Table of Contents
A Magazine for Alumni and Friends of Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Vol. 35, No. 1 • Fall 2010
FEATURES
Science versus Slime
By Amos Esty
Biofilms can be as mundane as slime on a shower curtain, or as menacing as antibiotic-resistant bacterial colonies on a medical device or in a human lung. But luckily, scientists are making progress in understanding these mysterious aggregations of microorganisms.
Delivering the Goods
By Jennifer Durgin
When U.S. health care is good, it's very very good. But when it's bad . . . well, it's no secret that many aspects of the system need fixing. A concerted new effort at Dartmouth to study and teach how to improve the delivery of care is bringing together experts from many fields.
Fourth-Down Decision-Making
By John E. Castaldo, M.D.
His star lineman just needed routine clearance to return to play, the high-school football coach assured the doctor. But the neurologist quickly realized the situation would be a much more complex call. This excerpt from a book by a DMS alumnus describes events that took place some years ago, but tackles issues that are all too current.
COVER
The image on our cover is an electronmicrograph of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm growing on a plastic surface. Each cylinder is an individual bacterial cell, and collectively they constitute the biofilm. The image is courtesy of the lab of DMS microbiologist George O'Toole. See the article "Science versus Slime" to read about the lab's contributions to the growing understanding of these mysterious colonies.
OUR MISSION
Dartmouth Medicine seeks to convey the breadth and depth of the education, research, and clinical activities of DMS and DHMC; to serve as a publication of historical record; to stimulate thought and discussion on issues in medicine and medical education; and to reflect the range of opinions and activities among Dartmouth medical students, faculty, and alumni. Abbreviations used in these pages include DMS (Dartmouth Medical School), DHMC (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center), MHMH (Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital), and DC (Dartmouth College). The opinions of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of DMS or DHMC.
STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS
DEPARTMENTS
Editor's Note
"Prize catches"
By Dana Cook Grossman
Discoveries
- Insight into how opioids sometimes worsen pain
- Study examines effects of early treatment
- Drug combo may curb alcohol abuse
- Teasing out factors in teen self-esteem
- Geography affects diagnoses, too
- A somersaulting, picture-taking pill
- A break in the quest for a cancer vaccine
- Research briefs
Vital Signs
- National network aims to ease agonizing decisions about abuse
- Pomp, circumstance, and inspiring speeches
- Cause for celebration: A 50th and a 50/50 ratio
- Clinical Observation
- Determining death, when minutes matter
- An alarming result (and that's a very good thing)
- DMS exports its measurement methodologies
- Investigator Insight
- When needy people talk, Nick Ellis listens
- Facts & Figures
- Medical students continue to reach out to Haiti
- Learning to live well--but not for revenge
- Media Mentions: DMS and DHMC in the news
- Worthy of Note: Honors, awards, appointments, etc.
- Then & Now
- News Briefs
Student Notebook
"Choice words"
By Armand Russo
Point of View
"A good death"
By Jennifer Brokaw, M.D.
Giving
"Gala fund-raiser exceeds goal"
By Kate Villars
Faculty Focus
"John Lyons, Jr., M.D.: In good hands"
By Eliza C. Mackintosh
Grand Rounds
"No simple answers"
By Arnold M. Katz, M.D.
Art of Medicine
"Untitled"
By Jon Gilbert Fox
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