== AAMC announces new Caring for Community awardees
== AAMC authors publish Graduation Questionnaire data in JAMA
== HCFA publishes Medicare fiscal year 2002 inpatient PPS proposed
rule
== Stanford University Medical Center to end capitated HMO agreements
== Presidential commission issues recommendations for clinical trials
in developing countries
== Medical residents, students, and others petition OSHA to limit
resident work hours
== West Virginia University increases enrollment of nursing and
pharmacy students
== Hot headlines
== On the move
--
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AAMC announces new Caring for Community awardees
In the third award cycle of "Caring for Community," a program launched
in March 2000, the AAMC, in collaboration with Pfizer Inc. and the
Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, has announced six new awardees.
The award recipients will receive a total of $51,700 in funding for
community-oriented service projects developed and operated by medical
students. The Caring for Community program has awarded more than
$155,000 since its inception.
The projects chosen for funding this cycle include "Check Your Skin," a
program run by medical students at Virginia Commonwealth University
School of Medicine, in which they will teach the public in the greater
Richmond area how to reduce the risk of melanoma. At the "NYU Free
Clinic," New York University School of Medicine students will offer free
physical exams, medical screenings, and other health care services for
uninsured and marginalized communities in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Students at SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
will hold a "Women's Health Education Forum and Health Fair," designed
to help Asian refugees and immigrants in the Buffalo area learn how to
access the health care delivery system.
The "Student Outreach Clinic" at the University of Nevada School of
Medicine provides a structured learning environment for medical students
as they deliver basic health services and education to the medically
underserved in the Reno area. The "Reach Out and Read" project at the
East Carolina University School of Medicine uses pediatric health
supervision and the patient-provider relationship to support the
development of literacy skills in young children. Finally, students at
the University of Nebraska Medical Center will continue to operate their
"Sharing Clinic" for the testing and treatment of sexually transmitted
diseases and HIV/AIDS in the medically underserved community of south
Omaha.
Information: Bob Beran, AAMC Division of Student Affairs and Education
Services, 202.828.0250, rberan@aamc.org.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AAMC authors publish Graduation Questionnaire data in JAMA
In the May 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association,
AAMC authors George V. Richard, Ph.D., Deanne M. Nakamoto, and John
Lockwood, Ph.D., discuss in their article "Medical Career Choices:
Traditional and New Possibilities" trends in graduating medical student
career preferences that have been tracked by the AAMC's annual Medical
School Graduation Questionnaire. Comparing data collected in 1990, 1995,
and 2000, their findings indicate, among other things, that more than
half of graduating medical students in 2000 intend to pursue full-time
nonacademic clinical practice, 31 percent plan to become full-time
university faculty, and 8.4 percent are intending other career options.
Information: George V. Richard, AAMC Division of Student Affairs and
Education Services, 202.862.6223, grichard@aamc.org.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
HCFA publishes Medicare fiscal year 2002 inpatient PPS proposed rule
On May 4 the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) published in
the Federal Register its annual proposed rule for changes to the
Medicare inpatient prospective payment system (PPS). The changes would
be applicable to payments for Medicare discharges occurring on or after
October 1, 2001. Comments on the proposal are due July 3.
In addition to other changes, the proposed rule will implement a number
of provisions mandated by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits
Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA). These include increasing
the standardized payment amounts by 2.55 percent, maintaining the IME
level at its fiscal year 2001 level of 6.5 percent, and implementing the
increase to the direct GME per resident amount floor to 85 percent. The
May 4 notice proposes a temporary upward adjustment to resident limits
for hospitals that assume the training of additional residents in the
event of a residency program closure by another hospital. The proposed
rule also implements the BIPA requirement to develop a methodology for
paying for new medical services and technologies.
Information: Karen Fisher, AAMC Division of Health Care Affairs,
202.862.6140, kfisher@aamc.org; the proposed rule is available at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a010504c.html.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Stanford University Medical Center to end capitated HMO agreements
According to the Stanford Report, a university publication, Stanford
University Medical Center has notified six health insurance plans that
Stanford Hospitals and Clinics will end their HMO agreements that
reimburse hospitals and doctors on a capitated basis. Stanford estimates
that 50,000 people presently have access to Stanford Hospitals and
Clinics and doctors under HMO capitated plans offered by HealthNet, Blue
Cross, Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, and PacifiCare. For most of the plans,
no changes will take effect before January 2002.
Information: Go to
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/may9/insurance-59.html.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Presidential commission issues recommendations for clinical trials in
developing countries
The National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC), seeking to improve
the ethical conduct of those conducting international clinical trials,
has recommended a series of steps aimed at reducing the risk of
exploiting research participants in developing countries. NBAC's report,
"Ethical and Policy Issues in International Research: Clinical Trials in
Developing Countries," seeks to ensure that clinical trials operated by
U.S. companies are responsive to the health needs of the country in
which they are conducted and that post-trial access to successful
research products is improved.
Information: Eric Meslin, Ph.D., NBAC, 301.402.4242. A copy of the
report is available at http://www.bioethics.gov.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Medical residents, students, and others petition OSHA to limit resident
work hours
The American Medical Student Association was joined by the Committee of
Interns and Residents, a housestaff union; Public Citizen, the consumer
and health advocacy group; and others in filing a petition with the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) seeking federal
limits on resident work hours. The petition asks OSHA, among other
things, to limit work weeks to 80 hours; limit shifts to a maximum of 24
consecutive hours; limit on-call shifts to every third night; require a
minimum of 10 hours off between shifts; and require at least one 24-hour
off-duty period per week.
Information: The text of the petition is available at
http://www.citizen.org/hrg/PUBLICATIONS/1570.htm.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
West Virginia University increases enrollment of nursing and pharmacy
students
In response to a dwindling pool of pharmacists and nurses throughout
the country and in its state, West Virginia University (WVU) has
announced that it will begin accepting more qualified applicants in its
pharmacy and nursing programs. The goal for WVU School of Nursing is to
accept 90 new students this fall, an increase of 38 percent from
previous years. The School of Pharmacy will accept 74 students in their
fall class, up 15 percent from previous years. Administrators say that
while the past few years have seen a decline in the number of students
applying to their nursing and pharmacy programs, applications are now up
again.
Information: Shelly Stump, WVU Communications, 304.293.0676.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hot headlines
America's ERs: In Critical Condition
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22883-2001Apr30.html,
Washington Post, 5/1/01
8 Americans in Havana Are Med Students With a Mission
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20010501/t000036690.html, Los
Angeles Times, 5/1/01
Bone Marrow Cells a Study in Versatility
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/05/04/national/STEM04.htm,
Associated Press, 5/4/01
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
On the move
S. Edwards Dismuke, M.D., M.S.P.H., has been appointed dean of the
University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, effective July 1. Dr.
Dismuke currently serves as chair of the Department of Preventative
Medicine on both the Wichita and Kansas City campuses of the University
of Kansas.
Donna J. Dean, Ph.D., has been appointed acting director of the newly
established National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
(NIBIB) by Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., acting director of the NIH. Dr.
Dean has served in the Office of the Director at the NIH as senior
advisor for the past three years.
David H. Austin, Ph.D., has resigned his position as president of Case
Western Reserve University. Provost and University Vice President James
W. Wagner, Ph.D., will act in Dr. Austin's absence until a replacement
can be found.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
TO SUBSCRIBE TO AAMC STAT
Send e-mail to majordomo@aamcinfo.aamc.org, typing only the words
"subscribe aamcstat" in the body (not the subject) of the message. You
can unsubscribe from AAMC STAT the same way; make sure your message
reads "unsubscribe aamcstat." You may also subscribe through the AAMC
STAT Web Page: http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/aamcstat/aamcnews.htm. You
will be notified when your request has been fulfilled.
