Dec 1, 2011
Often, when we visit our doctor, we simply want to know, "What is it? What is the name of the ailment that is causing me to feel this way? Do my symptoms add up to something that can be recognized with a single label? And what will that label mean?" Very often, the diagnosis we get affects the course of our lives. This...
Nov 1, 2011
Since the 2008 election, health care reform has been one of the key issues dominating political and civil discourse throughout the country. Recently the debates around health reform have only intensified as looming cuts threaten to reduce physician Medicare by nearly 30%. This month, Virtual Mentor spoke with Dr. Peter...
Nov 1, 2011
We hear a lot about health care reform from the perspective of physicians who are already members of the medical establishment—whether they are for health care reform, or against it. But what about new and future doctors who will enter medicine during this dynamic period of change and restructuring? This month Virtual...
Sep 1, 2011
Some say little has improved in the 12 years since the Institute of Medicine drew the nation’s attention to the unacceptable number of “adverse unexpected events”—read “errors”—in U.S. hospitals. Virtual Mentor spoke with Dr. David Classen, associate professor of medicine at the University of Utah, about...
Sep 1, 2011
One initiative in the system wide, concerted effort to bring medical errors under control has been the development of patient safety training and educational programs for nurses, physicians, and other health professionals. Virtual Mentor spoke with Patricia Sokol, RN, JD, senior policy analyst at the American Medical...