Combining the creative arts and the house call to teach medical students about chronic illness care.

As the number of people living with chronic illness in the United States rises, it is imperative that medical school prepare physicians who are capable of caring for these patients. This article outlines a creative educational intervention to teach third- and fourth-year medical students about caring for chronically ill people. All students at Weill Medical College, Cornell University, make home visits to homebound older adults with an interdisciplinary team as part of a mandatory Primary Care Clerkship.

Non-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-defining malignancies in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Context: Non-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining malignancies that occur in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the demographics and pathologic features associated with these malignancies have not been completely defined.

Objective: This study describes the age of onset of malignant disease in patients seropositive for HIV and in control patients presumed to be negative for HIV, but with the same primary site. We compare the demographics and histopathology for both groups.

Cost-effectiveness of treatment options for prevention of rheumatic heart disease from Group A streptococcal pharyngitis in a pediatric population.

Background: We set out to examine which treatment option available in the United States was most cost-effective in treating children with endemic group A streptococcal pharyngitis to prevent rheumatic heart disease.

Methods: Cost-effectiveness was calculated from the societal perspective and expressed in cases of rheumatic heart disease prevented annually in the U.S.

Ambulatory morning report: can it prepare residents for the American Board of Internal Medicine Examination?

We assessed the ability of a novel ambulatory morning report format to expose internal medicine residents to the breadth of topics covered by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) exam. Cases were selected by the Ambulatory Assistant Chief Residents and recorded in a logbook to limit duplication. We conducted a retrospective review of 406 cases discussed from July 1998 to July 2000 and cataloged each according to the primary content area.