Discussing and Teaching About Race and Health Inequities.

Health inequities are prevalent in our medical institutions and result in unfair access to and delivery of health care. Some of the most profound health disparities are related to race, which has erroneously been used to make biological inferences to explain disease states in medicine. Our profession continues to shift away from such race-based medical narratives, which do not examine how social determinants of health, social injustice, systemic racism, and existing power structures shape health outcomes toward a health equity mindset and race-conscious medicine.

Listen Before You Auscultate: An Active-Learning Approach to Bedside Cardiac Assessment.

Introduction: Bedside cardiac assessment (BCA) is deficient across a spectrum of noncardiology trainees. Learners not taught BCA well may become instructors who do not teach well, creating a self-perpetuating problem. To improve BCA teaching and learning, we developed a high-quality, patient-centered curriculum for medicine clerkship students that could be flexibly implemented and accessible to other health professions learners.

Noninvasive respiratory assistance as aid for respiratory care in neuromuscular disorders.

Chronic respiratory failure is a common complication of neuromuscular disease. The use of noninvasive ventilation and mechanically assisted cough can reduce symptoms of hypoventilation, slow lung function decline, improve sleep quality, and in some cases prolong survival in patients with neuromuscular disease. In this article, we review indications for the initiation of noninvasive ventilation and mechanically assisted cough as well as provide recommendations for settings and titration.

Chronic Neuromuscular Respiratory Failure and Home Assisted Ventilation.

Chronic respiratory failure is a common, important complication of many types of neuromuscular and chest wall disorders. While the pathophysiology of each disease may be different, these disorders can variably affect all muscles involved in breathing, including inspiratory, expiratory, and bulbar muscles, ultimately leading to chronic respiratory failure and hypoventilation. The use of home assisted ventilation through noninvasive interfaces aims to improve the symptoms of hypoventilation, improve sleep quality, and, when possible, improve mortality.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Training.

Background: Although it is well known that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound effect on health care, its impact on fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) has not been well described.

Objective: We conducted an anonymous survey of PCCM program directors (PDs) to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on PCCM fellowship training across the United States.

Methods: We developed a 30-question web-based survey that was distributed to U.

Virtually Hosting a National Medical Society Conference. Lessons Learned from the 2020 Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors Conference.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors to change the 2020 annual conference to a virtual format with relatively short notice. Using the experience of the planning committee and survey feedback from attendees, we describe the steps taken to implement a virtual conference and lessons learned in the process. The lessons described include frequent and concise communication, establishment of roles within a discrete production team, preparing speakers with a protocolized training session, active moderation of the chat box, using interactive polling and online documents to improve interactivity, a shorter agenda with more frequent breaks, encouraging "virtual happy hours" to connect with colleagues, and establishing facilitators for breakout rooms.

Just-In-Time Tools for Training Non-Critical Care Providers. Troubleshooting Problems in the Ventilated Patient.

Due to the limited number of critical care providers in the United States, even well-staffed hospitals are at risk of exhausting both physical and human resources during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). One potential response to this problem is redeployment of non-critical care providers to increase the supply of available clinicians. To support efforts to increase capacity as part of surge preparation for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, we created an online educational resource for non-intensivist providers to learn basic critical care content.

Just-In-Time Tools for Training Non-Critical Care Providers. Basics of Respiratory Failure.

Due to the limited number of critical care providers in the United States, even well-staffed hospitals are at risk of exhausting both physical and human resources during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). One potential response to this problem is redeployment of non-critical care providers to increase the supply of available clinicians. To support efforts to increase capacity as part of surge preparation for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, we created an online educational resource for nonintensivist providers to learn basic critical care content.

Inclusion of an informant yields strong associations between cognitive complaint and longitudinal cognitive outcomes in non-demented elders.

Background: The relation between the source of cognitive complaint and objective cognitive performance is not well understood.

Objective: Examine self and informant cognitive complaint as predictors of objective cognitive and functional trajectory in non-demented elders.

Methods: Participants from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center had a baseline diagnosis of normal cognition (NC; n = 6133, 72±8 years, 68% female) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 3010, 74±8 years, 55% female).

Clinical research risk assessment among individuals with mild cognitive impairment.

Objective: : To determine whether individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) differ from cognitively normal (NC) elders on a risk assessment task and whether participants and their study partners evaluate risk and benefit similarly.

Design: : Cross-sectional.

Setting: : University medical setting.