Dartmouth Medicine Summer 1998
Dear Reporter, Editor, or News Director:
Inside the Summer 1998 issue of DARTMOUTH MEDICINE, (to request a printed copy, call 603-653-0772 or e-mail dartmed@Dartmouth.edu), read about:
An effort to bring science and reason to the Superfund debate: Dartmouth is one of only a few universities doing basic science research into the substances targeted by the federal Superfund cleanup project. Though the cleanup effort is mired in litigation, the project's research arm is coming up with useful information about the cellular and molecular damage that can be caused by tiny amounts of toxic metals. See page 26.
A Dartmouth medical student who spent a year on a powerful committee: Fourth-year student Peter Chin has been one of just two student members of the national committee that accredits all U.S. and Canadian medical schools. What was it like? He shares what he can about the complex and confidential process. See page 8.
The ideals that led four first-year medical students to seek to become physicians: Four students who have just completed their first year at Dartmouth Medical School have given permission for the magazine to reprint their medical school application essays. It's an inspiring view of the future of medicine. See page 41.
What a classroom of third-graders can teach a doctor: A resident in family medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center set up an innovative program to help him learn how to communicate better with his patients--by teaching health to a class of third-graders. See page 9.
Some important insights into the care of children with asthma: Children with asthma sometimes end up in the hospital needlessly, suggests a recent study done at Dartmouth. See page 10.
What a Dartmouth medical student brought to--and back from--Russia: A second-year medical student spent some time recently in Russia, applying his experience in running smoking cessation programs as part of an international health elective. He found himself struggling to change the attitudes of Russians toward one of their few luxuries. But he also came away impressed with how the Russians themselves struggle with deprivations and shortages. See page 53.
The importance of integrating mainstream medicine and so-called alternative medicine: Three physicians with Dartmouth ties talk about the need to end the historical stand-off between conventional physicians and practitioners of therapies such as herbalism and acupuncture. And a sidebar (on page 37) explores what's being done at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to facilitate more such discussions. See page 34.
A retired psychiatrist who teaches residents the same way he treated patients--as people: What's a long-retired psychiatrist got to offer the newest entrants into the field? Lots, assuming you're talking about the former editor of the specialty's premier journal, who is now at Dartmouth. See page 54.
A researcher in retinoids who is joining the Dartmouth faculty: Ethan Dmitrovsky, the new chair of pharmacology and toxicology at Dartmouth, is bringing with him from New York City's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center what he calls "a mechanism-based approach" to cancer prevention. See page 13.
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, especially if you'd like to reprint an article; my direct line is (603) 650-4058.
Dana Cook Grossman,
Editor