The American journal of medicine
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Biography Historical Article
A white dean and black physicians at the epicenter of the civil rights movement.
Robert Q. Marston, MD, a gregarious Rhodes and Markel Scholar, native Virginian, and well-connected National Institutes of Health-trained medical scientist found himself the new dean and hospital director of a promising academic medical center at age 38. It was 1961 and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson was, unknown to him, about to be at the geographic center of the struggle for African American civil rights. ⋯ The desire of the black physicians to see UMMC become an equal opportunity health resource resulted in their quiet assistance that aided UMMC compliance initiatives and played a major role in the successful outcome of the 1965 investigation of the charges of Title VI violations. This success established Marston as a national figure in academic medicine and contributed to his selection for positions as Director of The National Institutes of Health and President of the University of Florida. As commemorations of the 50(th) anniversary of Freedom Summer of 1964 proceed, UMMC has become arguably the most racially integrated academic health center in the United States.
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Patients frequently admitted to medical services undergo extensive computed tomography (CT) imaging. Some of this imaging may be unnecessary, and in particular, head CT scans may be over-used in this patient population. We describe the frequency of abnormal head CT scans in patients with multiple medical hospitalizations. ⋯ Patients with frequent medical admissions are medically complex and undergo multiple CT scans in a year. The vast majority of head CT scans lack clinically significant findings and should be ordered less frequently. Interdisciplinary measures should be advocated by hospitalists, emergency departments, and radiologists to decrease unnecessary imaging in this population.