For a mere 68 cents per day, you simply can't afford
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It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.
Eleanor Roosevelt
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MedaBytes is a part of the Maricopa County Medical Society's family of
businesses. We were established to assist the medical community with their
computer and networking needs.
Like the other family members, MedaBytes strives
to offer a valuable service at a fair price.
www.medabytes.com
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Have you ever considered becoming a mentor and role model to a first-year
medical student? Here's your chance!
The
University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, in partnership
with Arizona
State University, places a high priority on
early and continuous clinical training. All first- and second-year medical
students spend one half-day, every other week, in a primary care setting working
with a physician mentor. This part of the curriculum is called the Longitudinal
Clinical Experience (LCE).
Physician mentors are primary care internists,
pediatricians and family physicians. Mentors work with the same student for two
years. This provides the opportunity to develop a close and long lasting
relationship. Being a mentor allows you to be involved in medical education and
shaping the career of a young physician, with a time commitment that is very
manageable. The student works with the mentor in their clinical setting,
gradually assuming an increasing level of patient care
responsibilities.
There
are a number of benefits to being a physician mentor, in addition to the
satisfaction of forming a long lasting relationship with a young physician in
training. As a mentor, you will receive a UA College of Medicine faculty title
that allows full electronic access into the medical library and a discount at
the UA bookstore.
Anyone interested in being a mentor or in learning more
about this possibility should contact Greg Lewis, M.D. by emailing or calling
the LCE Coordinator, Candace Johnston, at johnstonc@email.arizona.edu or
602-827-2006.
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Maricopa County
Medical Society
326 E. Coronado Road
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 602.251.2015
Fax: 602.256.2749
Serving medicine,
serving the community
since 1892...
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InforMed Society is published by the Maricopa County Medical Society.
Copyright © 2009
Questions or Comments, please email us at:
InforMed@mcmsonline.com
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TWO HUGE VICTORIES IN
ARIZONA
MEDICINE!
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In an unprecedented procedural move the Arizona House and
Senate passed legislation on Thursday that restores
the Graduate Medical Education (GME) and Hospital DSH and Rural Hospital
Reimbursement funding. At a time
when continued cuts are inevitable, having the legislature restore funding is
both remarkable and a huge victory for healthcare in Arizona. ArMA, along with the Arizona
Osteopathic Medical Association, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare
Association, the Arizona College of Emergency Physicians, the Maricopa
Integrated Healthcare System, Mayo Clinic, Banner Health, St. Joseph's
Hospital, Scottsdale Healthcare and other health care groups as well as the
Arizona State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, worked diligently to urge
legislators to vote to restore this critical funding. The measure passed both houses with the
two-thirds bipartisan vote necessary to enact it with an emergency clause
allowing it to become law upon the signature of the Governor yesterday. This is
the first positive news for healthcare funding this session and it bodes well
for the 2010 budget as it is being developed.
Congratulations to all who worked to restore the funding to these vital
programs and thanks to all the legislators who stood up for physician training
and our health care safety net.
Over the last 6 months, ArMA
spearheaded an AMICUS effort along with the Maricopa County Medical Society to challenge an Arizona Appellate
Court decision that knocked down a critical component of our tort reform
success, "qualifications of expert witnesses". On Friday, the Arizona
Supreme Court found in our favor and held that ARS 12-2604 is substantive
and does not violate the separation of powers doctrine, effectively
reinstating the expert witness qualifications statute.
Stay tuned for further information as it develops. |
Obama budget sets stage for reform of health care system, Medicare pay
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President Obama on Feb. 26 offered a $3.56 trillion
fiscal 2010 budget outline calling for sweeping changes to health
spending and tax policy, including a recognition that Medicare's
physician pay cuts mandated by law are not practical.
The budget proposal, if adopted by Congress, also would set aside a
$634 billion reserve fund over a decade to start paying for expanded
access to health care. Obama would pay for the fund in part by
fulfilling campaign pledges of increasing taxes on higher-income
earners and requiring competitive bidding among private Medicare plans.
While past presidents generally offered five-year spending proposals,
Obama's looks ahead for a decade, through 2019.
Physician organizations, including the American Medical Association,
cheered the change in tactics from President Bush's budget proposals,
which did not include the cost of preventing annual Medicare physician
pay cuts. Obama's budget is a "huge step forward," said AMA President
Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD.
More information.... |
Docs seek gag orders
to stop patients' reviews
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The anonymous comment on the Web site RateMDs.com
was unsparing: "Very unhelpful, arrogant," it said of a doctor. "Did not listen
and cut me off, seemed much too happy to have power (and abuse it!) over
suffering people." Such reviews are becoming more common as consumer ratings
services like Zagat's and Angie's List expand
beyond restaurants and plumbers to medical care, and some doctors are fighting
back.
They're
asking patients to agree to what amounts to a gag order that bars them from
posting negative comments online. "Consumers
and patients are hungry for good information" about doctors, but Internet
reviews provide just the opposite, contends Dr. Jeffrey
Segal, a North Carolina neurosurgeon who has made a business of helping
doctors monitor and prevent online criticism.
Read complete article... |
Scope of practice expansions fuel legal battles
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Physicians are going to court to fight what they call an
onslaught of scope of practice expansions by a growing number of allied
health professionals.
Increasingly, the medical profession is mounting legal challenges
against state boards and others on issues such as nurse anesthetists
performing interventional pain management and podiatrists being allowed
to treat ankles as well as feet.
"There is this overall push by allied health professionals to try to
increase their scope of practice, and what's landing people in the
courts is when they actually meander outside of their scope into areas
considered the practice of medicine," said Timothy Miller, the
Federation of State Medical Boards' senior director of government
relations and policy.
Read more.... |
Scientists identify a potential target that may provide a new approach to melanoma treatment
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In a new study released today, researchers have shown that a specific protein
plays an important role in inhibiting the development and spread of melanoma
tumors in mouse and in human skin models. Increased expression of the protein,
SOX9, may also decrease the resistance of melanoma cells to retinoic acid,
which is used to treat several other types of cancer. The ability to increase
sensitivity to retinoic acid by stimulating SOX9 expression could lead to new
approaches for treating melanoma and other cancers. The study, led by researchers
at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of
Health, appears online March 9, 2009, in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Melanoma, which begins in cells called melanocytes, is the most deadly form of
skin cancer. Current approaches to treating melanoma include the use of conventional
therapies, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy, or stimulating the immune
system to inhibit cancer growth.
Read More....
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Non-infectious prion protein linked to Alzheimer's Disease
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The prion protein, notorious for causing fatal neurodegenerative
disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and mad cow disease, may
also be an accomplice in Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.
In this case, it's not the infectious misfolded prion protein causing
the problem but the cellular form, whose function is relatively unknown.
Alzheimer's disease is marked by clumps of protein fibers called
amyloids that accumulate into "plaques" around nerve cells in the
brain, leading to the progressive loss of function. The main protein
fragment found in these plaques, amyloid-ß peptide, is created by the
improper cleavage of a protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP).
Over time, amyloid-ß peptides transform into small clusters known as
oligomers, which then develop into the long, sticky fibers that form
plaques around brain cells. Scientists are uncertain if amyloid-ß
oligomers act directly or through cell surface receptors to affect
thinking and decision-making, but most agree that they're toxic to
brain.
Read complete article... |
Pri-Med Access Phoenix
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April 1-2, 2009
Phoenix Convention Center (West Building)
Pri-Med Access is the newest innovation in primary care
CME, offering a national curriculum on the toughest clinical challenges
facing primary care medicine today.
Topics will include:- Cardiovascular Disease
- Managing Risk: Navigating Complexities in Blood Pressure and Lipids Management to Attenuate Cardiovascular Risk
- Diabetes & Obesity
- Our Obesogenic Culture: Addressing the Epidemics of Diabetes and Obesity
- Immunizations
- Vaccine-Preventable Diseases: Achieving Success Is Every Clinician's Responsibility
- Dependency Disorders
- Focused Consults: Addressing Dependency Disorders in a 15-minute Visit
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