Introduction Radiation therapy for tumors of the central nervous system in dogs and cats is a viable treatment option. The availability of radiotherapy has increased with the advent of the veterinary specialty of radiation oncology, resident training programs in this specialty, and University and referral practices offering this treatment modality. Veterinary patients may not be cured of their ...

When I tell people that I have chosen pediatric palliative medicine as my specialty, I usually hear one or a combination of the following: “Why would you want to do that?”, “What is that?”, or “It takes a special person.” Notably, I get the same comments from medical professionals and lay people alike. I believe these responses indicate the opportunities and challenges inherent in pediatric pal...

OBJECTIVES Physician compliance with standard precautions is important in the specialty of gynecology and obstetrics because of the high frequency of invasive procedures. The current study investigated compliance with standard precautions among resident physicians working in gynecology and obstetrics. METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted among resident physicians in gynecology and obs...

The authors report on the status of osteopathic graduate medical education training for the 2009-2010 academic year. Data are presented on approved programs and trainee positions, including distribution by state and by specialty. An update on the impact of restructuring the internship year into specialty residencies is provided, indicating no net loss of training positions related to this initi...

BACKGROUND High-quality physician communication is the foundation for achieving high patient satisfaction. Increasing importance is placed on eliciting feedback from patients. However, there have been few studies looking at the impact of resident involvement on patient satisfaction. Our hospital system values the patient's likelihood to recommend the practice as the top marker for patient satis...

Results: Of 6006 mailed surveys, we had a 20.1% response rate. Midlevel residents comprised most of the respondents, and most were undecided about their career choice or planned to enter general surgical private practice. The typical residency programs represented were academic (81.7%), urban (90.6%), and level I trauma centers (78.7%), and included more than 6 months of trauma experience (77.6...

CONTEXT Recent specialty choices of graduating US medical students suggest that lifestyle may be an increasingly important factor in their career decision making. OBJECTIVE To determine whether and to what degree controllable lifestyle and other specialty-related characteristics are associated with recent (1996-2002) changes in the specialty preferences of US senior medical students. DESIGN...

Introduction White coat ceremonies (WCCs) in medical school mark the transition of students to medicine, beginning their professional identity formation as a physician. However, a literature/web search revealed a paucity of residency-focused WCCs. Methods A 90-minute Family Medicine Residency (FM) WCC was designed to support residents' professional identity formation as a specialty physician....

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Our objectives were to provide an update on the status of selection by medical students of family medicine as a specialty, to summarize what is known about influences on this specialty choice, and to propose a research agenda for the future. METHODS Data from the National Resident Matching Program and the American Academy of Family Physicians residency database were ...