The Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Medical Association. It has a multidisciplinary and inter-professional focus that covers a broad range of topics relevant to physicians and other healthcare specialists.
Objective: The goal of this curriculum was to increase medical students’ knowledge of obesity medicine as well as their comfort with and confidence in communication skills related to weight management by using a standardized patient (SP) encounter.Methods: We developed and evaluated a two-part weight management curriculum that used a synchronous…
Chronic low back pain and opioid use disorder often occur together, creating clinical situations that are complex and emotionally charged. Low back pain remains a common cause of disability and a major contributor to opioid prescribing. Although guidelines recommend exercise and other non-opioid treatments as first-line care, patients with co-occurring…
The following abstracts were accepted and presented during Southern Medical Association’s 6th Annual Physicians-in-Training Leadership Conference that took place February 21, 2026 at Clemson School of Nursing in Greenville, South Carolina.
Objectives: Large language models (LLMs), such as Open AI’s Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT)-4 and Google Gemini, have gained significant attention for their ability to process complex language patterns and are being used increasingly in fields such as medicine, where they assist in learning, collaboration, and patient care. Although prior…
Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Luminetics Core, a Food and Drug Administration-cleared artificial intelligence-based screening system, in the detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a predominately non-White population and identify potential shortcomings in clinical implementation that should be addressed to mitigate disparities in health care. Methods: Data were…
Objectives: This study used a novel patient disability assessment, the Mississippi Qualitative Hand Pain Questionnaire (MQHPQ), to compare carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) with other hand pain diagnoses (non-CTS) and then to the levels of impairment in the American Medical Association (AMA) Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (ie, AMA…
The passage of House of Representatives (HR) One, or the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” brings official changes to students’ ability to borrow federal loans. The federal Graduate Plus Loan will sunset, leaving medical students with unsubsidized loans as the primary federal borrowing option, capped at $50,000 per year and…
Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the use of effective peer mentoring skills by residents after participating in an experiential training session. Methods: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation resident physicians were taught communication skills useful for mentoring conversations and practiced them in an experiential workshop. They were surveyed…
Objectives: Approximately 1.6 million Americans identify as transgender and gender diverse (TGD), yet health outcomes research focused on TGD patients is lacking. This gap persists despite significant health disparities experienced by TGD patients, including high rates of depression and suicidality. In clinical settings, patient-reported outcomes surveys (PROS) can pinpoint immediate…
Objectives: Despite increased attention toward improved diversity in medicine, access to the profession continues to be limited. In fact, strides made in racial and socioeconomic diversity in the medical profession remain slow, with certain groups even losing ground. Although the literature on career choice in general is significant, the unique…
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