The physician healer track: educating the hearts and the minds of future physicians.

Calls to reform medical education recommend explicit training in professional identity formation to promote the development of humanistic, compassionate physicians. The authors report their experience offering The Physician Healer Track, a 500-contact-hour curricula integrated over 4 years, focusing on self-awareness, reflection, being-with-suffering, communication and professional identity development. The voluntary scholarly-concentration program comprises 4 years of monthly dinner meetings with faculty mentors, a two-month preceptorship in the first year, a one-month immersion course in MS4 and one elective.

Persistence of müllerian duct structures in a genetic male with distal monosomy 10q.

Persistent müllerian duct syndrome (PMD) with antimüllerian hormone (AMH) deficiency is usually associated with mutations or deletions of the AMH gene, although many cases have no identified gene association. We report on a genetic male with PMD and AMH deficiency associated with distal monosomy 10q. A term 3,230 g infant was born to a healthy 27-year-old.

Parathyroid hormone levels in neonates with suspected osteopenia.

Aim: The goal of this study is to describe secondary hyperparathyroidism in extremely low birthweight (ELBW) neonates and their response to enteral calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) supplementation.

Methods: A retrospective case series was conducted on extremely low birth infants, <1000 g birthweight, who survived hospitalisation, had no major congenital anomalies and had all their care in our institution

Results: During this 6-year period, 231 ELBW infants survived hospitalisation at our institution. Of the 231 patients, parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels were performed in 66 of these patients (29%) and were elevated in 54 patients (82% of those tested).

Neonatal parotid gland enlargement: Is it suppurative parotitis? A case report.

Background: Acute suppurative parotitis (ASP) is a rare finding in the neonate. It is commonly caused by S. aureus but other bacterial isolates may be emerging.

Sustained impact of MBSR on stress, well-being, and daily spiritual experiences for 1 year in academic health care employees.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were (1) to evaluate self-reported stress levels and daily spiritual experiences in academic health care employees before, immediately after, and 1 year after enrolling in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course; and (2) to evaluate the correlation between a potential measure of pulse rate variability and self-reported stress levels.

Subjects: Fifty-nine (59) participants in the MBSR course offered to employees at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB) comprised the intervention group, and 94 health care providers in the neonatal nurseries comprised the control group.

Intervention: MBSR is an 8-week course that introduces mindfulness meditation practices.

Impact of providing vitamin A to the routine pulmonary care of extremely low birth weight infants.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if the continued use of vitamin A in a nursery utilizing early surfactant and nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was warranted.

Study Design: A retrospective, cohort study of appropriately sized, preterm neonates weighing ≤1000 g at birth was conducted. Two time periods were compared: Pre-Vitamin A was composed of extremely low birth weight who were routinely cared for with early nasal CPAP (n = 76); and Post-Vitamin A (n = 102) consisted of ELBWs who were cared for similar to Pre-Vitamin A, but with the addition of vitamin A.

Decreased incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia after early management changes, including surfactant and nasal continuous positive airway pressure treatment at delivery, lowered oxygen saturation goals, and early amino acid administration: a historical cohort study.

Objective: The goal was to investigate the clinical impact of 3 early management practice changes for infants of < or = 1000 g.

Methods: We performed an historical cohort study of appropriately sized, preterm infants without congenital anomalies who were born between January 2001 and June 2002 (pre-early management practice change group; n = 87) and between July 2004 and December 2005 (post-early management practice change group; n = 76).

Results: Only 1 (1%) of 87 infants in the pre-early management practice change group received continuous positive airway pressure treatment in the first 24 hours of life, compared with 61 (80%) of 76 infants in the post-early management practice change group.

Increased susceptibility of purinergic receptor-deficient mice to lung infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Purinergic receptors are expressed throughout the respiratory system in diverse cell types. The efficiency of mucus clearance in the airways, the cascade leading to tissue injury, and inflammation are modulated by autocrine/paracrine release of nucleotides and signaling by purinergic receptors. We assessed the role of purinergic receptors in innate host defense of the lung in vivo by infecting mice deficient in P2Y1, P2Y2, or both receptors with intratracheal instillation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Inhaled nitric oxide for oligohydramnios-induced pulmonary hypoplasia: a report of two cases and review of the literature.

We describe the clinical courses of two premature infants, a male born at 29(4/7) weeks' gestational age after an 8-week period of rupture of membranes (ROM) and severe oligohydramnios, and a female infant born at 31 weeks' gestational age after an 18-week period of ROM and severe oligohydramnios. Within hours after birth, despite intubation and aggressive ventilation, both infants developed fulminant hypoxic respiratory failure. Their clinical courses were consistent with pulmonary hypertension and both infants were transferred for trials of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO).