Southern medical journal
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 virus that led to a pandemic. Acute manifestations of COVID-19 include fever, cough, dyspnea, respiratory failure, pneumonitis, anosmia, thromboembolic events, cardiogenic shock, renal injury, ischemic strokes, encephalitis, and cutaneous eruptions, especially of hands or feet. Prolonged symptoms, unpredictable recoveries, and chronic sequelae (long COVID) sometimes emerge even for some people who survive the initial illness. ⋯ Determining prognoses is imprecise. Examining patient databases about those who have survived COVID-19 is warranted. Multidisciplinary teams are assessing such disease databases to better understand longer-term complications and guide treatment.
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Southern medical journal · Dec 2021
ReviewManagement of Muscle Spasms in Adult Patients with Cerebral Palsy.
As medical care advances, there is a growing number of adult patients with cerebral palsy. The spastic form is characterized by muscle hypertonicity, hyperreflexia, and spasticity, which are associated with worse quality of life, poor functionality, and pain. This literature review attempts to explore the existing treatments for spasticity in cerebral palsy to provide insight into potential treatments in the adult population. The types of treatments are broadly categorized into physical therapy, pharmacologic treatments, botulinum toxin, surgical treatments, and alternative options.
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Southern medical journal · Dec 2021
Prevalence of, Qualities, and Barriers Associated with Mentoring Relationships from Medical Students' Perspective: A Multi-Institutional Cross-Sectional Study.
Reports of medical student mentorship prevalence range between 26% and 77%. This broad range likely reflects the tendencies of studies to focus on specific populations of medical students. There is little consensus about the characteristics of mentoring relationships among medical students. The primary goal of this study was to determine the reported prevalence of mentorship among medical students in the United States. The secondary goals were to assess the desired qualities of and barriers to successful mentoring from a medical student perspective. ⋯ This study may serve as a guide to fostering more supportive mentoring relationships. Each mentoring relationship should be tailored to the needs of the mentee, however.
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Southern medical journal · Dec 2021
Lower Intent to Comply with COVID-19 Public Health Recommendations Correlates to Higher Disease Burden in Following 30 Days.
We sought to determine whether self-reported intent to comply with public health recommendations correlates with future coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease burden. ⋯ Self-reported intent to comply with public health recommendations may be used to predict COVID-19 disease burden. Measuring compliance intention offers an inexpensive, readily available method of predicting disease burden that can also identify populations most in need of public health education aimed at behavior change.
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Southern medical journal · Dec 2021
Factors Associated with Acceptance of Repeat MCAT Test Takers into a West Virginian Allopathic Medical School.
A paucity of information exists to advise medical school applicants who have had to retake the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) to achieve a competitive score. To better advise repeat test takers from West Virginia and other Appalachian and southern areas, MCAT data from West Virginia applicants were analyzed and compared with national data. ⋯ Although the study was limited to West Virginia medical school applicants, this information could prove useful in advising premedical applicants from other Appalachian and southern US areas.