AM Express Archive

November 2009
Tune into any U.S. news station these days and you won't have to wait long to hear about health care reform. An important commentary in the November issue of Academic Medicine examines the potential effects of health care reform on AMCs and calls on leaders to acknowledge the root cause of the problems within the current system, recognize potential change initiatives, contemplate the changing role that AMCs will play in the health care system of the future, and begin to adapt and respond. This and many other pressing issues, including five illuminating responses to Dr. Kanter's 2009 Question of the Year, are covered in the November issue.

October 2009
Caring for patients. Mentoring trainees. Conducting research. Reviewing articles. Those in academic medicine know that these and myriad other necessary duties take much time and effort and often challenge the work-life balance. Recent articles in Academic Medicine, including one in this issue, discuss this topic in the context of a part-time career path. A Commentary in this issue also addresses the topic of part-time careers, but warns that simply reducing the hours one is expected to work does not address unrealistic professional expectations heaped on those in academic medicine.

September 2009
Empathy declines during medical training. Previous articles in Academic Medicine have called attention to this phenomenon. In this month's issue, one study pinpoints that decline in the third year of medical school, a time when many students are first exposed to prolonged experiences in the clinical setting. Several articles and two commentaries examine the vital issues of measuring and teaching empathy. This and other important topics are highlighted below.

August 2009
When patients get sick, they seek physicians who can offer the best possible advice. But what happens when that advice is compromised by questionable physician competence or a conflict of interest? Articles in the August issue of Academic Medicine examine physician competence as well as physician-industry relations. These and many other important topics are addressed in the articles highlighted below.

July 2009
If you asked three of your colleagues what is the best model for the senior year of medical school, you'd likely get three different answers. There is much debate about this pivotal year, and Dr. Kanter's July editorial offers advice on "How to Win an Argument about the Senior Year of Medical School." This month's issue also features a collection of articles about clinical clerkships--including a debate about the value of longitudinal clerkships--and an article and commentary about informatics in biomedicine and health care. Read on to see what else the July issue of Academic Medicine has in store.

June 2009
Since the founding of osteopathy, DO and MD medical education have remained distinct from each other. However, it is important for the DO and MD communities to understand and learn from one another, a critical issue Dr. Kanter examines in this month's editorial: "What Is Your Threshold for Evidence to Treat?" The June issue of Academic Medicine also features a collection of articles, related point-counterpoint commentaries, and an AM Last Page about the present and future of osteopathy and osteopathic medical education. These items as well as articles on many other important topics are highlighted below.

May 2009
As the U.S. population ages, physicians of all specialties--not just primary care physicians--must be well prepared to care for geriatric patients. What can be done to ensure that today's trainees can meet this challenge? Among other important topics, the May issue of Academic Medicine takes on the issue of geriatrics education in a collection of articles, a related commentary, and an AM Last Page on the geriatrics physician workforce.

April 2009
Academic Medicine peers into the future with a new feature. "The Future of Psychiatry as Clinical Neuroscience," the first article in an ongoing, occasional series examining the future of academic medicine, suggests that psychiatry must bridge not only the brain and the mind, but also science and service to increase its relevance to public health and the rest of medicine. Two related commentaries further examine the concept of the future of psychiatry, and Dr. Kanter outlines the "Future of..." series in his editorial. Read these selections and much more in the April issue of Academic Medicine.

March 2009
As graduating medical students await Match Day, the March 2009 issue of Academic Medicine examines key aspects of graduate medical education (GME). The issue explores educational innovations in GME, the administrative and structural changes to resident education, and the role of the national accrediting body. Important commentaries by Jordan J. Cohen, MD, and Thomas J. Nasca, MD, are among the highlights.

February 2009
How can a historic controversy inform the study and practice of medicine today? An article and two commentaries in the February issue of Academic Medicine consider what we can learn from the 1971 publication and ultimate retraction of an anatomy text book that met a firestorm of controversy. Such events helped shape the culture of medicine, and learning from them can promote respect for the well-being of faculty, trainees, and patients - a central theme throughout this month's issue.

January 2009
Dr. Kanter's editorial in the January issue of Academic Medicine invites creative, imaginative, and feasible responses to his 2009 Question of the Year: How should academic medicine contribute to peace-building efforts around the world? This year, Dr. Kanter invites responses in essay form, with no more than 750 words and three references. Approximately five responses will be published in the journal. Other articles and commentaries this month explore a number of faculty issues, and an AM Last Page uses data and graphics to look at U.S. Medical School Faculty by the numbers.

December 2008
For generations, people have debated the relationship between religion and science. Do they coexist as separate entities? Are they inextricably intertwined? Does one preclude the other? The December issue of Academic Medicine examines this relationship from the perspective of academic physicians, featuring a study about academic pediatricians and spirituality and religion, and a related commentary calling for a systematic study of religion-associated variations in clinicians' clinical practices. Many other key topics are also explored in the December issue.

November 2008
Since 1963, funding appropriated by Congress under Title VII has financed the expansion and improvement of primary care and dentistry training across the United States, but many lament that its true impact is difficult to measure. The November issue of Academic Medicine highlights programs and innovations funded by Title VII Section 747, illustrating first-hand the deep impact this funding has had on primary care and dentistry training. Commentators weigh in about measuring the outcomes of Title VII funding, and a new feature, AM Last Page, summarizes Title VII. The November issue also marks the return of Letters to the Editor, available in print and online.

October 2008
Internal medicine practice is changing, and many believe that internal medicine training should follow suit. Not so fast, say Thomas S. Huddle, MD, PhD, and Gustavo R. Heudebert, MD, in the October issue of Academic Medicine. The authors argue that many changes now proposed would likely damage the "consultant-generalist" ideal of traditional internal medicine and they propose a model of training that would preserve this ideal. Commentaries by Holly J. Humphrey, MD, and F. Daniel Duffy, MD, take on the training model proposed by Huddle and Heudebert, examining the evolution of internal medicine training and practice.

September 2008
Every academic health center (AHC) faces challenges unique to its own organization, community, and culture. The September issue of Academic Medicine features a collection of from-the-trenches articles by AHC leaders about facing some of their AHCs' most daunting challenges. From governance changes to research issues, physical relocation to financial renaissance, the collection offers a window into overcoming these challenges in pursuit of excellence in the tripartite mission of education, research, and patient care.

August 2008
Imagine a health care delivery system that is more personalized, predictive, preventive, and participatory. This is the idea behind prospective medicine. A key article in the August issue of Academic Medicine argues that the academic medicine community must become more invested in pursuing this model of care. In a new feature, two short pieces offer an accompanying point-counterpoint perspective on prospective medicine, exploring its advantages and disadvantages and proposing alternative reforms.

July 2008
In the July issue, three articles are free to non-subscribers: "On Outcomes and Humility," "A Conceptual Framework for the Use of Illness Narratives in Medical Education," and "The Institutional Context of Multicultural Education: What is Your Institutional Curriculum?"

June 2008
In the June issue, four articles are free to non-subscribers: "The Development and Assessment of an NIH-Funded Research Ethics Training Program," "The NIH and Bioethics: What Should Be Done?" "SUNY Upstate Medical University," and "Restoring Trust Through Bioethics Education?"

May 2008
From undergraduates just beginning their premedical studies to deans tackling the everyday trials of medical school administration, the May issue closely examines a wide range of academic medicine experiences.

April 2008
The main focus of this issue is Population Health Education.

March 2008
This issue covers a number of the most pressing issues facing the academic medicine community today.

February 2008
This issue Global health initiatives at institutions across the United States and Canada.

January 2008
New editor-in-chief, Steven L. Kanter, M.D., issues a "grand challenge" to the academic medicine community.