Nicaragua (1984): In a hospital—or at least what was labelled as a hospital—a physician receives an elderly woman in a hypertensive crises. He administers the only anti-hypertensive medication available—Reserpine—a drug that is now rarely used because of its side effects. To his profound dismay the patient suffers a stroke and dies a few hours later. There are no morgues in such rural hospitals. There are no ‘funeral parlours’ in the villages. Families take their departed loved ones home for burial. In this instance, the family, owners of a pick-up truck, considers returning home with their mother in the back of the truck, laid out alongside bags of fertilizer. In a flash, they recognize it to be undignified: “Mom, after all, was still warm!” So, with the assistance and blessing of the physician they prop mother up in the cabin and off they drive! A dusty and dilapidated red Ford pick-up, with a cadaver sitting in the passenger seat, is seen making its way through vast expanses of sugar canes.
WCM-Q prepares high school students for medical education
High school students with dreams of careers in medicine recently received a boost thanks to the Qatar Aspiring Doctors Program (QADP) of Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q).
The year-long QADP is designed to help talented high school students, who are interested in becoming doctors, strengthen their college applications by improving on their areas of strength in the physical sciences, biology, English for academic purposes, and research skills.
CMU’s med school obtains key accreditation
Central Michigan University’s College of Medicine has achieved a new level of accreditation that now ranks its continuing medical education programs for faculty equivalent to the top medical schools in the United States.
After a thorough review of CMU’s Office of Continuing Medical Education, the national Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education decided to award the college accreditation with commendation through 2024 as a provider of continuing medical education for physicians.
Doctors study ‘compassion crisis’
CAMDEN, N.J. — Stephen Trzeciak’s obsession with compassion started with his son’s seventh-grade cultural geography assignment three years ago.
The son asked the father, a critical-care doctor at Cooper University Hospital, for help with a speech that would count for half his grade. Trzeciak saw a father-son bonding opportunity. Then he read the formidable question his 12-year-old was expected to answer: What is the most pressing problem of our time?
Effectiveness of peer teaching in medical education: medical student’s perspective
As three clinical-year medical students in the United Kingdom, we were particularly intrigued by Elhassan’s1 research into a weekly educational activity called the “hospitalist huddle” in the United States. It explored the concept of peer teaching among doctors and its effectiveness. In this letter, we will discuss the usefulness of peer teaching for medical students as well as the different educational opportunities similar to the “hospitalist huddle” that exist in UK hospitals.
Author's reply
Mohammed Elhassan
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, UCSF/Fresno Center for Medical Education and Research, Fresno, CA, USA
I read with interest and joy the letter written by Omar, Zaheer, and Ahmed, all clinical-year medical students in the United Kingdom, regarding their experience with peer and near-peer teaching in their institution. It is a delight to learn that their experience with this medical education tool is positive and affirmative. This adds support to the notion that teaching with flat hierarchy is truly appealing for medial learners at different educational levels and within different clinical settings, not only in the US, but also in other similar medical education systems.
View the original paper by Elhassan