Southern medical journal
-
Southern medical journal · Oct 2023
Improved Confidence and Clinical Application: The Effects of a Longitudinal Suture Curriculum for Medical Students.
The ability to competently suture is an expected skill for graduating medical students, but many graduates report feeling unprepared to perform this skill. This study aimed to improve student confidence and clinical readiness for third-year clerkships by implementing a novel, mandatory 7.5-hour longitudinal suturing skills curriculum across the first 3 years of medical school. ⋯ We found that a longitudinal suture curriculum with dedicated faculty involvement can improve student confidence in suturing and overall preparedness for third-year clerkships. Although the study is limited to ratings of student comfort and self-reported performance as well as some attrition of responses at postcourse survey and postclerkship survey, the findings highlight the importance of a focused curriculum dedicated to teaching basic suturing skills. Our findings also contribute to the limited body of work examining longitudinal surgical skills development for medical students.
-
Southern medical journal · Oct 2023
Racial Disparities in Clinical Outcomes of Emergency Colectomies for Diverticulitis.
The literature suggests that there are ongoing racial disparities in healthcare outcomes between patients in White and non-White populations. As such, we examined the outcomes of patients who underwent an emergency colectomy for diverticulitis. ⋯ In this study, non-White patients developed more complications than did White patients and had longer hospitalizations. These disparities represent a more complex societal issue that cannot be managed perioperatively alone.
-
Southern medical journal · Oct 2023
Extended Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis after Robotic Staging for Endometrial Cancer.
Our objectives were to estimate the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after robotic staging for endometrial cancer and to compare the incidence of VTE in patients who received a single dose of preoperative prophylaxis of enoxaparin with those who received extended postoperative prophylaxis. ⋯ The incidence of VTE following robot-assisted surgical staging for endometrial cancer in this study was 0.67%. No significant difference was found in VTE incidence between the PP group compared with the EP group. Mechanical prophylaxis plus a single dose of preoperative pharmacologic prophylaxis may suffice for low-risk patients following robotic surgical staging for endometrial cancer.
-
Southern medical journal · Oct 2023
Current Clinical Practice Patterns in Total Vaginal Hysterectomy.
There are no data on current surgical practice patterns for benign total vaginal hysterectomy (TVH) despite recently published guidelines. The objective was to determine gynecologic surgeon practice patterns regarding TVH perioperative interventions and to assess adherence to clinical practice guidelines. ⋯ This information demonstrates a need for the development of targeted education and interventions to increase the use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines during TVH for both fellowship-trained and non-fellowship-trained gynecologic surgeons.
-
Southern medical journal · Oct 2023
Scholarly Productivity of US Medical Schools Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic profoundly disrupted scientific research but was accompanied by a rapid increase in biomedical research focused on this new disease. We aimed to study how the academic productivity of US medical schools changed during the pandemic and what structural characteristics of medical schools were associated with trends in scholarly publication. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that scientific output increased during the pandemic at most medical schools, despite significant barriers to research experienced by individual investigators. Further attention is needed to enhance equity in research opportunities, considering diverging trends in productivity between more- and less-advantaged schools, however.