Clinical
Can Electronic Clinical Documentation Prevent Diagnostic Errors – An NEJM Perspective Article
GD Schiff & DW Bates, NEJM, March 25, 2010, Vol 362 (12), 1066-1069.
Not everything about a patient’s life can be gathered from a brief consultation in a clinic. Dr. Berland has devised a fascinating method of looking into the personal lives and troubles of her disabled patients – encouraging them to carry a video camera with them. Read about the unique insight that she gained through this novel, simple idea.
Screening for Colorectal Cancer – An NEJM Clinical Practice Article
David A. Lieberman, NEJM December 20, 2007, Vol 3561 (12), 1178-1187.
A healthy 76-year-old woman presents as a new patient for primary caree. She has no family history of colorectal cancer. Would you advise this patient to undergo colon-cancer screening, adn if so, what test would you recommend?
Electroconvulsive Therapy for Depression – An NEJM Clinical Therapeutics Article
SH Lisanby, NEJM, November 8 2007, Vol 357 (19), 1939-45
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) applies electricity to the scalp to induce seizure activity as a treatment for depression. In this NEJM feature, a case vignette of a woman with a history of depression is presented, followed by extensive discussion of depression and characterization of ECT as a valid treatment alternative. The author then gives her own clinical recommendation for the patient.
Structural Variation in the Human Genome – An NEJM Clinical Implications of Basic Research Article
R Lupski, NEJM, March 15 2007, Vol 356 (11)
Recently, biologists have found that individuals actually have many large-scale rearrangements in their genomes, such as deletions, inversions, or duplications that can affect gene fragments or even entire genes, and not just single point mutations. This “structural variation” affects the regulation of many different genes, and Dr. James Lupski explores the clinical implications of these large rearrangements.
Religion, Conscience, and Controversial Clinical Practices – An NEJM Special Article
Curlin et al., NEJM, February 8 2007, Vol 356 (6)
Despite being legal, many medical procedures may be personally objectionable to certain health professionals. In addition, would physicians refer patients to another professional willing to perform the requested procedure? Do they feel obligated to present all options? While the answer remains unclear as to whether physicians are obligated provide these treatments, a survey done by the authors sheds light on the attitudes and practices of physicians towards controversial medical procedures.
Prevention of Meningococcal Disease – An NEJM Clinical Practice Article
P. Gardner, NEJM, October 5 2006, Vol 355 (14)
A problem especially common among college students, meningitis is just one possibility of meningococcal diseases found in communities across the United States. Dr. Pierce Gardner gives an overview on the background of the disease, and discusses the current treatment options and the “areas of uncertainty” regarding vaccines against meningococcal diseases.
Tutorial: An Introduction to Clinical Trials Part II of II: Statistics and Experimental Design
Part II of II: Statistics and Experimental Design
A sound experimental design that minimizes bias and confounding is crucial for a clinical trial to provide valid information regarding the efficacy and safety of a new drug or treatment seeking approval. This second part of a two-part tutorial discusses the principles of randomization and blinding and introduces the statistical methods that interpret trial data into reliable conclusions.
Tutorial: An Introduction to Clinical Trials Part I of II: Purposes and Phases
Part I of II: Purposes and Phases
How does a company convince the FDA that a potential therapy is safe and effective? What happens in the twenty years it can take for a new drug to make it to the market? This first part of a two-part tutorial on clinical trials explains how they are conducted, what they aim to achieve, and why they are the gold standard of research for clinical medicine.
