| HEALTH PROFESSIONS E-LETTER, July
2007
Dear Reader,
"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them
being made." (Otto von Bismarck)
The development of health care policy, in all its glory, was
on full public display at the American Medical Association House
of Delegates meeting in Chicago. At this august event in June,
the AMA committed to pursuing the following items:
Address the nationwide obesity epidemic by reducing trans fat
in foods, recommending nutritional labeling at fast-food and
chain restaurants, and supporting healthy options in federal
and state food assistance programs
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/138/0/
Protect children in low-income families by improving the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/139/0/
Combat rising health care costs by reducing the burden of preventable
disease and making health care delivery more efficient.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/140/0/
As always, we welcome your thoughts on these or other issues
that affect the US health care system, particularly as they
relate to health professions education.
Best Regards,
Fred Donini-Lenhoff, editor
1. New data book based on survey: Please
complete it now!
2. Quotable: Is it time for a new perspective in
health care?
3. Featured profession: Anesthesiologist assistant
4. All politics are local; so are all health workforce
shortages
5. AMA directory to expand beyond allied health
6. Bank on it: Health care needs to be more like
banking
7. Health careers Web site beefed up thanks to
RWJ Foundation grant
8. Featured program: Ohio U, music therapist program
9. Congratulations to vascular ultrasound awardees
10. New AMA journal focuses on disasters and public
health preparedness
11. On the calendar
12. Editorial: Keep feds out of higher education
accreditation
13. Opportunity to share (and benefit from) online
materials
14. Want to learn more about graduate medical
education?
REMINDER: Order your copy of the Health
Professions Career and Education Directory online at:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/141/0/
The Directory earned a perfect 5-star ranking (received by
only 8% of books reviewed) in a recent evaluation by Doody's
Book Review Service.
1. New data book based on survey:
Please complete it now!
The new Health Professions Education Data Book includes
30 tables of data for academic year 2005-2006, including number
of programs and enrollments, attrition, and graduates by occupation,
state/province, and race/ethnic origin and gender:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/142/0/
The data in this publication are based on the AMA's annual
Survey of Health Professions Education Programs -- have you
completed yours?
If not, please contact Dorothy Grant-Bryant at dorothy.grant-bryant@ama-assn.org
(312 464-4936) for login information.
NOTE: Respondents to this year's survey will be entered in
monthly drawings to win a complimentary copy of The Art of
JAMA (list price $70), with full-color reproductions of a
wide range of artwork from the world's finest museums:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/143/0/
And congratulations to Sandi Tschritter, director of the
pharmacy technician program at Spokane Community College,
the winner of our first monthly drawing!
2. Quotable: Is it time for a
new perspective in health care?
"Science, including medicine, has taken a distinct path
in its analytical evaluation of the natural world. This approach
can be described as one of 'divide and conquer,' and it is
rooted in the assumption that complex problems are solvable
by dividing them into smaller, simpler, and thus more tractable
units."
Is it time to forgo this "reductionist" model in
favor of a "systems perspective" which "is
rooted in the assumption that the forest cannot be explained
by studying the trees individually"?
An article in the May issue of PLoS Medicine examines this
dialectic and explores how the latter method can help us expand
our understanding of science and medicine.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/144/0/
3. Featured profession: Anesthesiologist
assistant
This month, we feature the profession of anesthesiologist
assistant. Check out these two informative links, from the
AMA and the Health Professions Network, respectively, for
more information on education and careers in the field.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/145/0/
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/146/0/
Also, be sure to consult the AMA's chart of allied health
income ranges, for salary in this and other health professions
fields.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/147/0/
4. All politics are local; so
are all health workforce shortages
Writing in the May 2007 issue of TRENDS, from the Association
of Schools of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP), Stephen Collier,
PhD, describes and presents data on the sometimes wide variations
in health workforce shortages from one locale to another.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/148/0/
(pp 5-6)
(PDF, 129KB, requires Adobe Reader)
5. AMA directory to expand beyond
allied health
The 2008-09 edition of the Health Professions Career and
Education Directory will be expanded to include additional
professions, including those not considered "allied health,"
such as medicine, nursing, dentistry, and optometry. This
change is in response to reader requests for information on
a wider range of health professions.
Accordingly, we are considering a title change to the book,
to the Health Care Careers Directory.
We welcome your comments/feedback on this plan at fred.lenhoff@ama-assn.org.
6. Bank on it: Health care needs
to be more like banking
Information technology is (finally) coming to health care,
but progress is uneven, costs are high, and integration within
and across health systems and hospitals rare.
Read the June 2007 address from Ed O'Neil, director of the
Center for the Health Professions, and find out why health
care needs a workforce ATM.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/156/0/
7. Health careers Web site beefed
up thanks to RWJ Foundation grant
To help increase the diversity of the health professions
workforce and increase access to care for underserved populations,
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded a $672,000 grant
to the American Dental Education Association to administer
and expand the ExploreHealthCareers (EHC) Web site.
EHC is a free, interactive site that offers information on
76 health careers and includes
- Academic requirements, accredited programs, and job outlook/salary
range
- Information on pre-health enrichment programs and sources
of portable financial aid
- Profiles of minority health professionals and practitioners
working in underserved communities
- Advice on how to succeed in health professions school
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/150/0/
8. Featured program: Ohio U, music
therapist program
Each issue we profile a randomly selected educational program,
using text provided by program personnel who filled out the
AMA's annual survey.
This month we feature the music therapist program at Ohio
University, which is the only institution in the state to
offer both bachelor's and master's degree programs in music
therapy. The program emphasizes clinical practice and practice-based
research.
The university's music therapy clinic, housed in the School
of Music, provides opportunities for research in autism and
community-based music therapy. Affiliations with O'Bleness
Memorial Hospital, Doctor's Hospital, and other health facilities,
Ohio University's Kids on Campus summer program for reading-delayed
young children, and a strong relationship with the School
of Speech and Language Sciences ,the Child Development Department,
and the Gerontology Program provide both undergraduates and
graduate students with continuing research opportunities.
The curriculum places music therapy majors in on-the-job
supervised training available at over 20 community-based local
agencies. Classes prepare students not only for acceptance
into key internship programs but also successful completion
of the national board certification and a rewarding professional
career.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/151/0/
9. Congratulations to vascular
ultrasound awardees
Congratulations to Terrence D. Case, MEd, RVT, FSVU, assistant
professor and program director, Nova Southeastern University,
Fort Lauderdale, FL, who was selected as one of five new Society
for Vascular Ultrasound (SVU) Fellows for 2007.
Fellows are SVU members recognized for their many outstanding
contributions to the organization as well as to the vascular
ultrasound profession.
In addition, congratulations to Jean F. Primozich, BS, RVT,
FSVU, of Seattle, WA, recipient of the SVU's first Professional
Achievement Award, in recognition of her contributions to
vascular technology research and education at the University
of Washington, and for her work as a vascular ultrasound author,
lecturer and panelist.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/152/0/
10. New AMA journal focuses
on disasters and public health preparedness
Through July 22, check out the AMA's new quarterly journal
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness free of charge:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/122/0/
The premiere issue featured a study on increased death rates
among New Orleans residents post-Katrina, due in part to a
compromised public health infrastructure; the study generated
widespread media attention, including:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/123/0/
Other articles discuss the Oklahoma City bombing and the
Indian Ocean tsunami.
11. On the calendar
The 2007 Annual Conference of the American Therapeutic Recreation
Association will be held September 9–12 in downtown Milwaukee.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/153/0/
Also, be sure to sign up for the American Society of Radiologic
Technologists Radiation Therapy Conference, Oct. 28-30, in
Los Angeles. Register by July 9 and save up to $150.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/154/0/
12. Editorial: Keep feds out
of higher education accreditation
An editorial in the July 7 Florida Times-Union calls for
resistance to "federal intrusion" in college accreditation.
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/155/0/
13. Opportunity to share (and
benefit from) online materials
Health Sciences Online (HSO) is building a Web site where
physicians, nurses, and other health professionals in training
and practice can easily access at no charge comprehensive,
high quality, and current courses, references, and other learning
resources to improve global health.
HSO is a collaborative initiative of the World Bank, World
Health Organization, Agency for Health Research and Quality,
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University,
and many others.
The HSO site will be both free (and free of ad content),
and comprehensive in its donated courseware and references
in the health sciences. If you're interested in donating content,
contact Erica Frank, MD, MPH at: efrank@emory.edu
14. Want to learn more about
graduate medical education?
The Graduate Medical Education (GME) e-Letter is a free
monthly e-mail newsletter that covers a wide range of issues
affecting GME -- everything from resident work hours and health
workforce concerns to updates on accreditation activities
and development of new subspecialties.
Read the current issue:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/128/0/
Subscribe now:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/130/0/
ABOUT US . . .
The Health Professions e-Letter is produced by the American
Medical Association (AMA).
This periodic newsletter covers educational trends and career-related
issues for 71 professions that participate in the delivery of
health care, including diagnostic and rehabilitative services,
therapeutic treatments, health or information services management,
counseling for psychosocial and cognitive needs, or related
services.
Newsletter readers and contributors include staff of health
professions accrediting agencies, educational programs and institutions,
professional organizations, certifying/licensing boards, and
media contacts.
Previous issues are available online at:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/137/0/
GIVE US YOUR STORY IDEAS AND FEEDBACK
What's happening in the world of health professions? If you
have any leads or story ideas, please contact us. Also, let
us know what you think about this newsletter--and feel free
to forward it to your colleagues.
Direct suggestions, comments, compliments, gripes, to
Fred Donini-Lenhoff
American Medical Association
Medical Education Products
515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60610
312 464-4635
312 464-5830 fax
fred_lenhoff@ama-assn.org
http://enews.ama-assn.org/t/10187/118863/137/0/
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