Clinical predictors of diagnostic testing utility in the initial evaluation of chronic kidney disease.

Aim: No evidence-based approach to the evaluation of CKD has been established. We sought to identify clinical criteria to guide a rational diagnostic approach for the initial evaluation of CKD.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1487 patients presenting for initial evaluation of CKD over 3 years (1/2010-1/2013) to academic nephrology clinics.

Calciphylaxis: risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment.

Calciphylaxis is a rare but devastating condition that has continued to challenge the medical community since its early descriptions in the scientific literature many decades ago. It is predominantly seen in patients with chronic kidney failure treated with dialysis (uremic calciphylaxis) but is also described in patients with earlier stages of chronic kidney disease and with normal kidney function. In this review, we discuss the available medical literature regarding risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment of both uremic and nonuremic calciphylaxis.

Continuous renal replacement therapy outcomes in acute kidney injury and end-stage renal disease: a cohort study.

Introduction: Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is a widely used but resource-intensive treatment. Despite its broad adoption in intensive care units (ICUs), it remains challenging to identify patients who would be most likely to achieve positive outcomes with this therapy and to provide realistic prognostic information to patients and families.

Methods: We analyzed a prospective cohort of all 863 ICU patients initiated on CRRT at an academic medical center from 2008 to 2011 with either new-onset acute kidney injury (AKI) or pre-admission end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Prevalence and outcomes of antimicrobial treatment for Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in outpatients with ESRD.

Staphylococcus bacteremia is a common and life-threatening medical emergency, but it is treatable with appropriate antibiotic therapy. To identify opportunities that may reduce morbidity and mortality associated with S. aureus, we analyzed data from 293,094 chronic hemodialysis outpatients to characterize practices of antibiotic selection.

Access survival amongst hemodialysis patients referred for preventive angiography and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.

Background And Objectives: Referring hemodialysis patients for elective access angiography and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is commonly done to prevent access failure, yet the effectiveness of this procedure remains unclear. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASURES: An observational matched cohort analysis among 40,132 Medicare beneficiaries receiving hemodialysis with a fistula or graft was performed. Cox regression was used to determine whether access intervention was associated with improved 1-year access survival.

Metabolite profiling identifies markers of uremia.

ESRD is a state of small-molecule disarray. We applied liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling to survey>350 small molecules in 44 fasting subjects with ESRD, before and after hemodialysis, and in 10 age-matched, at-risk fasting control subjects. At baseline, increased levels of polar analytes and decreased levels of lipid analytes characterized uremic plasma.

A case management model to improve hemodialysis outpatient outcomes.

Optimal outpatient dialysis care is often difficult to achieve and a case management model to augment conventionally applied nursing and physician resources focusing on continuous quality improvement presents a possible solution to improving outcomes in this setting. We applied this model to patients followed by our physician group. Continuous quality improvement data generated from the dialysis unit database were used to analyze outcomes in patients enrolled in this model.

Family Medicine Curriculum Resource Project: the future.

Under contract to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) created an undergraduate medical education curricular resource designed to train physicians to practice in the 21st century. An interdisciplinary group of more than 35 educators worked for 4 years to create the Family Medicine Curriculum Resource (FMCR). By consensus, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies were adopted as the theoretical framework for this project.

Family medicine curriculum resource project: overview.

In 2000, the Health Resources and Services Administration, in the interest of fostering curriculum reform in medical schools, awarded a 4-year contract to the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine to develop a curricular resource. The contract directed development of a multi-part resource aimed at (1) preclerkship prerequisites for third-year clerkships in collaboration with internal medicine and pediatrics, (2) the family medicine clerkship, (3) post-clerkship preparation for residency training, and (4) specific special topic areas of importance to the government. The Family Medicine Curriculum Resource (FMCR) was produced by primary care educators, with day-to-day direction from an executive committee and overall oversight by an advisory committee.

Case study research: the view from complexity science.

Many wonder why there has been so little change in care quality despite substantial quality improvement efforts. Questioning why current approaches are not making true changes draws attention to the organization as a source of answers. The authors bring together the case study method and complexity science to suggest new ways to study health care organizations.

From library to discharge: a managing care student project.

Background And Objectives: The Patient Care Project (PCP) was a central component of the Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century (UME-21) grant project at the University of Nebraska. With the primary goal of improving students' critical thinking skills, the PCP was directed more toward an understanding of managing care than the business aspects of managed care and emphasized written communication skills, clinical hypothesis testing, and exploring ways to solve medical and ethical questions.

Methods: All 239 students graduating in 2000 and 2001 were required to analyze the medical care received by one of their hospitalized patients.

Integrating the art and science of medical practice: innovations in teaching medical communication skills.

Background And Objectives: This paper describes the content and methods used to teach communication skills in Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century (UME-21) schools and provides suggestions for future efforts.

Methods: Faculty leaders of curriculum projects at UME-21 schools provided reports describing new communication curriculum projects. Reports were reviewed and analyzed, curriculum content and methods were categorized into themes, and findings were confirmed through phone interviews with lead faculty at each participating school.

Experience with a program of faculty development.

The authors describe the faculty development program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Faculty needs were identified in instructional skill development, academic socialization and mentoring. Committees with campus-wide representation designed the instructional activities.

Learning preferences, computer attitudes, and student evaluation of computerised instruction.

Objective: To explore the relationship between learning preferences, attitudes towards computers, and student evaluation of a computer-assisted instructional (CAI) program.

Context: A third year required clerkship in surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Methods: A mixed-methods design combining attitudinal measures and qualitative interviews was employed to assess student reactions to a CAI program on angiography completed during a required surgical clerkship.