Volume 2 Issue 5 – May 2006
Congress, Controlled Substances, and Physician-Assisted Suicide – Elephants in Mouseholes – An NEJM Legal Issues in Medicine Article
G. J. Annas, NEJM, March 9 2006, Vol 354 (10)
An Oregen statute permits physicians to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Gonzales v. Oregon case that the U.S. attorney general cannot forbid this practice based on national law, raising questions on the role of physicians in end-of-life care and national standards for the practices of physicians.
When Law and Ethics Collide – Why Physicians Participate in Executions – An NEJM Perspective Article
A. Gawande, NEJM, March 23 2006, Vol 354 (12)
Execution by lethal injection presents an ethical dilemma for physicians: in order for lethal injections to occur effectively and smoothly, the presence of doctors and nurses is necessary, but does this participation violate the medical code of ethics? The quandary only grows as physicians are required to attend executions by state laws. How should the medical community approach physician participation?
Who is at Greatest Risk for Receiving Poor-Quality Health Care? – An NEJM Special Article
S. M. Asch et al., NEJM, March 16 2006, Vol 354 (11)
Differences in health in different societal groups are often attributed to differences in health care delivery, but the problems might be more fundamental and larger in scope. This study showed that disparities between groups are relatively small compared to the gaps between the needed and received level of care in each population group.
Robotic Surgery
A NextGen Perspectives Article
Despite high initial costs and upkeep, surgical robots are making their way into hospitals around the world. Combining the advantages of tremorless operation with laparoscopic surgical practices, robotic surgery appears to be the next step of improvement in making surgery as minimally invasive as possible.
Pathways Through Medicine: Careers in Medicine – An Introduction
Fourth through Seventh Installments of NextGen’s “Pathways Through Medicine” Series
As part of the Pathways through Medicine series, we are interviewing several physicians in a variety of career settings and roles beyond the traditional notion of physicians as clinicians. What goals, motivations, and qualities should a physician have when working in a clinic in a developing country? How do the experiences of M.D.’s and M.D.-Ph.D.’s going into research careers differ? What does it mean to be a doctor in private practice? For answers to these questions, check out the following articles as well as future installments of this series.
Pathways Through Medicine: Careers in Medicine – Private Practice
Considering private practice? Read on learn more about the world of private practitioners!
“Careers in Medicine” aims to illustrate the destinations, whether temporary (for a few years) or permanent (for the remainder of one’s medical career), where physicians can apply their skills and energy to make a difference in the world of medicine, often beyond the scale of the clinical work of a single physician.
Pathways Through Medicine: Careers in Medicine – Teaching
Considering a career in teaching? Read on learn more about the world of teaching for academic medicine!
“Careers in Medicine” aims to illustrate the destinations, whether temporary (for a few years) or permanent (for the remainder of one’s medical career), where physicians can apply their skills and energy to make a difference in the world of medicine, often beyond the scale of the clinical work of a single physician.
Avian Flu
A NextGen Perspectives Article
With greater public awareness of the potential for an H5N1 pandemic, governments and public health officials are scrambling to prepare for the worse. What has been done? What should be done? University of Virginia School of Medicine at Charlottesville Professor Frederick Hayden and Director for the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy Professor Michael Osterholm offer their expert opinions.
