Published in the October 2015 AAMC Reporter
By Whitney L.J. Howell
Neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, studies the neurons and regions of the brain associated with perception, attention, and memory, looking specifically at how distraction and multitasking can affect these abilities. His unique research combines functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation to augment what we know about how changes in the aging brain can lead to cognitive decline. His current work focuses on neuroplasticity and how custom-designed video games can bolster cognitive abilities.
Gazzaley is a professor of neurology, physiology, and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine. He is the founding director of UCSF’s Neuroscience Imaging Center and directs the cognitive neuroscience Gazzaley Lab. In addition, he is co-founder and chief science adviser of Akili Interactive Labs, a company focused on developing therapeutic video games. He holds several patents, has authored more than 100 scientific articles, and has given more than 425 invited presentations globally. Gazzaley’s presentation at the AAMC’s 2015 Medical Education Meeting will focus on how medical education can use gaming and technology to enhance learning.
Reporter: Based on your research, what areas of cognition and memory do action video games touch? Do we know why?
Gazzaley: It depends on what type of game—even an action video game—that you’re talking about, as well as its intended impact. There are consumer games out there that were developed for entertainment purposes and sold as consumer products. And there is literature that emerged in 2002 in Nature by my friends and colleagues Daphne Bavelier, PhD, and Shawn Green, PhD, that showed action video games designed to be entertainment in the hands of young people who played them seemed to enhance their cognitive control abilities, including attention and working memory. That is the sort of research that has led to games like the one we built. [The game] was not designed as a primary entertainment tool, though that’s still important with a video game, but it was designed with the particular goal of boosting cognitive abilities. It has been shown, in older adults, to help cognitive control abilities that also are impacted by consumer games. We are continuing to explore a whole host of areas dealing with cognition.
What is it about action video games that led you to want to study how they help us understand cognitive function?
There was an impressive body of scientific literature that was published in the early 2000s showing that action video games improved cognitive ability of the young people who played them. Also, I have been creating tasks for the last decade to study the brain. I felt that building a video game could be thought of as an extension of that skill, although it’s a complex extension, for sure.
What are the challenges in using action video games for therapeutic interventions and formal educational programming to make positive cognition and memory changes? What can be done to overcome those roadblocks?
There are two major challenges to using action video games in this way. First, we have to build these games at a high level so they’re fun and engaging to play. They have to have all the critical elements of adaptivity and feedback that will lead to change. In addition, we must validate the games at a high level so we actually know if they are doing what we hope they will.
What significant changes do EEGs, MRIs, and other tests identify? And how would a person experience the impact of neural stimulation from video games? Are there benefits for people without cognitive deficits?
Those tools allow us to understand what is changing in the brain from both a structural and functional perspective. We can then associate them with the changes in cognition that we also record to understand the basic mechanisms of enhancement effects. People who play the action video games may actually notice the cognitive benefits in their real-life activities. But this seems to be more likely if the person started with a deficit. We’re not studying the impact on healthy individuals without deficits. We are optimistic, based on the pilot data, that we will have some ability to induce positive effects.
Many people are skeptical about the effect of action video gaming on mental processing. What issues do the games raise to challenge what you have seen in your research?
Many games seem to improve only performance without transfer to other aspects of cognition, which are not directly trained. We have had success with a couple of games and have published results showing that at least some degree of transfer can occur. We now are working to extend that to the next level. There are many factors involved that we still need to explore, such as new game mechanics, motivation factors, dosage, delivery schedule, as well as the basis for individual differences.
How do you envision action video gaming being used to enhance learning? In what ways can it best be used in medical education?
I am trying to determine through both game development and research if we can use these games to improve the brain’s basic information processing systems—attention, working memory, task switching, multitasking—and thus positively impact the learning process. Medical education involves a lot of memorization, but also high-level thinking and decision-making. It should benefit from a cognitive enhancement approach.
To read the article at its original location: https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/october2015/444954/spotlight.html
Published on the Oct. 8, 2015, DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
Thirty years ago, medical subspecialty was relatively uncommon. This was true for all areas of medicine, including radiology. But, today, the playing field is shifting. A growing number of radiologists are opting to complete fellowships before they hang a shingle, join a practice, or sign on with a hospital-based group.
A fellowship-trained radiologist’s expertise often proves invaluable to patients and referring physicians alike. An impact that can be enticing to radiologists already in practice who might be looking to expand their skill set, prompting them to pursue fellowships long after their school days are behind them.
To discover why an active radiologist would step away from a thriving practice to, once again, become a student, and what challenges and benefits doing so poses, Diagnostic Imaging spoke with three providers who opted for additional training mid-career. These are their stories.
To read the remainder of the article at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/residents/practicing-radiologist-trainee?cid=tophero#sthash.dK0u5LG7.dpuf
Published on the Sept. 24., 2015 DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
When it comes right down to it, radiology isn’t that big of a player in the rapidly approaching ICD-10 implementation. The industry accounts for a mere 3% of submitted claims – at most. But, that doesn’t mean its impact on radiologists isn’t going to be significant.
On average, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, the number of commonly-used codes will grow by nearly six-fold for most of radiology, but musculoskeletal imaging faces a far heftier load – a nearly 29-fold ballooning. So, whether you’re a musculoskeletal subspecialist working in an academic medical center or a general radiologist who happens to see a lot of musculoskeletal cases, you need to be prepared for a big change.
Regardless of the services you’re providing, it’s imperative that you’re ready for the new, code-heavy system that goes into effect on Oct. 1 – less than a week away, said Richard Duszak, MD, vice chair for health policy and practice in Emory University’s radiology and imaging sciences department.
“If you’ve prepared, the switch to ICD-10 will be like Y2K,” said Duszak, who is also lead author on the JACR study. “You’ll just boot up your computer, and everything will come up like normal.”
The cost of not being ready, however, is considerable. For a large practice with at least 100 providers, the price tag of lost productivity and payment disruption could total between $2 million and $8 million, he said. Even small practices with roughly three providers could lose up to $230,000.
To read the remainder of the article at its originial location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/practice-management/procrastinators-guide-icd-10
Published on the Sept. 2, 2015, DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
Since May, there’s been ongoing debate about one of your most significant, frequently-used tools – your PACS. Has it, in fact, outlived its original purpose only to be replaced by a sleeker, more versatile system?
At this year’s SIIM conference, Donald Dennison, director-at-large of the SIIM Board of Directors and chair of the ACR Connect Committee, rocked the industry by suggesting just that. He predicted that by 2018, the radiology world would be PACS-less, and there are some in the community who agree.
But, not all. Many of you – practitioners, vendors, and customers – still believe there’s life-blood in PACS. Just not in its current iteration. The system has to change to fulfill a new role within a rapidly-morphing health care environment. If it can do that, radiology’s diagnostic workhorse will still be able to meet your needs and those of the industry’s other stakeholders.
“This isn’t a death – it’s a maturation. It’s overly hyperbolic and misleading to discuss the death of PACS,” said Paul Chang, MD, radiology professor, vice chair of radiology informatics, pathology informatics, and enterprise imaging medical director at the University of Chicago. “This is us saying today’s radiology department isn’t the file room. Our value is in interpretation of imaging studies and contributing to patient management.”
But, to meet that goal, you must be aware of the many factors affecting the direction in which your PACS will likely go.
To read the remainder of the article at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/pacs-and-informatics/fate-pacs
Published on the Aug. 21, 2015 DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
Editor’s Note: It’s no longer enough for radiologists to be imaging experts. Health care is becoming big business and radiologists need to understand how to navigate the system. Diagnostic Imaging’s Business of Radiology series provides radiologists with the business education they need to succeed.
It’s no secret that radiology is under the gun to validate its contributions to health care and prove its worth and what it brings to patients.
Today’s health care environment – the move toward accountable care organizations (ACOs), the specter of bundled payments, and the paradigm shift to value-based purchasing – has created a need for the field to demonstrate its quality, efficacy, and efficiency. To do that, many radiology practices are turning to analytics as a way to use hard data to show the benefits they offer.
“Analytics in radiology is actually very important. Radiology cuts across a lot of health care lines – patient treatment, diseases, patient care, and diagnoses,” said Jim Hamilton, business manager and administrator for Medical Imaging Physicians in Dayton, Ohio. “The whole concept of analytics in radiology is huge, and the effect on radiology will be huge.”
Within the field, analytics falls into two groups: business intelligence (BI) analytics and clinical analytics. BI focuses on using analytics to improve the day-to-day workflow and business activities while clinical analytics can augment how radiologists and radiology practices serve patients.
Despite recognizing the need for using analytics, actually using the data is still a new concept. And, proper implementation of analytics will require careful planning on the radiology practice’s part, said Keith Chew, senior vice president and managing director of strategic positioning and consulting services with practice management and leadership organization Integrated Medical Partners.
“At this stage, analytics is extremely young for everyone in the industry. I think we’re still working on all of this,” he said. “The big point, though, is that you’re going to get started off and collect information from your system.”
To read the remainder of the story at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/practice-management/analytics-can-save-radiology
Published in the Summer 2015 North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine Magazine
By Whitney L.J. Howell
The Veterinary Hospital at NC State University is major referral center for veterinarians from throughout the Southeast. Board certified specialists annually diagnose and treat more than 27,000 patients who are often seriously ill and require the best that veterinary medicine offers. The patient case load also allows for instruction of the next generation of veterinarians and the opportunity for clinical trials that advance animal health and well-being.
Henry, a Hanovarian horse, was fast. Galloping was always one of his favorite things. Charging down a trail at speed, he never missed an opportunity to let loose with a playful buck. Until one day, he started to hurt. Initially, Henry tried to ignore the pain to keep running in the field and competing in Hunter/ Jumper shows with his owner. As time passed, the pain grew. He stopped running, and almost any exercise in the field or the show ring caused discomfort. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shake the problem, and his doctors were stumped.
The puzzle pieces finally started to come together when Henry’s owners, the Thompsons, brought him to North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Despite his uncertain future as a show horse, the Thompsons wanted him to receive the best care possible.
“Henry has a great personality—he just loves people,” says Julia Thompson. “He’s the sweetest thing, like the son I never had. Seeing Henry in so much pain was very distressing for my daughter because no one could figure out what was wrong with him. She was very attached to him.”
As a horse with undiagnosed head-shaking, Henry needed a veterinarian experienced with difficult-to-solve cases and a clinic with advanced technologies and varied expertise unavailable elsewhere.
Initially, his owners and primary care veterinarian speculated Henry’s head-shaking appeared because he wasn’t accustomed to the gnats in his new environment. Bred in arid New Mexico, he’d never encountered the insects so common in humid Charleston, South Carolina. But when the behavior continued to the point where he couldn’t hold a bit, everyone searched for another reason.
Head-shaking in horses isn’t uncommon, according to Callie Fogle, clinical associate professor of equine surgery at NC State’s Veterinary Hospital. It’s thought to be similar to the severe headaches and uncomfortable tingling sensations experienced by humans with trigeminal neuralgia. The pain and tingling in the head of the horse, however, manifests itself through headshaking, particularly during physical exertion. It can be extremely debilitating.
“This can be a really terrible thing in a horse,” says Dr. Fogle. “Some can’t eat, they can’t function, and most horses can’t be ridden because of the bobbing and shaking of their head the whole time. Some cases can be so uncomfortable for them to live normally.”
Fogle discovered Henry’s problem during a preliminary conversation with his trainer. When she opened Henry’s mouth, she saw it—a mass invading his lower right jaw, pushing his teeth out of alignment.
“His trainer was shocked,” Fogle says. “She’s very thorough and attentive, and even she hadn’t seen this. That’s how quickly this tumor had grown, and she was convinced that was the source of Henry’s head-shaking.”
Fogle wasn’t convinced because head-shaking root causes can be elusive and a mandibular, or lower jaw, problem causing head shaking hadn’t been described before. Quick X-rays revealed an abnormal growth of new bone in Henry’s jaw, radiating from its center like a sunburst. Tests of a small sample of the growth revealed that it was aggressive cancer, and the pathologist classified it as a tumor of dental origin. The tests also revealed another significant problem—Henry also had a bacterial infection in his jaw.
But the team needed more information. They did a short-acting nerve block of the jaw and took Henry out for exercise, to ensure the mass was the problem spot. With this area of his jaw desensitized, Henry was able to hold a bit and had no head-shaking. Tumor-induced pain was most likely the culprit behind the head-shaking, which meant to treat Henry’s head-shaking, she’d have to remove a significant portion of the rostral, or front portion, of his mandible.
“In a horse, that’s not something to be taken lightly because they need their teeth for grazing and grasping things,” says Fogle. “It affects them. We had to make sure we took enough of the jaw to get the entire tumor, but no more than absolutely necessary.”
To get a better idea of the tumor’s exact location and size, they anesthetized Henry and performed a CT scan with 3D reconstruction images, an advanced imaging procedure not available in the majority of equine veterinary clinics.
Fogle removed the whole right side of Henry’s rostral mandible, including his canine and all incisor teeth on that side. She was able to preserve enough of his jaw bone, though, so that he didn’t need a prosthetic device or any stabilizing metal implants. Henry was also given antibiotics to treat the bacterial infection within his jaw.
Now, more than a year-and-a-half after surgery, Henry’s back to his old activities and doing well according to the Thompsons. “He’s like Prince Charming—still a loving, wonderful and kind spirit, full of personality,” she said. “He’s doing much better and his demeanor never changed. He just exudes charm.”
Buster: Pulmonic Stenosis
Initially, Lisa Bass from Greenville, South Carolina, wasn’t keen that her son brought Buster home from college. Her house was already crowded with a 13-year-old Labrador Retriever and an 18-year-old Schnauzer. She couldn’t see where a 12-week-old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy— a toddler-sized dog—would fit. But after one summer, Buster won her over.
“We fell in love with him,” says Bass. “He makes you smile. He’s such a little cut-up. When he looks at you, it’s not with the eyes of a dog, but a person. He’s constantly playful—he’s the light of our lives.”
That’s why Bass was so surprised when her veterinarian heard a heart murmur during Buster’s one-year check-up. After an echocardiogram (a cardiac ultrasound exam), Buster’s diagnosis was clear. He had pulmonic stenosis—a congenital defect of the valve between the heart’s right ventricle and the main artery that carries blood to the lungs (pulmonary artery). This defect thickens and narrows the valve, forcing the heart to work harder to pump blood across it. Dogs with severe pulmonic stenosis often live shorter than normal lives, and they can develop heart failure or arrhythmias at a relatively young age.
Even through Buster was not showing clinical signs of his heart defect, he had a poor prognosis for a normal life. Buster’s pulmonic stenosis was severe, causing a pressure difference between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery of over 100mmHg (there is normally no difference). The best option, Bass’s veterinarian said, was an interventional procedure called balloon valvuloplasty, and he referred Buster to the Hannah Heart Center of the Veterinary Hospital at NC State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine— the only veterinary heart center in North or South Carolina that performs the procedure.
Balloon valvuloplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that is done under general anesthesia in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. A catheter is introduced through a needle stick in either the jugular vein in the neck or the femoral vein in the groin. Under fluoroscopic (x-ray) guidance, a high pressure balloon is carefully placed across the defective valve. Once positioned, the balloon is inflated to expand the valve area, relieving the obstruction to blood flow across the valve. At NC State, the procedure is permanently effective in returning the valve to nearnormal function more than 90% of the time.
Buster’s outcome, according to Dr. Teresa DeFrancesco, section chief for cardiology, dermatology, and oncology at the Veterinary Hospital, was outstanding.
Buster’s peak pressure gradient fell to 44mmHg.
“Buster now has only mild residual stenosis, and his lifespan should no longer be significantly shortened by his heart defect. He still has a heart murmur, but we’ve gone from a severely affected dog to one mildly affected.”
The Bass family sees no change in Buster’s behavior— and that’s just what they wanted.
“From our perspective, Buster has stayed the same,” says Bass. “He never gave us any indication that he was sick, and now that he’s back home and being Buster, you’d never know he’d been sick. It’s amazing that his energy level is the same. He lights up a room with his expressions. If I had to do it all over again, there’s no question I’d bring Buster to N.C. State.”
Buster, who probably would have died as a young adult, now has the potential for a normal lifespan thanks to his veterinarian who detected the problem during his annual checkup.
“Sometimes when dogs are older, the affected tissues are tougher, and more difficult to dilate,” says DeFrancesco. “This means our ability to help may be reduced. We like to see patients with this defect as soon as possible. Puppies presenting with loud murmurs (grade 3/6 and above) should be evaluated by a veterinary cardiologist as soon as possible.”
Alice: Diagnosed with Uterine Cancer
It’s said there’s often one hen to rule the roost.
In the case of Alec Bergin, a 13-year-old boy from Moore County, that hen is Alice, a rare breed Phoenix chicken. Ever since Alice joined the Bergin family with three other Phoenix hens, Alec has hand-fed her treats and watched her assume a leading-lady role, hatching and mothering her share of 12 chicks.
“This is Alec’s own flock, and he takes care of them,” says Jennifer Bergin, Alec’s mother. “He’s responsible for feeding and watering them. He goes outside and spends 20 minutes every day just watching them to make sure they’re acting normally. If anything’s wrong, he can catch it early on.”
And that’s exactly what Alec did one evening. Instead of running for her treat like normal, Alice stayed on her nest. She only half-heartedly pecked at the niblet, and after looking her over, Alec and his mother noticed her distended belly and discovered her back end was covered in feces. Their first assumption: she couldn’t lay her eggs.
Taking Alice to the community veterinarian wasn’t an option— chickens aren’t everyday pets. To get this family hen the proper care, Bergin brought her to the NC State Veterinary Hospital and put her in Jeff Applegate’s hands.
“When Alice came in, she was very lethargic and exhibited the distended belly or coelom so we started with a physical exam, completed blood work, and proceeded to complete an emergency ultrasound in concert with the Radiology Service,” says Dr. Applegate, a clinical veterinarian specializing in companion exotic animal medicine.
“The ultrasound revealed significant fluid and abnormal tissue in and around the reproductive tract,” Applegate continues. “There shouldn’t have been any free fluid in her belly. Of the more routine birds that we treat as pets, the abdomen or more appropriately referred to as a coelom can be described as a central column or organs like the heart, liver, and intestines, with the remaining space occupied by the surrounding air sacs and lungs.”
Reproductive disease is common in chickens, and it’s analogous to uterine disease in humans and other mammals. The ultrasound showed Alice had free coelomic fluid and abnormal tissue in her oviduct, the tunnel in which an egg forms and by which it leaves the hen’s body. The diagnosis was oviductal adenocarcinoma—Alice had uterine cancer. The treatment: a salpingohysterectomy, the avian equivalent to spay.
Once the Bergins green-lighted surgery, understanding Alice would never again lay eggs, Applegate assembled a team from the Exotic Animal Medicine Service to combine their skills during Alice’s operation. Pooling talents from multiple specialties is a benefit the NC State University Veterinary Hospital offers patients according to Applegate. In cases like this, many collaborating hospital services may include specialists from emergency and critical care, radiology, anesthesia, and surgery.
The surgery—an invasive procedure with the surgeons removing Alice’s diseased oviduct through a small L-shaped incision behind her left leg—was a success with few complications and a moderate amount of bleeding. After two weeks recuperating in the Bergin’s master bathroom, Alice moved back outside and assumed her leadership position.
“She’s living with friends and doesn’t look any different from the other hens,” Bergin says. “She’s a valued member of our family as much as the cats and dogs are.”
To read the story at its original location: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwTq5NcNMuyjamNwVzJaSlhZNFU/view
Published in the Spring 2015 UNC at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health Carolina Public Health Magazine
Students use capstone projects to improve public health
By Whitney L.J. Howell
Throughout North Carolina, Master of Public Health students from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health are hard at work in communities — designing, reviewing and improving community-based programs to improve health outcomes statewide. They’re doing it for course credit — and they’re loving the learning process.
Since 2009, instead of writing lengthy theses, health behavior master’s students participate in the capstone program, an initiative that embeds them within a community project, giving them opportunity to gather new skills while they apply in their neighborhoods what they’ve learned in the classroom. The capstone course was the result of a comprehensive review of the Master of Public Health program, led by Laura Linnan, ScD, professor of health behavior at the Gillings School.
Now in its sixth year, capstone accomplishes something its community partners had long wanted, says Megan Landfried, MPH, capstone program manager and health behavior lecturer.
“A program evaluation revealed that many stakeholders were ready for a new form of field training,” Landfried says. “We really wanted to strike an optimal balance between student learning and service to our community partners.”
Landfried, who participated as a student in Action-Oriented Community Diagnosis, a
prior iteration of the year-long field experience, says the current program affects real change in communities while preparing students for their own careers. That students work on projects proposed by community partners ensures that their efforts truly benefit the communities in which they work.
Each year, capstone invites 15 to 17 community partners to the School for a “pitch day,” when program leaders present their project ideas to students. Students rank the five programs in which they are most interested, and capstone leaders assign between four and six students to each of 10-12 selected projects. On average, 80 percent of students are assigned to their first choices.
According to Landfried, students spend about 7.5 hours each week with their projects, working alongside program leaders and learning from these real-world mentors.
For example, PORCH (porchnc.org), a Chapel Hill-based, all-volunteer, hunger-relief organization, has worked with capstone to evaluate the efficacy of its food distribution and referral process, says program founder Debbie Horowitz. Without capstone students, the group could not have obtained that information.
“The students have provided us with a lot of data that we would have had to do without otherwise,” Horowitz says. “Are we helping the right people? Is the food we provide being used? Are we providing enough? As an all-volunteer organization, we just don’t have the time and expertise to go after that research.”
Based on capstone work, for example, PORCH leaders learned that 50 percent of the Hispanic families served by the organization don’t use peanut butter. That’s useful information, Horowitz says, because historically, volunteers have worried about not having enough of what they considered a basic nutritious food for every family. Now, they can distribute the product more efficiently.
Next year, she says, she hopes capstone students will help redesign PORCH’s referral process, improving communication and making it more seamless for social workers to help connect families to the service.
Safe Teens Think First, a program based in Cleveland County (N.C.), engaged capstone students to re-invigorate their efforts to teach safe driving skills to teens. Sharon Schiro, PhD, program leader and UNC assistant professor of general and acute care surgery at the UNC School of Medicine, says the program initially presented lectures about driving to between 30 and 60 teens.
Being closer to the young drivers’ ages (15 and 16 years old), she says, capstone students were able to identify ways to keep teens more engaged. Not only were the teens divided into smaller groups for direct interaction, but they also were given more activities.
In the future, Schiro says, she hopes capstone students will help expand the program and take Safe Teens Think First beyond Cleveland County to the rest of North Carolina.
Although capstone is the culminating academic element of the Master of Public Health degree, its benefits are far-reaching, both for student and community partner.
“For the community organizations, capstone students offer a fresh perspective on how each program runs,” Horowitz says. “It certainly forces us to change and improve. When you have people asking questions and thinking outside the box, it will inform the changes that we make to our own programs.”
Master’s candidates also benefit from the capstone experience. Although
time spent in Gillings School classrooms gives students a solid foundation for meeting public health needs, working with capstone partners gives them first-hand experience and a taste of what to expect in their future jobs.
An added benefit, Schiro says, is that the program exposes students to potential employers and provides students with work references outside academia.
“Capstone is a fusion of academic instruction and real-world endeavors that prepares MPH candidates to better meet the public health needs they will encounter in their careers,” Landfried says. “The program is a unique opportunity to carry out important field work while having a wonderful, supportive safety net.”
To read the story at its original location: http://sph.unc.edu/cphm/partnering-with-communities/
Published in the Spring 2015 UNC at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Carolina Public Health’s Magazine
Passionate about the safety of patients and health-care providers during war
By Whitney L.J. Howell
For Master of Public Health candidate Dilshad Jaff, MBChB, war-zone health crises are more than 10-second sound bites on the evening news. As a Baghdad-trained physician, he was neck-deep in those crises and found them to be complicated and very real. Now solving them is his mission.
“The nature of conflict has changed, and things have become more complex,” says Jaff, who worked as primary health district manager under the Iraqi Ministry of Health from 2003 to 2008. “We can’t improve global health without looking at conflict and resolution.”
Jaff pairs his public health training with conflict-zone experiences — both as physician and as Rotary World Peace Fellow (sponsored by the Rotary Club in Cary, N.C.) — to determine how to safeguard soldiers’ and civilians’ health needs during times of war.
Jaff ’s path has been winding. After the 2003 war in Iraq, he managed the emergency room as a volunteer in a hospital without power or water. He led mental health care, health education and vaccination programs at a primary health care center in Iraq, supervising nurses and other health professionals. There, he witnessed an undeniable truth — that the lack of wartime medical infrastructure compromises public health needs. Victims of violence — the wounded and displaced — remain vulnerable, and health workers also are endangered, he says.
He discovered a serious lack of training among in-field health professionals. As a physician with the International Committee of the Red Cross, he taught triage procedures, pharmacy management, waste management and infection control to nurses and other staff members — but he also had to educate about the most basic hygiene practices. He trained emergency workers to use ambulances properly.
After studying conflict management and peace through a Rotary Club scholarship in Thailand and Cambodia and returning to the field with the Red Cross, Jaff found that it was impossible to track attacks, kidnappings
and other incidents that put health-care workers in danger. Without that information, improving safety and infrastructure is unlikely.
“There is a big gap in knowledge because people aren’t communicating or sharing, and no one is looking at the problem,” he says. “We don’t know the number of people affected because we can’t collect the data. What we see, believe me, is the tiny tip of the iceberg.”
Jaff had the necessary negotiation, facilitation and communication skills to navigate conflict zones, but if he were to affect change, he knew he needed to improve his credentials in public health. With additional Rotary Club support, he came to the Gillings School in 2013 to focus on women’s and children’s health. The specialization is important, he says, because violence now so often catches civilians in the crossfire.
His goal is to unite the objectives of public health and conflict resolution through education. Colleges of law, medicine and military science, he says, must teach students that medical missions are protected during war. Ultimately, he wants to teach local communities how to handle emergency cases, displacements and epidemic threats, as well as how to ensure that women and children have access to health care that is equal to access by men.
“This is part of my dream for the future,” Jaff says. “I would love to be involved in teaching or building a connection between UNC and other organizations to address these issues. I want to use the university’s considerable educational resources to bring people together. It’s unacceptable to ignore the problem. Physically, we can’t be everywhere, but we still can do something.”
For now, Jaff, who is co-chair of the School’s Student Global Health Committee, is focused upon learning all he can and informing all who will listen about the plight of those who live and provide health care in conflict zones. In spring 2014, for example, he presented a GillingsX talk on health-care delivery in war zones.
There’s no doubt that his earnestness, dedication and courage will play a big part in the change to come.
To read the story at its original location: http://sph.unc.edu/cphm/dilshad-jaff/
Published in the AAMC Reporter July/August 2015 issue
By Whitney L.J. Howell
The incoming student’s strategy for covering his costs at Drexel University College of Medicine was a financial disaster waiting to happen, said Michael Clancy, the school’s director of financial planning. The student planned for a parent to cover most of the bill through a broker loan, while the remainder was charged to a credit card. A consistently paid minimum balance would avoid any interest charges, the student believed.
Clancy recognized the flawed reasoning and knew he had to speak up. “I calmly explained that wasn’t how credit cards worked and asked if his parent understood how broker loans—margin loans based on the value of a securities account—[functioned],” he said. “Based on that interaction and another consultative meeting, they changed their approach.”
While most financial planning conversations focus more on loan repayment details than avoiding potential catastrophe, this scenario underscores the need for medical schools to help students navigate tuition and repayment of debt. A 2014 AAMC report revealed that 84 percent of medical students graduated with an average debt of $180,000.
Many repayment options exist, such as loans linked to income level and the federal Pay As You Earn program that establishes monthly payments equal to 10 percent of discretionary income. Other loan forgiveness options, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and National Health Service Corps, also are available. But the existence of these programs does not mean that students understand the financing of their education. Increasingly, the onus of clarifying the process falls to medical schools, and many are adopting creative strategies tailored to each student’s circumstances. Cookie-cutter approaches to managing medical education debt usually don’t work because each student’s financial situation is unique.
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Drexel both hired certified financial planners to provide personalized guidance for their students. Kribs and Clancy make presentations during student orientation and at mandatory meetings. Often, the planners work with students for all four years and offer one-on-one sessions. “It’s taking their personal puzzle and putting the pieces together with them,” said Justin Kribs, OHSU’s certified financial planner, who has created webinars on financial topics for students as well. “What’s great is we’re starting students at square one and getting to ask them what they want to accomplish, how they will get there, and what things are in their way.”
Since joining OHSU, Kribs said he has advised more than 1,000 students. Third- and fourth-year students are required to meet with him at least once. Many students want to know how to minimize the amount of money they borrow, he said. Others want advice on managing the financial aspects of getting married or having a child while in school.
Julie Fresne, AAMC student financial planning director, acknowledges that the debt the typical medical student incurs is high, but noted that after controlling for inflation, the figure has remained relatively constant for roughly six years. And it is a burden worth assuming, she added. “The AAMC believes a career in medicine is an excellent investment with very good job security and excellent income potential. There are enough flexible ways to repay student loans and provide a secure living and retirement,” Fresne said.
Improving financial literacy
Financial aid professionals at Tufts University School of Medicine begin early during the admissions process to engage students in discussions about the intricacies of loans, debt management, and repayment. Launched in 2010, Tufts’ Planning for $uccess program provides students with “financial literacy education that dives much deeper than typical debt management and loan repayment,” said Tara Olsen, Tufts director of financial aid.
Workshops and lunch-and-learn sessions teach Tufts students about credit, mortgages, contract negotiations, and taxes. The financial aid office also publishes quarterly newsletters with spending tips, student discounts, and low-cost local activities.
The University of Missouri (MU) School of Medicine introduced its financial literacy program in the 2009–10 school year. Available to all students, the initiative addresses financial topics in 30-minute sessions that are posted online as well. Students receive incentives to attend the sessions, too, explained Cheri Marks, MU’s student financial aid and records coordinator. When they show up or complete a task such as submitting a budget sheet, they are entered into a $500 scholarship drawing.
“It takes a while for this new language to sink in because [it uses] terms students are unfamiliar with,” Marks continued. “In the past, they might have thought about [their financial situation] when they got their financial aid package and not again until after they got their money.”
The MU initiative incorporates the AAMC’s FIRST (Financial Information, Resources, Services, and Tools) program, which is available to medical students around the country seeking support to manage finances, understand loan repayment options, and learn about various types of loans. FIRST provides access to the MedLoans® Organizer and Calculator, helping students track loans and test sample repayment scenarios, and $ALT®, a money-management skills program. The program also offers loan and debt management webinars.
At Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, fourth-year medical student Joseph Meleca proposed a one-credit business and finance elective inspired by his front-office experience at his uncle’s private cardiology practice. He got the idea from observing that he and his peers had little understanding of how to finance their education or manage their living expenses. Approved by school administrators, the 11-week program invites financial experts to speak at all of the school’s campuses to elevate students’ understanding of medical school financing, debt management, billing and coding, and practice management.
After the first year, 85 percent of students reported that they benefited from the course and believed it would be helpful for incoming students. Thirty percent said it should be in the permanent curriculum. In fact, this elective, now in its third year, is the basis for a potential 60-credit MD/MBA program at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business.
It’s imperative for medical students to understand how their financing choices will affect their future decisions in practice, Meleca said. “If medical students don’t have this knowledge, they go into residency without it, and then they have even less time to learn it.”
To read the article at its original location: https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/julyaugust2015/439854/medicalschoolstakingactiveroleinhelpingstudentsmanagedebt.html
Published on the July 23, 2015 DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
Although radiology stands as one of the most technologically forward-moving specialties, it has suffered a drop-off in interest over the past 15 years in the National Residency Match Program. Residency programs, though, are now learning more about what’s keeping medical students away and are implementing strategies to reverse this trend.
According to radiology faculty currently or previously involved with residency programs nationwide, turning the tide to increase radiology residency numbers requires changing how medical schools approach introducing students to the specialty. Residency programs must also participate in the process for appeal in radiology to rebound.
There are a variety of reasons medical students give for avoiding radiology as a residency choice, these faculty said. Waning attraction seems to stem from misunderstanding radiology, perceptions about lack of job opportunities, beliefs about little patient contact, and the increased use of computer technology. As it turns out, these perspectives are misplaced or inaccurate.
“The question is how much of what medical students see is real or fictitious,” said Saurabh Jha, MD, MS, assistant professor of radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who also participated in residency interviews in the past. “I’m not sure, to a large extent, that the distinction is important from their position.”
In an environment where medical schools are more focused on producing primary care or internal medicine practitioners, the onus of enticing students to choose radiology lies with current radiologists. To be successful, Jha said, the industry must exude more confidence in literature, blogs, and in teaching.
“It’s not simply saying ‘Look at the pretty pictures we can take.’ It’s going and telling them about diagnostic radiology and revealing to them how the radiologist – not the CT – made the difference,” he said. “We have to make sure medical students understand that it’s people who make the difference.”
To read the remainder of the article at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/residents/medical-schools-put-radiology-spotlight?cid=top