Mentoring of physicians at a community-based health system: preliminary findings.

Background: Mentoring has been suggested as 1 way to reduce physician stress and improve professional satisfaction, yet mentoring programs for physicians have focused principally on faculties of academic medical centers. Recently, a formal mentoring program for physicians in full-time clinical practice was created at a regional health system in western Connecticut. We describe the results of a survey of mentees' impressions of the program after its first year.

The use of transthoracic echocardiography and adherence to appropriate use criteria at a regional hospital.

Background: The sharp increase in health care costs over the past decade has prompted health care providers to reevaluate how diagnostic imaging is utilized. In response to the need for more rational use of imaging services, the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Society of Echocardiography have developed appropriate use criteria (AUC) for transthoracic echocardiography to guide its utilization. Although community and regional hospitals, such as Danbury Hospital, account for 85% of registered hospitals in the United States, very little is known about adherence to the AUC at these institutions.

Effect of continuous lateral rotational therapy on the prevalence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients requiring long-term ventilatory care.

Objective: To evaluate the role of continuous lateral rotational therapy on the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients requiring long-term mechanical ventilation.

Design: Prospective control study.

Setting: Chronic ventilator unit in tertiary care hospital.

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia in cancer: a case series.

Bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is an infrequently encountered clinical condition that can mimic a number of other pathologic lung processes. The presentation of this treatable condition in cancer patients has not been described in any large series. We conducted a retrospective study of patients with BOOP at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NewYork, NY, U.

Lung cancer in HIV-infected patients: a one-year experience.

The relative incidence and rate of lung cancer in HIV-infected patients compared with the general US population has been a source of controversy. We sought to establish these parameters in a cohort of 2616 HIV-infected patients. Tumour type, stage of disease, patient demographics and immune parameters including viral loads were ascertained.