Original Article

Team-Based Learning Activities for First-Year Medical Students: Perception of the Learners

Objectives: Team-based learning (TBL) is an active learning strategy that is used increasingly in medical education to promote critical thinking, knowledge application, teamwork, and collaboration. The aim of this study was to assess the students’ perspective on the utility of TBL compared with traditional lectures. Methods: We used a validated…

Original Article

Is It “In” to Wear Scrubs Out?

Objective: This study aimed to identify differences in perceptions between healthcare and non-healthcare personnel when it comes to wearing scrubs in non-healthcare settings. Methods: An anonymous survey with 11 closed-ended questions sent via e-mail to healthcare students and employees at The University of Texas Health San Antonio and non-healthcare students…

Original Article

Patient Beliefs and Preferences Regarding Surrogate Decision Makers

Objectives: Many patients lose the capacity to make medical decisions because of severe illness or the effects of sedation or anesthesia. Most states in the United States designate the next of kin (NOK) as a default surrogate decision maker (SDM), but this may not always reflect patient preferences. Our objective…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Patient Beliefs and Preferences Regarding Surrogate Decision Makers”

In this issue of the Southern Medical Journal, Hunter and Walters report an ongoing problem with surrogate decision making in the absence of legally sufficient advance directives: the default choice as defined by state law may not be the patient’s preferred surrogate.1 This mismatch is particularly important because so few…

Original Article

How Much Time Do Residents Spend on Inpatient Clinical Computing?

Objective: To evaluate the time that residents spend on clinical computing. Methods: Our electronic health record system was used to record clinical computing time. Residents were unaware that we were tracking their time. Prior studies have reported computing times by watching the users. We evaluated residents in internal medicine, general…

Perspectives

Hospitalist Infectious Disease Service in Academic Medical Centers: A Win-Win for Hospitalists and Fellows

In the last decade, inpatient care has changed dramatically at academic centers nationwide. In part this has been driven by resident work-hour restrictions, which have forced most teaching hospitals to develop and expand hospitalist services.1,2 Our institution initiated an inpatient hospitalist team, called the Collaborative Inpatient Medical Service, in 2000….

Original Article

Parental Age and the Risk of Gestational Hypertension and Preeclampsia

Objectives: To determine the effect of maternal age (MA) and paternal age (PA) on the risk of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and eclampsia in women who delivered on the Texas–Mexico border. Methods: A cohort study using birth certificate data (singleton pregnancies, years 2005–2010) from El Paso County, Texas, was conducted. Six…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Religious Characteristics of Physicians Who Care for Underserved Populations or Work in Religiously Oriented Practices”

In recent years, the common understanding has been that the United States is becoming increasingly less religious. Certainly as far as religious observance and active participation in organized faith communities is concerned, this is demonstrably the case. Paradoxically, however, attention to the role of religion and spirituality in how patients…

Original Article

OPEN ACCESS: Association Between System Factors and Acute Myocardial Infarction Mortality

Objectives: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the association between healthcare system factors and death from acute myocardial infarction (AMI), in terms of access (distance to the hospital, mode of transportation), availability (emergency medical services, hospitals), and capability (emergency medical services’ 12-lead electrocardiogram capability, continuous percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]…

Original Article

Uric Acid Control in Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease in a Southeastern US Urban Cohort

Objectives: Uric acid (UA) control may be insufficient in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in the current era. It is unclear, however, whether this is the result of environmental effects, patient anthropometrics or insufficient dosing of medical therapy (allopurinol). Methods: We have collected data on multiple clinical and laboratory parameters…

Original Article

Religious Characteristics of Physicians Who Care for Underserved Populations or Work in Religiously Oriented Practices

Objectives: This study examined the relation between physicians’ religious characteristics and working for medically underserved populations or in religiously oriented practices. Methods: Secondary data analysis of 2009–2010 national survey of 896 primary care physicians (PCPs) and 312 psychiatrists. Predictors included physicians’ religious characteristics. Results: Adjusted response rates among eligible physicians…

Perspectives

Some Thoughts on Implementing Remote Telehealth

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has had a major focus on increasing access to care, including by use of telehealth. Telehealth technology has been used in direct patient care by numerous VA providers, up to and including the cabinet secretary in charge of the agency.1 The potential of telehealth…

Original Article

Major Complications Associated with Conventional Transbronchial Needle Aspiration

Objectives: Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is a widely used sampling technique for diagnosis and staging of lesions centered around bronchoscopically accessible airways. We report our single-institution experience of complications associated with conventional TBNA (C-TBNA) performed in 606 consecutive cases. Methods: Electronic medical records with bronchoscopy log data of C-TBNAs performed…

Invited Commentary

Commentary on “Major Complications Associated with Conventional Transbronchial Needle Aspiration”

In this issue of the Southern Medical Journal, Zaman and Shrestha1 provide a retrospective on their 14 years of experience with the major complications associated with conventional transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) and an extensive review of the published literature in the field. They make recommendations based on the available evidence…

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