Video Games Enhance Skills of Laparoscopic Surgeons
Laparoscopic surgeons who play video games requiring spatial skills and dexterity are faster and less prone to error when performing advanced surgical procedures, researchers reported on Sunday at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston.
New AHA Obesity Statement Urges Clinicians to Think Beyond Clinical Treatment and Prevention
Think bigger: that's the thrust of the American Heart Association's (AHA) new scientific statement on obesity prevention [1]. To have any meaningful impact on the obesity epidemic, clinicians need to go beyond clinical prevention and treatments for obesity and use influence and advocacy to effect social and environmental change, authors of the statement say.
Universal Truths Abide in Medicine, Even in Parallel Universes
Medicine is practiced differently around the world, and yet some aspects — especially the frustrations — are fairly universal. Where better can you experience the similarities and differences than in the blogging world, where clinicians share stories from their practices and their personal lives? Two physician bloggers, known as "Dr. Dino" and "Dr. Emer," provide […]
Did Low Payments in Ambulatory Care Spawn the Hospitalist Movement?
One of the most interesting developments in American healthcare in the past decade is the emergence of hospitalists: internists whose sole job is to manage hospitalized patients, and who never venture into the more traditional outpatient setting.
The Case of the Ruthless Ruler With a Deadly Disease
Introduction The patient was an elderly male, a member of a prominent royal family, who became a ruthless ruler of a European principality. Little is known about his medical background, family history, or details about his final illness except that he was obese and a nonsmoker. From what is now known about his cause of […]
Do Immigrants Help or Hurt US Healthcare?
Immigration is a hot topic these days, and its impact on the US healthcare system has been studied and debated from various angles. So it's not surprising that healthcare entrepreneur and business consultant David E. Williams has weighed in on the issue. But you might be surprised at his particular views.
Does a Goiter Always Require Surgery?
Fate of the non-operated, non-toxic goitre in a defined population Winbladh A, Järhult JBr J Surg. 2008;95:338-343 SummaryDoes every patient with a benign goiter need surgery? To answer this question, the study authors reviewed data on 261 patients (median age, 56 years) who, at the time of clinical examination or after fine-needle aspiration (233 patients), […]
Have you been selected to participate in the Physician Practice Information survey?
The AMA and more than 70 other organizations are conducting a comprehensive multi-specialty survey of America’s physician practices. The results will be used to positively influence national decision makers to ensure accurate and fair representation for all physicians and patients, and to articulate the challenges of running a practice that provides expert patient care, while […]
Quest Diagnostics Is Named ‘Best Employer For Healthy Lifestyles’
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced today that the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), an association of more than 300 large U.S. employers, has presented its 2008 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles Gold Award to the company for its HealthyQuest employee wellness program. In its […]
Surgeon Sews for Fun, Sutures for a Living
Surgeons are known for the knots they tie. For Ramona Bates, that is doubly true: Not only is she a plastic surgeon, but she also has a passion for quilting. Lately she's been sharing her personal and professional interests at her Web site, Suture for a Living. I had the chance to correspond with Dr. […]
