News in brief - July 11, 2011

Enrollment rising at osteopathic medical colleges - Hospitalizations for sepsis, septicemia increase twofold

Enrollment rising at osteopathic medical colleges

The number of physicians graduating from the nation's 26 colleges of osteopathic medicine continues to rise. But unlike allopathic schools, which attribute most of their growth to expansion of existing schools, osteopathic schools say most of their growth is from schools that have opened during the past decade, said the American Assn. of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (publish.aacom.org/data/graduates/).

Osteopathic medical colleges had about 4,200 graduates this spring, up 15.7% from 3,631 in spring 2010.

Three new colleges graduated their first classes in May and June. A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Mesa, Ariz., graduated its inaugural class of 92 students. Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harrogate, Tenn., graduated 130 students. And Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York City graduated 105 students.

Hospitalizations for sepsis, septicemia increase twofold

Hospitalizations for sepsis and septicemia, two deadly bloodstream infections, more than doubled between 2000 and 2008, said a June Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

In 2000, there were 326,000 U.S. hospitalizations where sepsis or septicemia was listed as the principal diagnosis. That figure rose to 727,000 by 2008, said the report, which was issued by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db62.pdf). The sepsis and septicemia hospitalization rate per 10,000 population also more than doubled, from 11.6 in 2000 to 24 in 2008. Patients 65 and older were much likelier to contract the bloodstream infections, the report said.

The average length of stay for patients hospitalized with these conditions was 75% longer than for other patients, and they were more than eight times likelier to die during their hospital stay. Though just 2% of overall hospitalizations were for septicemia or sepsis, they accounted for 17% of in-hospital deaths.