designed to serve as a ready-to-use guide for developing accurate pandemic management programs allowing market players to successfully emerge from the crisis and retrack voluminous gains and profits. This in-depth research report presentation on global Medical Education market offers decisive market intelligence across multi-tier levels comprising regional, industry level, followed by further supply chain landscape.

Request a sample of Medical Education Market report @ https://www.orbismarketreports.com/sample-request/146461?utm_source=Maia

This versatile research report presentation on global Medical Education market through its market demonstration efforts further presents insightful detailing about both qualitative and quantitative valuation of the global Medical Education market, incorporating details about competition developments and strides, vendor positioning as well as future-ready monetary policy making to ensure steady growth and sustainability of the players. All the profiled vendors have been assessed to comprehend growth favoring investments.

Key Manufacturers Analysis:

GE Healthcare InstituteTACT Academy for Clinical TrainingJohns Hopkins School of MedicineCAE HealthcareHarvard Medical SchoolSiemens HealthineersApollo HospitalsHealthcare Training Institute, New JerseyStanford University School of MedicineOlympus AmericaAmerican College of RadiologyZimmer Biomet InstituteGundersen Health System

Predicting Growth Scope: Global Medical Education Market

Unbiased research initiatives offer relevant cues on the impressive market recovery from sudden pandemic crisis that substantially laid a temporary dent in the global Medical Education market. Proceeding further, this extensive research compilation suggests that the CAGR percentage is anticipated to be on an optimistic prognosis, reflecting impressive revenue generation outcome through the forecast span. Echoing lucrative growth outcome of the historical timeline, future growth possibilities are also likely to remain robust in foreseeable future.

This detailed and versatile report synopsis on global Medical Education market has been prepared by thorough research studies and presents data in the following categories:

1. Market size estimation at global and regional levels.

2. Dominant and popular trends.

3. A thorough analysis based on geographical expanse to identify top growth hotspots.

Browse the complete report @ https://www.orbismarketreports.com/global-medical-education-market-size-share-growth-analysis-and-forecast-outlook-by-2027?utm_source=Maia

Segment-wise Assessment:

The subsequent sections of the report on global Medical Education market is poised to offer report readers with versatile and real time data pertaining to the potential of various segments across Medical Education market to empower high end growth and sustenance.

Medical Education market Segmentation by Type:

On-campusDistanceOnline

Medical Education market Segmentation by Application:

Cardiothoracic TrainingNeurology TrainingOrthopedic TrainingOral and Maxillofacial TrainingPediatric TrainingRadiology TrainingLaboratoryOthers

This section of the report allows readers to clearly identify the segment which is anticipated to ensure highest returns, thus encouraging investors to make logical business decisions. Further in the Medical Education market report, readers are also equipped with assorted knowledge spots pertaining to product and service oriented developments besides evaluating their applicability across sectors and geographies.

At the end of the report readers are expected to understand the following:

1. The Medical Education market report follows a systematic top-down analytical review to highlight note-worthy developments and lucrative business tactics that set the growth track effectively, complying with future ready business returns.

2. The Medical Education market report is positioned to harness a clear perspective highlighting both value based and volume based market size estimations to encourage profit driven business decisions.

3. Segment-based analytics with vivid descriptions of pandemic management and pre-post COVID-19 implications.

4. Volatility of market dynamics has also been addressed in the Medical Education market report to leverage appropriate business decisions aligning with current market perspectives.

Regional Segmentation:

Analysis comprising both country-level as well as regional details have been broadly discussed to tap developments across consumer behavior, top stimulants as well as notable barriers that also tend to mold growth prognosis in global Medical Education market. Some of the major regional areas included in the report comprise North and South Americas, APAC, Europe and MEA.

Make an enquiry of this report @ https://www.orbismarketreports.com/enquiry-before-buying/146461?utm_source=Maia

ABOUT US:

With unfailing market gauging skills, Orbis Market Reports has been excelling in curating tailored business intelligence data across industry verticals. Constantly thriving to expand our skill development, our strength lies in dedicated intellectuals with dynamic problem solving intent, ever willing to mold boundaries to scale heights in market interpretation. We are equally backed by an elongated list of success stories and case studies that vouch for our extraordinary market research skills and milestones. Orbis Market Reports is a one-stop-solution to all market queries.

CONTACT US:

Address :- 6200 Savoy Drive,Suite 630 Houston, TX 77036Phone :- +1 210-667-2421Mail us: [emailprotected]

Continued here:
Global Medical Education Market Expected to Reach highest CAGR by 2027: GE Healthcare Institute, TACT Academy for Clinical Training, Johns Hopkins...

Applying to schools can be a daunting process, particularly at the graduate level. As with many things COVID-19 has impacted, the application process to graduate schools is evolving under the circumstances.

At Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, interviews with applicants are now being done using video, according to Gillian Anzivino, director of admissions.

While we miss seeing candidates in person, most people are now comfortable with video interactions, she wrote in an email to the Daily. Some applicants and interviewees have enjoyed the new flexibility.

As part of the dental school application, applicants are now asked to share how they have been impacted by COVID-19. Robert Kasberg, associate dean of admissions and student affairs, has noticed a decrease in some applicants volunteer and community service hours due to the pandemic.

Candidates will have to demonstrate their ability to communicate compassionately, he wrote in an email to the Daily.

Since COVID-19 has limited the availability of hands-on experiences, Kasberg detailed how dental school applicants have simulated fine motor skills by not only working in a dental lab, but also through jewelry-making or playing the piano or guitar.

During the pandemic, there might have been more time for applicants to practice some of those micro-motor skills, he noted.

The Tufts University School of Medicines interview process has also been altered this year. The school has created a fully remote interview day, which includes virtual interviews, live and pre-recorded talks for the applicants, a virtual tour, sessions led by current students, and a session for applicants who are underrepresented in medicine (URM), along with a session for those who identify with the LGBTQIA+ community, David Neumeyer, dean of admissions at the Tufts University School of Medicine, wrote in an email to the Daily.

One of the questions added to the application is how COVID-19 has affected the applicants experiences so far. The Medical College Admission Test is also being accepted through the fall as it may have been disrupted earlier in the year. While only some applicants have had a more challenging time finding meaningful work compared to past years, Neumeyer expects more to have difficulty in gaining hands-on experience in the next cycle of applications.

Gaining the experience in medicine is really not meant as much for us as an admissions committee, but rather for you as an applicant, so you can make sure that you are ready and understand as best as you can what it means to be a physician, Neumeyer said.

Anne Moore, program specialist in the Office of Scholar Development, spoke to how being flexible with the changing times is crucial to COVID-19-impacted circumstances. One of her key takeaways is to translate hard skills into experiences that demonstrate a students values.

If you want to go to [medical] school, ultimately whats that about is helping people. And you know what people need right now, is help. It comes back to how to manifest your values most clearly, Moore said. Even though you may not be gaining those skills in the same timeline that you initially anticipate.

In addition to application changes, the medical schools admissions staff has undergone counseling to adapt to the impact of COVID-19 on students applications.

We have trained and will re-train our admissions committee to try to best understand what an applicant has to go through to be ready to apply to medical school, Neumeyer said.

Its admissions staff has also conducted further training on diversity and inclusion in the universitys quest to become an anti-racist institution.

One of the trends multiple graduate schools have noticed is an increasing number of applications. Applications to the doctor of dental medicine program at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine are up 4% from this time last year, and applications to the schools postgraduate programs are up 27% from this time last year.

Aviva Must, dean of public health programs and professional degree programs, saw increased interest in the masters of public health program, both the on-campus and online formats, which she attributes to the awareness of the importance of public health.

We had an uptick in applicants and in enrolled students, despite our on-campus program being remote, she said.

As with many things with COVID, many of us have become more extreme versions of ourselves. So if students had any hesitations about whether or not to go to grad school, I think that hesitation has become exacerbated, Moore said. I think students who have seen grad school as a key or logical next step are more motivated to go.

According to a 2018 report from the U.S. Census Bureau, during the last recession, enrollment in higher education rose by nearly 3 million. While Moore stresses the importance of having a clear reason to go to graduate school, she acknowledged that going to graduate school during a bad economy is sometimes viewed as a way to gain credentials and enter the job market when the economy has rebounded. Applying to schools when plans have gone awry can be nerve-wracking, but Moore aims to advise students on adapting to the times, emphasizing that everyone is in the same boat.

With my students, I tell them: Look, youre stuck, and youre feeling how am I going to do this, go to grad school, but the rules are changing and they always will, Moore said. So look at your feet and look for the opportunities where you are, and try to make the world better in whatever that means to you.

On the graduate counseling side, Moore has been helping students frame their landscape. I think about the future in three-to-six month blocks of time, Moore said. The question she poses allows for ebbs and flows: Whats going to make the next season allow for a set of options that look appealing?

More:
Applying to a Tufts graduate school? Here's what to expect - Tufts Daily