A $2 million estate gift to the WVU School of Medicine will create a chair in pediatric nephrology position while further supporting WVU Medicine Childrens as a leader in world-class pediatric care. (WVU Photo)

A West Virginia University alumnas $2 million estate gift to the School of Medicine will enhance education for future physicians and strengthen renal care for Mountain State children.

The planned gift from Dr. Dianne G. Muchant, of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, establishes a namesake chair in pediatric nephrology. Muchant received her medical degree from WVU in 1986 and worked as a pediatric nephrologist for more than 25 years before her retirement.

Dr. Charles J. Mullett, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, said he appreciates Muchants generosity.

Dr. Muchant and I shared many memorable patients here early in my career and I recall those days fondly, Mullet said. This gift will help us plant the flag and solidify the base of support necessary to grow pediatric nephrology as a specialty in our state. Not only will the endowed faculty physician benefit, but so will the patients with kidney diseasesand also the next generation of medical students and pediatricians being taught. This gift will raise the profile of pediatric nephrology at WVU and will serve as a model for advancing care in our other specialties.

Muchant grew up in rural Deemston, Pennsylvania, where she was always interested in health care but questioned whether she was smart enough to become a doctor.

She first came to West Virginia as an undergraduate student at Alderson Broaddus University, where she earned her bachelors degree in medical science. She practiced as a physician assistant in West Virginia for six years before returning to school for her MD.

Muchant said WVU faculty members Dr. Martha Mullett and the late Dr. Bill Neal were instrumental in her career, inspiring her and guiding her even after she left the University. Neal was a pioneering pediatric cardiologist who led the Department of Pediatrics before serving as the founding medical director for what is now WVU Medicine Childrens. Martha Mullett is a retired neonatal medicine specialist who helped establish the neonatal intensive care unit at WVU Medicine Childrens and expand perinatal care services statewide to reduce infant mortality.

Bill Neal dedicated his life to improving care for children in West Virginia, and Martha Mullet inspired me with her pragmatic approach to care of children, Muchant said. Both of these people shaped how I practiced medicine.

Muchant completed her residency in internal medicine/pediatrics at WVU from 1986-1990 and went on to a fellowship in pediatric nephrology at the University of Virginia. She returned to West Virginia in 1993 and practiced as a pediatric nephrologist at WVU for about eight years, during which she was on call around the clock as the only such specialist at the time.

She later worked at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, and Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania.

Im hopeful that my gift will help to provide permanent funding for pediatric nephrology, Muchant said. If the department is financially stable, you are able to attract more people who want to practice in West Virginia and continue to provide outstanding care for the children of the state.

Muchant said she wanted to build upon her legacy where it was most meaningful to her.

My heart is in West Virginia, she said. Im hoping that, down the road, more endowed chair positions are generated in the Department of Pediatrics. Thats how the department really grows and gains a great national reputation.

Muchants gift was made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University, in conjunction with WVU Day of Giving. This years event, held March 20, raised a record $30.4million from more than 8,500 gifts.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Cassie Rice Senior Communications Specialist WVU Foundation 304-554-0217; crice@wvuf.org

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Medical students look to helping future doctors | Education | newspressnow.com - News-Press Now

The big question is, do pills expire? With a splitting headache, you reach into your medicine cabinet for some aspirin or ibuprofen only to find the stamped expiration date on the medicine bottle is more than a year out of date. So, does medicine expire? Do you take it or don't you? If you decide to take the medication, will it be a fatal mistake or will you simply continue to suffer from theheadache? And how long is a prescription good for?

This is a dilemma many people face in some way or another. A column published inPsychopharmacology Todayoffers some advice.

As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.

No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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Drug Expiration Dates Do They Mean Anything? - Harvard Health

The ability to train incoming healthcare workers to embrace and interrogate this new technology will better determine its influence and how it can be used in a positive way to promote health outcomes, says Dr. Aditee Narayan, associate dean for curricular affairs at Duke University School of Medicine.

It is important to tie education on AI to the reasons that folks went into medicine in the first place, she says.

For medical schools to be most effective in teaching future physicians about AI, they must support the clinical and research missions of the institution in the AI space, she adds.

What will work best is to see the ways that our institution is going to prioritize the use of AI in clinical operations and patient care, and then to align our curricular additions with those new initiatives, Narayan says.

LEARN MORE: Organizations can start preparing for the future of AI in healthcare now.

At the University of Texas at San Antonio, students can choose to take a break from the medical program to spend a year in an immersive experience in the AI field. They take foundational courses in AI and elective courses based on their specialty focus.

Physicians need a good understanding of the AI models being used in different clinical scenarios, says Dr. Dhireesha Kudithipudi, founding director of the universitys MATRIX AI Consortium and leader of the team that developed the AI courses for the unique doctor of medicine/Master of Science dual-degree program launched by the university last year.

Whether it is in anomaly detection, image processing or decision-making, students need an understanding of where the models are coming from and what types of AI models are being used in these scenarios, Kudithipudi says.

From her perspective, students must also understand how AI models are used to develop certain solutions.

Quite often, these AI models are not designed in an inclusive way, or they have some hidden biases in the models, she says. In those contexts, human intervention becomes important to mitigate the blind spots that AI has and avoid these biases being translated into actual impact.

UP NEXT:Discover how to pick the right AI solution for your healthcare organization.

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Medical Schools Train the Next Generation of Clinicians to Better Understand AI - HealthTech Magazine

California Health Sciences University has hit a significant milestone for its College of Osteopathic Medicine by receiving a coveted seven-year accreditation from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.

This achievement marks a pivotal moment in the Clovis universitys journey toward establishing a robust medical education program, CHSU officials said.

We are immensely proud to have earned this seven-year accreditation from COCA, which reflects the dedication and excellence of our medical school, said Dr. John Graneto, Dean of the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine. This recognition is a testament to the hard work of our faculty, staff, and students who have contributed to our success.

COCA, which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, is the accrediting body for colleges of osteopathic medicine nationwide.

Since its start in 2020, the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine has worked towards obtaining full accreditation. Its efforts are bolstered by state-of-the-art facilities.

Related Story: Clovis Medical School Students Celebrate First-Ever Match Day for ...

CHSU recently celebrated its inaugural cohort of medical students from the class of 2024. Notably, 100% of these students were successfully matched to residency specialty programs.

The residency match results: 100% match rate achieved 65% of residencies in Primary Care 34% of residencies in the Central Valley 65 medical students set to graduate in May

Looking ahead, CHSU medical students will complete their training by passing final board licensing exams and embarking on residency programs across hospitals, clinics, and health centers. These experiences will equip them with the skills and expertise to practice independently in their chosen specialties.

CHSU will celebrate the graduation of its inaugural class of 2024 medical students at the Save Mart Center on Sunday, May 19, 2024.

Disclosure: GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi is one of the founders of CHSU and a member of its board of trustees.

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Clovis Medical School Hits Huge Milestone: 7-Year Accreditation - GV Wire

Anti-Israel protesters recently disrupted a celebration at Harvard.

On March 15, more than 50 pro-Palestine demonstrators, including both students and staff members from the Harvard Medical School (HMS), came to the schools Match Day--when applicants learn of the [medical] residency programs in which they will train--in order to express their anger at the American Medical Associations (AMA) neutrality regarding the Israel-Hamas war, according to theBoston Globe.

AMA leader Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld was giving a speech for the occasion of Match Day on campus, theGlobe reported.

[RELATED: Anti-Semitic speaker doubles down on pro-Hamas comments during Harvard event]

The protesters held up signs with the messages Let Gaza Live! and AMA is complicit in genocide, placed red tape over their mouths to protest alleged censorship from the HMS, and demonstrated both before and during Ehrenfelds speech, theGlobe wrote.

As the Globe related, the AMA released an announcement following the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of Jewish civilians. Thestatement noted: The conflict unfolding in Israel and Gaza has caused suffering and death on an immense scale. We have heard from many of our physician and medical student members expressing heartbreak and outrage about the human toll afflicting Israelis, Palestinians and others, and also noted that [i]t is critical that medical neutrality is observed because physicians and health care professionals must have the ability to carry out their work and administer urgent care to those in need.

Hibah Osman, a professor at HMS and one of the protesters, claimed that the AMA is usually very vocal about what happens to health care workers overseas, adding that the AMA has refused to make any comments about whats going on in Gaza despite the killing of hundreds of doctors and nurses and dentists and medical students, wrote The Harvard Crimson.

[RELATED: Stanford activists disrupt Family Weekend event with anti-Israeli chants]

HMS Dean George Q. Daley warned in an email before the event that those who do not respect the guidelines expressed in the HMS statement, the University-wide statement, and the January 19 guidance will be subject to review and possible disciplinary sanction, which made Osman react, saying: To threaten students who want to protest a genocide is awful,The Harvard Crimson reported.

One of the protesters, commenting on the fact that the AMA spoke out against Russias invasion of Ukraine, seemed to blame the AMA of racism: It shows that the AMA doesnt value Palestinian lives as much as Ukrainian lives, or non-white lives as much as white lives, she said, according to theBoston Globe.

In a statement toCampus Reform, the HMS insisted that the protestors followed the schools guidelines and community values on peaceful and respectful expression of ideas.

Campus Reform has reached out to the Harvard Medical School for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

Continued here:
Students, profs interrupt Harvard Med School celebration to protest AMA's neutrality in Israel-Hamas War - Campus Reform

Students interact with the table about skin diseases. (Sariah Adams/The Hilltop)

The Howard University School of Medicine partnered with several skincare companies last week to raise awareness about dermatologys importance and encourage student interest in the field.

Students were welcomed as they walked upstairs of the Blackburn ballroom, with table after table introducing students to the various skin and hair conditions that are common within the Black community.

Some of the tips given, like those from Ayana Crawl-Bey, a second-year medical student, emphasized wearing sunscreen every day to protect against not only the suns rays but also from the UV rays that come from constantly looking at your phone or computer screen all day.

The informational event occurred in part through the work of Skin Scholars.

Shanae Henry and Ugonna Nwannunu, both rising third-year medical students and Howard University alumni, launched Skin Scholars at Howards Medical School. Their initiative aims to raise awareness of skin and hair conditions prevalent in communities of color, assist in devising personalized, gentle skincare routines, and offer insights into the journey toward medical school and dermatology.

According to Henry, despite Black people comprising 13 percent of the United States population, only 3 percent of dermatologists in the country are Black.

As dermatology remains relatively underexplored and represented, especially for communities of color, according to the National Library of Medicine, initiatives like Skin Scholars aim to increase representation through exposure and mentorship and offer a pathway to contribute to a more inclusive landscape.

Howard is home to the only HBCU dermatology department in the nation where the majority of the skin cancer patients are non-Hispanic white patients.

Even very common conditions often go underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed when it comes to, not just Black skin, but skin of color in general, Nwannunu said. Thats one of the most prevalent issues and that honestly relates to just about everything else we could talk about.

Henry and Nwannunu embarked on a two-year journey to bring Skin Scholars to fruition. They secured sponsorships from Vituity Inc. as the event sponsor and brands such as CeraVe, La Roche Posay, Vaseline, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Elta MD, Byoma, and Zen in a Jar all brands that dermatologists recommend using for skin care.

The event featured seven stations, each providing insights into effective skincare routines and various skin and hair conditions from a dermatologists perspective. Interactive elements at each station, such as painted Black faces to show what certain skin conditions look like on Black skin, to the poster boards with the different condition symptoms, helped students engage in learning how to identify these conditions and understand the methods dermatologists use for examination.

Emmanuel Ike, a second-year medical student, answered students questions regarding Eczema, a skin condition causing itchy patches of the skin, and advised on methods to prevent dryness of the skin.

I believe one of the main issues is just education as well, Ike said. I feel like usually, in the medical system at large, were not introduced to dermatologists until there is an issue, and so many people might not know what a dermatologist is.

Feedback from attendees like Zoie James, a junior health science major, and Danya Hood, a sophomore psychology major from Hampton, Virginia, underscored what they said was the events success in imparting valuable knowledge and fostering interest in skincare, with an emphasis on preventive measures against skin cancer.

I gained a lot of knowledge in the past 10 minutes that I was here. It was very informative, I had a good time, James said.

Hood echoed those sentiments and added how important an event like this is as she gets more into skincare for preventative purposes.

Ive been really getting into skincare these days because I dont want any skin cancer when Im older, Hood said. So Ive really been paying attention to all the tips and tricks theyve given me and theyre very helpful.

Copy edited by Alana Matthew

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Medical students discuss skin care importance with community - The Hilltop Online

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Popular alternative to CPAP machines may not be appropriate for all

A sleep apnea treatment known as hypoglossal nerve stimulation is less effective in people with higher body mass indexes (BMIs), according to a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

A nerve-stimulation treatment for obstructive sleep apnea that originally was approved only for people with body mass indexes (BMIs) in the healthy range recently was extended to patients with BMIs up to 40, a weight range generally described as severely obese. A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9.

The expanded eligibility criteria for the treatment provide more sleep apnea patients with access to the increasingly popular therapy, known as hypoglossal nerve stimulation. However, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that the likelihood of successful nerve-stimulation treatment drops significantly as a patients weight rises above a healthy range.

The study, which appears April 4 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, is based on a retrospective analysis of treatment success in 76 sleep apnea patients with BMIs of less than 35.

Our study shows that the more overweight you are, the less likely it is that nerve-stimulation treatment will be effective in treating your sleep apnea, said senior author Eric C. Landsness, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of neurology.

Im not saying that we shouldnt put this device in patients with a BMI of 38 or 40. But my job as a physician is to help overweight patients make an informed decision, to better understand their odds of success and realize that the chances of it working for them may be a lot less.

Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by relaxation of muscles in the mouth and throat when a person is asleep. Muscle slumping can cause a partial or complete blockage of airflow and oxygen supply, especially in people with large tongues, thick necks and narrow airways. Blockages may cause people with sleep apnea to stop breathing for seconds (sometimes more than a minute), until they startle themselves awake and gasp for breath, a cycle that often repeats through the night. Untreated sleep apnea can cause serious health problems, including excessive daytime sleepiness, headaches, strokes, irregular heart rhythms and other cardiovascular issues.

Sleep apnea most often is treated with a bedside continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which maintains open airways via a breathing hose and tightly fitting face mask. CPAP machines are effective, but they can be loud and uncomfortable and are largely unpopular. About half of those who try the approach fail to stick with it.

To many patients, hypoglossal nerve stimulation looks like an appealing alternative to CPAP machines. The therapy is driven by a small, battery-operated device implanted just above the ribs. A small wire is run internally up the chest and into the jaw, where it connects to the hypoglossal, a nerve that controls tongue muscles responsible for keeping the upper airway open during sleep.

Each time the patient takes a breath, the device delivers electrical impulses to the hypoglossal nerve, causing the tongue to move forward just far enough to avoid the airway blockages that drive sleep apnea.

The first hypoglossal nerve-stimulation device (brand name Inspire) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2014 for use in patients with BMIs less than 25 whose moderate to severe sleep apnea has failed treatment with other, more established therapies. Since then, eligibility requirements have loosened, with the FDA now allowing the device to be used in patients with BMIs as high as 40 and Medicare providing coverage for patients with BMIs up to 35.

Landsness, a sleep researcher who treats patients with sleep apnea, was surprised by the changes in the eligibility criteria. To understand how the device performs in people of varying sizes, he and colleagues performed an independent evaluation using data from 78 people with BMIs up to 35 who received implants of the nerve-stimulation device at the Washington University Sleep Medicine Center from 2019 through 2023.

The primary study finding was that, overall, the device works. Three out of four patients showed significant improvement in apnea symptoms in the year following implantation. Most study participants experienced symptom reductions of at least 50%, with many showing dramatic reductions to near normal or mild levels of sleep apnea.

However, among overweight study participants with BMIs of 32 to 35, the results were less positive, with the likelihood of successful treatment estimated to be 75% lower than those of study participants with lower BMIs.

Body mass index is clearly an important factor in predicting whether hypoglossal nerve stimulation will work for an individual patient, Landsness said. Our study shows an almost linear relationship between BMI and treatment success. For every unit of BMI increase over 32, the odds of successful treatment decrease by about 17%.

Inspire is the only FDA-approved hypoglossal nerve-stimulation device available in the United States. The company also markets the device in Europe, Japan and other countries. About 50,000 patients worldwide have been implanted with it.

Implantation of a hypoglossal nerve-stimulation device is a relatively simple outpatient surgery. Among the biggest concerns for patients are in terms of money and time. Landsness estimates that the therapy can cost from $50,000 to $100,000 out of pocket without insurance and take a year to be fully optimized.

We have patients coming to us who really want this treatment, because they view it as a life-changing alternative to CPAP, Landsness said. It certainly can work for some people, but we dont want to recommend it to patients if theres a chance their BMIs will affect the devices usefulness.

Patel R, Wang H, Jamro E, Lindburg M, Jackson R, Malhotra R, Lucey B, and Landsness E. Response to hypoglossal nerve stimulation changes with body mass index and supine sleep. JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. April 4, 2024. DOI: 10.1001/jamaoto.2024.0261

Preparation of the manuscript was supported by the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, grant UL1TR002345 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and K08 NS109292-01A1 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

This study is not part of a clinical trial. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare and no off-label investigational use. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

About Washington University School of Medicine

WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,900 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 56% in the last seven years. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,900 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.

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Nerve stimulation for sleep apnea is less effective for people with higher BMIs Washington University School of ... - Washington University School of...

Cold, cough, and flu season is a good time to revisit the risks of acetaminophen the pain and fever reliever in Tylenol and many other over-the-counter medications. Billions of doses of acetaminophen are consumed safely every year, but deaths still occur from accidental overdoses and thousands of people end up in the emergency room. More than 600 products contain acetaminophen, and inadvertently combining them can nudge you into the red zone.

People don't realize that these doses all add up, and before you know it you've exceeded the recommended dose of acetaminophen.

Acetaminophen controls pain and fever but does not reduce inflammation, as doesaspirinand the other widely consumed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, generics) and naproxen (Aleve, generics). But unlike NSAIDs, acetaminophen does not irritate the stomach and intestinal lining. That means a person who cannot tolerate NSAIDs can still take acetaminophen. It's an important drug for controlling chronic pain in older adults.

The hitch is that acetaminophen also has a narrower window of safety compared with ibuprofen and naproxen. NSAIDs can make you sick, too, but it takes a larger amount to reach a dangerous overdose. Taking too much acetaminophen can damage the liver, sometimes leading to a liver transplant or death.

The body breaks down most of the acetaminophen in a normal dose and eliminates it in the urine. But some of the drug is converted into a byproduct that is toxic to the liver. If you take too much all at once or over a period of daysmore toxin can build up than the body can handle.

For the average healthy adult, the absolute maximum daily dose is no more than 4,000 milligrams (mg) from all sources. But in some people, doses close to the 4,000 mg daily limit for adults could still be toxic to the liver. It's safest to take only what you need, and to not exceed 3,000 mg a day whenever possible, especially if you use acetaminophen often.

If you ever have concerns about how much acetaminophen you can tolerate based on your age, body size, and health status, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Here are some general precautions for avoiding an accidental overdose of acetaminophen.

Tens of thousands of people become ill every year from taking too much acetaminophen. In a smaller number of casesseveral hundred per year it leads to death. But it need not happen to you. Read the labels in all your over-the-counter and prescription drugs to look at the specific amounts of acetaminophen in each, and stick to the guidelines.

325 mg

500 mg

650 mg extended release

Take how many pills at a time?

1 or 2

1 or 2

1

Take how often?

Every 4 to 6 hours

Every 6to 8hours

Every 8 hours

Safest maximum daily dose

for most adults

8 pills

6 pills

4 pills

Never take more than this in a 24-hour period

12 pills (3900 mg)

8 pills (4000 mg)

6 pills (3900 mg)

It's best to take the lowest dose necessary and stay closer to 3,000 mg per day as your maximum dose. If you need to take high doses of acetaminophen for chronic pain, check with your doctor first.

For therapy options beyond the standard approaches to managing pain, buy the Harvard Special Health ReportPain Relief Without Drugs or Surgery .

Image:AntonioGuillem/Getty Images

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Acetaminophen safety: Be cautious but not afraid - Harvard Health

AUSTIN, TX -- Hands-on training that works better with medical students' schedules can improve practical skills and foster mentorship for promoting ultrasound use, according to research presented April 7 at UltraCon.

In his talk, Ernest Fonocho, MD, from the University of Texas Health McGovern Medical School in Houston presented findings indicating that a three-day curriculum with smaller class sizes improved image acquisition skills for students in several areas of the body.

We think organizing these workshops is really good for medical students, Fonocho said. It sparks their interest in radiology and helps them learn how to use ultrasound probes, which I think most people including myself fumbled the very first time when using a probe.

Ernest Fonocho, MD, from the University of Texas Health McGovern Medical School in Houston presents his institute's ultrasound training curriculum at UltraCon.Amerigo Allegretto

Ultrasound offers a safe, cost-effective method for real-time imaging capability. A 2021 report that Fonocho cited outlined how over 72% of medical schools indicated that they have an ultrasound curriculum. However, the report pointed out that there is a lack of formal, consistent ultrasound training.

Fonocho outlined McGoverns previous ultrasound training method, which consisted of a week-long radiology course for second-year students. While this method provided hands-on learning and dedicated radiology and ultrasound lectures, Fonocho said it had a student-instructor ratio of 15-to-1 as well as its share of limitations. These included time constraints, a hectic curriculum, and inconsistent personnel availability.

The institutes current curriculum consists of a three-day workshop during the musculoskeletal and dermatology block of the medical students coursework. It includes the following features: prerecorded videos introducing ultrasound, promoting independent learning prior to the workshop; radiology trainees as instructors; three workstations with ultrasound equipment and standardized patients; 50-minute learning sessions; and a student-instructor ratio ranging from four-to-one to five-to-one.

Fonocho and colleagues compared Qualtrics scores before and after the workshop for several areas of the body. These included the calcaneum, peroneal tendons, nerves, muscles, and tendons. The team found that the students scores improved after the three-day workshop.

Fonocho highlighted that the current curriculum has several benefits. These include introducing and familiarizing students to ultrasound, creating long-term interest in radiology, having radiology trainees serve as mentors, and increasing confidence in using ultrasound in clinical practice.

Having us there and giving the students opportunities to ask questions and register for the course helps them explore radiology as an option, Fonocho said. We run the radiology courses for medical students, so when they meet us, its easier for them to approach us.

Moving forward, Fonocho said the institute will incorporate ultrasound and imaging lectures in each standardized block during years one and two, allow time for associated interventional procedures practice by using gel models, and incorporating a longitudinal study to assess student knowledge and retention in the third and fourth years of medical student education.

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Hands-on training promotes confidence in ultrasound for students - AuntMinnie

"Squeamish" is certainly not a word associated with physicians.

Future medical doctor Oreoluwa Olorunlogbon wants to keep it that way.

"My dad was a pharmacist in Nigeria, and he used to tell me he wanted to be a doctor. But, he didn't like blood," he said, laughing. "I was always worried ... but I'm really fascinated by the science of it all. It's like a puzzle, not only how to unravel and solve, but to create new things.

Young Ore with his mom in Nigeria.

"It's a little morbid, I guess. But the fascinating part of medicine is that once you learn how all the individual pieces work, you learn not just how to treat them, but to prevent them and enhance what we already have to make it better."

"Ore," as he is fondly referred to, joins Florida International University classmate Brooke Schwartz as this year's winners of the Robert Kemper Award for Professionalism in Medicine, bestowed annually by faculty to superior students studying medicine at FIU.

The ceremony, presented by the Key Biscayne Community Foundation and the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at FIU, takes place from 6-8 p.m. on April 10 at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club.

Schwartz, 26, grew up in Parkland and knew, by middle school, she wanted to be a doctor.

"I really liked doing fun science experiments," she said. "My mom always liked science and would give me fun things to read."

She said dissecting frogs was "definitely a fun part of high school," but her oldest brother, Brandon, was applying for medical school at that point, so that kept her interest, too.

But she's not planning to be a surgeon. After she graduates in May with her doctorate degree, she will attend Texas Children's Hospital in Houston for her three-year residency, which is associated with the Baylor College of Medicine.

Kemper Award winner Brooke Schwartz.

"It's my first time leaving Florida ... I'm looking forward to it," she said. "It's good to branch out and it will be good to see how a medical center functions, but I definitely want to come back (home)."

Schwartz completed her undergraduate education at the University of Florida, where she majored in Biology. Before matriculating into medical school, she earned a Molecular and Biomedical Sciences certificate at FIU. Her dedication to providing humanistic patient care earned her Gold Humanism Honor Society membership.

One of her most meaningful medical school experiences was rotating at a free clinic, UHI CommunityCare, in Miami Gardens. There, she fell in love with pediatrics and was able to connect with and help treat underserved families.

During medical school, she also led a research project on firearm violence prevention in honor of her alma mater, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

"I was a sophomore in college when I knew I wanted to go into pediatrics," Schwartz said. "A lot of children die annually from gun violence, and I feel comfortable talking (on a subject) geared toward educating my peers for gun safety."

Kemper Award winner Brooke Schwartz with her parents.

She said she did not pursue pediatrics for the gun violence connection. Still, after the massacre at her high school (after she had graduated), she felt it was necessary to incorporate that part of the curriculum into medical school, hoping others would follow.

She and her boyfriend, a Miami lawyer, occasionally visit the Key Biscayne area, bringing their golden retriever, Arthur, to dog-friendly Hobie Beach. They also enjoy kayaking and watching Miami's pro and college sports teams.

The Kemper honor is named in memory of Dr. Robert Kemper, who exemplified the highest qualities of medical professionalism until his life was cut short by cancer, and it means a lot to Schwartz.

"It's definitely special that my faculty views me as a professional and someone they can trust," she said. "I hope I can keep giving off that impression to my patients."

"Match Day," on March 15, in which graduating medical students were assigned (through certain algorithms) medical facilities for their next level of expertise, will take Olorunlogbon, 27, to Texas. His is a four-year residency in Houston, at the University of Texas-Houston, where he will focus on a joint specialty of internal medicine and pediatrics.

It's also his first time out of Florida, he said. Well, not exactly.

Born in Ibadan, Nigeria, he and his parents immigrated to the U.S. in 2001, when he was just 4.

Oreoluwa Ore Olorunlogbon with his mom and dad.

"My mom (who worked as a health inspector and is now a nurse) won the visa lottery," he explained, a lottery for some 25 years that has granted nearly a half-million Nigerian residents the luxury to travel the world with proper credentials.

"Our parents brought us here for a better life and a better opportunity," Ore said. "I'd like to think they made the most of it, and so did I."

It wasn't easy at first. They lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Ocala, an area known for its horse farms.

"I rode one once. It was a humbling experience," he joked.

The eldest of three siblings (sisters Anuoluwa, 20, and Ifeoluwa, 18), Ore assumed responsibility at a young age, a trait that has carried into his adult life and career goals.

Despite those challenges, he excelled in advanced programs throughout his schooling and enrolled at the University of Florida's honors college in 2015. There, he earned his bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in Health Disparities and developed a passion for working with teenagers and young adults suffering from chronic conditions.

Oreoluwa Ore Olorunlogbon with his loved ones.

"My interest lies in cancer treatments and management," he said. "Literally, it is the hardest and most difficult chapter of a person's life (trying to) handle the physical and emotional burden at the same time. They need someone they can trust."

His passion for hematology, oncology, and palliative holistic medicine is just some of what he offers. He also recognizes the importance of being a source of strength, reassurance, and competency for patients.

"Ever since I was young, I was fascinated trying to help people, but I didn't know in what capacity," Ore said. "Until I grew older, I could show compassion and care and be there in their most challenging times. There's none more challenging (area of the medical field) than sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis or cancer."

He spent the summer of 2016 in a volunteer program at the University of Florida's Shands Children's Hospital. He spent a year in FIU's graduate program, started medical school in 2020, and now will graduate with a doctorate in May.

Like Schwartz, it's a little early to imagine where his career will land.

"I'm leaning toward (working in a hospital), but I do like the idea of having a small, private clinic for under-insured people," Ore said. "It's very important work that doesn't get done enough."

Oreoluwa Ore Olorunlogbon with friends and family at the award event.

Ore is a "big fan" of soccer "when I get a chance to play," he said. But he's also an avid photographer and played the guitar for eight years at one point. He and his girlfriend, Sophia Perez, 26, who has family on Key Biscayne and is also interested in the pediatric field, enjoy going to different restaurants in Miami or cooking cultural food at home.

Beyond the Kemper award, Ore often reflects on what his parents have done for him and his sisters.

"They put food on the table," he said, "and they taught us the importance of hard work."

Originally posted here:
Meet the 2024 winners of the Robert Kemper Award for Professionalism in Medicine - Islander News.com

Many people think of hair loss as a male problem, but it also affects at least a third of women. But unlike men, women typically experience thinning hair without going bald, and there can be a number of different underlying causes for the problem.

"Some are associated with inflammation in the body. Some are female-pattern hair loss," says Dr. Deborah Scott, assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Hair Loss Clinic at Brigham and Women's Hospital. But the good news is that in many cases this hair loss can be stabilized with treatment, and it may be reversible. When it's not, there are a number of new cosmetic approaches that can help.

The first step in dealing with thinning hair is determining what's happening inside your body that is causing those extra strands to cling to your shoulders and your brush. Some hair loss is normal. Everyone loses hair as part of the hair's natural growth cycle, which occurs in three stages:

Normal hair loss is highly individual. Most people have a sense of how much hair is normal for them to lose. If you suddenly notice more hair than usual falling out, you're shedding clumps of hair, or your hair seems to be visibly thinning, it may be a sign that something is amiss, says Dr. Scott.

Numerous problems can trigger female hair loss. Some are external, such as taking certain medications, frequently wearing hairstyles that pull the hair too tight, or even a stressful event such as surgery. In other cases, thinning hair is triggered by something going on inside the body for instance, a thyroid problem, a shift in hormones, a recent pregnancy, or an inflammatory condition.

Hair loss may also be genetic. The most common genetic condition is known as female-pattern hair loss, or androgenic alopecia. Women with this condition might notice a widening of the part at the top of the head, often beginning when a woman is in her 40s or 50s. You might experience this if you inherit certain genes from one or both parents. Hormonal shifts that occur during menopause may also spur it.

Another trigger for hair loss in women is an inflammatory condition affecting the scalp. That might be eczema, psoriasis, or a condition called frontal fibrosing alopecia, which typically causes scarring and hair loss sometimes permanent at the front of the scalp above the forehead.

Other common causes of hair loss include overuse of damaging hair products, or tools such as dryers and other devices that heat the hair. Underlying illness, autoimmune conditions such as lupus, nutritional deficiencies, or hormonal imbalances may also cause hair to shed.

Treatment depends on the underlying cause, says Dr. Scott. Sometimes simply addressing a medical condition prompting hair loss will be enough for the hair to regrow. In other instances, a woman might consider a medication like minoxidil (Rogaine), which helps with certain types of hair loss, or another treatment to replace or regrow lost hair.

Another potential option being used to treat hair loss is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. For this treatment, the doctor draws your blood, divides it into its separate components, recombines the blood fluid (plasma) with a high concentration of platelets (structures in the blood that help with clotting, among other functions), and introduces the resulting preparation back into the scalp.

"The science on this isn't totally worked out. We still don't completely understand the mechanism behind PRP, but growth factors contained in platelets can stimulate regeneration of hair follicles and other tissues as well," says Dr. Scott.

In addition, low-level LED laser lights have been found to be helpful in regrowing hair in some cases. It's likely that even more treatments will be developed in the near future.

When medical treatments fall short, women can also consider cosmetic options to make up for lost hair, such as wearing a wig. At the other end of the spectrum is hair transplantation, a surgical procedure that moves active follicles from the back of the scalp to areas where the hair is thinning. Once transplanted, the hair grows normally.

Hair transplantation is typically performed as an outpatient surgical procedure. In appropriate patients, it can be extremely successful, but it won't work for everyone, says Dr. Scott. One drawback is the expense: it can cost thousands of dollars and is not covered by insurance. The procedure also requires recovery time. And it may not be appropriate for women who have diffuse thinning across the whole scalp. It's more effective in treating smaller, more defined areas of balding.

Link:
Thinning hair in women: Why it happens and what helps - Harvard Health

TULSA, Okla. Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) hosted a free, one day mini medical camp for students interested in a career in medicine or healthat its Tulsa campus on Saturday.

At Operation Orange, high school students spent the day in the life of a medical student at OSU-CHS.

Students got the chance to practice doing chest compressions and inserting a breathing tube. They also learned about organ anatomy and preparing for medical school.

They also took part in hands-on activities related to OSU-CHS athletic training and physician assistant programs.

The goal of Operation Orange is to get high school students interested in careers in medicine or health. It is also to get students from rural areas to be interested in a career in medicine or other health care professions so they attend school, become a health care professional, and return to their hometowns to practice and care for patients.

"With our state facing growing physician and health professional shortages, it has become imperative that we attract students who want to return and practice in rural Oklahoma after completing their degree," said OSU-CHS President Johnny Stephens.

Operation Orange took place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the A.R. and MaryLouise Tandy Medical Academic Building on the OSU-CHS campus.

FOX23 spoke to two students who said they enjoyed getting the perspective of current medical students.

"Its cool to see their perspective on it, because theyre in it now and you can see what theyre doing, and just helps you see your future," saidhigh school sophomoreKathryn Leach.

Its good to see how they do it, to see, Is this really something I want to do? and to see how stressful it was for them but knowing they got through it, so it kind of make you feel a little bit better," said high school juniorAdelynn Hatten.

Hatten also said her favorite part was learning about ultrasounds.

"My favorite was the ultrasound so far, getting to use the ultrasound and the gel, that was pretty cool," Hatten said, nothing that she would like to be an obstetrician or delivery nurse to help other women.

First-year medical student Tag Harris said he didn't know much about healthcare in high school, and it feels good to show students that knowledge.

I knew nothing about health care, other than the fact that I was injured a few times and so thats kind of one reason I like this, is I like to show the health care knowledge to the high school students in the community," he said.

For more information on Operation Orange, click here.

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OSU-CHS hosts Operation Orange for high school students interested in medicine or health careers - KOKI FOX 23 TULSA

The Government of Guyana is in talks with the University of West Indies (UWI) about the establishment of a medical school in Guyana.

President Irfaan Ali made this announcement yesterday at the launch of the $474.6 million telepathology laboratory at Georgetown Public Hospital. Ali said that UWI approached the government with the proposal after he announced the intention of setting aside a building for teaching purposes at the US$161 million New Amsterdam Hospital, which is currently under construction.

So, were talking to the University of West Indies and moving the possibility of a school of medicine now to Region Six, that has the capacity of bringing students from Suriname. But importantly, in the negotiations, we are now working on ensuring that the rates are the same as local students in Trinidad and Tobago, so that there will be a level playing field, Ali announced.

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Guyana, UWI in talks over proposed medical school in Berbice - Stabroek News

A monitor at a hospital waiting room in Seoul plays a broadcast of President Yoon Suk-yeols address to the nation regarding health care reforms on April 1, 2024. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeols address to the public last week regarding the medical school admissions quota expansion put many people on edge, even before he began speaking. The decision to go ahead with the speech was, reportedly, made late on the eve of the televised address after Yoon consulted a small group of his aides. Even the ruling party was not privy to the contents of the speech and knew only when the speech was going to be given. Yoons party, already concerned about the widespread talk of the public using this weeks midterm general elections as a referendum on the administration, was on tenterhooks, unable to focus on anything but the words the president was formulating. Nor could the public help but wonder what the president thought would be the best way to resolve the protracted conflict between the government and physicians over the 2000-person increase in medical school admissions. They also were intrigued to see if he would address the various issues surrounding Lee Jong-sup and Hwang Sang-moo, as well as high inflation prices. Many cautiously expected a forward-looking message from the president, as the day before the speech was to take place, he stated that he would be humbler and listen to even the smallest voices from the public. Yoons address, once televised, was a good reminder that the president struggles to be humble. Yoon spent more than half of the 51-minute speech emphasizing the need for the 2,000-person expansion in the medical school admissions quota while also condemning physicians. The speech reflected the presidents wish for the public to be informed in detail about how the expansion of the medical school admissions quota is being discussed, a presidential office official stated. After the speech, the presidential office was quick to emphasize that the key point of the speech was in the 15 or so words in which Yoon stated, If the medical community offers more reasonable and appropriate proposals, we are open to talks, but both the ruling and opposition parties agreed that the president remains as uncommunicative as ever. A feeling of self-righteousness dominated and overpowered the speech. After stating, Im not pushing for the reform because I dont know how its going to benefit or hurt me politically, Yoon went on to brag about policies such as the improvement of bilateral relations with Japan and the responses made during labor union strikes as ultimate success stories, when in reality, all such policies were met with strong criticism. Two days later, on Wednesday, a video was posted to the presidents official YouTube channel titled, Why We Need Reform: Walking Forward for the People and National Interest, which highlighted his past statements, such as I will always push forward for policies, even if they are unpopular, while an uplifting melody played in the background. This showcased his determination to go ahead with his my way or the highway approach, while not bowing down to criticism. For the first time since the administration and physicians started butting heads, Yoon met with the representative of medical interns and residents on Thursday, three days after he made his speech. While the dialogue went on for 140 minutes, the two figures parted ways without reaching any tangible compromises or conclusions. Theres a plaque on Yoons desk in the presidential office that reads, The buck stops here. A present from US President Joe Biden, its modeled after the sign that Harry Truman, the 33rd US president, had on his desk in the Oval Office during his presidency. In his book, Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents, political scientist Richard Neustadt, who served as an advisor to Truman, recounts a statement that Truman made in the spring of 1952, as he was preparing for his second presidential campaign, regarding Dwight Eisenhower, the former general who looked like hed come out of the presidential election victorious. Hell sit here [the presidents desk], and hell say, Do this! Do that! And nothing will happen. Poor Ike it wont be a bit like the Army. Hell find it very frustrating. Neustadt goes on to opine that the president does not obtain results by giving orders, and that presidential power is the power to persuade. Presidential power comes from persuading and mobilizing various stakeholders. If we look at the past two years of Yoons presidency through the lens of Neustadt, we can see that Yoon has consistently been lacking persuasiveness. This one-way channel of communication that hes adopted when governing seems to have opened up the way to the overall urge to send a message of rebuke to his administration. Will Yoon try to change after the elections on Wednesday? More importantly, can he?

By Lee Seung-jun, politics reporter

Excerpt from:
[Reporter's notebook] The public wants to teach Yoon a lesson will he learn it? - The Hankyoreh

More than 30 young female high school students were able to work alongside West Virginia University orthopaedic clinicians and educators to participate in a transformative experience at the School of Medicine through The Perry Initiative.

Michelle Bramer, M.D., led the team of volunteers (see full list at the bottom of the article) to orchestrate a one-day career exploration event on Saturday, Dec. 9, as part of the Perry Outreach Program.

The Perry Initiative collaborates with medical centers, universities and high schools to organize Perry Outreach Programs for high school girls. These day-long events, conducted at over 45 locations nationwide, involve participants in simulated orthopaedic surgeries, biomechanical engineering experiments and insightful sessions with accomplished women engineers and surgeons.

Organizers say that the event benefits the faculty as much as the students.

In dedicating our time, expertise and passion to this initiative, my team and I firmly believe that the benefits extend beyond the students, positively impacting the faculty as well, said Dr. Bramer, M.D.

Organizers say students become mentors and role models, guiding attendees through the intricacies of suturing, casting, surgery and more, fostering confidence and opening doors to STEM-related careers for young women.

For more information on the WVU Department of Orthopaedics, visit medicine.wvu.edu/orthopaedics.

Full list of volunteers:

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High school females get hands-on orthopaedics experience at WVU's Perry Initiative event - West Virginia University

Loss is a major factor in the origin and history of osteopathic medicine: A.T. Still, DO, MD, suffered the passing of four children to infectious disease and his first wife to childbirth complications. Combined with his terrible experiences in the Civil War, these tragedies caused him to question his profession, leading him to want to give up medicine forever. Instead, he used the love and devotion in his heart to transform his grief over time into a deep commitment to serve patients in a new and better way.

My husband Rons esophageal cancer announced itself to us one evening while we were having dinner in a restaurant with his mother and aunt, who were visiting us. I had completed about two months of medical school and was completely infatuated with my experiences. I talked all weekend about how much I was learning and how much I loved it. That evening, as my spouse was eating beef tips, he suddenly said he was about to vomit.

I spread out my cloth napkin and drew his head down to the level of the table so he could use my lap as a basin and minimize his embarrassment. I looked down at the completely undigested foodthus began his 14 months of dying.

The steps of his treatment were spaced out enough that I was able to stay in school. My classmates and faculty at what is now the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) instantly became a web of support for me. One classmate was with me when I took the phone call with the pathology results from the endoscopy and reached out as I literally fell to the floor. Another recognized six months after my husbands death that I had fallen into depression and led me by the arm to the family medicine clinic to get a same-day appointment. A faculty member who was a gastroenterologist told me some difficult facts about my husbands diagnosis when no one else wanted to. In these and many other ways, they looked after me even when I didnt realize they were doing it.

I will admit that those first two years of school are a blur to me still. The part I remember the most is the osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) labs and the additional educational sessions I would go to during lunches and weekends. I remember learning from the late Anthony Chila, DO, who taught at Ohio University. He understood what it took me years to put into wordsthe ability of osteopathic medicine to transform harm and illness into wholeness and healing.

During this period of darkness in my personal life, osteopathic medicine gave me a lifeline. I felt vividly what the techniques I was learning did for me, and as I gained clinical experience, I felt what they could do for patients as well. As I went on to a residency in family medicine, time and again I saw my mentors demonstrate how supporting the whole person led to more comprehensive healing.

I found that taking time to really understand the reasons people were seeking help resulted in better care.

My husband died early on a Monday just after Thanksgiving during my second year of medical school. He had been enrolled in hospice services for about a month at that point, and I was caring for him at home. That weekend, his primary care physician was out for a run and decided to come over to our home. Ill never forget him standing in our bedroom in his sweaty exercise clothing, talking to me about the pain meds that were prescribed by way of teaching me some principles of end-of-life care.

He told me a story about a dying patient he helped care for as a first-year resident at a New York City hospitalit was Eleanor Roosevelt, and he was on the team attending to her in her last days. He wanted me to understand that my awful personal experience could make me a better, more empathetic physician. Not saying that I should be glad about it, not at all, but rather that I could find a way to transform it.

I often tell students who are entering their third year and beginning clinical rotations to prepare to be transformed. I deeply hope they will not experience a personal tragedy while learning, but I know they will witness some and eventually life will bring grief to all of us. We are all in a profession where we have signed up to be transformed. We should talk about how it feels, tell our stories and let each other know that sometimes lifeand practicing medicinecan be really, really difficult.

After residency training in family medicine in Ohio, I moved to the West Coast and practiced in a variety of settings, including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), free clinics, programs for those experiencing homelessness, farming communities and urban tech centers. When appropriate, I shared with patients and families that I too had gone through a serious loss and asked how I could support them. I also brought OMM to every practice setting. I found that taking time to really understand the reasons people were seeking help resulted in better care.

Patient care has brought me continual joy because of the connections it builds with other human beings. Now as I have transitioned to osteopathic medical education, I hope to inspire others to experience their work in that way.

Its very common for the media to say, the health care system is broken. I refute thathealth care has a meaning that transcends contemporary trends, and the doctor-patient relationship is as sacred as it ever was. The business of health care is in crisis, for sure, and amid all of that we should do what my classmates and mentors did for mewitness, listen and offer support when needed. This not only enables us to find the health for ourselves and our patients, but it also sets a standard for society that will be an enduring example of healing. We can follow Dr. Stills example and let our love and devotion transform our grief into helping to heal others.

Editors note: The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily represent the views of The DO or the AOA.

From storytelling to healing: The empathetic power of narrative medicine

Listening to our patients: The sounds of an emergency department

Link:
How I survived losing my spouse to cancer in medical school - The DO

As a lifelong learner who takes pride in self-directed learning, the importance of mentorship has not always been readily obvious to me. When I completed my residency and embarked on a career in academic medicine, little did I realize how important the mentorship of my then department chair, Dr. Janet Townsend, would be in terms of my career progression. In addition to supporting my commitment to staying clinically active while being on the full-time faculty at what was then a brand-new medical school without a faculty practice, she supported my numerous external interests, including my time as an external scholar in both the Fulbright and the Erasmus Mundus programs, enabling me to spend time as an international scholar in Nigeria, France, and the U.K. She also nominated me for various awards, including the Association of American Medical Colleges Nickens Faculty Fellowship, which I received in 2012.

The role of a mentor isnt limited to giving advice. A mentor can connect the mentee with colleagues with similar interests and provide information about career opportunities. In addition to being a mentee, I have also had the privilege of mentoring students at various levels of training. Most of these were informal relationships and consisted of me providing advice based on my own experience and knowledge.

The importance of mentorship cannot be understated in terms of career growth and development. As Dorie Clark writes in the Harvard Business Review, we will likely need more than one mentor in our career. This is especially true for those of us who have a broad range of interests, both within and outside of academic medicine. Clark recommends building a mentor board of directors, as opposed to trying to find one ideal mentor. Interestingly, a recent experience highlighted the importance of mentorship when it comes to extra-professional interests.

I started taking piano lessons about a decade ago. (I had lessons in elementary school for less than a year and had played on and off on my own without instruction in the decades that followed.) At some point, I decided that sight-reading was too hard for me and I wanted to focus on learning to play by ear.

While I learned the basics of music theory and began to understand how I could simply play chord progressions without reading music, I found myself still being drawn to sheet music, even trying pieces that were quite challenging, given my lack of formal training. At the beginning of last year, I started working on a classical arrangement of the Christmas carol, Angels We Have Heard on High. It wasnt very complicated, and I figured since it was early in the year, I should be able to play it by Christmas! I spent months practicing this piece on my own before asking my instructor for guidance. When I finally did ask, he gave me advice on the fingering to use in certain sections of the song to make the transitions easier. By the time Christmas came around, I was playing the piece, but still making mistakes.

By comparison, in September of the same year, my piano instructor suggested that I start working on an arrangement of another Christmas song, Good King Wenceslas, in the style of Pachelbel. I looked at the sheet music and protested that it was too hard. He told me he thought I was capable of playing it and encouraged me to try. This piece was much more challenging than the piece I had been working on all year, but by the end of the year, I was playing it through! Thats not to say I didnt make mistakes, but I made much quicker progress on this piece than I had with the first piece. The fact that I had worked with an instructor from the beginning made all the difference. The guidance I received included using the appropriate fingering from the very beginning, and having someone point out my mistakes in rhythm and timing so I could correct them early on.

Whether it is in professional life or a hobby, having a guide or mentor can make all the difference.

Olapeju Simoyanis an addiction medicine specialist.

Read this article:
Accelerate your career with mentorship - Kevin MD

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Findings help explain how smoking is linked to Alzheimers, dementia

Smoking shrinks the brain and effectively causes premature brain aging, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Quitting smoking prevents further loss of brain tissue but doesnt restore the brain to its original size.

Smoking shrinks the brain, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The good news is that quitting smoking prevents further loss of brain tissue but still, stopping smoking doesnt restore the brain to its original size. Since peoples brains naturally lose volume with age, smoking effectively causes the brain to age prematurely, the researchers said.

The findings, published in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, help explain why smokers are at high risk of age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimers disease.

Up until recently, scientists have overlooked the effects of smoking on the brain, in part because we were focused on all the terrible effects of smoking on the lungs and the heart, said senior author Laura J. Bierut, MD, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Psychiatry. But as weve started looking at the brain more closely, its become apparent that smoking is also really bad for your brain.

Scientists have long known that smoking and smaller brain volume are linked, but theyve never been sure which is the instigator. And there is a third factor to consider: genetics. Both brain size and smoking behavior are heritable. About half of a persons risk of smoking can be attributed to his or her genes.

To disentangle the relationship between genes, brains and behavior, Bierut and first author Yoonhoo Chang, a graduate student, analyzed data drawn from the UK Biobank, a publicly available biomedical database that contains genetic, health and behavioral information on half a million people, mostly of European descent. A subset of over 40,000 UK Biobank participants underwent brain imaging, which can be used to determine brain volume. In total, the team analyzed de-identified data on brain volume, smoking history and genetic risk for smoking for 32,094 people.

Each pair of factors proved to be linked: history of smoking and brain volume; genetic risk for smoking and history of smoking; and genetic risk for smoking and brain volume. Further, the association between smoking and brain volume depended on dose: The more packs a person smoked per day, the smaller his or her brain volume.

When all three factors were considered together, the association between genetic risk for smoking and brain volume disappeared, while the link between each of those and smoking behaviors remained. Using a statistical approach known as mediation analysis, the researchers determined the sequence of events: genetic predisposition leads to smoking, which leads to decreased brain volume.

It sounds bad, and it is bad, Bierut said. A reduction in brain volume is consistent with increased aging. This is important as our population gets older, because aging and smoking are both risk factors for dementia.

And unfortunately, the shrinkage seems to be irreversible. By analyzing data on people who had quit smoking years before, the researchers found that their brains remained permanently smaller than those of people who had never smoked.

You cant undo the damage that has already been done, but you can avoid causing further damage, Chang said. Smoking is a modifiable risk factor. Theres one thing you can change to stop aging your brain and putting yourself at increased risk of dementia, and thats to quit smoking.

Chang Y, Thornton V, Chaloemtoem A, Anokhin AP, Bijsterbosch J, Bogdan R, Hancock DB, Johnson EO, Bierut LJ. Investigating the relationship between smoking behavior and global brain volume. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science. Dec. 11, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2023.09.006

This work was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers U10AA008401, R01AA027049 and R56AG058726; and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the NIH, grant numbers K12DA041449 and R01DA044014. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the NIH.

About Washington University School of Medicine

WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,800 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the third largest among U.S. medical schools, has grown 52% in the last six years, and, together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,800 faculty physicians practicing at 65 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.

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Smoking causes brain shrinkage Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis - Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Dec 12, 2023

Xavier University today announced it has secured a transformational $50 million gift, equaling the largest donation in the universitys 192-year history.

Pledged anonymously, the gift will support the launch of the Xavier University College of Osteopathic Medicine, anticipated to welcome its inaugural class of prospective physicians in 2027.

This historic gift will allow Xavier to take on an essential role in our nations primary care landscape, said Xavier University President Colleen Hanycz, Ph.D. As our university approaches two centuries of intellectual, moral, and spiritual education for our students, we continue laying the foundation for a Xavier that impacts even more lives in the decades ahead. I could not be more grateful for the extraordinary generosity of this donor.

Slated to become the nations first Jesuit osteopathic medical school, the College of Osteopathic Medicine will address a critical need for additional primary care doctors throughout Ohio and beyond. Xavier leaders aim to send off the colleges first graduates in 2031, a remarkable exclamation point as the university celebrates its bicentennial and 200 years of excellence in Jesuit Catholic education. The inaugural class is expected to number 75 students, with plans to gradually expand class sizes to 150 per class.

Xavier is tremendously blessed to have the support of such a humble family, whose generosity to our community cannot be overstated, said Vice President for University Relations Gary Massa. With President Hanyczs leadership, we have received an unprecedented outpouring of support from people who believe in the power of Xavier and its mission. Those investing in the university today are ensuring a lasting impact for generations of future students whose lives will improve through an education rooted in Jesuit Catholic values.

With todays announcement, Xavier achieved its greatest two-year fundraising total ever. This effort also includes an estate gift of $50 million from Harry and Linda Fath and another $20 million gift from John and Sarah Lechleiter, supporting endeavors such as making education more affordable for future Xavier students and establishing a state-of-the-art sciences building on campus.

Read more about the proposed Xavier University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

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Xavier receives milestone $50M gift toward College of Osteopathic Medicine - Xavier University