Prediction of erosion progression using ultrasound in established rheumatoid arthritis: a 2-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine whether a range of single-time-point ultrasound (US) measures of synovial disease and serologic characteristics were able to predict progression of US-defined erosive disease in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients were studied prospectively. At baseline, subjective US measures of bone damage and synovial disease, including grayscale and power Doppler (PD) scores pre- and post-Sonovue contrast, were obtained from one proximal inter-phalangeal or metacarpo-phalangeal joint per patient. After a minimum of 2 years, the same joints were scanned to obtain a new US erosion score. RESULTS: Follow-up US erosion scores were obtained in 25 joints. Progressive US determined that bone damage occurred in 12/25 joints, including four of eight treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy. Baseline erosion scores were significantly higher in joints that did not show progressive bone damage in the entire cohort (p = 0.05, n = 25) and a subgroup treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (p = 0.015, n = 17). There were no other significant differences in baseline US or serologic scores between joints that developed progressive damage and those that did not. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of single-time-point US measures of synovial disease were not able to identify metacarpo-phalangeal or inter-phalangeal joint destined to develop progressive US-determined bone damage in patients with established RA. This may reflect the use of single-time-point measures, insensitivity of the US erosion score, and the long duration of RA disease in this study.

Dr Louis T. Wright and the NAACP: pioneers in hospital racial integration.

Louis Tompkins Wright, the son of a man born into slavery, was an outstanding African American surgeon who devoted his life to the racial integration of health care in the United States. Despite the fact that both his father and stepfather were physicians, despite his innate intellectual gifts and disciplined character, Wright experienced discrimination throughout his life and career. This experience led him to fight for the rights of African Americans, both health care professionals and patients. In addition to making numerous contributions in the fields of surgery and infectious disease, Wright held leadership positions in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for more than 20 years, leaving a legacy of equity for African Americans in medical education and in health care.

The federal government's use of Title VI and Medicare to racially integrate hospitals in the United States, 1963 through 1967.

Explicit discrimination against minorities existed in the 1960s in hospital patient admissions and physician and nurse staff appointments. With passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, along with Medicare legislation in 1965, civil rights advocates within the federal government had both a legislative mandate to guarantee equal access to programs funded by the federal government in Title VI and a federal program that affected every hospital in the country in Medicare. This study was conducted to determine the extent to which the Medicare hospital certification program was a major determinant in the racial integration of hospitals throughout the United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with individuals involved in hospital and health care policy in the 1950s and 1960s. Other primary resources include archival and personal manuscripts, government documents, newspapers, and periodicals.

Hospitals and Civil Rights, 1945-1963: the case of Simkins v Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital.

In the 1960s, the legacy of discrimination against black persons still existed in all areas of medicine. This historical analysis investigates the strategies that were used by lawyers alongside physicians, dentists, and patients in elevating health care for black persons. Primary resources include oral histories, government documents, hospital records, archival and personal manuscripts, and professional and hospital periodicals. After World War II, leaders in the black community were determined to improve health care for black persons by ending discrimination in hospital policies and practices. Leaders of professional organizations developed a collaborative strategy that involved the court system, federal legislation, and research and education of the public and health professionals to integrate the hospital system rather than to expand the existing separate-but-equal system. Efforts culminated in the case of Simkins v Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital; this case became the landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court and led to the elimination of segregated health care. Three months after the case, President Johnson ratified the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which included Title VI, thus extending the policy of equality to all federal programs. Laying a foundation for universal access to health care in the United States depended on a victory in the courts, in national health legislation, and in public opinion. All were achieved through strategic efforts to amass widespread support for the elimination of discrimination in medicine.

Feedback from chief residents about proposed revisions of the special requirements for internal medicine residencies.

PURPOSE: To receive feedback from chief medical residents about what they and their residents would think of proposed revisions of the Special Requirements for Residency Programs in Internal Medicine. METHOD: A 71-item questionnaire was mailed in the fall of 1991 to a chief resident at each of 426 U.S. internal medicine residencies. A five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree), was used. In addition, the chief residents were asked for qualitative comments. The chief residents were requested to reflect residents' opinions when completing the questionnaire. RESULTS: 272 (64%) of the questionnaires were returned. The mean rating for all questions was 2.12, SD, 0.66. The 12 changes most strongly supported (means < or = 1-1.46) included enhanced training in interviewing, communication, and interpersonal skills and in physical examination skills; emphasis on residency as an educational experience and on general internal medicine in the design of core lectures and ambulatory care clinics; and a requirement for written parental leave policies. Areas of moderate to less strong agreement included requirements for faculty and resident research, and that residents report moonlighting experiences to their program directors. CONCLUSION: The chief residents supported most of the proposed revisions of the Special Requirements, including a new proposal for enhancing professionalism in residency. The data reinforce the need to make residency education consonant with the practice of medicine and the changing demographics of the profession as well as to address resident indebtedness.

Collaboration in the preparation of the generalist physician.

Collaborative efforts among health care professionals and institutions at all levels will be essential to the increased production of generalist physicians. There have been many successful collaborations in education and patient care among certifying boards, faculty, physicians in practice, specialists, generalists, and non-physician health professionals, as well as among the three generalist specialties. Recommended strategies to encourage collaboration in the preparation of generalist physicians include: creation of an institutional collaborative curriculum committee; design of a longitudinal curriculum on collaboration for physicians-in-training and other health professionals; implementation of collaborative patient care in ambulatory care teaching clinics; development of integrated systems of care that link inpatient, outpatient, and community-based health services; and education of physicians-in-training in these and other collaborative and co-practice models of patient care.

Reaffirming professionalism through the education community.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of the clinical training environment and a medical education community in reaffirming medical professionalism among physicians-in-training and faculty. DATA SOURCES: Published articles on undergraduate and graduate medical education and sociology works on professionalism were identified through research. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were selected that illustrated barriers to professionalism in medical education and patient care and the professional conduct of medical students, residents, and faculty. RESULTS: Factors that undermined the medical education community were the specialization of medicine, the faculty reward systems, and the service demands of residency because of the economics of health care. CONCLUSIONS: Establishment of a firm system with a core teaching faculty, creation of mentoring and role modeling programs, implementation of a longitudinal curriculum on medical professionalism, evaluation of physicians on professional conduct, and evaluation of the clinical training environment are suggested as strategies to re-establish an education community and reaffirm professionalism in medicine.