Programmatic Approach to Increasing Osteopathic Medical Student Participation in Research: The TCOM Experience.

Providing medical students with a meaningful research-based educational experience will help them become exemplary physicians and informed consumers of medical research outcomes in the practice of evidence-based medicine. By participating in research projects during medical school, students have the opportunity to study specific fields that interest them in greater depth and develop their written and oral presentation skills. Studies indicate that students who have participated in research and scholarly activities during medical school are at an advantage when matching to their preferred residency.

Requirements for Certification in Surgery: A Comparison of the American Board of Surgery and the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery.

In early 2014, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the American Osteopathic Association, and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine agreed to a memorandum of understanding describing a single accreditation system for graduate medical education in the United States. Although there are many benefits, such as consistent quality of graduate medical education, alignment of competency standards, alignment with policymakers' expectations, unification of voices on graduate medical education access and funding issues, and visibility of osteopathic medicine, there are also many challenges in creating a uniform system of graduate medical education. The authors review the pathways to initial certification for both the American Board of Surgery and the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery and discuss recertification and maintenance of certification.

Randomized trial of a dry-powder, fibrin sealant in vascular procedures.

Objective: Topical hemostats are important adjuncts for stopping surgical bleeding. The safety and efficacy of Fibrocaps, a dry-powder, fibrin sealant containing human plasma-derived thrombin and fibrinogen, was evaluated in patients undergoing vascular surgical procedures.

Methods: In this single-blind trial (clinicaltrials.

Thoracic splenosis more than 40 years after thoracoabdominal trauma.

Splenosis is a rare occurrence that is defined as autotransplantation of splenic tissue usually after splenic rupture due to trauma and subsequent splenectomy. Although splenosis most commonly occurs in the abdomen, the authors report a rare case of thoracic splenosis after remote thoracoabdominal trauma. A 62-year-old woman was found to have lower-lobe, pleural-based nodular lesions in juxtaposition to the posteromedial segment of the lung during workup for an abdominal hernia.

Diagnosis and management of primary pulmonary leiomyosarcoma.

Leiomyosarcomas are cancers of smooth muscle cells that can arise from any location but occur most often in the uterus, retroperitoneum, or intraabdominal region. Primary leiomyosarcomas of the lung are extremely rare and are often diagnosed as a mass on routine chest radiography. Metastasis is uncommon and typically occurs late in the disease process, indicating the importance of early detection.

Leukocyte-Aprotinin Atrial Fibrillation Study (LAFFS): Impact of Aprotinin and Leukofiltration on Atrial Fibrillation, Renal Insufficiency and Encephalopathy Post-Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

Atrial fibrillation remains the leading postoperative complication following cardiopulmonary bypass. A randomized trial was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of leukocyte filtration and aprotinin, applied separately and in combination, on the incidence of post-operative atrial fibrillation. A secondary component of the study was the impact of these adjunct interventions on post-surgical renal and neurological dysfunction.

Solitary fibrous pleural tumor.

Solitary fibrous pleural tumors are rare masses of mesenchymal origin that may be mistaken for mesothelioma. A positive staining of vimentin, negative staining of cytoplasmic keratin, and expression of the CD34 antigen can confirm the presence of a solitary fibrous pleural tumor. Although most tumors of this type are benign, they possess a malignant potential and thus should be excised.

Hemodynamic effects of osteopathic manipulative treatment immediately after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Context: Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is a common procedure for patients with coronary artery disease. The physiologic effects of postoperative osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) following CABG have not been documented previously.

Objective: To determine the effects of OMT on cardiac hemodynamics post-CABG surgery.

Sympathetic cardiac influence and arterial blood pressure instability.

Previous studies have suggested that sympathetic cardiac blockade enhances baroreflex function, whereas parasympathetic blockade diminishes baroreflex sensitivity and elicits arterial blood pressure (ABP) instability. The aim of this project was to test the hypothesis that sympathetic cardiac blockade was beneficial in maintaining ABP stability during orthostatic challenge. In 8 young healthy subjects, measurements were taken before and after sympathetic cardiac blockade (beta1-adrenoceptor blockade via metoprolol) in combination with or without parasympathetic blockade (atropine) at rest and during lower body negative pressure (LBNP).