The 'July Effect' in supervisory residents: assessing the emotions of rising internal medicine PGY2 residents and the impact of an orientation retreat.

: The arrival of new residents brings challenges for residency programs and residents. Many residency programs conduct orientation sessions to help transition rising supervisory residents into their new roles, but no evaluation of their impact on residents' emotional well-being has been performed.: This study assesses the impact of a half-day orientation retreat on rising internal medicine post-graduate year (PGY) 2 residents' emotions toward PGY2 year and their self-confidence in fulfilling the supervisory resident role.

When perception is reality: Resident perception of faculty gender parity in a university-based internal medicine residency program.

Introduction: Although women have entered medical school and internal medicine residency programs in significant numbers for decades, women faculty remain underrepresented in senior and departmental leadership roles. How residents perceive this gender disparity is unknown. We sought to assess resident perception of gender parity among departmental leadership and teaching faculty in our internal medicine department, and to determine the actual gender distribution of those faculty roles.

Internal medicine trainees' knowledge and confidence in using the American Society of Hematology Choosing Wisely guidelines in hemostasis, thrombosis, and non-malignant hematology.

Background: Several specialty societies participate in the Choosing Wisely (CW) campaign in an attempt to reduce waste in health care spending. We surveyed internal medicine (IM) residents with an objective of classifying knowledge of and confidence in using the American Society of Hematology (ASH) CW principles in hemostasis, thrombosis, and non-malignant hematology.

Methods: Multi-institutional study of IM residents at 5 academic training programs in the United States.

Why July Matters.

Each July, new graduates from premedical, medical, and residency programs, along with junior and midcareer faculty, acclimatize to their changing roles. During this month, overall efficiency, quality, and patient safety may suffer, a problem dubbed the "July effect." The many transitions that occur in teaching hospitals during July are often implicated as the root cause of this problem.

A case for an international health elective training program during residency: a four-points call for action.

Background: International Health Electives (IHE) are becoming more popular among graduate training programs. This is likely due to the high demands from graduating medical students who are seeking to have an international health experience during their post-graduate training. Despite the important educational experiences associated with an IHE, this opportunity does not exist in all graduate medical programs and fewer have formal established programs.

Competence in patient safety: a multifaceted experiential educational intervention for resident physicians.

Background: The need to provide efficient, effective, and safe patient care is of paramount importance. However, most physicians receive little or no formal training to prepare them to address patient safety challenges within their clinical practice.

Methods: We describe a comprehensive Patient Safety Learning Program (PSLP) for internal medicine and medicine-pediatrics residents.

Teaching internal medicine residents quality improvement and patient safety: a lean thinking approach.

Patient safety (PS) and quality improvement (QI) are among the highest priorities for all health systems. Resident physicians are often at the front lines of providing care for patients. In many instances, however, QI and PS initiatives exclude trainees.

Impact of duty hours restrictions on quality of care and clinical outcomes.

Background: In July 2003, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education instituted residency duty-hours requirements in response to growing concerns regarding clinician fatigue and the incidence of medical errors. These changes, which limited maximum continuous hours worked and total hours per week, often resulted in increased discontinuity of care. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the duty-hours restrictions on quality of care and outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Treatment of Helicobacter gastritis with IL-4 requires somatostatin.

Fifty percent of the world's population is infected with Helicobacter pylori; however, treatment has been insufficient to eradicate the organisms due to rising antibiotic resistance. Helicobacter infection is characterized by induction of a T helper 1 lymphocyte (Th1) immune response, hypergastrinemia, and suppressed tissue somatostatin (SOM) levels. However, the mechanism by which the immune response regulates acid secretion is not known.

Peptide fragments of AMP-18, a novel secreted gastric antrum mucosal protein, are mitogenic and motogenic.

Antrum mucosal protein (AMP)-18 is a novel 18-kDa protein synthesized by cells of the gastric antrum mucosa. The protein is present in secretion granules of murine gastric antrum epithelial cells and is a component of canine antrum mucus, suggesting that it is secreted into the viscoelastic gel layer on the mucosal surface. Release of the protein appears to be regulated because forskolin decreased the amount of immunoreactive AMP-18 in primary cultures of canine antrum mucosal epithelial cells, and indomethacin gavaged into the stomach of mice reduced AMP-18 content in antrum mucosal tissue before inducing histological injury.

Impact of a veterans affairs continuity clinic on resident competencies in women's health.

Background: Education in women's health is now considered a core curricular component during residency training in Internal Medicine. There is potential for insufficient training in women's health for residents with a continuity clinic based at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital.

Objective: To determine the impact of a 3-year continuity clinic based at a VA hospital on residents' self-reported competencies in women's health.