Publications by authors named "K Renee Fister"

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is defined as a complaint of inadvertent loss of urine occurring as a result of an increase in intraabdominal pressure. Strong evidence supports the use of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) as the first-line conservative treatment for SUI. Extracorporeal magnetic stimulation (EMS) is a non-invasive, effective, acceptable, and safe therapeutic modality for SUI.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated the safety of hydroxychloroquine, a drug used for rheumatoid arthritis, particularly considering its controversial use for COVID-19 pneumonia.
  • It compared adverse events in patients starting hydroxychloroquine versus those starting sulfasalazine, analyzing data from multiple countries and focusing on severe events within a 30-day period.
  • Results showed no significant increase in severe adverse events for short-term use of hydroxychloroquine compared to sulfasalazine, but long-term use may be linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular issues.
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We report a qualitative analysis of higher education biomedical informatics (BMI) teachers' opinions on the needs for BMI workforce and employment opportunities in the Croatian health care system. Needs were perceived as considerable; however this was not coupled with adequate employment opportunities. Barriers were identified to correcting this imbalance, including the failure of the health care system planners to recognise BMI experts as an important part of the workforce and lack of adequate educational opportunities.

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The objective of this paper is to show how a simple but powerful simulation model can be build up using standard spreadsheet program and used to simulate future, needs and supply of physicians in order to inform policy makers at national level when deciding on enrollment to medical schools and immigration quotas for physicians. The Republic of Croatia is facing a serious shortage of physicians in the healthcare system and simulation results have shown that the gap between needs and supply will even increase if current enrollment qoutas to medical schools would persist. Increasing enrollment quotas, adjusting immigration policy, re-directing physicians from other professions to the healthcare system, task shift and skill mix options are just some of the measures needed to be taken promptly in order to prevent a huge deficit of physicians in the future.

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