Should MD-PhD programs encourage graduate training in disciplines beyond conventional biomedical or clinical sciences?

The goal of MD-PhD training programs is to produce physician-scientists with unique capacities to lead the future biomedical research workforce. The current dearth of physician-scientists with expertise outside conventional biomedical or clinical sciences raises the question of whether MD-PhD training programs should allow or even encourage scholars to pursue doctoral studies in disciplines that are deemed nontraditional, yet are intrinsically germane to major influences on health. This question is especially relevant because the central value and ultimate goal of the academic medicine community is to help attain the highest level of health and health equity for all people.

Beyond the clinic: improving child health through evidence-based community development.

Background: Promoting child wellbeing necessarily goes beyond the clinic as risks to child health and development are embedded in the social and physical environmental conditions in which children live. Pediatricians play a vital role in promoting the health of children in the communities they serve and can maximize their impact by advocating for and supporting efficacious, evidence-based strategies in their communities.

Methods: To provide a succinct guide for community pediatric efforts to advance the wellbeing of all children and particularly disadvantaged children in a community, we conducted a theory-driven and structured narrative review to synthesize published systematic and meta-analytic reviews of policy-relevant, local-level strategies addressing potent and malleable influences on child health and development.

Associations between bar patron alcohol intoxication and tobacco smoking.

Objective: To examine the event-specific relationship between alcohol intoxication and nighttime tobacco smoking among college bar patrons.

Methods: In this secondary analysis of existing data, we examined event-specific associations between self-report measures of tobacco smoking and breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) readings obtained from 424 patrons exiting on-premise drinking establishments.

Results: In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, acute alcohol intoxication was positively associated with same-night incidents of smoking tobacco, adjusting for the effects of established smoking practices and other potential confounders.

5-HTTLPR genotype and associations with intoxication and intention to drive: results from a field study of bar patrons.

The serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) has been linked to a number of human behavioral traits and disorders. The variants of 5-HTTLPR are commonly reported in three forms, L/L, S/L and S/S, with the latter most often associated with emotional distress and/or behavioral dysfunction. Missing from the research literature are investigations that assess event-level associations between 5-HTTLPR genotype and specific incidents of risk behavior in natural drinking settings.

Event-level analyses of energy drink consumption and alcohol intoxication in bar patrons.

Aim: To assess event-level associations between energy drink consumption, alcohol intoxication, and intention to drive a motor vehicle in patrons exiting bars at night.

Method: Alcohol field study. Data collected in a U.

Alcohol price and intoxication in college bars.

Background: Many population studies find that alcohol prices are inversely related to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems, including among college students and young adults. Yet, little is known about the "micro-level" effects of alcohol price on the behavior of individual consumers in natural drinking settings such as college bars. Therefore, we assessed patron's cost per gram of ethanol consumed at on-premise drinking establishments and its association with intoxication upon leaving an establishment.