The Big Squeeze: A Social and Political History of the Controversial Mammogram

[Excerpt] The Big Squeeze: A Social and Political History of the Controversial Mammogram chronicles the often turbulent history of screening mammography since its introduction in the early 1970s. This book makes five key points. First, it shows how pivotal decisions during mammography\u27s initial roll-out made it all but inevitable that the test would never be far from controversy. Second, it describes how, at several key points in its history, the establishment of a culture of mammography screening was greatly aided by concurrent social and political forces and movements. Third, it illustrates how politics came to dominate the debate, eventually achieving primacy over science itself. Fourth, The Big Squeeze describes the collateral economy that developed around screening. As mammography was aggressively promoted in the late 1980s to early 1990s, utilization rates rapidly increased. As this occurred, the mundane mammogram became the little pink engine that could, and did, drive the growth of a vast screening-dependent secondary economy. Finally, mammography\u27s burden, overdiagnosis, is considered in the last chapter. Overdiagnosis, the screening detection of cancers that would never otherwise have come to light in the individual\u27s lifetime, is an important yet woefully underdiscussed risk of mammography. This phenomenon is more significant than that, however. Overdiagnosis helped make fighting breast cancer the most favored disease cause and mammography the most favored weapon in the fight

Awareness of the 20-20-20 Rule Amongst Students, Faculty, and Staff

In the past several years, medical schools have increased utilization of recorded lectures and electronic devices: computers, smartphones, and tablets. Increased screen exposure hours where students, faculty, and staff may acquire eye strain. Many are not aware of the 20-20-20 rule: for every 20 minutes of screen time, it is recommended to look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds; a reminder to take frequent breaks to help prevent eye strain. We want to share reports from our institution regarding student, faculty and staff digital device usage and awareness of the 20-20-20 rule

Assessing the Prevalence of Computer Vision Syndrome at an Osteopathic Medical School with an Electronic Content Delivery Model

To determine the overall prevalence of computer vision syndrome (CVS) among students, faculty, and staff while promoting awareness. CVS is caused by extended screen exposure that can lead to eye discomfort and vision changes which can affect quality of life and educational performance. Our institution is a new Osteopathic medical school that aims to create an innovative approach to medical education delivery via employment of modern technology that is already prevalent. Implementation of pre-recorded lecture materials in the curriculum requires 4-6 additional electronic screen exposure hours. Members of our institution are potentially at increased risk for CVS stemming from the curriculum delivery style and the accelerated use of technology