Sinai Samaritan Medical Center House Staff, 1991-1992

House staff roster with photos of Sinai Samaritan residents in 1991-1992 for the specialties of internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry.https://digitalrepository.aurorahealthcare.org/asmc_books/1024/thumbnail.jp

Library News and Notes

Newsletter of the Boston University Alumni Medical Librar

Systematic reviews of surgical procedures in children: Quantity, coverage and quality

Aim Systematic reviews have the potential to map those areas where children are under‐represented in surgical research. We aimed to describe and evaluate the quantity, coverage and the quality of conduct and reporting of systematic reviews of surgical procedures in children. Methods We searched four biomedical databases, a systematic review register, reference lists and conducted hand searching to identify relevant reviews. Two reviewers worked independently to critically appraise included studies and abstract data. We assessed reporting quality using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta‐analysis statement and methodological quality using the Assessment of Multiple SysTemAtic Reviews tool. Results Fifteen systematic reviews were identified, representing 0.01% of all paediatric surgical citations in MEDLINE and E mbase. Thirteen of the reviews were C ochrane reviews, and most reviews (12/15) addressed subspecialty interests such as otorhinolaryngology. The median number of included trials per systematic review was four (interquartile range 1 to 9.5), the median number of primary outcomes was 5.5 (interquartile range 3.5 to 7.5). In general, reporting and methodological quality was good although there were several omissions, particularly around completeness of reporting of statistical methods used, and utilisation of quality assessments in analyses. Outcomes were often not clearly defined and descriptions of procedures lacked sufficient detail to determine the similarities and differences among surgical procedures within the contributing trials. Conclusion Systematic reviews of surgical procedures in children are rarely published. To improve the evidence base and guide research agendas, more systematic reviews should be conducted, using standard guidelines for conduct and reporting

Personality traits and career choices among physicians in Finland : employment sector, clinical patient contact, specialty and change of specialty

Background: Personality influences an individual's adaptation to a specific job or organization. Little is known about personality trait differences between medical career and specialty choices after graduating from medical school when actually practicing different medical specialties. Moreover, whether personality traits contribute to important career choices such as choosing to work in the private or public sector or with clinical patient contact, as well as change of specialty, have remained largely unexplored. In a nationally representative sample of Finnish physicians (N = 2837) we examined how personality traits are associated with medical career choices after graduating from medical school, in terms of employment sector, patient contact, medical specialty and change of specialty. Methods: Personality was assessed using the shortened version of the Big Five Inventory (S-BFI). An analysis of covariance with posthoc tests for pairwise comparisons was conducted, adjusted for gender and age with confounders (employment sector, clinical patient contact and medical specialty). Results: Higher openness was associated with working in the private sector, specializing in psychiatry, changing specialty and not practicing with patients. Lower openness was associated with a high amount of patient contact and specializing in general practice as well as ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology. Higher conscientiousness was associated with a high amount of patient contact and specializing in surgery and other internal medicine specialties. Lower conscientiousness was associated with specializing in psychiatry and hospital service specialties. Higher agreeableness was associated with working in the private sector and specializing in general practice and occupational health. Lower agreeableness and neuroticism were associated with specializing in surgery. Higher extraversion was associated with specializing in pediatrics and change of specialty. Lower extraversion was associated with not practicing with patients. Conclusions: The results showed distinctive personality traits to be associated with physicians' career and specialty choices after medical school independent of known confounding factors. Openness was the most consistent personality trait associated with physicians' career choices in terms of employment sector, amount of clinical patient contact, specialty choice and change of specialty. Personality-conscious medical career counseling and career guidance during and after medical education might enhance the person-job fit among physicians.Peer reviewe

Assessment and Weeding of a Clinical HIV/AIDS Collection in an Academic Library: A Case Study

Maintaining a clinical HIV/AIDS section in an academic library collection that is both current and historically significant for research is essential. This article reports on a collection management project that was undertaken to weed HIV/AIDS books in targeted clinical areas of an academic library using a timeline model developed by Ondrusek (2001) as a supplement to traditional weeding methods. The combination proved effective for identifying clinical materials that were outdated and needed to be deaccessioned while maintaining historically relevant materials in these areas

The Changing Pattern of General Practice and Its Educational Implications

The results of a mail questionnaire sent to members of the Virginia Academy of General Practice demonstrate the changes occurring in the content of family practice. Practitioners in small towns practice more obstetrics and less internal medicine than those in large cities, and conversely. The implications for training in general practice are discussed

Urinary steroid profiling in women hints at a diagnostic signature of the polycystic ovary syndrome: A pilot study considering neglected steroid metabolites.

Although the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women with vast metabolic consequences, its etiology remains unknown and its diagnosis is still made by exclusion. This study aimed at characterizing a large number of urinary steroid hormone metabolites and enzyme activities in women with and without PCOS in order to test their value for diagnosing PCOS. Comparative steroid profiling of 24h urine collections using an established in-house gas-chromatography mass spectrometry method. Data were collected mostly prospectively. Patients were recruited in university hospitals in Switzerland. Participants were 41 women diagnosed with PCOS according to the current criteria of the Androgen Excess and PCOS Society Task Force and 66 healthy controls. Steroid profiles of women with PCOS were compared to healthy controls for absolute metabolite excretion and for substrate to product conversion ratios. The AUC for over 1.5 million combinations of metabolites was calculated in order to maximize the diagnostic accuracy in patients with PCOS. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were indicated for the best combinations containing 2, 3 or 4 steroid metabolites. The best single discriminating steroid was androstanediol. The best combination to diagnose PCOS contained four of the forty measured metabolites, namely androstanediol, estriol, cortisol and 20βDHcortisone with AUC 0.961 (95% CI 0.926 to 0.995), sensitivity 90.2% (95% CI 76.9 to 97.3), specificity 90.8% (95% CI 81.0 to 96.5), PPV 86.0% (95% CI 72.1 to 94.7), and NPV 93.7% (95% CI 84.5 to 98.2). PCOS shows a specific 24h urinary steroid profile, if neglected metabolites are included in the analysis and non-conventional data analysis applied. PCOS does not share a profile with hyperandrogenic forms of congenital adrenal hyperplasias due to single steroid enzyme deficiencies. Thus PCOS diagnosis by exclusion may no longer be warranted. Whether these findings also apply to spot urine and serum, remains to be tested as a next step towards routine clinical applicability