The supply of hematology/oncology specialists.

National hematology and oncology organizations and experts in the field, predict a shortage of hematology/oncology specialists in the United States. Four types of hematology/oncology graduate medical education programs picked to represent direct patient care specialists are presented as physician supply in quantitative data proportional to the averages of the United States in this paper. The hematology/oncology physician production in Louisiana is similar to the average of all programs in the United States.

Improving the transition of care in patients transferred through the ochsner medical center transfer center.

Background: Patient transfers from other hospitals within the Ochsner Health System to the main campus are coordinated through a Transfer Center that was established in fall 2008. We analyzed the transfer process to assess distinct opportunities to enhance the overall transition of patient care.

Methods: We surveyed internal medicine residents and nocturnists to determine their satisfaction with transfers in terms of safety, efficiency, and usefulness of information provided at the time of transfer.

Hemoglobin SO-Arab and α-thalassemia diagnosed in an adult: A case-based review of the hemoglobinopathies.

Hemoglobin SO-Arab is a rare sickling disorder with a clinical course similar to that of hemoglobin SS. Hemoglobin C-Harlem is another rare condition that produces sickling disorders in affected individuals with a disease course and electrophoretic findings similar to that of hemoglobin SO-Arab. The authors report the case of a 38-year-old African American man with hemoglobin SO-Arab and the challenges that may arise in working up a rare hemoglobinopathy.