Diagnostic error - Mini review and case report of patient death resulting from delayed diagnosis of acute prostatitis

A 57-year old man presenting with frequent and painful urination and negative initial urinalysis for infection was given a diagnosis of benign prostate hypertrophy, which was never revised by subsequent providers. Instead, the patient continued to be treated for urinary retention and pain. A potent NSAID, Toradol (ketorolac), was included in his regimen. One day prior to his demise, the patient was diagnosed with prostatic abscess and admitted for treatment with intravenous antibiotics. However the patient died on hospital day one from massive GI bleeding. Autopsy revealed an underlying peptic ulcer. This case shines a light on diagnostic error: missed, wrong, or delayed diagnosis. It also uncovers the multifaceted nature of diagnostic errors and highlights the importance of system- related interventions, in particular, better communication between health care providers. Based on malpractice claims data, diagnostic error is the most frequent and costly of all medical mistakes, yet it remains one of the least studied areas of patient safety. While the field has some barriers to study, many opportunities exist for impact in the field of diagnostic errors

A New E-Professionalism/Social Media Course: Student Reflections and Impact

This poster provides a review of interim results from a qualitative study on first-year medical students\u27 attitudes and perceptions of their definition of medical professionalism in social media. Included in the study is an evaluation of changes in perspective since becoming a medical student and after participating in an E-Professionalism and Social Media instructional session

Exploring Social Media’s Potential in Interprofessional Education

Social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs have become part of mainstream society and are currently being used throughout health professions education. The asynchronous nature and conversational aspects of social media permit learners to collaborate with and learn from others in different fields. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a growing paradigm in health professions schools for a variety of reasons, including the desire to teach future practitioners how to communicate with each other and engage in collaborative care. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of IPE curricula, those programs must overcome numerous logistical barriers to be successful. Finding suitable times and locations for interprofessional students to meet and arranging opportunities for them to collaborate on healthcare issues are just two of the logistical impediments to IPE implementation. Fortunately, the asynchronous, conversational, and collaborative aspects of social media applications enable them to facilitate interprofessional communication and alleviate some of the time and space issues. In this article, we describe in further detail the merits of social media relevant to IPE, provide specific examples of how social media can be used to enhance aspects of IPE programs, and make a call for further research in this area

Social media policies at US medical schools

Background/Purpose: Today's medical students are learning in a social media era in which patient confidentiality is at risk yet schools’ social media policies have not been elucidated. The purpose of this study is to describe the presence of medical schools on top social media sites and to identify whether student policies for these schools explicitly address social media use. Method: Websites of all 132 accredited US medical schools were independently assessed by two investigators for their presence (as of March 31, 2010) on the most common social networking and microblogging sites (Facebook and Twitter) and their publicly available policies addressing online social networking. Key features from these policies are described. Results: 100% (n=132) of US medical schools had websites and 95.45% (126/132) had any Facebook presence. 25.76% (34/132) had official medical school pages, 71.21% (94/132) had student groups, and 54.55% (72/132) had alumni groups on Facebook. 10.6% of medical schools (14/132) had Twitter accounts. 128 of 132 medical schools (96.97%) had student guidelines or policies publicly available online. 13 of these 128 schools (10.16%) had guidelines/policies explicitly mentioning social media. 38.46% (5/13) of these guidelines included statements that defined what is forbidden, inappropriate, or impermissible under any circumstances, or mentioned strongly discouraged online behaviors. 53.85% (7/13) encouraged thoughtful and responsible social media use. Conclusions: Medical schools and their students are using social media. Almost all US medical schools have a Facebook presence, yet most do not have policies addressing student online social networking behavior. While social media use rises, policy informing appropriate conduct in medical schools lags behind. Established policies at some medical schools can provide a blueprint for others to adopt and adapt

Evaluating Diversity and Inclusion Content on Graduate Medical Education Websites.

UNLABELLED: Websites are important tools for programs to provide future residency applicants with freely accessible information regarding their program, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. OBJECTIVE: To describe the variability of DEI content in residency programs and compare DEI website content by specialty. METHODS: Using the 2021 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) list of residency programs, residency training websites were identified and evaluated. Information was extracted from program websites as indicators of DEI content. Chi-square analysis and one-way ANOVA were chosen to assess for statistical differences. RESULTS: In total, 4644 program websites representing 26 specialties were assessed. Among all the programs, the average DEI completeness of a program website was 6.1±14.6% (range 0-100%). While 6.2% of all programs had a diversity webpage, only 13.3% included a commitment to DEI, and few programs (2.7%) provided information about underrepresented in medicine (URiM) faculty. CONCLUSIONS: Graduate medical education programs can enhance information for current and prospective applicants about DEI initiatives on their websites. Including DEI initiatives on residency websites may improve diversity recruitment efforts

Consumer Attitudes and Use of Antibiotics

Recent antibiotic use is a risk factor for infection or colonization with resistant bacterial pathogens. Demand for antibiotics can be affected by consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices. In 1998–1999, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) conducted a population-based, random-digit dialing telephone survey, including questions regarding respondents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices of antibiotic use. Twelve percent had recently taken antibiotics; 27% believed that taking antibiotics when they had a cold made them better more quickly, 32% believed that taking antibiotics when they had a cold prevented more serious illness, and 48% expected a prescription for antibiotics when they were ill enough from a cold to seek medical attention. These misguided beliefs and expectations were associated with a lack of awareness of the dangers of antibiotic use; 58% of patients were not aware of the possible health dangers. National educational efforts are needed to address these issues if patient demand for antibiotics is to be reduced

Mothers in medicine: Career, practice, and life lessons learned

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018. All rights reserved. Women are entering medical school in equal numbers as men, yet still face unique challenges in a profession where, overall, male physicians outnumber female physicians 3 to 1. Women in medicine also face decisions such as when to have a child during training and often struggle with work-life balance. This book features real stories and advice from mothers in medicine at all stages of training from medical student to practicing physician and addresses the topics that shape the lives, joys, and challenges of women in medicine today. The book is based on the best posts and wisdom shared on the Mothers in Medicine blog, which was established in 2008 by the editor and has published over 1500 posts and has over 4.8 million page views to date. The book is organized by themes that are unique to the physician-mother: career decisions, having children during training, navigating life challenges, practice issues, and work-life balance. Each chapter features an excerpt from the blog followed by an honest discussion of the key considerations, guidelines, and tips as related to each topic in the conversational, personal tone of the blog. The book concludes with a chapter that features the most popular questions posted on the Mothers in Medicine blog and a summary of the responses received from the community of readers. Mothers in Medicine: Career, Practice, and Life Lessons Learned is a valuable and contemporary resource for pre-medical students, medical students, residents, and physicians

Coming home from war.

Many American military personnel who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will need long-term management of war-related conditions. There is pressing need for expertise in veterans’ care outside of the Military Health System (MHS) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as many will seek care elsewhere: Veterans receive free MHS care only while on active duty; enhanced eligibility for VA healthcare ends 5 years after military discharge; many veterans eligible for VA healthcare use non-VA services instead; and the Affordable Care Act will expand Medicaid coverage for uninsured veterans. Families of veterans also may need care for conditions related to war service. Most medical schools lack veteran-focused curricula beyond VA clerkships, which often do not provide specific training on service-related conditions. The VA, Department of Defense (DoD), veterans groups, and medical professional organizations should partner to develop technical competencies in veteran and family health care for clinicians at all career stages, and cultural competencies to ensure contextually appropriate care. National and state licensing boards should assess these competencies formally. Partnerships between VA, DoD, and the community for care delivery can improve transitions and the quality of veterans’ post-deployment care