Unusual Hand Deformity in Parkinson's Disease.

We describe two patients with prominent hand deformities attributable to Parkinson's disease. This uncommon condition, which mimics inflammatory arthritis, can be hard to diagnose and is disabling. As these two cases illustrate, hand deformities attributable to Parkinson's can be a late complication of the disease or present in the early stage as initial symptomatology.

Erdheim-Chester Disease: A Mysterious Illness Causing Obscure Neurologic Syndromes.

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a very rare form of non-Langerhans histiocytic disorder which affects multiple systems and can present in a variety of different ways. We present two patients diagnosed with ECD whose symptoms, progression and treatment differ dramatically.

The Impact of Kindness in Medical Student Education in Rural South Dakota.

All medical students at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (SSOM) have rural healthcare rotations. Because SSOM has adopted kindness as a focal point in its new five year strategic plan, we designed a qualitative study to assess students' perception of kindness in the rural setting.