| HEALTH PROFESSIONS E-LETTER, October
2004
1. Allied health survey response
rate over 50%
2. What's happening in October?
3. Laboratory workforce hit with
double demographic whammy
4. ASCP seeking the nation's best
laboratory students
5. Physician assistant accreditation
body moves office to Georgia
6. Reader feedback: What "RT" stands
for
7. Surgical technology is "Allied
Health Profession of the Month"
8. Quotable: Professional societies
silent on prisoner abuse
9. October is Breast Cancer Awareness
Month
10. Attend the AMA National Summit
on Obesity, Oct. 19-20
11. Public member sought for physician assistant accreditation body
12. Order your tool kit to help patients kick tobacco
13. Laboratory professionals: Sign up for ASCP Town Hall Audioconference
1. Allied health survey response rate
over 50%
More than 2,700 programs have now completed the 2004 Survey
of Health Professions Education Programs.
For those programs that not done the survey, please note that
the deadline for survey completion was August 31, so we would
appreciate receiving any updates at your earliest convenience.
Data collected on this survey will appear in the 2005-2006
editions of the Health Professions Career and Education Directory
and Health Professions Education Data Book.
For survey login information, please contact Dorothy Grant
at dorothy_grant@ama-assn.org or
312 464-4936.
2. What's happening in October?
A plethora of health-related events in October honor various
allied health professions . . .
Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.2.197721
National Physical Therapy Month
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.3.197721
Nuclear Medicine Week, October 3-9
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.4.197721
National Physician Assistant Week, October 6-12
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.5.197721
Respiratory Care Week, October 24-30
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.6.197721
Medical Assistants Recognition Week, October 18-22
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.7.197721
(Adobe Acrobat Reader required)
For more information on upcoming events, consult the Health
Professions Network calendar at:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.8.197721
3. Laboratory workforce hit with double
demographic whammy
An aging workforce and a lack of new workers to replace them
is hitting the clinical laboratory workforce hard, with repercussions
for patient care, according to an article in the July 12 Toledo
(OH) Blade ("Hospitals encounter med tech shortages").
Two years ago, Mercy College of Northwest Ohio closed its medical
laboratory technology program. "Prospective students
didn't see it as a lucrative field to go into" or didn't
know what it was, a college spokesperson told the Blade.
The medical technology program at Bowling Green State University
is having trouble finding qualified applicants to fill its 14
slots, the article noted; many scientifically minded students
think they can make more money in another field. Complete article
available at: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.9.197721
4. ASCP seeking the nation's best laboratory
students
To encourage young people joining the laboratory profession,
the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) is offering
$1,000 scholarships to outstanding students enrolled in their
final clinical year of study in cytotechnologist, histotechnician,
histotechnologist, medical laboratory technician, or medical
technologist programs.
The deadline for students to submit their scholarship application
is November 1. See:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.10.197721
5. Physician assistant accreditation
body moves office to Georgia
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician
Assistant (ARC-PA) relocated to new offices in Duluth, GA, on
October 1. Since 1991, the Commission office has been located
at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin.
With the doubling in the number of PA programs over the last
decade, it became critical for the ARC-PA to establish a full-time
executive role and its own office space. John McCarty, who has
been the executive director on a part-time basis, has agreed
to become full-time executive director.
The new contact info for the ARC-PA is:
12000 Findley Rd, Ste 240
Duluth, GA 30097
770 476-1224
770 476-1249 Fax
E-mail: johnmccarty@arc-pa.org
To read more (Adobe Acrobat Reader required), see: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.11.197721
6. Reader feedback: What "RT"
stands for
Thanks to reader Mark Holt of Tarrant County College for the
following clarification . . .
"I noticed 'RT' in one of the articles in the September
issue ("Reader feedback: RT education levels in NC not
nationally representative"). The article referred to respiratory
therapists.
"If I am correct, RT normally indicates registered technologist
(radiologic technologist registered by ARRT). Respiratory technologist
is abbreviated RRT, I believe. RT originated around 1920 and
RRT came on the scene in the 1970s, if I remember correctly."
7. Surgical technology is "Allied
Health Profession of the Month"
Now featured on the Health Professions Network's Web site is
the profession of surgical technology:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.12.197721
To request that HealthProNet.org feature your health profession
in the future, send an e-mail to: webmaster@healthpronet.org
8. Quotable: Professional societies
silent on prisoner abuse
"Medical and mental health professionals are in a unique
position to advocate for humane conditions of detention, fair
legal processes, adequate psychiatric care, and appropriate
psycho-legal evaluations. The Guantánamo detainees, exposed
to a host of potential mental health risks, are hidden from
professional and public scrutiny to an extent unparalleled by
a correctional population in recent US history. Professional
societies have avoided the controversies posed by the Guantánamo detentions
. . . . Perhaps our professions are so silent because we have
become accustomed to maintaining silence about the massive human
rights violations so prevalent in US jails and prisons."
"Physicians' Obligation to Speak Out for Prisoners'
Health"
by Daryl Matthews, MD
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.13.197721
The September issue of Virtual Mentor, the AMA's online ethics
journal for medical students and physicians, focuses on medicine
and human rights:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.14.197721
9. October is Breast Cancer Awareness
Month
Health care facilities around the country are acknowledging
Breast Cancer Awareness Month and National Mammography Day (October
15) by offering free or discounted mammograms. To read more,
see:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.15.197721
10. Attend the AMA National Summit
on Obesity, Oct. 19-20
Physicians, nurses, dietitians, exercise physiologists, corporate
and public health officials, researchers, and educators will
gather this month in Chicago to address medicine's response
to the nation's obesity epidemic.
For more information or to register, call 312 464-4526 or visit:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.16.197721
11. Public member sought for
physician assistant accreditation body
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician
Assistant (ARC-PA) is seeking nominations for a public member
for the ARC-PA.
Serving as a consumer advocate, the public member commissioner
is expected to attend the semiannual (March and September) meetings
of the ARC-PA, contribute to discussions about accreditation
status of programs, and participate in site
visits to PA programs and as a member of ARC-PA committees or
task forces.
Nominations and applications, accompanied by a resume and a
statement describing how the candidate's experience and
background will add to the evaluation of PA programs, should
be forwarded before November 1 to:
johnmccarty@arc-pa.org
John E. McCarty
Executive Director, ARC-PA
12000 Findley Road, Suite 240
Duluth, GA 30097
To read more (Adobe Reader required), see:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.17.197721
12. Order your tool kit to
help patients kick tobacco
Health professionals working to help patients quit smoking
or chewing tobacco can obtain an evidence-based Tobacco
Cessation Tool Kit from the American College of Chest Physicians.
The new edition of the tool kit includes an introductory video
and the popular patient education guides "Thinking About
Quitting Tobacco?" and "How To Quit Using Tobacco,"
now available in both Spanish and English.
The cost for the tool kit is $30. The two patient education
guides are available in packages of 25 for $15. For more
information or to order, see: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.18.197721
13. Laboratory professionals:
Sign up for ASCP Town Hall Audioconference
On October 7, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)
will hold a Town Hall Audioconference on Vamcomycin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus. Physicians, pathologists, medical technologists,
and medical laboratory technicians are invited to enroll. See:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1799.19.197721
ABOUT US . . .
The Health Professions Career and Education E-letter is produced
by the American Medical Association (AMA).
This periodic newsletter covers educational trends and career-related
issues for more than 60 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/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1626.1.197721
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/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1626.1.197721
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