What the Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP) can do for Texas physicians; what Texas physicians can do for JAMP.

Texas faces health challenges requiring a physician workforce with understanding of a broad range of issues -- including the role of culture, income level, and health beliefs -- that affect the health of individuals and communities. Building on previous successful physician workforce "pipeline" efforts, Texas established the Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP), a first-of-its-kind program to encourage access to medical education by Texans who are economically disadvantaged. The program benefits those from racial and ethnic minority groups and involves all 31 public and 34 private Texas undergraduate colleges and universities offering life science degrees, as well as all 9 medical schools. Available program data indicate that JAMP has broadened enrollment diversity in Texas' medical schools. However, greater progress requires strengthened partnerships with professional colleagues practicing medicine in communities across Texas. This article explores how JAMP can help Texas physicians and how Texas physicians can help JAMP.

Barriers and facilitators of adolescent behavioral health in primary care: Perceptions of primary care providers.

Several major policy reports describe the central role of primary care in improving the delivery of behavioral health care services to children and adolescents. Although primary care providers are uniquely positioned to provide these services, numerous obstacles hinder the integration of these services, including time, clinic management and organization issues, training, and resources. Although many of these obstacles have been described in the literature, few studies have investigated these issues from the first-person perspective of front-line providers. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to provide an in-depth description of primary care providers' attitudes and perceptions of adolescent behavioral health care across a diversity of primary care settings (i.e., Federally Qualified Health Center [FQHC], FQHC-Look Alike, school-based, military). Sixteen focus groups were conducted at 5 primary care clinics. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the focus group data. Obstacles to integration are presented as well as strategies to overcome these challenges, using training and education, working groups, and community collaboratives.

Adolescent substance use and abuse: current issues.

Substance use and abuse among American adolescents account for significant morbidity and mortality in this age group. A good history is the mainstay in the evaluation, along with the identification of clinical clues of drug use or abuse. Issues of consent and confidentiality should be considered in the assessment, particularly when deciding whether to use drug testing in diagnosis and management. Establishing the patient's stage of substance use can help define the option of either management by the primary care physician or referral to a professional who is experienced in treating chemical dependency. Important research-based principles for prevention programs for children and adolescents include the need for programs to target all forms of drug abuse and to be age-specific, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and cost-effective.