Can we Afford Precision Medicine?

Don't expect precision medicine to bring relief from soaring health care costs. Genetically targeting therapies to those patients most likely to benefit spares them the time and toxicity of trying ineffective drugs. That’s a good thing for patients, and in theory, a money-saver. But the economics of drug discovery suggest otherwise.... Read More

The Promise and Peril of Genome-Wide Association Studies

Michael Boehnke, Ph.D. has spent two decades searching for the genetic roots of type 2 diabetes, which affects more than 300 million individuals worldwide and accounts for 10 percent of U.S. health care costs. Progress may seem slow, but today, we know of more than 100 common markers for type 2 diabetes and more than 60 for glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, he says.... Read More

The Path to Precision Medicine will be Paved in Diagnostics

Diagnostics are “the gateway” to precision medicine. They are “absolutely critical,” and it’s critical that the science behind them be “precise, accurate and actionable,” emphasized Dean Li, M.D., Ph.D., at a University of Utah-sponsored “Frontiers in Precision Medicine” conference this month. ... Read More

The Sherlock Holmes of Rare Disease: We Need More Watsons

He’s been called a “medical mystery man,” a “super diagnostician,” and “one of the last, best hopes for people suffering from rare, debilitating and undiagnosed medical conditions.” But don’t compare him to Dr. House.... Read More

Richard Weinshilboum on Precision Medicine: “An opportunity that comes along only once."

In the small-town Kansas of Richard Weinshilboum, M.D.’s childhood, most of the local doctor’s patients received the same treatment when they were sick: a placebo and a comforting dose of the doctor’s hands placed where it hurt.... Read More

Your Genome Guardian, Elephants and Outwitting Childhood Cancer

Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in children, and “10 to 30 percent of such cases are related to a genetic risk”—a cruel fate that can make families feel helpless, says pediatric oncologist Joshua Schiffman, M.D. But it’s in the genetics where hope gets a foothold.... Read More

Fictionalized Medicine or Medicalized Fiction? A Doctor's Ultimate Holiday Reading List

Doctors don't have a lot of "down time," especially residents. But Erin Helms, M.D., a new mom and third year Chief Resident of the University of Utah's Family Medicine Residency Program, still makes time to read for enjoyment. And because the books she favors, whether fiction or non-fiction, focus on medicine, they "shape [her] as a learner and physician."... Read More

Steven Brill: The Problem with Health Care is it Costs Too Much

Author and journalist Steven Brill admits knowing very little about health care before writing his influential Time magazine exposé on inflated hospital bills. “All along I’ve had this bug to write about stuff that interests me. … the temerity to want to write about things I don’t know anything about,” said Brill, speaking at the annual conference of the Association of American Academic Medical Centers (AAMC) in Baltimore.... Read More

Aging Infrastructure: Space Challenges

Rutgers Medical School is facing a challenge many medical schools are struggling with: an aging infrastructure and a need to provide more modern facilities for faculty and students. How is the school grappling with this problem? Data. Walter L. Douglas, Jr. , chief operating officer, explains. ... Read More

Tradition and Change: Cornell's Curriculum Overhaul

Cornell's curriculum needed to be updated to reflect the current needs of medical students. It wasn't easy and the change involved much resistance from faculty. The school is now two years in to this overhaul. What were the lessons learned and how is Cornell measuring success? David Warren, associate research professor explains. ... Read More

Key Findings from 2015 AAMC Public Opinion Research

Every few years, the AAMC publishes results from research assessing public perception of medical schools and academic medical centers. The 2015 research recently concluded. Bill McInturff, co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies (POS), presented a summary of the findings at the AAMC’s Learn · Serve · Lead conference in Baltimore.... Read More

How can physician assistants help create change? Hint: they're already wired for this

Timi Agar Barwick is the CEO of the Physician Assistant Education Association and she says PAs are hard wired to be team players, and now it's time to find some new partnerships. ... Read More

What Threatens Compassionate Health Care?

“When we have a question, we ask Siri. ‘How can I help you?’ she says…I fear this is becoming a metaphor for doctors themselves,” says Brian Hodges, M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC, speaking about humanism in medicine at the annual conference of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He asks, “Are we on our way to becoming the ‘digital doctor?’” With all the advancements that technology and cutting-edge machinery bring to healthcare, it can also slice away at opportunities for compassion and patient bonding.... Read More

How Best to Provide Care to Patients Living in Poverty

As a health-care provider, imagine that the city you serve is a human body. Would you operate on the heart and ignore the gangrene green creeping up the left leg? Would you remove a mole and dismiss the growing tumor?... Read More

Equity must play role in health care transformation, says AAMC Board Chair Peter Slavin

"The simple truth is that we cannot achieve quality without addressing inequality," said chair of the AAMC Board of Directors and president of Massachusetts General Hospital Peter L. Slavin, M.D., in a stirring address to colleagues who had gathered in Baltimore for the AAMC’s annual meeting. Slavin challenged the audience to take responsibility for creating not just a health care system-but also a society-that is more just. ... Read More

Is Affirmative Action Dead? Life After Fisher v. University of Texas

Efforts by academic centers to create more diverse campuses are under scrutiny as the U.S. Supreme Court takes up for the second time, Fisher v. University of Texas. The outcome of the case will doubtless shape university admissions policies for years to come. How might the high court rule?... Read More

Playing the Long Game: How the University of New Mexico is working to improve public health

The state slogan of New Mexico is "The Land of Enchantment" but it's also the land of great health disparities. Find out what happened when leaders worked together to change health sciences curriculum to improve the health of the community by the year 2020. Ellen Cosgrove, vice dean of Academic Affairs & Education at the University of Nevada explains. ... Read More

What's wrong with the electronic medical record?

Do you spend more time on the EMR than you do on patient care? It's a frustrating problem and emergency medicine resident Laurel Yang of New York-Presbyterian Hospital says something's gotta give. Could scribes be the answer?... Read More

Shifting the Paradigm: Moving from rote memorization to training in and using information tools

Middle school kids can use calculators when they take a test, so why can't medical students use open books or computers? Art Papier is a dermatologist and medical informaticist who says medical education is flawed. It's time, he says, to shift from memory based, to memory assisted learning. ... Read More

Diversity and Inclusion: It's Everyone's Responsibility

Ana Maria Lopez is the associate vice president for Health Equity and Inclusion at University of Utah Health Care. But she says if people look to her alone for answers when it comes to diversity, they'll miss out. Here's what she says all institutions should know about establishing an inclusive environment. ... Read More