SMJ // September 2021, Volume 114 - Issue 9

Original Article

Association between Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers and Lung Cancer

Objectives: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are the most commonly prescribed antihypertensives, with prior studies identifying a possible association between long-term use and increased rates of lung cancer. This study evaluated this potential association in a large population using propensity matching. Methods: This was a population-based…

Posted in: Lung Cancer1

Original Article

Association of Intrinsic Motivating Factors and Joy in Practice: A National Physician Survey

Objectives: In response to the need to identify positive measures that more accurately describe physician wellness, this study seeks to assess the validity of a novel joy in practice measure using validated physician well-being measures and test its association with certain intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Methods: Secondary data analysis using…

Original Article

OPEN: An Approach to Faculty Development for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine

Objectives: The diversity of the US physician workforce lags significantly behind the population, and the disparities in academic medicine are even greater, with underrepresented in medicine (URM) physicians accounting for only 6.8% of all US medical school faculty. We describe a “for URM by URM” pilot approach to faculty development…

Multidisciplinary Clinical Case Study

Early Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Telehealth Patterns in Primary Care, Mental Health, and Specialty Care Facilities in Texas

Objectives: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many US clinics have shifted some or all of their practice from in-person to virtual visits. In this study, we assessed the use of telehealth among primary care and specialty clinics, by targeting healthcare administrators via multiple channels. Methods:…

Posted in: Infectious Disease136

Perspectives

Physicians-in-Training: From Digital Devices to Digital Amnesia

Digital amnesia is the inability to remember information entrusted to a digital device.1 Outsourcing memory is not a new concept. Committing information to an object for future reference can be traced back to the earliest pictograms and hieroglyphics on stones. Until recent decades, the size, accessibility, and portability of records…

Original Article

CME Article: Value of Troponin in Predicting Hospital Mortality of Older Adult Patients without Suspected Acute Coronary Syndromes

Objectives: Some authors have recommended troponin measurement to stratify patient mortality risk, but it is unclear whether troponin values add to age and routine admission laboratory tests in the prediction of in-hospital mortality of older adult patients without suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of our study was to…

Posted in: Cardiovascular Disease24

Perspectives

Oxygen Supplementation in COPD Exacerbation with Hypoxia and Hypercapnia: What Does the Evidence Show?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is projected to be the third leading cause of mortality worldwide in 2020, with an annual healthcare expenditure of $50 billion in the United States alone.1,2 Acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD), characterized by worsening cough, sputum production, and breathlessness (beyond day-to-day variation), is frequently associated…

Posted in: Infectious Disease136 Pulmonary Disease16

Original Article

CME Article: Telemetry Overuse and the Effect of Educational and Electronic Health Record-Based Interventions on an Academic Internal Medicine Ward

Objectives: Guidelines for appropriate use of telemetry recommend monitoring for specific patient populations; however, many hospitalized patients receive telemetry monitoring without an indication. Clinical data and outcomes associated with nonindicated monitoring are not well studied. The objectives of our study were to evaluate the impact of an education and an…

Review Article

OPEN: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Related Pulmonary Toxicity: A Comprehensive Review, Part II

The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has changed the treatment paradigm for cancer. The ICIs nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and cemiplimab target programmed cell death protein 1, and durvalumab, avelumab, and atezolizumab target programmed death ligand 1. Ipilimumab targets cytotoxic T lymphocyte–associated antigen-4. Used as monotherapy or in combination, they have…

Original Article

Analysis of the Effects of COVID-19 Mask Mandates on Hospital Resource Consumption and Mortality at the County Level

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threatens vulnerable patient populations, resulting in immense pressures at the local, regional, national, and international levels to contain the virus. Laboratory-based studies demonstrate that masks may offer benefit in reducing the spread of droplet-based illnesses, but few data are available to assess mask effects via…

Posted in: Infectious Disease136

Perspectives

Could Clinician Sensitivity to Cultural and Historical Considerations Help Reduce COVID-19 Deaths among Blacks?

During the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many magazines and newspapers have published articles reflecting on lessons learned during the crisis. One of the most sobering lessons that data on the pandemic have highlighted is the fractured state of health equity in the United States. The staggering…

Posted in: Infectious Disease136

Review Article

Best Practices for Survey Use in Medical Education: How to Design, Refine, and Administer High-Quality Surveys

Surveys are a frequently used method to collect data in medical education research. As such, it behooves medical educators involved in scholarly work to understand the best practices in the selection, development, implementation, and reporting of surveys used when conducting research and curriculum development projects. This review article prepares the…

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