Southern medical journal
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Southern medical journal · Feb 2023
ReviewHypertension in Chronic Kidney Disease: An Update on Diagnosis and Management.
Hypertension (HTN) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are pathophysiologic states that are intimately related, such that long-term HTN can lead to poor kidney function, and renal function decline can lead to worsening blood pressure (BP) control. HTN in CKD is caused by an interplay of factors, including salt and water retention, with extracellular volume expansion, sympathetic nervous system overactivity, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation, and endothelial dysfunction. ⋯ With accumulating evidence, the diagnosis as well as management of HTN in CKD has been evolving in the last decade. In this comprehensive review based on current evidence and recommendations, we summarize the basics of pathophysiology, BP variability, diagnosis, and management of HTN in CKD with an emphasis on special populations with CKD.
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Southern medical journal · Feb 2023
Retaining Faculty from Underrepresented Groups in Academic Medicine: Results from a Needs Assessment.
Academic medical centers can improve the quality of care and address health inequities by recruiting and retaining faculty from underrepresented in medicine (URiM) groups; however, the retention of URiM faculty is a barrier to reaching equity-related goals because URiM faculty are less likely to remain in academia and be promoted compared with their peers. As such, the objective of this study was to determine factors that influence the retention of URiM faculty at large academic centers. ⋯ This study underscored the importance of supportive leadership, URiM-specific faculty development programs, networking opportunities, and the recognition of achievements as factors that influence the retention of faculty at a large academic medical center. In addition, participants highlighted the need for strong mentor networks and emphasizing sponsorship.
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Southern medical journal · Feb 2023
Differences in Cardiometabolic Biomarkers between Elementary School-Age Latinx Children with Obesity versus Healthy Weight.
Low-income Latinx youth are disproportionately affected by obesity, which results in an increased risk of cardiometabolic abnormalities. Biomarker tracking may be useful for the early identification of obesity comorbidities in young Latinx children. Hence, we aimed to compare cardiometabolic biomarkers between age- and sex-matched pairs of elementary school-aged Latinx children with obesity versus healthy weight. ⋯ The aforementioned biomarkers may be more sensitive to higher adiposity risk in this young Latinx population; however, elevated hepatic markers may indicate an ethnic/genetic predisposition to abnormal liver function. Research should be replicated in a larger group to confirm these findings.
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Southern medical journal · Feb 2023
Retrospective Study of Psychiatric Hospitalizations in a West Texas Mental Health Treatment Facility during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The association between the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and adverse mental health outcomes has been well documented; however, little is known about its impact in rural areas of the United States. This study aims to characterize and compare inpatient psychiatric admissions in West Texas before and during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Rural communities in West Texas experienced a decrease in psychiatric hospitalizations during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by an increase as lockdown restrictions began to lift; this warrants further investigation into healthcare service utilization during the pandemic.
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Southern medical journal · Feb 2023
Student-Produced Guides alongside First-Year Medical Curriculum: How Peer-Produced Textbooks Change Student Success within Neurology, Cardiopulmonary, and Mixed Systems Courses.
In the United States, medical schools do not have a unified curricular plan that integrates basic sciences and organ-based systems in undergraduate medical education. Instead, institutions rely on independently created lecture material during the first-year medical school curriculum. The drawback to this approach is that no commercial or organizational resources cater to this individualized study plan. This study explored whether students who use student-produced "course guides" experience increased first-year success and improved skills. ⋯ Access to student-produced guides increased confidence in self-rated measures of time management skills, organizational ability, and ability to balance medical course expectations. Because of the small sample size, future work will expand the survey population to increase the power to detect differences in these factors.