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

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

If you haven’t already voted, go to the polls today and vote.  Be sure to follow these 4 steps:

1. Check your voter registration card (or sample ballot) for the location of your designated polling site.
2. Bring photo ID and proof of address.
3. Get in-line before the polls close.  Even if the polls close, as long as you are in-line you cannot be turned-away.
4. Vote carefully – review your ballot for accuracy before turning it in.

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

A review and interview with the author of Do Not Resuscitate, the controversial book about the current status of America’s health insurance system.

by Lee Burnett

A recognized pioneer and leader in family medicine, John Geyman, MD has written a number of articles and books on American healthcare. He has just released his latest book on the health insurance system, Do Not Resuscitate.

Dr. Geyman’s books are known for detailed research and facts. Do Not Resuscitate is a natural follow-up to his earlier texts, deftly tackling the latest and most complex data and concepts and distilling them into a captivating and quick read.

This book could be compared to the writings of Noam Chomsky with Dr. Geyman delivering a searing indictment of today’s health insurance companies and the US Government. This book has a single point: the insurance industry has failed America and it should be replaced with a single-payer nonprofit fund.

Read the full story

SDN readers have responded favorably to our series of “20 Questions” asked of various health care professionals. With this interview of Dr. Gary LeRoy we launch a new series called “Health Care Policy and the Student Doctor”.

SDN: Gary, your resume is pretty awesome. You currently hold the position of Medical Director of the East Dayton Health Center, a community health center with federally qualified health center status; and you are simultaneously Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio.

Yours is a unique postion, with major responsibilities in a community health center serving the disadvantaged, and as the dean of students for a medical school, which will include lots of students from more privileged backgrounds.  Read the full story

International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations
Reprinted with Permission

Almost 1,000 medical students from over 90 different countries gathered in Canterbury this August to tackle inequities in health care across the globe. The 56th August Meeting of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations returned to the UK with the theme, “Access to Essential Medicines.” It proved to be a fascinating, tumultuous, and at times controversial week.

The IFMSA is the largest student body in the world, founded in 1952 to provide a cohesive voice for medical students across the globe. Its biannual general assemblies aim to educate and inspire its members to take action on international health issues, each centered around a chosen theme. The decision by the UK to focus on “Access to Essential Medicines” (AEM) was taken in light of its key relevance to both the developed and developing worlds. More than 10 million deaths each year can be attributed to lack of access to life-giving medications, in direct contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, entitling every citizen the right to “health and well-being of himself and his family, including … medical care and necessary social services”.   Read the full story

Access to Essential Medicines to dominate International Student Assembly

By SDN Staff, in collaboration with IFMSA

Almost one thousand of medical students from over 90 different countries will gather in Canterbury this August to address critical inequities in healthcare provision across the globe. The 56th August Meeting of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations will return to the UK with the theme “Access to Essential Medicines”.

Read the full story

We present this article to highlight the debate currently in progress over use of animal labs in student education. SDN has no formal or informal position on animal labs. Our volunteer members have a diverse view on this topic and have worked together in an attempt to cover this topic fairly and evenly.

Jeff Tomasini likes dogs. That was one of the reasons that prompted the first-year student at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) to opt out of a course he considers barbaric and unnecessary. During the three-day class that took place last month, Jeff’s classmates anesthetized 60 dogs obtained from the local pounds, opened up their chest cavities, examined their hearts, and then euthanized the animals.

“Killing an innocent animal is unethical,” Jeff says. “The top medical schools produce some of the country’s best physicians without ever harming an animal.”

And he is not the only one to protest the course that is fueling heated debates among students, physicians, and medical school educators across the country: do live animal labs have educational merit for medical students, or are they relics of the past? Read the full story

There is good news and bad news about America’s doctors. The good news is that they are among the best in the world. The bad news, however, is that there are not enough of them to go around.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 20 percent of the nation’s population – a hefty 60 million – live in the parts of the country designated by the government as Health Professional Shortage Areas. Those are primarily rural regions, or specific population groups impacted by the shortage, such as migrant workers.

On a global scale, the U.S. averages 2.3 doctors per 1,000 residents, well below the 2.9 recommended by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and adhered to by most industrialized nations. Read the full story