Archive for September, 2009

Choosing a Specialty – A Straightforward Approach for the Uncertain

from Anne Vinsel, MS, MFA (Project Administrator, Graduate Medical Education, University of Utah Medical Center) Research those specialties in your institution. Go to the departments and make friends with the residency program coordinators. If you haven’t already done so and haven’t rotated in the program, arrange to shadow a faculty member for a day. Talk [...]

Generic Versus Branded Drugs: Concerns Amidst Limited Evidence

Many physicians have found [the switch to generic drugs] particularly problematic in classes of drugs with a narrow therapeutic range, including antiepileptics, psychotropics, antiarrhythmics, and anticoagulants. although the generic’s mean maximal concentration and area under the concentration-time curve are typically within a few percentage points of the original’s — typically about 4% — the 90% [...]

SYNTAX Trial: PCI vs CABG for Severe CAD

Rationale: Several trials comparing PCI involving bare-metal stents with CABG in patients with multivessel disease [ARTS I Trial, MASS II Trial, ERACI-II Trial & AWESOME Trial] showed similar survival rates but higher revascularization rates among patients with bare-metal stents at 5 years. Others have shown a significant long-term survival advantage with surgery [SOS Trial]. Studies [...]

Crash Course: Applying for Grant Money

A crash course in US Federal Government grants, grants of the European Union, Carnegie Corporation grants, and Federal Pell Grant for students in the US presented on wikiHow. How to Apply for a Grant [WikiHow]

Serotonin Receptor Antagonists

All 5-HT3 antagonists are identified by the suffix -setron The following are 5-HT3 antagonists serum half- lives: Dolasetron (Anzemet): 7-9 hours. Granisetron (Kytril, generic) 9-11 hours. Ondansetron (Zofran, generic): 3.9 hours. Palonosetron (Aloxi): 40 hours. At equivalent doses for the prevention of acute emesis, 5-HT3 serotonin receptor antagonists have equivalent safety and efficacy and can [...]

Resident Work-Hour Reform & Patient Safety

Reductions in resident physician work-hours at teaching hospitals in 2003 were associated with an increase in complications related to surgery to repair hip fractures, a new study found. “Our investigation identified that the rate of change of perioperative morbidity in patients with a hip fracture increased significantly in teaching hospitals following resident duty-hour reform.” Browne [...]

Influenza Review

A plain language review of the influenza virus by Joseph Albietz: The influenza season in the Northern hemisphere usually runs from October through May, with a peak mid-February. Every season in the US between 5-20% of the US population is infected by influenza, and while the majority of people recover well from an influenza infection, [...]