Battling depression with "battery-powered brains" - CNN report on deep brain stimulation (DBS)

CNN reports on treating severe depression with electrodes inside the brain:



The procedure -- called deep brain stimulation, or DBS -- targets a small brain structure known as Area 25, the "ringleader" for the brain circuits that control our moods.

Area 25 is relatively overactive in depressed patients. One hypothesis is that in patients who do not improve with treatments for depression, Area 25 is somehow stuck in overdrive.

DBS had been used since 1997 as a treatment for movement disorders, including essential tremor, Parkinson's disease and dystonia.

References:

Treating depression with electrodes inside the brain. CNN, 2012.

State of Cleveland Clinic 2013 - CEO's annual report

Quite a few things about the U.S. healthcare system can be learned from this 40-minute presentation from the Cleveland Clinic YouTube channel:



Their previous and new empathy videos are definitely worth-watching:



Patient care is more than just healing -- it's building a connection that encompasses mind, body and soul. If you could stand in someone else's shoes . . . hear what they hear. See what they see. Feel what they feel. Would you treat them differently? CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD, shared this video, titled "Empathy," with the Cleveland Clinic staff during his 2012 State of the Clinic address on Feb. 27, 2013.



When you're in the hospital, everything changes. You depend on caregivers for everything. Each word, each touch, each visit really matters. "Cleveland Clinic's Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care" told part of the story. But there's much more. You'll be moved by these life-changing stories, and astonished when you learn what these patients have in common.

Disclaimer: I was Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic from 2005 to 2008.

86% of Australian doctors report high rates of job satisfaction - see why

More than 80% of Australian doctors are moderately or very satisfied with their jobs, a national survey has found.

The survey, of 10 498 doctors, 19% of those who were contacted and eligible, found that 86% were moderately or very satisfied with their jobs, with no significant differences between GPs, specialists, and specialists in training. Hospital non-specialists were less satisfied.

The predictors of high professional satisfaction included:

- a good support network

- a household with a high income

- patients with realistic expectations w
- being able to take time off

- being younger or close to retirement

- having good self reported health.

Female GPs earn an average 25% less than their male counterparts and that GPs on average earn 32% less than specialists. The average annual pretax personal earnings of GPs and specialists were $US 180 000 and $US 316 570, respectively.

With Australia in the throes of national health reform, the researchers said that their findings set an important baseline for examining the effects of policy changes on doctors’ job satisfaction.

The survey was conducted between June and November 2008, before the Australian government announced its national health reform agenda.

The survey findings were published in the 3 January edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.

Twitter comments:

@gastromom (Meenakshi Budhraja): What are comparative figures in the US - 80% of Australian doctors report high rates of job satisfaction http://goo.gl/mchQT”

@PMillerMD (Philip Miller): 80% of Australian doctors report high rates of job satisfaction. / What is it in US? And if lower, why? I suspect payment morass.

@cotterj1 80% of Australian doctors report high rates of job satisfaction http://goo.gl/mchQT -> Explains why half the HSE docs are gone!

@SeattleMamaDoc (WendySueSwanson MD): "A good support network" goes long way.

@docmuscles (Adam Nally, D.O.) This was before the health care reform (HCR).

References:

Australian doctors report high rates of job satisfaction. BMJ 2011; 342:d119 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d119 (Published 10 January 2011)

Australian doctors’ satisfaction with their work: results from the MABEL longitudinal survey of doctors. MJA 2011; 194 (1): 30-33.

Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

Doctors disciplined for sharing examination questions - CNN report

In 2010, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) suspended or revoked the certification of 139 physicians for giving away or soliciting examination questions for a board review company.

Residents taking the American Board of Radiology medical physics examination wrote down test questions ("recalls"), and shared them with future examinees. Dermatology residents also reproduced questions ("airplane notes") minutes after the certification examination.

CNN reports on residents preparing for certification examinations using questions reproduced by people who took previous exams:

References: Opinion: When doctors cheat - CNN http://buff.ly/19c2P70