Integrated flexible endoscopy training during surgical residency.

Background: New advances in endoscopic surgery make it imperative that future gastrointestinal surgeons obtain adequate endoscopy skills. An evaluation of the 2001-02 general surgery residency endoscopy experience at the University of Missouri revealed that chief residents were graduating with an average of 43 endoscopic cases. This met American Board of Surgery (ABS) and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements but is inadequate preparation for carrying out advanced endoscopic surgery.

Serum sex hormones and breast cancer risk factors in postmenopausal women.

Postmenopausal women with elevated serum estrogens and androgens are at an increased risk of breast cancer. We evaluated associations of serum estrogen and androgen levels with age, anthropometry, and reproductive history to assess whether these characteristics could potentially modify breast cancer risk through hormonal mechanisms. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 133 postmenopausal women who donated blood to the serum bank (Columbia, MO) and served as controls in a previous prospective nested case control study of serum hormones and breast cancer risk.