Integrating complementary and alternative medicine instruction into health professions education: organizational and instructional strategies.

A few years ago, the National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine funded a program called the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Education Project. Grantees were 14 medical and nursing schools and the American Medical Student Association, which funded six additional medical schools. Grants were awarded in cohorts of five per year in 2000, 2001, and 2002-2003.The R25 grant recipients identified several major themes as crucial to the success of integrating CAM into health professions curricula. The rationale for integrating CAM curricula was in part to enable future health professionals to provide informed advice as patients dramatically increase the use of CAM. Success of new CAM education programs relied on leadership, including top-down support from institutions' highest administrators. Formal and informal engagement of key faculty and opinion leaders raised awareness, interest, and participation in programs. A range of faculty development efforts increased CAM-teaching capacity. The most effective strategies for integration addressed a key curriculum need and used some form of evidence-based practice framework. Most programs used a combination of instructional delivery strategies, including experiential components and online resources, to address the needs of learners while promoting a high level of ongoing interest in CAM topics. Institutions noted several benefits, including increased faculty development activities, the creation of new programs, and increased cross- and inter-university collaborations. Common challenges included the need for qualified faculty, crowded and changing curricula, a lack of defined best practices in CAM, and post-grant sustainability of programs.     

Vesicocolic fistula due to "collision" between adenocarcinoma of the colon and transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

A patient with sigmoidocystic fistula due to "collision" between mucoid adenocarcinoma of the colon and transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is presented. A wide resection of the colonic tumor, along with the involved bladder segment, and a decompressive colostomy with bladder drainage by catheter, were performed. The clinical symptoms, diagnostic procedures, operative treatment, and prognosis are discussed. Although fistular formation is an indication of advanced carcinoma, wide resection of the tumor and the associated fistular along with the node-bearing area will result in a reasonable percentage of 5-year survivals.     

Exploring the Positions of German and Israeli Patient Organizations in the Bioethical Context of End-of-Life Policies

Patient organizations are increasingly involved in national and international bioethical debates and health policy deliberations. In order to examine how and to what extent cultural factors and organizational contexts influence the positions of patient organizations, this study compares the positions of German and Israeli patient organizations (POs) on issues related to end-of-life medical care. We draw on a qualitative pilot study of thirteen POs, using as a unit of analysis pairs comprised of one German PO and one Israeli PO that were matched on the basis of organizational category. Bioethical positions that emanated from the interviews concerned advance directives—general views, recent legal framework, and formalization; as well as active and passive euthanasia, withholding and withdrawing of treatment, and physician-assisted suicide. In addition to the unifying, within-country impact of cultural factors, we found that constituency-based organizations and partner organizations in both countries often share common views, whereas disease-based support organizations have very heterogeneous positions. We conclude by discussing how organizational contexts provide a source of uniformity as well as diversity in the positions of POs.     

Non-invasive indirect monitoring of intra-abdominal pressure using microwave reflectometry: system design and proof-of-concept clinical trial

Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing - Monitoring intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) has become a standard in intensive care units. Correlation between the abdominal wall’s thickness...     

The impact of surgical extent and sex on the hepatic metastasis of colon cancer

Purpose

Extensive oncological surgeries were previously suggested to increase cancer recurrence rates. We herein studied the impact of different surgical procedures and sex on colorectal cancer liver metastasis, employing several tumor inoculation approaches in BALB/c mice.

Methods

Experimental hepatic metastases of the syngeneic CT26 colorectal cancer line were induced either by intra-portal inoculation or intra-splenic inoculation, employing different tumor loads. Following intra-splenic inoculation, the entire spleen or an injected hemi-spleen was removed. Additionally, the magnitude of the surgical trauma accompanying the injection procedure was manipulated.

Results

Increasing the surgical trauma by adding laparotomy or extending the length of the surgery and hypothermia did not significantly affect the number of liver metastases or liver weight for any of the injection methods and tumor loads. The development of metastasis was significantly greater in males than in females under all conditions studied—a difference not explained by the direct effects of sex hormones on in vitro CT26 proliferation or vitality.

Conclusion

Concurring with less controlled clinical observations, the surgical extensiveness did not significantly affect CT26 hepatic metastasis, potentially due to a ceiling effect of the surgical trauma on the metastatic process. The sexual dimorphism observed for the CT26 metastasis should be investigated in the context of surgical stress and considering anti-CT26 immunoreactivity.     

Strategies to promote resilience,empathy and well-being in the health professions: Insights from the 2015 CENTILE Conference

The high prevalence of physician burnout is of great concern and may begin with observed declines in empathy and increases in stress and burnout in medical and health professions students. While underlying causes have been described, there is less certainty on how to create effective interventions in curricula and workplace. In October 2015, The Center for Innovation and Leadership in Education (CENTILE) at Georgetown University, together with MedStar Health, Georgetown’s clinical partner, and six academic institutions sponsored a conference in Washington, DC. The goal was to discuss the current state of stress and burnout in the health professions, and to share best practices on strategies to promote resilience, empathy and well-being in students, residents, faculty and practitioners across health professions. In this issue of Medical Teacher, three articles address pertinent themes of the conference. Maslach and Leiter provide insights into burnout and strategies to alleviate it. Ekman and Krasner discuss various types of empathy and how neuroscience can be used to effectively cultivate empathy. In the third paper, Kreitzer and Klatt highlight three successful curricular interventions that foster self-awareness and boost resilience. Ultimately, effective strategies will be needed to address this issue at both the individual and organizational levels.