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Groundbreaking Discovery Paves Way for New Treatments of Neurological Diseases and Cancer – ScienceBlog.com

Posted: April 9, 2024 at 1:04 pm

Researchers at Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago have made a major breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for neurological diseases and cancer. The team, led by Dr. Yongchao C. Ma, found that a chemical change in RNA, called RNA methylation, plays a crucial role in controlling how mitochondria work in cells.

Mitochondria are known for producing energy in cells, but they also act as a control center that regulates many important biological processes. Dr. Mas previous research has linked problems with mitochondria to the development of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and autism, while other researchers have connected mitochondrial issues to cancer.

Our finding establishes a critical link between RNA methylation, mitochondria and diseases that relate to mitochondrial dysfunction, which means that now we have potential for new treatments for many different disorders, said Dr. Ma, who holds the Childrens Research Fund Endowed Professorship in Neurobiology at Lurie Childrens and is Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Neuroscience at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The researchers discovered that RNA methylation controls the production of key enzymes that are part of mitochondria. They showed in both stem cells and mice that when RNA methylation was lost, it significantly altered how mitochondria functioned in stem cells and neurons.

This groundbreaking finding opens up exciting possibilities for developing new treatments that target RNA methylation to fix mitochondrial defects. Dr. Ma and his team are enthusiastic about the potential impact of their discovery.

We are very excited about this discovery and the promise of innovative treatments, which could involve developing modifiers of RNA methylation to rectify the mitochondrial defect, said Dr. Ma.

The study, published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, is a significant contribution to the rapidly growing field of RNA methylation research. Dr. Ma and his team at Lurie Childrens are committed to continuing their work on RNA methylation in the nervous system, with the goal of gaining new insights into brain development and neurological disorders.

Lurie Childrens is a top-ranked, nonprofit childrens hospital dedicated to providing exceptional care to every child. The hospitals research is conducted through Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute, which focuses on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine, and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Childrens also serves as the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

With this remarkable discovery, Dr. Ma and his team have opened the door to a new era of innovative treatments for neurological diseases and cancer, offering hope to countless patients and their families.

The material in this press release comes from the originating research organization. Content may be edited for style and length. Want more? Sign up for our daily email.

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Groundbreaking Discovery Paves Way for New Treatments of Neurological Diseases and Cancer - ScienceBlog.com

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Doctors and gov’t struggle to negotiate med school quota hike – The Korea JoongAng Daily

Posted: April 9, 2024 at 1:02 pm

A medical professional walks in a compound of a general hospital in Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

A classroom at a medical school in Daegu is vacant on March 25 as students refuse to participate in courses to protest against the government's decision to add admission seats in medical colleges. [YONHAP]

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]

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Doctors and gov't struggle to negotiate med school quota hike - The Korea JoongAng Daily

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Reflections on Match Day 2024 – Physician’s Weekly

Posted: April 9, 2024 at 1:02 pm

Photo Credit: Drazen Zigic

Match Day is a highly anticipated event where graduating medical students find out where they will complete their residency training. How did 2024 measure up?

Match Day is a highly anticipated event where graduating medical students find out where they will complete their residency training. The Match is facilitated through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), which facilitates these matches and acts as a centralized clearing house to help medical students and residency programs find the right fit that meets their needs. While the system is not perfect, its pretty darn good, and after 72 years, NRMP has dialed in the process well. The Main Residency Match typically has 47,000 applicants and 39,000 residency positions, and the fellowship matches for more than 70 subspecialties are offered through its Specialties Matching Service.

Match Day typically occurs in March, and students across the United States gather with friends, family, and faculty to nearly simultaneously open the envelopes that contain their residency placements. Match Day marks the culmination of years of hard work and preparation for medical students. Like many rites of passage on the long road to becoming a physician, we all have memories and stories of Match Day.

I did not match right away at the end of medical school. Instead, I took some time to train and race as a professional triathlete, so I felt like I was missing out when my classmates opened their match envelopes and found out where they would spend the next few years of their training. It is a bittersweet memory, and I didnt feel celebratory. A few years later, when I entered the match, I was on call in the resident workroom, where I learned where I would be continuing the rest of my medical training. That, too, felt anticlimactic.

Some have memories of the devastation of not being matched into their top choice program or matched at all. Some remember a week of panic going through the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), formerly known as the scramble process, and even then, feeling like they were failures. We have these important memories of when and where we were and memories of mostly joy or heartache. However, I think most physicians look back on match day with fondness and perspective, knowing it was an important step in their careers. At the time, it may feel like the best or the worst day of our professional lives, but with time and perspective, I truly believe we all end up where we need to be.

There were 50,413 applicants, of which 44,853 were certified in a rank list for 41,503 certified residency positions in 6,395 residency training programs. This represented an increase of about 2% in total residency positions compared with 2023. This is a record of total applicants and certified rank lists by about 4.5%, primarily driven by an increase in non-US citizen international medical graduates (IMGs) and osteopathic (DO) seniors. US-based DO and MD applicants achieved a 92.3 and 93.5 percent match rate, respectively, which has remained stable for the past four decades. US citizen IMGs and non-US citizen IMGs achieved a 67.0 and 58.5 percent match rate, respectively, about half to a full percent lower than in past years.

Another notable trend was a rebound in Emergency Medicine (EM) match rate to 95.5% after two years of match rates far below the historical average, likely primarily driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. This EM match was an increase of 13.9%. OB/GYN achieved a 99.6 percent fill rate. Two years after the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision, there remains strong and continued interest in providing obstetrical care. Further court decisions are expected this summer, and more potential changes are on the horizon for the specialty. However, this has not deterred medical students. Specialties with the highest percentage of US MD and DO seniors were Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine (96.8%), Thoracic Surgery (95.8%), Otolaryngology (95.8%), Internal Medicine/Pediatrics (94.6%), Orthopedic Surgery (92.1%), Interventional Radiology-Integrated (91.4%), and Obstetrics and Gynecology (90.7%).

A point that needs to be pulled out is the fluctuations in primary care. There is an existing shortage of primary care physicians in the US, and the shortfalls are expected to widen to more than 52,000 primary care physicians by 2025, with more significant shortages in rural communities. This year, the Match offered the largest primary care residency positions at 19,423, which accounted for 46.8 percent of total match positions. Although the fill rates for Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, and Pediatrics were 92.9 percent, this decreased by 1.4%. The primary care fill rate fell mainly due to changes in Pediatrics, with more residency positions offered to fewer applicants. In addition, according to the American College of Physicians, most Internal Medicine residents go on to a subspecialty fellowship, and only between 20% and 25% practice primary care. As a result, the number of those matching into primary care is likely falsely elevated, and many believe that we are not preparing the primary care and preventative physician workforce that our nation and communities require.

A total of 2,575 positions were not filled initially and placed in SOAP, including positions in programs that did not participate in the algorithm phase of the process. This was a decrease of 3.1 percent. We do not yet have data on how many positions were filled; however, historically, very few residency positions were left unfilled after SOAP.

The Match data is interesting to slice, dice, and ponder. Still, it leads me to think about more significant questions regarding how we expose medical students to different medical specialties, which may or may not impact their desire to enter a specific field of medicine. Furthermore, are we training the physician workforce we need for our communities today and tomorrow? What factors are involved, and are there minor or wide-sweeping changes we must implement in the medical school and residency process?

There has been a 33% increase in US medical school positions since 2020, and new medical schools opening across the US bring the promise to supply physicians to communities in need. Positions in medical schools are great, but they do not create doctors in those communities. Compounding the problem, the increase in residency positions has not kept pace with the increasing number of medical school graduates. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, 54.2%of the individuals who completed residency training from 2008 through 2017 are practicing in the state where they completed residency, with 56% practicing within 100 miles of their residency location. Resident retention rates range from 27.2% in Wyoming to 77.7% in California. Suppose we want to ensure that rural and underserved communities have an adequate physician workforce. In that case, we need to create policies and systems that will enable and support the certation residency programs in those geographic areas with the highest need and with the right mix of specialties.

Graduate Medical Education (GME), also known as a residency, is a decentralized system that favors hospital and health system needs and individual medical student choice, which is vital to maintaining professional wellness and a long and rewarding career in medicine. However, multiple policies incentivize residency type and the culture of medical school and systems that emphasize positive or damaging exposure to different medical specialties, which may influence medical student choice.

Perhaps, the biggest policy that needs to be considered, or reconsidered, is Medicares GME funding formula, which has undergone little revision since its inception in 1965. Medicare is the largest funding source for graduate medical education, accounting for $16.2 billion in 2020. GME funding is complicated, and there is a patchwork of programs and systems with various incentives. The total number of residency positions funded through Medicare is capped, and GME-funded resident locations and specialties are unevenly distributed and heavily favor the northeast and specialty practice. Rural and underserved communities have fewer residents and Medicare GME-funded programs than urban and suburban communities. Additionally, Medicare GME funding skews heavily towards hospitals and subspecialty care. Medicare has historically played a minor role or has not funded residencies for childrens hospitals, psychiatry, and primary care, where there is the greatest need.

Overall, medical education is a continually evolving field, and stakeholders in healthcare, including medical schools, residency programs, policymakers, and healthcare organizations, must collaborate to ensure that doctors training aligns with our communities evolving needs.

Congratulations to all the medical students and residency programs who recently participated in The Match, and welcome to the next stage of your career! Regardless of whether this process yielded your dreams come true or left you feeling like your match was less than ideal, please remember that life has a funny way of helping you be just where you need to be, and your attitude and how you take advantage of what events and opportunities is perhaps most important.

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Reflections on Match Day 2024 - Physician's Weekly

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Kiefer ready to pursue Olympic gold, then restart med school at UK – Bowling Green Daily News

Posted: April 9, 2024 at 1:02 pm

After she became the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in fencing during the Olympics in Tokyo at age 27, Lee Kiefer of Lexington was not sure what she would do about the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Both Kiefer and her husband, accomplished fencer Gerek Meinhardt, are both in medical school at the University of Kentucky and will restart their third year of med school after the Paris Olympics this summer.

I was trying to figure out what direction my life was going after Tokyo. I really wanted to keep fencing because I still love it and enjoy doing it. I felt like I could keep growing my skills, my routine, said Kiefer, a Paul Laurence Dunbar High School graduate. However, the biggest obstacle was the UK College of Medicine. I was not sure they would let me continue, which would have been totally understandable.

Kiefers friends told her she needed to ask UK officials rather than panic since she obviously wanted to compete in her fourth Olympics.

My husband also felt the same way. We thought through the timeline and decided to keep fencing and came up with a logical proposal. We talked to the dean and here we are (still competing).

Kiefer took foil bronze at the world championships in Italy last summer, matching her bronze medals from 2011 and 2002. She also had four team medals in worlds and her seven total world medals ties her husband for second most for any U.S. fencer.

Her first two years of med school were mainly classroom lectures. Both Kiefer and her husband had completed about half of their third year when they took a leave for the Tokyo Olympics.

Your last two years are in the hospital, so I will come back and restart my third year. We plan to rematriculate in June of 2025 when the semester starts after we have had some to re-study, the Olympic gold medalist said. We know it wont be easy, but thats what we plan to do.

Kiefer has never backed away from a challenge. She has won 22 World Cup medals, including five golds. She was a four-time NCAA champion at Notre Dame and nine-time individual Pan American champion. She entered 2024 ranked No. 1 in the world.

Ive had some of my best seasons since Tokyo. I am competing with a lot of confidence and joy, she said. I have really been able to train and treat fencing professionally. I am eating healthy, doing my strength and conditioning training.

However, preparing for a fourth Olympics her first one was 2012 in London is a bit surreal considering the year-long qualification process involving 13 tournaments where past results dont lock anyone into an Olympic berth.

Thats why you have to keep grinding and cant think about Paris until it is ready to happen, she said.

When Kiefer does compete in Paris, she admits she has changed in some ways since winning the gold medal but not in other ways.

I dont know if it is applicable to other sports, but sometimes it can be how your body is or how referees are and then you tend to do certain things more often. Compared to when I was younger or even a few years ago, I do more defensive action. I am still an aggressive attacker in my heart and soul and think I am a little more versatile fencer.

Kiefer and Meinhardt have been featured by NBC-TV in the promotions for the Paris games where Kiefer has a chance to become only the second U.S. fencer to win multiple Olympic gold medals in any individual event. If she just medals, the Lexington resident would be just the third U.S. fencer to win individual medals at multiple Olympics.

I have the belief and skills to do it (win gold). I am not going to put pressure on myself, but I will admit I wear my heart on my sleeve more than when I was younger, she said. I know I can do it, and its going to be hard, I want to freaking go for it.

When I was more of an underdog, it was like, I can beat anyone. And now that Im the old one, I am still like, I can beat anyone, but I also know anyone can beat me. Im not scared of it, but its just a reminder to not get comfortable.

Kentucky signee Boogie Fland made a favorable impression at the McDonalds All-American Game when he went 6-for-14 from the field, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and scored 17 points in his teams 88-86 win. He also had five rebounds and three assists and his follow basket gave his team the win in Houston.

However, even before the game Fland made a big impression that UK fans should like.

"Boogie Fland had his best session of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, and it was because his impact on the game extended beyond whether or not he was making tough shots," wrote 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein about the future UK point guard.

"The Kentucky commit was engaged and competitive defensively. He used the threat of his jumper to be effective in ball screens and threw some clever pocket passes. He also scored at different levels, showing pretty good lift into his mid-range pull-up and a couple of tough rim finishes with both hands over contesting interior defenders."

Fland averaged 19.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game last season and was named New York High School Basketball Player of the Year by MaxPreps. He shot 46% from the field, 36% from 3-point range and 83% at the free-throw line. He scored 1,418 points in his high school career.

Fland will also play in the Nike Hoop Summit April 13 in Portland along with UK signee Jayden Quaintance.

The 6-2 Fland is consensus top 20 player in his recruiting class who helped Team USA win a gold medal at the 2022 Under 17 World Cup. He knows what Kentucky fans will expect from him and his teammates next year.

"Kentucky fans, they want to win. That's what they're used to. I feel like the reaction (to Kentucky's loss to Oakland in the NCAA Tournament) was the right reaction," Fland said at the McDonalds pre-game press conference. "They came up short. I felt like they thought they had another game. It's March; you're gonna get everybody's best shot.

I don't feel like there's no pressure. I feel like we chose Kentucky because we knew what it came with and you've just got to go in there and do what you got to do."

Soon former University of Kentucky legend Tim Couch will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. However, the former Leslie County star really wanted to play for Tennessee, not Kentucky.

I committed to Tennessee in high school and backed out of the verbal commitment. I went to UK because of my dad. He wanted me to go there. At the time I did not understand why, Couch said. It wasnt a great fit for me. Me and dad, there was some tension and arguments.

Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer came to Hyden for a home visit and Couchs father walked out of the meeting.

It was one of the most awkward situations ever. We were sitting in the living room. I told coach Fulmer I was ready to come and commit. He said, Great, and dad leaves the room and takes off. They were stunned and told me they had never had a parent leave like that before.

My dad was one of a kind. He had a unique personality. He was stubborn and hard-headed. He believed I should be at Kentucky and fortunately it all worked out.

They reached an agreement where Tim would go to Kentucky, but if year one did not go well under coach Bill Curry he could transfer to Tennessee.

I called Dad halfway through the year and told him I was going to Tennessee. My brother called Tennessee and said I was transferring. They told me I could come, redshirt and then take over as the starter, Couch said.

Kentucky went 4-7 in 1996, Couchs freshman season and Currys last season. Athletics director Mitch Barnhart knew Couch was going to transfer and he asked Couch to give him time to find a coach that could better utilize his passing talents.

I waited and he called me and said, I got a guy, Hal Mumme. I wonder who is Hal Mumme. I had never heard of him or Valdosta State (where Mumme was coaching). But the first time I met him I knew it would work. He described his system and it looked like what I ran in high school. I told C.M. I was staying.

I had so much confidence in coach Mumme. He made you believe in him. I knew we had the talent on the team to run that shotgun, spread offense. We just had not been able to go out and be the type of players we were.

Couch said he was lucky not only to play for Mumme but assistant coach Mike Leach, Tony Franklin, Chris Hatcher and Sonny Dykes.

Those guys were all great to me and they all went out and did great things, Couch said. That system is still thriving thanks to them and others using it now.

Couch noted that successful NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield are in systems with Air Raid tendencies.

Coach Mumme and those guys at Kentucky were ahead of the times and that really benefited me, Couch said. It was a loose atmosphere, but he (Mumme) would absolutely get on people. He had a great sense for when to push guys and when to back off. There were very few people then who believed in the Air Raid, but we knew we could go into a game and light up people because we had one of the best offenses in the country.

New Kentucky womens basketball coach Kenny Brooks knows that three of the nations top juniors Sacred Hearts ZaKiyah Johnson (No. 5), Bethlehems Leah Macy (No. 8) and George Rogers Clarks Ciara Byars (No. 37) are in the Bluegrass.

Theres also rising star Grace Mbugua, a 6-5 center at Danville Christian Academy who has received 15 offers, including Kentucky, since her play at the state tournament.

At his introductory news conference, I asked Brooks what his philosophy would be about in-state recruiting as he tries to restock the Kentucky roster.

When you think about Kentucky, you think about basketball, the former Virginia Tech coach said. We definitely understand the importance of keeping in-state players at home.

We also understand the importance of fit. We will look at all of it and make sure its going to be a great fit. Because sometimes situations, some kids just want to get away. Weve encountered that in the state of Virginia where we have recruited and we want to make sure everythings going to be a good fit.

We know it is a rich country with basketball. And we definitely are aware of the young ladies (in Kentucky). Weve actually been recruiting some of the young ladies to the point that we had conversations. We understand the importance of it and thats going to be a priority for us, but it will also be very important that we make sure everything is a good fit for our program.

Brooks quickly found four familiar good fits for his first UK team when all-ACC guard Georgia Amoore and 6-5 center Clara Strack both transferred from Virginia Tech to UK and junior college standout Amelia Hassett and high school senior Lexi Blue flipped their commitments from Tech to UK.

Quote of the Week: It was crazy, as a little kid watching the game and seeing him in the McDonalds game. Best of the best in the world, seeing him selected touched my heart. Thats what really inspired me to play basketball and keep going hard the way I do, UK signee Karter Knox, on playing in the McDonalds All-American Game like his brother Kevin also did before coming to UK.

Quote of the Week 2: Its been a solid group. Not necessarily one guy just day in and day out jumping off as the clear favorite. That groups got some guys that have a lot of ability. We just gotta bring them along, UK assistant Jay Boulware, on UKs running backs.

Quote of the Week 3: Nothing but happy memories and just very special to have the opportunity. Especially three years. One year is a great opportunity, but three, its just even more surreal and special honestly, UK senior golfer Jensen Castle, on playing in the Augusta National Womens Amateur.

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Kiefer ready to pursue Olympic gold, then restart med school at UK - Bowling Green Daily News

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CPH and UC Davis Create New Native Physician-track Program – Redheaded Blackbelt

Posted: April 9, 2024 at 1:02 pm

[Photo courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt]

The Huwighurruk (pronounced hee-way-gou-duck) Tribal Health Postbaccalaureate Program seeks to enroll pre-med students passionate about providing health care to American Indian and Alaska Native communities in rural and urban areas.

In the Wiyot language, huwighurruk means plants, grass, leaves, and medicine. Huwighurruk scholars will be immersed in a culturally-focused framework intertwined with science courses at Cal Poly Humboldt. The program will provide eligible students with a stipend for living and tuition costs, including those associated with MCAT preparation, and mentorship with local Native physicians.

The hope is that once students graduate from the UC Davis School of Medicine, theyll become doctors for Native American communities in rural and urban areas that are often medically underserved due to a lack of primary care physicians. According to research from the Association of American Medical Colleges, about 50% of Native American students who apply to a medical school are not admitted; and of that, 43% never apply again. Fewer than 1% of doctors in the United States are Native American.

The Huwighurruk program is the first postbaccalaureate program in the state aimed at helping Native American students in California get into medical school while keeping a focus on Tribal traditions and values through mentorships and connections.

In Native culture, one of the most important things is community and connection, especially feeling that connection with your family and tribe. With Indigenous peoples, we talk about the Earth, the plants, and the medicine and ceremony. Its that connection with Native culture and the sense of community itself that students can relate to through the Huwighurruk curriculum, says Dr. Antoinette Martinez (94, Psychology), a Family Medicine/OB physician at United Indian Health Services in Humboldt County and co-director of Tribal Health PRIME for UC Davis School of Medicine.

Students who complete the year-long Huwighurruk program with a 3.7 GPA or higher, score 499 or higher on the MCAT, and complete all the prerequisite courses for the UC Davis School of Medicine will receive conditional acceptance into the school, with additional funding towards tuition.

Its tough to get into medical school. This program aims to break down the barriers associated with applying to medical school. Its disheartening to know that 43% of Native students never apply again, so we want to connect with those aspiring medical students to successfully recruit, retain, and train them to accomplish their goals, Martinez says.

Martinez, along with Cutcha Risling Baldy, former chair of the Native American Studies department, will co-direct the Huwighurruk program. Biology Professor Amy Sprowles will assist with the programs science courses. The Indian Teacher and Educational Personnel Program (ITEPP) will be the designated hub for the Huwighurruk program, which is set to begin next fall.

To apply, eligible students must be citizens or descendants of a federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native Tribe or California Indian Roll of 1971, are residents of California, and have demonstrated a history of commitment to practice in the American Indian/Alaska Native community.

Huwighurruk is supported by a grant from the Northwest Native American Center for Excellence and funding from the UC Davis School of Medicine. In establishing the new program at Cal Poly Humboldt, UC Davis drew on its experience with a similar program calledWyeast Medicine, which is a partnership between Washington State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and UC Davis.

We were thoughtful about choosing the right place for this program, where we knew students would be supported, where students would be able to engage with local tribes and community members, and where we would be able to come in and help support them as best we can in the building of the program. So we elected to do our program at Cal Poly Humboldt because of all the existing student resources and support, says Charlene Green, assistant dean of admissions, outreach, and diversity at the UC Davis School of Medicine. For us, it felt like the right decision.

As an alumnus, Martinez attests to the excellent student resources and mentorship she received as a student at Humboldt.

I credit Humboldt and ITEPP for supporting me through the process of completing my science coursework and believing that medical school admission was attainable. Without them, I might have given up, Martinez said. The connection to the ITEPP community and coursework on Native American issues helped me get through the pre-med coursework. The community and cultural integration at Humboldt are huge pluses for Huwighurruk students going through this process.

UC Davis has been offering a successful post-baccalaureate premed program for years to assist college graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds in becoming more competitive applicants for medical school.

UC Davis California Postbaccalaureate Consortium will be hosting avirtual informational sessionfor special reapplicant sessions for medical school applicants on Monday, April 22, from 3-4 p.m. For more information about the Huwighurruk program, contact[emailprotected].

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CPH and UC Davis Create New Native Physician-track Program - Redheaded Blackbelt

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The role of AI in medical education: Embrace it or fear it? – Kevin MD

Posted: April 9, 2024 at 1:02 pm

Artificial intelligence is upon us and likely will forever change the way we interact with learning and education. Despite this reality, educational institutions seem to fall into either of two camps. One camp seems loath to acknowledge that AI exists. A faculty member who helps with curriculum development at one medical school recently shared, We dont know what to do about AI. Do we act like its not there, or do we acknowledge it?

The other camp embraces AI and encourages students to employ AI resources, such as ChatGPT. Given the possibility of plagiarism or simply allowing students to bypass any learning whatsoever, its understandable why medical schools and other institutions might be conflicted about AI. But even though AI is no replacement for a novel idea or human thought or in medicine placing ones hands on patients, AI has value in medical educationand not just a little bit. AI may be used as a supplement, resource, or aid when we are learning, teaching, or creating something new.

Just how could medical schools and medical students use AI to assist in educating students? Prior articles have suggested how medical students can utilize chatbots, like ChatGPT, as online tutors to help answer questions or to create quizzes to test their knowledge. For example, bots like ChatGPT can help compare differences in diagnoses, treatments, or procedures that students may be confused about. Those same AI sites can offer a personalized learning experience that schools ought to acknowledge or promote. NYU Grossman School of Medicine has run with this idea and has fully embraced the idea of precision learning from AI by incorporating a precision education tool. Each NYU medical student is offered a personalized medical education, with an AI algorithm tailoring subject matter and content format.

In the research space, AI can also be invaluable in medical education. For example, faculty and students alike can also utilize AI to help create data analysis plans, code for various computer languages and scan literature. An online website called Elicit lets users pose a question and then, through AI, scans the internet to find papers and synthesizes their findings into a summary.

Outside of the student experience, professors may also use AI to create lecture outlines and predict the questions that students are most likely to have about certain material. Additionally, professors and faculty must be able to set standards and address the use of AI in the classroom. If they dont, students may misunderstand the expectations for AI and when or if its use is permissible.

In our own experience, we have used AI to create study guides for courses, create outlines for lectures and book chapters, analyze CVs, and write initial drafts of promotion letters for fellow faculty members. We are certain that the uses of AI that will further simplify our work and assist in medical learning will become clearer and only be seen as greater assets going forward.

Medical schools already offer courses on a wide range of learning and research topics, such as best study practices or how to conduct a literature review. Going forward, AI-based tools should be included in these lectures and within the list of online resources for student learning and research. Additionally, schools should teach students what to watch out for when using AI, like bias or flat-out false information and/or non-existent references. Teaching how to use AI in ones learning promotes a more prepared generation for future technological innovation. This approach may complement courses that explore innovation and AI in medicine.

To those who are hesitant to incorporate AI into education even after reading about NYUs approach and our own ideas, we encourage them to look at how AI has improved other aspects of medicine. From image analysis in radiology and pathology to quick retrieval of medical information and tracking infectious disease outbreaks, this technology has created greater efficiency in health care. Other studies have found that AI can help reduce racial disparities in health care, with one investigation finding that AI better predicted pain from X-rays for underserved patients when compared to radiologists. The technology can be used for good, including in education.

To illustrate that we are not just talking about the potential values of AI in medical school education, in thinking about writing this essay, we asked ChatGPT, how can artificial intelligence be used to teach medicine and enhance learning in medical schools. The answers ChatGPT provided included personalized learning, virtual patients, data analysis and research, smart tutors, and educating students about the limitations, biases, and potential risks of AI tools.

As anyone ought to do when using AI, we analyzed ChatGPTs response, and ultimatelyalthough this might not always be the casewe agree with its recommendations. Therefore, given that we are intent on practicing what were now preaching, we couldnt have written our piece without emphasizing those elements, among others.

Amelia Mercado is a medical student.J. Wesley Boydis a psychiatrist.

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The role of AI in medical education: Embrace it or fear it? - Kevin MD

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