 |
|
Medical residents unclear about TB guidelines
August 02, 2007US medical residents are not proficient at diagnosing and managing tuberculosis (TB), according to a report published in the online open access journal, BMC Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Petros Karakousis et al. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, US, administered a twenty-question survey about TB to 131 medical residents attending a single teaching conference at each of their respective institutions in 2005. The residents came from four different urban medical centers in Baltimore and Philadelphia, which both have a moderate prevalence of TB.
Just under half of the questions were answered incorrectly. The section on the diagnosis and treatment of latent TB (where a patient is infected with TB but has no symptoms) was particularly poorly answered, with residents getting on average three-fifths of the answers wrong. The residents also had particular difficulty in answering questions pertaining to the risk of progression from latent TB to active disease (where a patient develops TB-related symptoms), as well as those involving interpretation of diagnostic tests for patients with active TB. As physicians training at urban medical centers are likely to be the first point of contact for patients with previously undiagnosed TB, it is important that they are properly trained in spotting and treating this infectious disease.
"We cannot be sure that lack of tuberculosis knowledge leads to poor management of patients," says Karakousis. "Although trainees may score poorly, they may be quick to consult experts in Infection Control, Infectious Diseases, or Pulmonary Medicine to assist in diagnosis, isolation, and treatment." However, the authors conclude that residents' knowledge gaps may have important implications for public health.
TB cases in the US fell to a historic low of 13,767 in 2006. However, there are an estimated 10 to 15 million persons in the United States with latent TB infection, who are at risk for developing active TB. Social factors, including homelessness, drug use, incarceration, and immigration, as well as HIV infection, have contributed to high TB prevalence in urban areas in the US.
BioMed Central
"We cannot be sure that lack of tuberculosis knowledge leads to poor management of patients," says Karakousis. "Although trainees may score poorly, they may be quick to consult experts in Infection Control, Infectious Diseases, or Pulmonary Medicine to assist in diagnosis, isolation, and treatment." However, the authors conclude that residents' knowledge gaps may have important implications for public health.
TB cases in the US fell to a historic low of 13,767 in 2006. However, there are an estimated 10 to 15 million persons in the United States with latent TB infection, who are at risk for developing active TB. Social factors, including homelessness, drug use, incarceration, and immigration, as well as HIV infection, have contributed to high TB prevalence in urban areas in the US.
BioMed Central
Painful condition affecting kidney failure patients increases risk of death
A painful and debilitating condition that affects patients with kidney failure may be more common than previously believed and appears to be strongly associated with prior exposure to certain contrast agents used in imaging studies.
Medical residents score poorly in diagnosing and managing tuberculosis
When quizzed about their knowledge in diagnosing tuberculosis and deciding on the best treatment, medical residents in Baltimore and Philadelphia get almost half the answers wrong, according to a survey by TB disease experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere.
Smoking linked with aging on skin that usually is not exposed to sunlight
In classic movies, cigarette smoking was used as shorthand to convey sultriness and beauty. In the real world, the connection between smoking and one's appearance - as many studies have shown - has more to do with premature signs of aging and less to do with glamour and refinement.
Morning grogginess more debilitating than sleep deprivation
A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows that people who awaken after eight hours of sound sleep have more impaired thinking and memory skills than they do after being deprived of sleep for more than 24 hours.
More Medical Residents Current Events and Medical Residents News Articles
 | Precepting Medical Residents in the Office This work includes a foreword by James Stageman. 'This book has been produced to serve as a resource for community physicians who bring medical residents into their practices and train them in their offices. This book has been designed with the busy community physician in mind. Each chapter is intended to serve as a practical, concise, easily read, stand alone resource on the topic covered.' -... |
 | Mdpocket Medical Reference Guide: Resident Edition: A Quick Guide For: Interns, Residents, Medical Professionals by Desi Pennington |
| Basic Ophthalmology for Medical Students and Primary Care Residents | |
 | Return To The House Of God: Medical Resident Education 1978-2008 (Literature and Medicine) This book reflects on Samuel Shem's "The House of God" and its impact on medical resident education.Samuel Shem's "The House of God" is widely regarded as one of the most influential novels about medical education in the twentieth century. Decades after being published, this satire still raises issues of how interns and residents are trained and how patients experience their treatment. "Return to... |
 | Teaching in Your Office: A Guide to Instructing Medical Students and Residents, Second Edition by Patrick C. Alguire, Dawn E. Dewitt, Linda E. Pinsky, Gary S. Ferenchick This newly revised edition of Teaching in Your Office is an excellent resource for physicians interested in improving their techniques in office-based teaching while maintaining the efficiency of their practice. Updated and redesigned, this new edition offers teaching skills in a format succinct and focused enough to allow busy clinicians to identify chapters that address their specific needs.... |
 | Teaching in Your Office: A Guide to Instructing Medical Students and Residents Office-based teaching should be a beneficial and rewarding experience for both teacher and student. However, ambulatory medical education takes place in a fast-paced, often chaotic environment in which there is little time for instruction, observation, and feedback. Consequently, preceptors mistakenly consider the opportunity for their own self-improvement to be limited. Teaching in Your Office... |
 | Graduate Medical Education Directory 2008-2009 by American Medical Association |
 | Pediatric Radiology: An Introduction for Medical Students, Residents, and Pediatric Health Care Providers by Jack O. Haller, Thomas L. Slovis, Aparna Joshi This basic text introduces the reader to all facets of pediatric imaging from the importance of understanding X-ray exposure to children through the appropriate indications for ordering a particular examination. It covers basic problems in each organ system. There is a quiz after most of the clinical chapters. The text is aimed at the novice, while the pictures of classic important imaging... |
| Resident's Guide to Starting in Medical Practice by C. James Holliman Pennsylvania State University, Hershey. Practical handbook for residents near the end of residency on choosing a type of medical practice such as private, academic, or HMO, and getting started in it. 4 U.S. contributors. DNLM: Practice Management, Medical - organization &... | |
| Duke Chief Medical Residents: An Overview by Joseph C., Jr., M.D. Greenfield Through the eyes of the Chief Residents in Medicine and the Program Directors, the evolution of the Internal Medicine Training Program at Duke Medical Center is documented. The primary content of the book contains the perspectives provided by these individuals, which give a rich and informative picture of the dramatic changes that have occurred in the complexity of patient care and the training... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |