The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have launched
a national campaign to teach parents how to protect kids from skin infections caused by MRSA. The National MRSA Education Initiative highlights specific measures parents can take to protect themselves and their families from MRSA skin infections. The campaign will include Web sites, fact sheets, brochures, posters, radio and print public service announcements, mom blogging sites, Web banners, and mainstream media interviews.
Attending medical schools with high levels of racial and ethnic diversity may better prepare white medical students to care for minority patients, according to a study that analyzed data from a survey of 20,112 graduating medical students from 118 medical schools. The study found that white students at medical schools with the highest quintile for student body racial and ethnic diversity, measured by the proportion of underrepresented minority students, were 33% more likely to rate themselves as highly prepared to care for minority patients than white students at medical schools in the lowest diversity quintile.
Just 2% of nearly 1,200 fourth-year students say they plan to work in primary care internal medicine, according to results of a new survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In a similar survey in 1990, the figure was 9%.
The results suggest more medical students, many of them saddled with debt, are opting for more lucrative specialties.
Revolution Health Network, the online healthcare business launched by former AOL chairman Steve Case, is in discussions to merge with Everyday Health. Sources familiar with the discussions said that the merger was still in the negotiation stage, but if approved the merger would join two of the three most-visited online health information networks. Everyday Health is owned by New York-based Waterfront Media and provides online health and wellness information.
The National Health Plan Collaborative is sharing its members' best practices in measuring and addressing racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. The toolkit includes resources, lessons, best practices, and case studies. The hope is that those in healthcare will learn from the best practices and help bridge the health disparities gap.
A new $506 million heart center known as the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Pavilion is cutting-edge evidence that healthcare, and the Cleveland Clinic in particular, is a top job driver and economic engine in the Cleveland area. The heart center, along with the $128 million Glickman Tower, will soon add 100 beds and 1,000 jobs to Cleveland Clinic's sprawling main campus. The new facilities enhance the region's growing profile as a medical hub and its ability to attract more talent and investment, officials say.