Number of medical schools with student-run free clinics has more than doubled
2014-12-09
(Press-News.org) There has been a doubling during the last decade in the number of U.S. medical schools that have student-run free clinics, with more than half of medical students involved with these clinics, according to a study in the December 10 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.
Sunny Smith, M.D., of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues conducted a study to assess whether there has been growth of student-run free clinics (SRFCs) in medical schools and describe the characteristics of these clinics. The first national study of SRFCs conducted in 2005 described 111 SRFCs at 49 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) member institutions. The researchers developed a 39 item survey with yes/no, multiple-choice, and open-ended responses. SRFCs and their medical student leaders were identified through the Society of Student-Run Free Clinics.
The authors identified SRFCs at 106 of 141 (75.2 percent) U.S. AAMC member institutions. The survey response rate was 81.1 percent (86/106). The 86 responding institutions reported 208 SRFC sites. More than half of medical students were reported to be involved in SRFCs, including first- through fourth year students. Fifty-three percent of institutions reportedly offered no academic credit for participation.
The most common core services provided by the SRFCs were outpatient adult medicine, health care maintenance, chronic disease management, language interpreters and social work. The most common diseases treated were diabetes and hypertension.
In open-ended responses, students identified the greatest strengths of SRFCs as serving the underserved and student education. The biggest challenges were obtaining sufficient faculty staffing and funding.
"Despite the lack of academic credit at many institutions, most medical students are volunteering in this setting. Given the ubiquity of SRFCs in the education of future physicians, further research is needed to assess their educational and clinical outcomes," the authors write.
"The lack of funding and sufficient faculty supervisors identified as the biggest challenges in SRFCs are actionable items because institutional support could help stabilize and improve these educational opportunities for years to come."
INFORMATION:
(doi:10.1001/jama.2014.16066; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)
Editor's Note: The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2014-12-09
In a sample of U.S. emergency departments, compared to attending physicians alone, supervised visits (involving both resident and attending physicians) were associated with a greater likelihood of hospital admission and use of advanced imaging and with longer emergency department stays, according to a study in the December 10 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.
A common assumption is that care at academic medical centers costs more than care at nonteaching hospitals in part because of a higher frequency of testing and other resource use in teaching settings. ...
2014-12-09
PHILADELPHIA - In the first year after the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) reduced the number of continuous hours that residents can work, there was no change in the rate of death or readmission among hospitalized Medicare patients, according to a new study published in JAMA. The study was led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
"There has been a lot of speculation about the effect of the 2011 ACGME duty hour reforms on patient outcomes, so we looked ...
2014-12-09
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Clinical recommendations discouraging the use of CYP2D6 gene testing to guide tamoxifen therapy in breast cancer patients are based on studies with flawed methodology and should be reconsidered, according to the results of a Mayo Clinic study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
For years, controversy has surrounded the CYP2D6 gene test for breast cancer. Women with certain inherited genetic deficiencies in the CYP2D6 gene metabolize tamoxifen less efficiently, and thus have lower levels of tamoxifen's active cancer-fighting metabolite ...
2014-12-09
Yeast cells can sometimes reverse the protein misfolding and clumping associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's, according to new research from the University of Arizona.
The new finding contradicts the idea that once prion proteins have changed into the shape that aggregates, the change is irreversible.
"It's believed that when these aggregates arise that cells cannot get rid of them," said Tricia Serio, UA professor and head of the department of molecular and cellular biology. "We've shown that's not the case. Cells can clear themselves of these aggregates."
Prions ...
2014-12-09
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Thinking you're good at math and actually being good at it are not the same thing, new research has found.
About one in five people who say they are bad at math in fact score in the top half of those taking an objective math test. But one-third of people who say they are good at math actually score in the bottom half.
"Some people mis-categorize themselves. They really don't know how good they are when faced with a traditional math test," said Ellen Peters, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.
The results ...
2014-12-09
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Mathematical models predicted it, and now a University of Florida study confirms it: Immunizing school-aged children from flu can protect other segments of the population, as well.
When half of 5- to 17-year-old children in Alachua County were vaccinated through a school-based program, the entire age group's flu rates decreased by 79 percent. Strikingly, the rate of influenza-like illness among 0-4 year olds went down 89 percent, despite the fact that this group was not included in the school-based vaccinations. Among all non-school-aged residents, ...
2014-12-09
Supplemental ultrasound screening for all U.S. women with dense breasts would substantially increase healthcare costs with little improvement in overall health, according to senior author Anna Tosteson, ScD, at Dartmouth Hitchcock's Norris Cotton Cancer Center and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
In a study released Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Tosteson and colleagues, including lead author Brian Sprague, MD, provide evidence on the benefits and harms of adding ultrasound to breast cancer screening for women who have had a ...
2014-12-09
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- When a large protein unfolds in transit through a cell, it slows down and can get stuck in traffic. Using a specialized microscope -- a sort of cellular traffic camera -- University of Illinois chemists now can watch the way the unfolded protein diffuses.
Studying the relationship between protein folding and transport could provide great insight into protein-misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's. Chemistry professor Martin Gruebele and graduate students Minghao Guo and Hannah Gelman published their findings in the journal PLOS ONE.
"We're ...
2014-12-09
Irvine, Calif., Dec. 9, 2014 -- A learning technique that maximizes the brain's ability to make and store memories may help overcome cognitive issues seen in fragile X syndrome, a leading form of intellectual disability, according to UC Irvine neurobiologists.
Christine Gall, Gary Lynch and colleagues found that fragile X model mice trained in three short, repetitious episodes spaced one hour apart performed as well on memory tests as normal mice. These same fragile X rodents performed poorly on memory tests when trained in a single, prolonged session - which is a standard ...
2014-12-09
A new study links ADHD and conduct disorder in young adolescents with increased alcohol and tobacco use. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study is among the first to assess such an association in this age group.
Conduct disorder is a behavioral and emotional disorder marked by aggressive, destructive or deceitful behavior.
The study is published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
"Early onset of substance abuse is a significant public health concern," says William Brinkman, MD, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Number of medical schools with student-run free clinics has more than doubled
