http://www.cbu.edu/
Caduceus Newsletter: Fall 2008.08, week of October 6 Dr. Stan Eisen, Director Preprofessional Health Programs Christian Brothers University 650 East Parkway South Memphis, TN 38104 Home page: http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/	Caduceus Newsletter Archives: http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/Caduceus.html

Table of Contents:
1. ACS/BBB/PHP (American Chemical Society, Beta Beta Beta/Preprofessional Health Programs) Activities.
2. The Saint Louis University School of Public Health sponsors monthly Open Houses, starting in November, 2008.
3. The question posed to the HLTHPROF listserv was “I am looking for works of fiction that involve disease in the plot.  I will be using them in a course on infectious disease. Do any of you have any titles that you can suggest (Title, author, and a bit of a description would be great, but just the title and author would  work)”
4. Career and Graduate Programs for B.S./M.S. Scientists: An AAAS/Science Business Office Feature by Jacqueline Ruttimann, also accessible via DOI: 10.1126/science.opms.r0800057 .
5. ==== AAMC STAT ====, News from the Association of American Medical Colleges, September 29, 2008 edition.
6. Computers as good at reading mammograms as second eyes, from http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/01/computer.mammogram.help.ap/index.html
7. The American Academy of HIV Medicine announces its offer to medical students to become full members of the Academy at no charge.
8. October 6 through 12 is National PA (Physician Assistant) Week.

9. Marginalia: Don’t EVER complain about your job. It could be worse, you know…

1. ACS/BBB/PHP (American Chemical Society, Beta Beta Beta/Preprofessional Health Programs) Activities.

• October 29 – BBB: New date for Mock interviews. Sign-ups have further been opened to include Sophomores, as well as Juniors & Seniors. Students should contact John Legge (jlegge@cbu.edu) or Dr. Ogilvie (mogilvie@cbu.edu ) if interested, including which career they are seeking an interview.
• Thursday, November 6 or possibly Nov. 13, starting at 6 p.m.: Bowling tournament to benefit Hope North, Uganda (Contact Caitlin);
• Thursday, November 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – PHP: Annual Health Career Opportunities Fair. This event, anchored by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, will include representatives from regional health-related professional and military scholarship programs. At this point, we will have representatives from the following:

University of Arkansas Medical Center

· College of Medicine

· College of Nursing

University of Tennessee Health Science Center Colleges of

· Allied Health (includes Dental Hygiene, Cytotechnology, Health Information Management, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy)

· Dentistry

· Graduate Health Sciences

· Medicine

· Nursing

· Pharmacy

Southern College of Optometry

St. Louis University School of Public Health (Programs in Public Health and in Health Administration)

Military Scholarship Programs:

United States Air Force
United States Army

December 6, all day – BBB: St. Jude Marathon (Contact Antony)

Subject: [Bio at CBU] BBB Mock interviews date changed to Wed. 29 Oct
X-BeenThere: biomajors@lists.cbu.edu
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9
Sender: biomajors-bounces@lists.cbu.edu

The Beta Beta Beta mock interview session has been postponed until

Wednesday, October 29th.

Sign-ups have further been opened to include Sophomores, as well as

Juniors & Seniors.

Students should contact John Legge (jlegge@cbu.edu) or Dr. Ogilvie

(mogilvie@cbu.edu) if interested, including which career they are

seeking an interview.

2. The Saint Louis University School of Public Health sponsors monthly Open Houses, starting in November, 2008.

3. The question posed to the HLTHPROF listserv was “I am looking for works of fiction that involve disease in the plot.  I will be using them in a course on infectious disease. Do any of you have any titles that you can suggest (Title, author, and a bit of a description would be great, but just the title and author would  work)”

Here are some suggestions:

· “Year of Wonders”:   Plague town in 17^th century England.    By Brooks.  We used it as our “freshman novel”.

· Andromeda Strain

· Outbreak

· The Dooms Day Book

· “A classic in this field is actually "Arrowsmith" by Sinclair Lewis.”

· “Robin Cook has some “good” fiction for this purpose especially “Contagion.”” 

· “How about "the stand" by Stephen King  -It's long but it has the bioweapon angle and who doesn't love SK?”

·

One advisor also added the following list of non-fiction books that she uses for a book review:

Biology 203 Book Review Guidelines

Spring 2007

Selecting a book: You may choose a book the list attached to this sheet, or you may choose something that you find on your own to read and review. No more than 2 students may read the same book. Book approvals will be on a first come, first served basis on the designated selection day. It is in your best interest to act fast when choosing a book if you know it will be a popular one.

Book requirements: There are many books out there and the selection requirements for this assignment are rather minimal. The book MUST deal with infectious disease in some manner and the book MUST be factual. This is not the time to catch up on Robin Cook’s latest bio-thriller; however, if you need a thriller to be motivated, there are plenty of factual accounts that read like thrillers. Your book can focus on biology, sociology, medicine, culture, etc so long as infectious disease is at the core of the book. You should be looking at the interplay between the infectious disease and society.

Assignment:

• Read the book carefully and critically before attempting the assignment.

• Write a review of the book similar to a book review you would find in a professional journal or the New York Times. This book review should be no less than 1000 words, no more than 2000 words and should be a critical analysis of the book. It should include what was good, what was bad, and direct references to the content of the book. A person interested in infectious disease should be able to read your review and know whether or not they would like to read the book.

• Before you attempt to write such a review, you should look at book reviews in such publications as the New York Times, professional journals in your major field, or ask me to see some examples. This is not a high school book report!!

Possible Books

Flu by Gina Kolata

Plagues and Peoples by William McNeill

The Coming Plague by Lori Garrett

Typhoid Mary by Judith Leavitt

America’s Forgotten Pandemic by Alfred Crosby

Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston

Viruses, Plagues and History by Micheal Oldstone

Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Biohazard by Ken Alibek

Virus Hunter by C.J. Peters

Virus X by Frank Ryan

The Forgotten Plague by Frank Ryan

The Great Influenza by John Barry

The Great Mortality by John Kelly

Biography of a Germ by Arno Karlen

Bull’s Eye: Unraveling the Medical Mystery of Lyme Disease by Jonathon Edlow

The Gospel of Germs by Nancy Tomes

The Cholera Years by Charles Rosenberg

Pox Americana by Elizabeth Fenn

The Barbary Plague by Marilyn Chase

And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts

The Secret Epidemic: The story of AIDS and Black America by Jacob Levenson

Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History by Jo Hays

Bird Flu by Marc Siegel

Armies of Pestilence by R.S. Bray

The Malaria Capers by Robert Desowitz

The Fever Trail by Mark Honigsbaum

Deadly Feasts by Richard Rhodes

Yellow Jack by John R. Pierce

Yellow Fever and the South by Margaret Humphreys

The Burdens of Disease by J.N. Hays

If you don’t find something compelling on this list, pick a disease you are interested in and look it up on Amazon. You’ll probably find something that I’m not aware of. Please check with me prior to ordering a book that is not on this list. You may check the book out from the library if you don’t wish to add it to your personal book collection.

4. Career and Graduate Programs for B.S./M.S. Scientists: An AAAS/Science Business Office Feature by Jacqueline Ruttimann, also accessible via DOI: 10.1126/science.opms.r0800057 .

5. ==== AAMC STAT ====, News from the Association of American Medical Colleges, September 29, 2008 edition.

  == AAMC asks HHS to withdraw provider conscience rule

  == NCRR rolls out strategic plan, includes AAMC's suggestions

  == AAMC submits comment letter on electronic prescribing proposal

  == Congress reauthorizes the National Health Service Corps

  == NIH director resigns from federal service

  == Congress approves continued funding for fiscal year 2009

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AAMC asks HHS to withdraw provider conscience rule

In a comment letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the

AAMC has urged the agency to withdraw the proposed "provider conscience" rule

that prohibits federal funds from supporting "morally coercive discriminatory

practices or policies in violation of already existing federal laws." HHS has

produced no evidence that the rule is needed. In its comment letter, the AAMC

acknowledges that ethical and moral issues within the context of health care

require a careful balance between the rights of the health care professional

to avoid behavior that violates his/her moral or ethical code, and the right

of a patient to receive legal health care services that are medically

appropriate. The rights of the patient, who is in a more vulnerable position,

must be given precedence; the AAMC letter reminds HHS that this perspective

is woven into a physician's education, beginning in medical school and

continuing throughout residency training.

Information: Go to

http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/library/teachhosp/corres/2008/092308.pdf

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NCRR rolls out strategic plan, includes AAMC's suggestions

The National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources

(NCRR) has presented its new strategic plan, which outlines the center's

priorities and goals for research infrastructure, informatics, and biomedical

research workforce needs from fiscal years 2009 to 2013. The NCRR is the only

major component of the NIH that provides for infrastructure and resource

needs for all areas of biomedical research. In a September 2007 comment

letter, the AAMC urged the NCRR to emphasize initiatives to overcome the

so-called "second translational block" that occurs in moving validated

medical innovations into clinical practice. The AAMC also urged the

development of mechanisms for facilitating collaborations among academic

institutions. Both of the association's recommendations are reflected in the

final strategic plan.

Information: Go to http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/strategic_plan

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AAMC submits comment letter on electronic prescribing proposal

The AAMC has submitted a comment letter in response to a Drug Enforcement

Administration (DEA) proposed rule that sets requirements for practitioners

who use electronic prescriptions for controlled substances. The AAMC letter

expresses reservations about the proposal and questions whether the

requirements can be met given the current state of electronic health records.

In the letter the AAMC suggests that the DEA establish a stakeholders group

comprised of representatives of hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, electronic

health records vendors, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staff, and

other interested parties to develop a regulation that is consistent with

existing federal and state requirements, relies on proven technologies

currently in use, and acknowledges the wide variations in medical practice

patterns. 

Information: Go to

http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/library/teachhosp/corres/2008/092508.pdf

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Congress reauthorizes the National Health Service Corps

Congress has approved legislation that reauthorizes the National Health

Service Corps (NHSC) through fiscal year 2012. The "Health Care Safety Net

Act of 2008" authorizes an initial funding level of $131.5 million for NHSC,

with annual increases to bring the 2012 funding level to $185.6 million.

The bill removes the current provision that requires health centers and

clinics to demonstrate eligibility as a "health professions shortage area"

every six years. One measure of the legislation recommends that NHSC members

have faculty appointments at health professions schools, and relationships

with hospitals, academic medical centers, and federal Title VII-sponsored

area health education centers and health education training centers.

Information: Go to http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/washhigh/start.htm#5

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NIH director resigns from federal service

Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH),

announced last week that he will step down at the end of October to pursue

writing projects and explore other professional opportunities. A physician

scientist and leader in radiology research, Dr. Zerhouni has served as NIH

director since May 2002.

On behalf of the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals, AAMC

President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., thanked Dr. Zerhouni for his

contributions and service to the nation. In a statement, Dr. Kirch credited

the NIH director with laying the groundwork for achieving a "transformative

vision of a personalized, predictive, preemptive, and participatory health

care system."

Information: Go to http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/pressrel/2008/080924.htm

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Congress approves continued funding for fiscal year 2009

Congress passed legislation on Saturday that will keep federal programs

funded in the new fiscal year, which begins this week. The continuing

resolution (CR) provides funding--at fiscal year 2008 levels--for much of the

government, including the National Institutes of Health and the Health

Resources and Services Administration's Title VII health professions and

education programs. The legislation does, however, include full fiscal year

2009 funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The CR was necessary

because none of the 12 individual 2009 appropriations bills--which account

for about 40 percent of the total federal budget--have been enacted into law.

The CR expires March 6.

Information: Go to http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/washhigh/start.htm#1

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Academic Medicine Online

Widely cited in its field, Academic Medicine serves as an international forum

to advance knowledge about the principles, policy, and practice of research,

education, and patient care in academic settings.

www.academicmedicine.org

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6. Computers as good at reading mammograms as second eyes, from http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/01/computer.mammogram.help.ap/index.html

Story Highlights:

Computer-aided detection is used in a third of U.S. mammograms

Approved a decade ago, CAD's accuracy has continued to be debated

Large study: CAD spotted nearly the same number of cancers as technicians

Tests in Britain are routinely checked by two radiologists, in the U.S. only one

NEW YORK (AP) -- A computer is as good as a second pair of eyes for helping a radiologist spot breast cancer on a mammogram, one of the largest and most rigorous tests of computer-aided detection found.

Like spell-checkers looking for mistakes, the computers flag suspicious areas on X-rays for a closer look by a radiologist. Mammograms are used to screen women for early signs of breast cancer but the tests aren't perfect. In the U.S., the X-rays are read by a single radiologist and cancers are sometimes missed.

Computer-aided detection, or CAD, was developed to help radiologists pick up more cancers. Approved a decade ago, these computer programs are now used for about a third of the nation's mammograms. But the value and accuracy of the technology has continued to be debated.

Now, British researchers are reporting results from a randomized study of 31,000 women. Mammograms in Britain are routinely checked by two radiologists or technicians, which is thought to be better than a single review. Researchers wanted to know if a single expert aided by a computer could do as well as two pairs of eyes.

They found that computer-aided detection spotted nearly the same number of breast cancers, 198 out of 227, compared with 199 for the two readers.

In places such as the United States, "Where single reading is standard practice, computer-aided detection has the potential to improve cancer-detection rates to the level achieved by double reading," the researchers said. Their findings were published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine,

The study was done at three centers in England that do a large number of routine mammograms. Most of the women in the study were assigned to have their mammograms reviewed twice -- once by a pair of experts and a second time by a single reviewer aided by a computer.

"What we demonstrated was that one reader using CAD could pick up as many cancers as the two readers could," said radiologist Fiona J. Gilbert of the University of Aberdeen, lead author of the study. Learn about digital mammograms »

She said computer-aided detection could be used to expand screening by Britain's national health service, which now offers the test every three years to women 50 to 70. The cost-effectiveness will have to be determined first, she said.

The new findings are encouraging, said Dr. Carol H. Lee, a radiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

"In the United States, it's just not practical in most practices to do double readings by physicians," said Lee, who is head of the American College of Radiology's Breast Imaging Commission. "These results are reassuring to me that single reading with CAD can achieve that same sensitivity."

The U.S. government recommends mammograms every one or two years starting at age 40. Experts said there aren't enough radiologists to give mammograms two readings, and insurers don't pay for a second look. Medicare does pay an additional $15 for computer-aided detection.

That extra money helped spur the adoption of the computer checks, said Dr. Ferris M. Hall, a radiologist at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where computers are used. He expects more places to use them as they switch to digital images from film X-rays, which eliminates a step in the process.

The research was funded by the British government and Cancer Research UK, a charity. Two of the researchers have received fees from the maker of a computer system and served as unpaid consultants to another.

Normal mammograms: On the left, a normal digital mammogram; a normal mammogram from traditional X-ray film is on the right. (Magee-Women’s Hospital of UPMC), from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/pink-ribbon/

Mammograms indicating calcifications:

Mammograms indicating tumor

All AboutBreast Cancer • Mammography

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/01/computer.mammogram.help.ap/index.html

7. The American Academy of HIV Medicine announces its offer to medical students to become full members of the Academy at no charge.

The American Academy of HIV Medicine is announcing again its offer to medical students to become full members of the Academy at no charge. This is done in an effort to help students consider HIV medicine as a possible choice of practice in their future.

To date, 166 students have joined the Academy from forty-one different medical schools from across the United States.

See attached for more details.


Ken South Director of Membership Services
American Academy of HIV Medicine
1705 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC   20036  |  Tel.: 202-659-0699  |  Fax: 202-659-0976
www.AAHIVM.org
 Advancing excellence in HIV care™

THIS IS A PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION. IF YOU ARE NOT AN INTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU SHOULD:  (1) REPLY TO SENDER;  (2) DESTROY THIS COMMUNICATION ENTIRELY, INCLUDING DELETION OF ALL ASSOCIATED TEXT FILES FROM ALL INDIVIDUAL AND NETWORK STORAGE DEVICES;  AND (3) REFRAIN FROM COPYING OR DISSEMINATING THIS COMMUNICATION BY ANY MEANS WHATSOEVER.

2008 Fundamentals of HIV Medicine E-Update now available! $50 for Academy members, $75 for others.
AAHIVM Now! The FREE "always on" desktop portal to AAHIVM news, alerts, deadlines, employment and more!

8. October 6 through 12 is National PA (Physician Assistant) Week.

As you work with students who seek a career working with patients, I hope you will encourage them to consider becoming a PA. It is a great clinical profession (and works well for people of any age). 

Oct 6-12 is National PA Week. Watch for events in your area which offer opportunities for you and your students to learn more about the PA profession. I have also sent a note to PA programs encouraging them to connect with advisors from feeder schools, to let them know about events.

From the AAPA website http://www.aapa.org/newsroom/pa-week.html

National PA Week is celebrated each year October 6-12. The week serves to celebrate the significant impact PAs have made and continue to make in health care, expand awareness of the profession and to salute the outstanding growth of the physician assistant profession.   This year's theme is Certified Physician Assistants: Valued Partners in Care

Chere Pereira, NAAHP Liaison to CASPA/PAEA
Chief Premedical, Predental Advisor
Oregon State University
College of Science  Kidder 128
Corvallis, OR 97331
(541) 737-3881  FAX (541) 737-1009
chere.pereira@oregonstate.edu

9. Marginalia: Don’t EVER complain about your job. It could be worse, you know…

I WILL NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT MY JOB EVER AGAIN!!!

---

From Ronald B.:

Oh Lordy
-
 Say after me ~~~~~~~~~

I WILL NOT complain about my job,

EVER AGAIN…….

Dr. Stan Eisen, Director
Preprofessional Health Programs
Biology Department
Christian Brothers University
650 East Parkway South
Memphis, TN 38104
E-mail: seisen@cbu.edu
http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/
Caduceus Newsletter Archives: http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/Caduceus.html