The stories they tell: How third year medical students portray patients,family members,physicians, and themselves in difficult encounters

Background: Physicians have long had patients whom they have labeled “difficult”, but little is known about how medical students perceive difficult encounters with patients.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed 134 third year medical students’ reflective essays written over an 18-month period about difficult student–patient encounters. We used a qualitative computerized software program, Atlas.ti to analyze students’ observations and reflections.

Results: Main findings include that students described patients who were angry and upset; noncompliant with treatment plans; discussed “nonmedical” problems; fearful, worried, withdrawn, or “disinterested” in their health. Students often described themselves as anxious, uncertain, confused, and frustrated. Nevertheless, they saw themselves behaving in empathic and patient-centered ways while also taking refuge in “standard” behaviors not necessarily appropriate to the circumstances. Students rarely mentioned receiving guidance from attendings regarding how to manage these challenging interactions.

Conclusions: These third-year medical students recognized the importance of behaving empathically in difficult situations and often did so. However, they often felt overwhelmed and frustrated, resorting to more reductive behaviors that did not match the needs of the patient. Students need more guidance from attending physicians in order to approach difficult interactions with specific problem-solving skills while maintaining an empathic, patient-centered context.     

基于1H-NMR植物代谢组学技术分析青海产区枸杞子的化学特征

目的:采用核磁共振氢谱(~1H-NMR)植物代谢组学技术比较青海产区枸杞子与其他产区(宁夏、甘肃、新疆、内蒙古)枸杞子的化学成分差异。方法:收集5个产区共97份枸杞子样本,其中青海61个样本,采用50%甲醇提取,检测~1H-NMR图谱,结合多元统计分析,对比青海产区枸杞子与其他产区枸杞子的化学差异性,并对各产区样本的枸杞多糖进行含量测定(以无水葡萄糖计),检测波长490 nm。结果:枸杞子的~1H-NMR图谱共检测到32个化学成分,多元统计分析表明青海产区枸杞子与其他产区样本相比,无明显分离趋势;青海产区枸杞子与宁夏产区相比,以及青海省6个不同地区的枸杞子相比,重叠样品较多,均不能显著分开。相似度结果表明,大多数样品的相似度0.85;化合物的单变量分析结果显示,除了蔗糖、葡萄糖、脯氨酸等个别代谢物在各产区样本中存在显著差异外,其余代谢物在各产区样品中的含量分布基本一致。青海与其他产区样本中枸杞多糖含量无显著性差异,且枸杞多糖含量与~1H-NMR指认的小分子化合物的相关系数处于-0.2～0.4。结论:采用~1HNMR植物代谢组学技术从整体化学组成上分析了青海产区枸杞子的化学特征,并结合枸杞多糖含量测定,显示青海产区枸杞子与其他产区枸杞子的化学差异较小。建立的基于~1H-NMR的枸杞子质量评价方法可为其质控水平提升及种植产区选择提供科学依据。     

宫腹腔镜联合手术诊治不孕症150例分析

目的:探讨宫腹腔镜联合手术在诊治不孕症中的应用。方法:对150例不孕症患者行宫腹腔镜联合手术,对不孕症病因进行诊断,同时行治疗。结果:盆腔粘连和输卵管阻塞是不孕症的主要原因。子宫内膜息肉和正常盆腔占次要比例。子宫内膜异位症和多囊卵巢也是主要病因。150例同时行宫腹腔镜输卵管通液和各种疾病的治疗。联合手术后妊娠率为48.8%。结论:腹腔镜联合手术,在一次麻醉下,可以对不孕的原因全面评价和明确诊断,在诊断同时进行治疗,对不孕症的诊断和治疗有重大的意义,值得推广。     

Dietary Tryptophan Reverses Alcohol-induced Impairment of Facial Recognition But Not Verbal Recall

The present study demonstrates that alcohol-induced memory impairment can be attenuated by pretreatment with an oral tryptophan supplementation. These results provide support for the role of a brain serotonin deficit in this impairment and highlight the impact a dietary manipulation can have on a complex behavioral process.     

Thyroid Hormone in the Treatment of Post-transplant Acute Tubular Necrosis (ATN)

Delayed graft function (DGF) in cadaver kidney transplants is a common problem and is often due to acute tubular necrosis (ATN). DGF in transplants may have a deleterious effect on long-term graft survival. Since thyroid hormone has been shown to hasten recovery from ATN in experimental models, we designed a trial to determine if a defined course of triiodothyronine (T3) would improve the short- or long-term outcome of patients with DGF in cadaveric transplants. A prospective, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind trial of T3 was carried out in patients with DGF in cadaveric renal transplants. End-points were percentage requiring dialysis, percentage recovering function, time to recovery and length of hospital stay. Long-term outcomes were percentage grafts functioning at 1 year and mean serum creatinine at 1 year. Forty-four patients were randomized to receive either T3 or placebo. Three patients were dropped from each group when early biopsies disclosed that DGF was due to rejection. The groups were well matched by age, cold ischemia time of the graft, and percentage reactivity to a random panel of antigens. Baseline thyroid function studies, including T3, reverse T3 (rT3), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, were similar between the two groups and typical of 'euthyroid-sick syndrome'. T3 had no effect on percentage requiring dialysis, time to recovery, percentage recovering function, or length of stay. At 1 year follow-up, graft function was similar in both groups and significantly lower than that seen in patients with good initial function. Thyroid hormone, given early in the course of DGF in cadaver kidney recipients, had no effect on the course of DGF. Long-term graft function is impaired in patients who experience post-transplant DGF compared to those who have good initial function.     

Health care use among young children in day care. Results in a randomized trial of early intervention

Exposure of young children to group day-care settings increases the risk of illness and may result in higher use of medical care. These observations raise concerns that the use of such settings for early intervention programs for low-birth-weight infants may increase the already high burden of medical care costs incurred by these children and their families. To address the question of medical care use associated with center-based care, we examined the hospital-based and ambulatory care reported for participants of the Infant Health and Development Program. This project is a multisite randomized trial of an early intervention program for preterm low-birth-weight infants with an intervention including 2 years of center-based care. The Intervention group did not differ in hospital-based care and averaged only two more physicians' visits over the 3-year observation period than the comparison group. We conclude that early intervention programs involving high-quality group care are not accompanied by substantial increases in health care use.