Factors Influencing Physician Assistant Student Attrition Rates.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess factors that influence student well-being and attrition and to compare faculty perceptions to the realities of student experience. METHODS: Three anonymous online surveys were distributed, one for each group of currently enrolled students, faculty/staff, and attritted students. RESULTS: Faculty estimated that an average of 12.8% of PA students in their program have considered dropping out in the past 6 months, while 22.9% of students self-reported considering dropping out in the past 6 months. The most frequently cited factors for considering dropping out were mental health and lack of connection to the program. Mental health was the highest cited reason for having taken or having considered taking a leave of absence. DISCUSSION: Faculty perceptions in this study were incongruent with the actual situations of their students. Mental health issues and a lack of connection to programs were the largest influencers of attrition.

Taste neophobia and c-Fos expression in the rat brain.

Taste neophobia refers to a reduction in consumption of a novel taste relative to when it is familiar. To gain more understanding of the neural basis of this phenomenon, the current study examined whether a novel taste (0.5% saccharin) supports a different pattern of c-Fos expression than the same taste when it is familiar. Results revealed that the taste of the novel saccharin solution evoked more Fos immunoreactivity than the familiar taste of saccharin in the basolateral region of the amygdala, central nucleus of the amygdala, gustatory portion of the thalamus, and the gustatory insular cortex. No such differential expression was found in the other examined areas, including the bed nucleus of stria terminalis,medial amygdala, and medial parabrachial nucleus. The present results are discussed with respect to a forebrain taste neophobia system.

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography of a rare xanthogranulomatous process: Erdheim-Chester disease.

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a disseminated xanthogranulomatous infiltrative disease of unknown etiology due to infiltration of different organs and bones by foamy histiocytes. A 37-year-old male with cerebral and periorbital lesions was diagnosed with this rare disease and was evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging at baseline and following therapy. FDG-PET imaging allowed accurate evaluation of the extent of the disease at baseline, as well as assessment of response to therapy.