Dartmouth Medicine Winter 1998
Dear Reporter, Editor, or News Director:
Inside the Winter 1998 issue of DARTMOUTH MEDICINE, (to request a printed copy, call 603-653-0772 or e-mail dartmed@Dartmouth.edu), read about:
A timely finding about biological clocks: An investigator at Dartmouth Medical School has determined that temperature may be more important than light in setting cells' biological clocks. Findings like that have just won him a coveted MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health. See page 3.
Why patient preference about dying appears to be for naught: A team of researchers at Dartmouth has discovered that the number of empty hospital beds in a given community may have more to do with whether patients die in the hospital or at home than their own preferences do. See page 9.
The only resident serving on a major national committee: A third-year resident in family practice at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is a member of the Committee on Graduate Medical Education. The powerful committee advises Washington policy-makers about physician supply issues. See page 8.
An effort to "measure the unmeasurable" in medical education: A new study based at Dartmouth is attempting to quantify the psychosocial aspects of medicine by assessing medical students before, during, and at the end of their years in medical school. The early results are intriguing. See page 10.
Some of the fine points involved in ensuring a safe blood supply: The director of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Blood Bank has written an essay about the complexities involved in ensuring a risk-free supply of just one blood product--plasma. See page 21.
The visionary reformer who brought the "TQM" principles of Edwards Deming to health care: Paul Batalden is not only leading numerous quality improvement efforts at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, but he is widely considered to have done more to adapt Deming's ideas to health care than anyone else. See page 22.
Poetry? In a medical publication?: Actually, there are some very fine, published poets among Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's various constituencies. Half a dozen of them share one of their works as well as their thoughts on writing poetry. See page 28.
A faculty member who travels the state in service to children with serious chronic illnesses: Ardis Olson doesn't sit and wait for patients to come to her. She gets behind the wheel of her car and drives the length of the state to care for the needs of children with serious chronic illnesses like spina bifida and cystic fibrosis. See page 42.
Bringing medicine to the masses: This spring, Dartmouth Medical School will offer a seven-week course introducing the wonders of biomedical science to the populace it serves. The project is generating enthusiasm in many quarters. See page 6.
Why health care should not be regarded as a business: Dartmouth Medical School's dean argues that medicine may have some lessons to learn from business, but it must not, itself, be regarded as a business. See page 49.
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