Renee Bacher writes about medicine, healthcare, healthcare tech, business & higher education. She specializes in physician professional development, otolaryngology, rheumatology, aging & Covid-19.
4 New Otolaryngology Department Chairs Share What They Think the Future Holds for Academic Medicine
It doesn’t necessarily take a crystal ball to see the bigger future of otolaryngology, but the details can sometimes be a little murky. ENTtoday asked four newly minted chairs of otolaryngology departments how they made it to their positions, what they feel is the most important aspect of leadership, and what they feel the future holds for academic medicine.
News From the Frontline: How Emergency Physicians in Ukraine Are Coping
With thousands of civilians killed since February in the Russian war on Ukraine, the Ukrainian people face one of the biggest challenges in their history. As officials and observers allege war crimes, we spoke with three on-the-ground physicians about what is happening, how emergency physicians there are coping, and what they need to survive.
Is Radiofrequency Ablation a Good Alternative to Surgery for Benign Thyroid Nodules? A Look at Benefits, Risks
Ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a minimally invasive alternative to thyroid surgery, has been used internationally to shrink large, benign thyroid nodules for more than a decade. But only in recent years has there been growing interest in the U.S. in this procedure, typically performed by endocrinologists, radiologists, and otolaryngologists.
“As a thyroid surgeon, I became aware of literature that arose in Asia and Europe, where radiofrequency ablation has been used for many...
Crisis Emergency Department Challenges in a Long Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen crisis standards of care created and implemented in emergency departments across the United States, from waiting rooms converted into treatment spaces to patients back-transferred from urban hospitals with oxygen shortages to rural centers. While some of these documents have been successful, others have been problematic.
What Did Pandemic Mitigation Measures Do to Our Children?
Wearing masks, social distancing, hybrid learning and other attempts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its mutations have taken a toll on children over the past two years. Teachers and pediatricians are seeing it at work. Parents are dealing with it at home. And a therapist without a packed schedule is hard to find for a struggling child or teen.
Head and Neck Cancer: What Can Be Done to Mitigate Differences in Diagnosis Between Healthcare Providers?
Head and neck cancer has been described as a collection of rare diseases, which means means that pathologic expertise in accurate diagnosis is essential. Certainly, there are differences between how a community-based practice and a tertiary care center might approach head and neck cancer diagnosis. But what are they, why do they exist, and what options are there for collaboration?
ACR Town Hall Offers Research, Tips on Physician Burnout
Burnout manifests in healthcare providers as physical exhaustion, compassion fatigue and feeling that work has become meaningless, taking a toll not just on providers, but also on their patients and the healthcare systems in which they practice, said Allen Anandarajah, MD, professor of medicine and associate chair for wellness, University of Rochester Medical Center, N.Y., at a virtual town hall delivered by the ACR on Oct. 27, 2021. However, both individual and institutional ways exist to help reverse its effects, he added.
Howard Blumstein, MD, assumes RheumPAC Chair
Howard Blumstein, MD, Rheumatology Associates of Long Island, Smithtown, N.Y., is the new chair of RheumPAC, the ACR’s nonpartisan political action committee (PAC). The Rheumatologist (TR) spoke with him about why advocacy matters in the field of rheumatology and more.
New Imaging Techniques and Therapeutics May One Day Help Researchers Solve Hearing Loss
The road to understanding the various causes of hearing loss and finding the most appropriate treatments has been figuratively as narrow and winding as the inner ear itself. But new imaging techniques using nanotechnology, as well as research advances in pharmaceutical treatments, may mean a wide range of solutions are within sight...
New Booklet Offers Tips for Diagnosing Lupus, Images of Presentation on Skin of Color & More Insights
For decades, rheumatologist Cindy Flower, MD, accumulated images of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in her patients, as well as clinical vignettes to use in teaching at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados. For decades, she has wanted to do something wide-reaching with these materials, sharing information from her practice and her mentor, the late Prof. George D. Nicholson, DM.
A Primer for New Rheumatology Fellowship Program Directors
New fellowship program directors often step into the role with little in the way of training, resources or mentoring. That’s where the ACR’s Division and Program Directors Conference comes in. At the 2021 event in March, Beth Jonas, MD, distinguished professor of medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Anisha Dua, MD, MPH, associate professor and fellowship program director, Northwestern University, Chicago, provided expert guidance for new fellowship program directors.
Addressing Racism & Discrimination in Academic Rheumatology Settings
Implicit bias negatively affects patients and clinicians alike in a variety of healthcare settings. Unconscious feelings and attitudes about others can damage professional and personal relationships.
At the virtual ACR Division & Program Directors Conference in March, three physician leaders presented a panel called, Demystifying Bias: Empowering You to Have Courageous Conversations, and led small groups in troubleshooting exercises.
The Latest on Olfactory Dysfunction and COVID-19
Anosmia has been widely acknowledged as a symptom of COVID-19. While olfactory dysfunction (OD) can be the first (and sometimes the only) symptom of COVID-19, some survivors still have not recovered their sense of smell nearly 18 months into the pandemic.
Many people, including physicians, may not be aware that olfactory distortions like parosmia, a distorted sense of smell, and phantosmia, olfactory hallucinations, are also associated with COVID-19. “They may mistakenly think this is somethi...
Why Do Detainees Keep Dying in This Baton Rouge Jail?
In one decade, 45 people died in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Most were charged with nonviolent misdemeanors. Most didn’t have their day in court. Most were Black. How did the system fail them?
Combating COVID in Latino Communities
The first gathering of what would become Illinois Unidos, a consortium dedicated to addressing the impact of COVID-19 in the Latino community, is still vivid in the mind of Marina Del Rios Rivera, MD, MSc. “It was a Saturday in April [2020], and I remember how somber that meeting was when we recognized the magnitude of what was about to happen in our community,” she said.
An associate professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and an emergency medicine specialist at the unive...