Dartmouth Medicine Summer 2004
Dear Reporter, Editor, or News Director:
In the Summer 2004 issue of Dartmouth Medicine (to request a printed copy, call 603-653-0772 or e-mail dartmed@Dartmouth.edu), read about:
International impact: Dartmouth's pioneering outcomes guru, Dr. John Wennberg, recently took a new tack in researching variations in the delivery of health care--and his study made the cover of the British Medical Journal. See page 3.
Sharing data with patients: Hospitals have long resisted reporting specific data about outcomes, but Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is one of a handful of institutions leading the way in sharing comprehensive performance results, so patients can make more informed choices. See page 4.
History lessons: A new, 200-year history of Dartmouth Medical School has been praised by historians as readable and well-researched. An excerpt from it in this issue of the magazine reveals a halcyon outcome from a stormy period in the institution's past. See pages 2 and 34.
Goin' fishin': A nationwide recovery program that sends breast-cancer patients on fly-fishing retreats had its genesis at Dartmouth. The program has changed many patients' lives for the better. And it's even had an impact on its founder, Dr. Benita Walton. See page 11.
Doing more than "talking the talk": A pair of Dartmouth Medical School faculty members learned from their daughters that medical schools put a lot of emphasis on community service--but when something needs to give in students' busy lives, that's often what gets dropped. The two doctors didn't just smooth over the finding but set out to do something about it. See page 11.
Combating malaria: Drug-resistant strains of malaria are cause for increasing concern in the international health arena. But a Dartmouth-led research effort is showing some promising results. See page 13.
Nationwide genetics project: Dartmouth is the lead institution on a $9-million multicenter research project that includes MIT, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and other institutions. See page 15.
Robo-pharm: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center has a pharmacy "employee" who never makes a mistake--a robot that fills medication orders using bar-code technology. Only 2% of institutions nationwide use such technology, according to American Medical News. See page 19.
Measuring "a lot": The teaching mission of academic medical centers is essential if the nation is to prepare doctors for the future. But that function has been neither measured nor rewarded in the past. When an academic clinician teaches "a lot," exactly what does it mean? Dartmouth's Department of Medicine has a project to find out. See page 21.
A world without film: The Dartmouth-Hitchcock radiology department is in the final stages of becoming nearly filmless--with benefits in terms of time, money, and the environment. See page 13.
To pursue any of these stories, contact:
Deborah Kimbell, media relations manager, at 603/653-1913 or MedNews@Dartmouth.edu.
Dana Cook Grossman
Editor