Feature
Hospitalist IMGs in the Pandemic
(from the April 2020 ACP Hospitalist)
Concerns about visas and residency add to pressures of hospitalist practice.
I.M. Internal Medicine
Spotlight: Thomas F. Alguire, MD, FACP
Dr. Thomas F. Alguire has a love of learning. That's why the 76-year-old internist from Grand Haven, MI, has been a fixture at ACP's annual Internal Medicine Meetings for years.
Medical Student Perspectives
All in for the Patient
Halfway into my 4-week hematology consults elective at the county hospital during my fourth year of medical school, I was surprised that one of my patients, Ms. Z, was a 25-year-old woman from Romania—exactly my age. This was highly unusual; most of the patients I had seen on this service, especially those with cancer, were not that young.
Breadth for Breath
Upon finishing my basic sciences, I was given the opportunity to start my third year of medical school with a rotation in internal medicine. Like many of my peers, I was thrilled, anxious, and excited all at once. I knew that this rotation would be demanding and would challenge me to evolve in the way I assess and think about new situations. By the end of our second year of medical school, we have been trained to critically analyze the “what,” “why,” and “how” of various medical conditions. Throughout my internal medicine rotation, I built upon this foundational knowledge to obtain a greater understanding of how to apply it in a clinical setting. This required me to think critically and add the questions “What else does this mean?” “What steps should we think about next?” and “How can we better help our patients?” to my approach. Above all, this rotation has helped me learn through experience things that I could have never hoped to have learned in a classroom or lecture setting.
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Advocacy Update
COVID-19 Update: Additional Funds on the Way for Practices, Reopening Guidelines Released
(from the May 1, 2020 ACP Advocate)
As the nation's leaders gear up for more rounds of debate about how to support the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, the American College of Physicians is advocating for solutions that protect public health while restoring the economy as much as possible.
The ACP Advocate is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that provides ACP members with news about public policy issues affecting internal medicine and patient care.
Analyzing Annals
Annals Clinical Decision Making: Weighing Evidence to Inform Clinical Decisions
Deciding when recently published evidence should alter practice can be daunting. This article in the Annals Clinical Decision Making series discusses the care of a patient with a common problem and recently published studies to illustrate an approach to weighing new evidence not yet considered by practice guidelines that conflicts with existing recommendations.
Annals of Internal Medicine is the premier internal medicine academic journal published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). It is one of the most widely cited and influential specialty medical journals in the world.
Winning Abstracts
Impact of Ga-68 DOTATATE Scan on Clinical Management of Neuroendocrine Tumor: A Single Center Review of 200 Patients
On June 1, 2016, FDA approved use of Gallium 68 DOTATE scan for localization of somatostatin positive neuroendocrine tumors. Since the FDA approval, many questions regarding utility of Ga 68 DOTATATE in monitoring of the disease, effect of systemic somatostatin analog on quality of imaging and most importantly, whether Ga 68 DOTATATE scan alters clinical decision making remains to be answered. We review our single center experience with Ga DOTATATE scan post FDA approval.
Want to have your abstract featured here? ACP holds a National Abstracts Competition as part of the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting every year. Find out more at ACP Online.
Subspecialty Careers
Nephrology
Nephrology is the subspecialty of internal medicine that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the kidney. Because the kidney performs so many critical functions, nephrologists maintain expertise in primary kidney disorders, but also the management of the systemic consequences of kidney dysfunction. Although the prevention and identification and management of early kidney disease is a large part of general internal medicine practice, nephrologists are usually called upon to assist and manage more complex or advanced nephrologic disorders.
Hypertension
Recent guidelines on diagnosis and management of high blood pressure (BP) include substantial changes and several new concepts compared with previous guidelines. These are reviewed and their clinical implications are discussed in this article. The goal is to provide a practical reference to assist clinicians with up-to-date management of patients with high BP. Important issues include new diagnostic thresholds, out-of-office BP monitoring, intensified treatment goals, and a different approach to resistant hypertension. Finally, differences among guidelines, the persistent controversies that have led to them, and their implications for clinical practice are discussed.
Medical School and COVID-19
Coalition for Physician Accountability (CoPA) Presents Recommendations for Class of 2021 Medical Students
The guidance document was created in response to the changing medical school landscape amid the pandemic, and to standardize how medical schools are approaching away rotations and in-person interviews for the 2020-2021 residency cycle. The Coalition's members include the national organizations responsible for the oversight, education, and assessment of medical students and physicians throughout their medical careers.
Expanded Step Testing and Modified Residency Timeline
The USMLE has announced a phased approach to expanding Step testing given the closure of many of the testing centers.
The National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) has also modified its timeline this year, shifting dates for programs' access to application documents. ERAS has determined that on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, residency programs will gain access to applications and MSPEs will be released to residency programs.
Get Involved
Your Residency Questions Answered: Join Us on Twitter June 7
#ACPAskAResident Twitter Chat with the Council of Resident/Fellow Members
Sunday, June 7, 2020
8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
Ask us anything! ACP's Council of Resident/Fellow Members will be answering your questions about intern year. Follow #ACPAskAResident to join the conversation with future interns. Before you hop on Twitter, check out the free Intern Mini-Bootcamp. ACP and OnlineMedEd are pleased to offer expertly crafted modules to help you start residency strong.
IMIG Sponsorship Application Due June 1, 2020
ACP's Internal Medicine Interest Group (IMIG) Sponsorship Program provides funding, resources, and learning opportunities to medical school groups to support their interest in internal medicine.
Deadline to apply is June 1, 2020. See more details about eligibility and how to apply on ACP Online.
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