By Elizabeth Losada, MD
SDN Staff Writer

“Is there a doctor in the house?” is a Hollywood cliche.  But when it comes to the houses of the United States Congress, the answer is always “Yes.”  Physicians have served in every Congress from the first in 1789 through the current 111th Congress.(1)

Currently, there are 16 physicians who serve as members of Congress (1), 14 in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate (2). With health care reform a pressing issue currently facing the United States, several additional physicians are seeking election to Congress this year in races across the country (3).

Dr. Ami Bera

The Student Doctor Network recently spoke with physician candidate Ami Bera about what health care professionals bring as candidates, and what life is like on the campaign trail for a physician.

Read the full story

Dr. Al Berg

by William Burnett

Alfred O. Berg, MD, MPH, is a professor at the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle.  He is board certified in Family Medicine and General Preventive Medicine and Public Health.

Dr. Berg’s research has focused on clinical epidemiology in primary care settings.  He has served as chairman of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, co-chair of the otitis media panel convened by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, chair of the CDC STD Treatment Guidelines panel, member of the AMA/CDC panel producing Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services, member of the Institute of Medicine’s Immunization Safety Review Committee, and chair of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

He currently chairs the CDC’s panel on Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention.

He recently spoke with the Student Doctor Network about evidence-based medicine and health care reform. Read the full story

by Diana Stanley
Special to The Student Doctor Network

Dr. Conrad Fischer

Despite the growing number of scientific advances over recent years, the ability of doctors to cure or deal with diseases that were fatal not ten years ago, and heightened recognition by patients for those in the medical profession, a study conducted by Dr. Conrad Fischer suggested that many in the medical field were highly dissatisfied with their careers. Armed with these alarming results, Dr. Fischer set out to let everyone know that now is an exciting era in medical history and, quite possibly, the best time to be in medicine. The result is his book, Routine Miracles.

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by Laura Turner
SDN Staff Writer

Dr. Talya Miron-Shatz

Talya Miron-Shatz, PhD, is a decision scientist, studying the way people interpret medical information. She teaches consumer behavior at Wharton and is a keen public speaker, advocating the importance of understanding the psychological aspects of medical decision making.

She recently sat down to speak with SDN about how consumers and health care providers make medical decisions.

What is decision science, and how does it apply to health care decisions that consumers make?

Imagine you are designing a sticker promoting flossing. Should you say, “Flossing helps you prevent gum disease,” or should you emphasize the loss of protection that results from neglecting to floss? It turns out that people are more motivated to act when something they have is about to be taken away from them. So, when you’re in the bathroom at night, being aware of the potential risks to your gums might prompt you to dedicate a few extra minutes to the fine art of flossing. This, in a nutshell, is what decision science is about.

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By Laura Turner
SDN Staff Writer

“Boutique” or “retainer” medical practices have been steadily growing since 2005.  In this practice model, patients pay an annual retainer fee outside of insurance to gain greater access to their physician. (1)

While it is growing in popularity, some physicians, ethicists, and policy makers are concerned about the trend. (2)

“Concierge care…is like a new country club for the rich,” Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, said at an economic committee hearing to Congress in April 2004. “The wealthy will pay for exclusive access to quality care, and everyone else will continue to have inferior access to primary care physicians, specialists, and basic medical advice.” (3)

Proponents of concierge medicine, on the other hand, say that it enables doctors to provide the best possible care and remain in a clinical setting.  Dr. Bernard Kaminetsky, an internal medicine physician in Florida, told the New York Times he would be working for a pharmaceutical company if he hadn’t been able to move to a concierge model.  “I’m really helping a lot of people.  I feel good about what I do,” he stated. (2)

Read the full story

By Joseph Kim, MD, MPH
SDN Forum Advisor and Guest Contributor

As an active member and advisor on the Student Doctor Network forums, I’ve received countless questions from medical students (and recent graduates) about jobs and opportunities in the non-clinical world of medicine. There are many medical students who are seriously asking themselves whether clinical medicine is really the “right fit” and they want to learn more about the various types of non-clinical opportunities available. Some may choose radiology or pathology to avoid patient contact. Others pursue non-clinical jobs in healthcare industries that avoid the clinical setting completely.

Why Consider Non-Clinical Options?

Why look at non-clinical opportunities?  Some medical students were pressured into attending medical school. I personally know some who went to medical school because it was an expectation while they were growing up. Now, they’re looking for other opportunities because they never really wanted to pursue a medical career.

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by Laura Turner
SDN Staff Writer

U.S. health care reform is shaping up to be a key activity for lawmakers in 2009. The Obama administration is mobilizing its volunteer base from the campaign to lobby Congress for change. Politicians on both sides of the spectrum are putting forth their vision for the future of medicine.

In order to provide our membership of future health care providers with the latest reform ideas, the Student Doctor Network will be publishing a series of articles on health care policy. These articles will include interviews from policy makers and details on technical and structural innovations aimed at reducing costs and improving outcomes.

Previously, SDN interviewed Dr. John Geyman, author of Do Not Resuscitate, who espoused a need for a single payer nationalized health care system.

Additional articles in the series, to be published in the coming months, will include the following:

• Interview with Dr. David Sundwall, who served as President Reagan’s Director of the Health Resources and Services Administration at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services
• The role of health information exchanges in improving health care delivery

We invite our membership to submit ideas for other articles in this area. Please provide your comments below.

Setting the Goal:  A Journey Toward Innovation in Medicine

The Student Doctor Network is pleased to announce the following online presentation to our membership:

Dr. Maria Siemionow

Kaplan Publishing in conjunction with Kaplan Medical is proud to present an evening with Dr. Maria Siemionow, a medical pioneer in facial transplant surgery.

When Dr. Siemionow announced in December 2005 that she had been granted approval to perform this revolutionary surgery, she was bombarded with media attention and moving requests from people wanting to know who would be eligible for the operation. In December 2008, it was announced that she had completed the nation’s first face transplant. Read the full story

by Alison Hayward, MD
SDN Staff Writer

In this election season, healthcare has been an increasingly pressing issue for American voters.

In an August 2008 TNS Healthcare survey, nearly 60% of voters age 18-29, and 75% of voters over the age of 65 agreed that healthcare issues would play a major role in their presidential election choice.

The feeling that our current system is a “failure” predominates, and thus healthcare reform is seen by many as a mandate for the new president.

Healthcare professionals must understand the issues involved in the politics of health in order to move towards reform – and that brings us to one of the most contentious issues, that of single payer healthcare. Read the full story

by Alison Hayward, MD
SDN Staff Writer

A patient arrives at your hospital complaining of fever, malaise, and cough. You think nothing of it – until you notice the thirty other patients who have appeared in the waiting room with the same symptoms. A sudden flu outbreak? You realize with concern that it’s not flu season….

Clinicians must be trained to be watchful for the red flags of a biological or chemical terrorist attack. Although rare, the astute diagnosis of a biochemical weapon causing a patient’s symptoms can provide lifesaving treatment in the nick of time.

The following are classified as high risk potential agents of terrorism because they can be quickly disseminated, and would likely cause widespread societal panic and require sweeping public health actions to contain. Read the full story