News in brief - Sept. 15, 2003

Medical students have longer lives - Florida board applauds internist - New liability insurer emerges - Group gives thumbs-down to survey

Medical students have longer lives

British medical students live longer than their peers in other higher education disciplines, despite the fact that they have the second highest rate of smoking while attending school, according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Researchers looked at social background, smoking and drinking habits along with other factors for 9,887 men attending Glasgow University between 1948 and 1968.

Arts students had the highest risk of death at 42%, followed by law students at 30%. Divinity students had the lowest blood pressure of any group and were least likely to drink alcohol, but their risk of dying was 10% higher than the medical students.

Arts students were twice as likely to die of lung cancer than medical students but half as likely to die from an accident, suicide or other violent incident. Medical students, however, were twice as likely to die from alcohol-related causes.

One explanation offered for the lower mortality rate of former medical students was that they had better employment prospects than others.

Florida board applauds internist

The Florida Board of Medicine has recognized H. Frank Farmer, MD, PhD, an internist and colonel in the Air Force Reserve from Ormond Beach, as the recipient of the Chairman's Recognition Award.

The award recognizes and commends physicians who exemplify outstanding contributions to the medical profession and public service.

Dr. Farmer's career includes humanitarian work in South America and volunteer work for the underprivileged in Volusia County, Florida. He was twice appointed by the governor to the Judicial Nominating Committee and served on the Congressional Committee on Military Academy Appointments.

Dr. Farmer also served on Florida's Medicaid Drug Committee and is a past president of the Florida Medical Assn.

Dr. Farmer, who is on active duty as a flight surgeon, was commended for his service as a physician and military officer to Floridians and the rest of the United States.

New liability insurer emerges

A new insurance company wants to set up shop in Florida.

The Florida Healthcare Providers Insurance Exchange in August filed papers with the state to establish a medical liability insurance company for physicians. Company executives expect they will begin issuing policies that would go into effect Jan. 1, 2004.

The exchange is managed by an affiliate of one of the hundred largest law firms in the nation, Duane Morris LLP. The company would be set up as a reciprocal insurance exchange, where each participant is an owner who contributes capital in addition to paying the premium.

Duane Morris set up a similar program in Pennsylvania.

Group gives thumbs-down to survey

A consumer-advocacy group says an annual survey that medical schools administer to graduating students is unethical in how it is implemented and is a violation of federal privacy laws.

Some schools require completion of the survey for students to get their medical degree. The survey, which is coordinated by the Assn. of American Medical Colleges, is used to track medical education trends and students' satisfaction with their experience.

Public Citizen says the survey forces students to answer personal questions, such as issues of sexual harassment and personal debt. Most schools don't request permission from participants to use the data for research or publication, and most do not have the survey reviewed by an institutional review board, even though ethical guidelines call for IRBs to review any research on humans, including that of research development and evaluation.

Jordan Cohen, MD, president of the AAMC, responded that Public Citizen misunderstood the nature and purpose of the AAMC Graduation Questionnaire. He said student answers are kept strictly confidential. Identifiable data are released only to the student's own school and only with the student's expressed permission. Dr. Cohen said identifiable data are never released to other schools or to third parties.