Dartmouth Medicine Fall 2000
Dear Reporter, Editor, or News Director:
Inside the Fall 2000 issue of Dartmouth Medicine, (to request a printed copy, call 603-653-0772 or e-mail dartmed@Dartmouth.edu), read about:
What the arts have to do with medicine: A leader in the field of integrating the arts into health-care settings, Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Naj Wikoff has just stepped into the presidency of the international Society for the Arts in Healthcare. See page 8.
An animated effort to keep kids from smoking: Dartmouth's C. Everett Koop Institute recently released an animated film that's aimed at making an antismoking message palatable to children. The film reached the finals of the World Animation Competition and is now being translated into 11 languages--after which it will be distributed to fourth-grade classrooms worldwide. See page 12.
The two-way value of an exchange with Kosovo: Dartmouth made a commitment about a year ago to help rebuild Kosovo's only medical school, at the University of Pristina. Faculty and students on this side of the exchange find they've learned as much as they've shared. See page 3.
An inside look at medical school: Dartmouth medical student David Holznagel carried a camera with him everywhere during his first year of medical school. His intimate photographs of his classmates' first steps toward becoming doctors are paired with their reflections about what each stage of the intense and stressful--but rewarding--year was like. See page 44.
Teaching teachers to teach genetics: Dartmouth, which received the first grant the National Institutes of Health ever gave to study the ethics of the Human Genome Project, is now trying to ensure that faculty members from myriad disciplines all around the world understand how to expose their own students to the thorny ethical issues raised by genetics. See page 11.
An online system aimed at preventing medication errors: Like lots of institutions, Dartmouth-Hitchcock has implemented an online prescribing system to help reduce medication errors. A unique aspect of the Dartmouth system is its "seamlessness of crossover between the inpatient and outpatient realms," according to a member of the development team. See page 16.
Warriors in the battle against cystic fibrosis: Dartmouth physiologist Bruce Stanton leads one of the country's major research groups attacking the ravages of CF. Dozens of scientists, clinicians, and outcomes experts are honing in on a new understanding of this genetic disease. See page 38.
Why you should check your medicine cabinet before you drink grapefruit juice: Researchers are discovering an increasing number of drugs whose effects are altered to a significant degree by grapefruit juice (or as few as a couple of segments of grapefruit). See page 23.
An unmitigated testimonial: Occasionally, pleased patients will extend individual thank-yous to their caregivers. But a "satisfied customer" of Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Spine Center--who'd dreaded back surgery--was so grateful that he wrote a public postop paean to the Spine Center. See page 21.
If you'd like to pursue any of these stories, contact:
- Hali Wickner, communications coordinator for Dartmouth Medical School, at (603) 650-1520.
- The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Office of Public Affairs, at (603) 650-7041.
Or feel free to give me a call; my direct line is (603) 650-4058.
Dana Cook Grossman,
Editor