The Southern Medical Journal 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.
SMJ // Browse the Southern Medical Journal
SMJ Article | Editorial
Navigating the Pendulum Swings in Surgery: Historical Shifts and Lessons for Modern Practice
This recurring motif in medical history reveals an important truth about the current framework of clinical research and statistical inference-namely, that it is imperfect and heavily reliant on foundational assumptions.
SMJ Article | Perspectives
Garbage In, Garbage Out: The Compounding Risk of Predatory Publishing and Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Medicine
Caution is warranted in interpreting AI-synthesized outputs until high-quality literature is more equitably available for AI training, even as the technology is improving.
SMJ Article | Review Article
Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava Beyond Anatomy
Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is the most common thoracic venous anomaly, occurring in 0.3% to 0.5% of the general population and in 10% of patients with congenital heart disease. Historically considered benign, PLSVC is increasingly recognized for its clinical significance in the fields of interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, and...
SMJ Article | Original Article
Attending Perspectives on Medical Student Learning in Resident-Led Inpatient Teams
Objectives: Internal Medicine (IM) clerkships are a core clinical experience in medical school where third-year students (MS3s) learn and apply their medical knowledge to patient care. How students approach learning from direct patient care is shaped by their team environment, notably their attending physicians. Less, however, is known about how...
SMJ Article | Original Article
Impact of a Fellow-Led Educational Presentation on HIV Health on Medical Trainees’ Self-Reported Knowledge of HIV Care and Subspecialty Interest
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of delivering a fellow-led educational presentation on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) health to medical trainees as a strategy of interprofessional education and recruitment in HIV medicine and infectious diseases. Methods: Between July 2024 and April 2025, at the University of Texas Southwestern...
SMJ Article | Review Article
Care Experience Disparities in Individuals With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: Systematic Review and Content Analysis
Objectives: In this study, we aimed to characterize the landscape of the literature and describe lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) care experiences using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ's) patient experience framework, describe the characteristics of the studies, and identify critical knowledge gaps. Methods: We performed a systematic...
Posted in: Urinary Tract Infections1
SMJ Article | Errata
Erratum: Therapeutic Approach to Heart Failure Management: Insight from Clinical Trials
In the May 2026 issue of Southern Medical Journal, the article by Kumar et al,1 "Therapeutic Approach to Heart Failure Management: Insight from Clinical Trials" one of the author's name was incorrectly spelled in the article byline as "Emily Ruggerio". The correct spelling should be Emily Ruggiero. The authors apologize...
SMJ Article | Original Article
Docs for Dinner: An Initial Qualitative Evaluation of Strengthening Engagement by Breaking Bread
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the stress intervention Docs for Dinner on factors related to physician disengagement and professional isolation. Methods: A specifically designed survey was distributed to physicians who had participated in the program. Results: The results indicate that physician participants found...
SMJ Article | Editorial
Declining Opioid Deaths in Palm Beach County, Florida: Clinical and Public Health Messages
Since 1999, the United States has experienced more than 920,000 opioid-related deaths, with 36.5% occurring in the Southern Census Region of the United States, accounting for 36.5% of total deaths.1 To place this burden in perspective, opioid-related deaths during this period approach the total number of US military deaths across...
SMJ Article | Original Article
Opioid and Stimulant Coprescriptions among South Carolina Residents
Objective: The South Carolina Department of Public Health (SCDPH) Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) is used to monitor the prescribing patterns of controlled substances, including opioids and stimulants. Data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics show that the number of drug overdose deaths involving opioids and stimulants has...
SMJ Article | Original Article
Epidemiologic Analysis of Opioid Use Disorder in Hospitalized Adults: A Multilevel Modeling Approach Using North Carolina State Inpatient Data, 2000–2020
Objectives: The opioid epidemic has increasingly affected the U.S. population, posing significant public health challenges. We aimed to examine factors associated with opioid use disorder (OUD) among hospitalized adults in the United States using a multilevel modeling approach and to identify distinct patterns of co-occurring clinical conditions using latent class...
SMJ Article | Review Article
Florida Health and Health Care: A Status Report
Florida was the fastest growing state in the United States in 2024, and it has the third highest state population in 2026. We reviewed health challenges related to rapid population growth, insurance coverage gaps, underinvestment in public health, policy trends, and the high proportion of older adults to assess Florida's...
SMJ Article | Original Article
Projections for Urogynecologic Surgeries in the United States, 2025–2060
Objectives: Using the most recent US population projections data, we sought to update the estimated number of women who will undergo surgery for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in the United States from 2025 through 2060. We hypothesize that the number of pelvic floor surgeries will...
Posted in: Obstetrics and Gynecology89
SMJ Article | Original Article
Use of Nitrous Oxide during Labor in an Academic Medical Center in a Rural State
Objectives: This study examined the use of inhaled nitrous oxide as a pain management option during labor. Nitrous oxide offers a noninvasive, self-administered pain relief option that allows patients greater autonomy compared with other methods such as epidural analgesia or intravenous opioids. Its effectiveness and patient satisfaction remain a debated...
Posted in: Obstetrics and Gynecology89
SMJ Article | Original Article
The Aftermath of Hurricane Helene: Orthopedic Injury Epidemiology at a Level I Trauma Center
Objectives: Hurricane Helene was one of the most devastating natural disasters in US history, with 249 known fatalities and damages exceeding US$75 billion. This study evaluates the impact of Hurricane Helene on orthopedic injury epidemiology and patterns at a level I trauma center. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of...
Posted in: Rheumatology and Orthopedics30
SMJ Article | Review Article
When HbA1c Lies: Recognizing and Managing HbA1c-Glucose Discordance in Clinical Practice
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) remains a cornerstone of glycemic assessment in diabetes mellitus care, yet discordance between HbA1c and measured glucose values is common in clinical practice. Failure to recognize this discordance can lead to inappropriate treatment escalation, increased hypoglycemia risk, and patient distress. This article reviews the biological and clinical...
Posted in: Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism22
SMJ Article | Review Article
Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Primary Care: A Practical, Multidisciplinary Review of Data Interpretation and Billing Updates
Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) offers real-time and longitudinal insights into glycemic patterns, time in range, and hypoglycemia. Adopting CGMs into practice can improve clinical outcomes while strengthening patient engagement and enabling data-driven care across routine visits and population health programs. Despite strong evidence of benefit, CGM remains underused in primary...
Posted in: Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism22
SMJ Article | Original Article
Perspectives of Academic VA Clinician Educators: A Qualitative Analysis from a Single Facility
Objective: As part of a quality improvement initiative focused on medical educator faculty development, we sought to explore the perspectives of clinician-educators based at a large urban Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) who navigate the workplace communities of both their VAMC and academic medical center (AMC). Methods: Informed by the...
SMJ Article | Original Article
Cultural Competency in Medical Education through the Arts and Humanities: An Innovative Immersive Community-Based Workshop
Objective: Teaching cultural competency is a critical but challenging task for clinician educators. Immersive experiential learning in the local community through the arts and humanities remains underexplored in medical education. To address this gap, a novel arts and humanities–based cultural competency workshop was developed. Methods: This half-day cultural competency workshop...
