Today is the final day to be a part of the healthcare reform survey.  It is important to have each member engage in and respond to the biggest issue facing medicine in years. 
 
A $100 Durant's gift card drawing will take place Monday, August 3rd.  Please take few minutes to participate.

Thousands of underprivileged kids are given a better chance at life through the ACT Head Start Health Fair.  The Medical Society along with a variety of other agencies will hold the one-day health screening at the Phoenix University School (previously Phoenix Preparatory Academy) on Saturday - September 12, 2009. 
 
The Society needs 50 physicians, physician assistant and nurse practitioner volunteers; 20-30 medical volunteers and 35-45 non-medical volunteers to help with this very worthwhile project.  Three shifts are available to physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners - 7:00 am to 12:00 pm, 11:45 am to 3:30 pm, and an all day shift.  Others are required to serve for the entire event (7:00 am - 3:30 pm), due to the training involved.  All volunteers will be asked to stay for their entire shift.  A free lunch will be included. 
 
Portions of the exam can only be performed under the supervision of a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner.  Each are assigned an exam booth and an assistant.  All the paperwork and releases are collected beforehand by the Head Start staff so that you can concentrate on what you do best - treating the patient.  It is not necessary to be a primary care physician or a pediatrician.  The examinations are general in nature and most subspecialties qualify to perform them. 
 
We also encourage you to involve your staff (age 18 or older) in this event.  Nurses and medical students are assigned to a booth to assist the examiners or to take blood pressures. Non-medical volunteers will help with heights and weights, assist with traffic, entertainment and child supervision.  We are especially in need of bilingual (Spanish, English and Asian) volunteers, as well as those experienced in administering Hearing Exams and Cleanings. 
 
More than 40,000 children have received medical screenings at this event.  We expect over 2,000 kids to attend this year, which means we will likely perform 800 exams in our area.  Many of these three to five year olds have never seen a physician and about 10% will need follow-up care.
 
Please donate a few hours of your time to this worthy cause.  Not only will you make it possible for the children to enter the Head Start program, you will allow them to get the medical care they need.  Your time can make a difference for these preschoolers.
 
Visit www.actkidshealthfair.org to sign up!!

For questions, contact Lisa Silva at 602-252-2015. Please register by August 14, 2009.  Thank you for volunteering your time and we look forward seeing you there! 

The United States faces a severe shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons within 10 years if entry into the profession keeps declining while the patient population ages, a study predicts. [1] By 2025, even if CABG procedures are no longer performed--an extreme scenario--the US will lack at least 1500 cardiothoracic surgeons, the research estimates.

The study highlights the need for more surgeons despite the drop in CABG procedures and the rise in interventions such as angioplasty, senior author Dr Irving Kron (University of Virginia, Charlottesville) told heartwire.

"It turns out that even though angioplasty is a perfectly good therapy for a lot of people, many people have recurrence, and a significant number of patients still need coronary bypass and certainly other cardiac surgical operations," he said.  "We need to start to do a better job of recruiting individuals into our specialty, or I think patients are going to suffer," Kron cautioned.

The study is published online July 27 in Circulation.

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