June 2010

Thanks, Dad

The late Lloyd Kitchens, MACP, was many things to many people: oncologist, internist, professor, and ACP Governor and Regent, to name a few, and he was also a father. For our June issue in honor of Father's Day, we talked to his son, Benjamin Kitchens, a second year medical student at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Benjamin shared with us what it was like growing up in a house full of music, what he admired about his father, and how it felt to put on his first-year white coat for the first time.

More

Medical Student Perspectives: What Should I Do If I Need A Doctor?

Medical students are famously susceptible to "medical student syndrome", in which they perceive to experience whatever illness they are studying at the time. Despite being involved in a health care profession, medical students are not exempt from actually getting sick. In fact, during clinical rotations greater exposure to infectious agents may put trainees at a greater risk than those in the general population.

More

My Kind of Medicine: Real Lives of Practicing Internists: Kavita Persaud, MD

In high school, Kavita Persaud won state competitions in debate. She was average in science but strong in English-a natural inclination that her father, a family practitioner, told her would be one of her greatest strengths as a physician. Working in his office as a teenager, Dr. Persaud saw how her father helped his patients and how much they appreciated him for it, and she wanted to do the same.

More

Internal Medicine Interest Group of the Month: University of North Dakota

The Internal Medicine Interest Group (IMIG) at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences (UNDSMHS) is the largest and most popular of the interest groups on campus. Since internal medicine offers students such a well-rounded background in all aspects of medicine and allows them either to focus on primary care or specialize, it seems to attract almost all students. The IMIG has been around for well over 10 years.

More

Winning Abstracts from the 2010 Medical Student Abstract Competition: Ultrasound And MRI In Fetuses With Ventriculomegaly: Can Cortical Development Be Used To Predict Postnatal Outcome?

Fetal ventriculomegaly (VM) is a condition where the fetal cerebral ventricles are dilated to greater than or equal to 10mm at the level of the atrium of the lateral ventricles. Our study aimed to assess the visualization of cortical maturation by ultrasound (US) and fetal MRI in fetuses referred for VM, and to investigate whether sulcal visualization can be used to predict postnatal developmental outcomes in fetuses with VM.

More

Subspecialty Careers: Highlights about Careers in Internal Medicine: Cardiology

Cardiology is the prevention, diagnosis, and management of disorders of the cardiovascular system, including ischemic heart disease, cardiac dysrhythmias, cardiomyopathies, valvular heart disease, pericarditis and myocarditis, endocarditis, congenital heart disease in adults, hypertension, and disorders of the veins, arteries, and pulmonary circulation. Management of risk factors for disease and early diagnosis and intervention for established disease are important elements of cardiology.

More

Did you know you have access to ACP Online's Mentoring Database?

ACP recognizes that the years of an internist's education, training, and early career are those of excitement, challenge, and anxiety. With so many important decisions to be made, providing opportunities for medical students and early career physicians to seek out more experienced colleagues for guidance and advice is important.

More