[Pulmonary effects of inhaled cannabis].

The respiratory consequences of cannabis inhalation remain poorly understood. The main challenges are the biases due to the combined consumption of tobacco and to the various consumption modalities. While some similarities can be drawn between cannabis and tobacco, such as certain carcinogenic components present in their smoke, as well as the clinical chronic bronchitis, the pulmonary repercussion of these two substances differ in several aspects.

[Role of point-of-care ultrasonography in the management of heart failure].

Heart failure is a common disease and one of the main reasons of hospital admission. It is a rich research field, marked by regular novelties in the management of heart failure. In the last decades point-of-care ultrasonography has been more prominent in internal medicine, particularly for the management of heart failure.

Gait speed is associated with death or readmission among patients surviving acute hypercapnic respiratory failure.

Objectives: Death or hospital readmission are frequent among patients surviving acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF). Severity scores are not valid to predict death or readmission after AHRF. Gait speed, a simple functional parameter, has been associated with hospital admission and death in the general population.

[Post-graduate education in internal medicine : what do residents want ?].

The post-graduate education course in general internal medicine - which leads to the accreditation as a specialist - is established by l'Institut Suisse de Formation médicale (ISFM), one of the organs of the FMH (Federatio Medicorum Helveticorum) in collaboration with the Swiss Society of General Internal Medicine (SSGIM). This program sets inter alia the necessary learning steps and defines which tools are efficient in monitoring the teaching program. The specific goals defined in the course are not, however, easily reached, specifically in the internal medicine services of hospitals that are subject to organisational constraints.

[Hospital pathway of complex patients in a medical service of a local Hospital].

In the current Swiss medical system, hospital care is provided by both university hospitals and so-called « peripheral » hospitals. While university hospitals offer advanced technology and a wide range of medical specialists, how is care organized within the smaller, less complex structure of a peripheral hospital ? In emergencies, although patients usually go to their local hospital, they should not be exposed to lower quality care. Quality treatment is guaranteed by a well-organized structure, supported by a competent team of general doctors and specialists who have access to advanced technology.