Staff News Writer

Two new medical schools are opening within the University of Texas system, and they’ve tapped the consortium of medical schools in the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative to help develop forward-thinking curricula that will prepare future physicians for an increasingly complex health care system.

Today’s residents and medical students are training to be not only skilled physicians but also leaders of the health care system. Get training to make a difference in the profession, and be recognized as a positive influence on health care, through a special leadership award program.

A special theme issue of JAMA focuses on important topics in the continuum of medical education, including health care spending, resident duty hours and maintenance of certification (MOC).

Although the medical liability environment for physicians is stabilizing, premiums vary greatly by geographic location and expenses to resolve liability claims are at some of the highest levels ever, according to two new AMA reports that examine medical professional liability insurance trends.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) recently released a toolkit to help hospitals and health systems reduce preventable inpatient admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. These conditions could be avoided with adequate primary care, such as asthma, low back pain and uncomplicated pneumonia.

Skeptics worry that the benefits of telemedicine may be outweighed by diminished privacy and security of medical information and loss of the therapeutic value tied to hands-on encounters between patients and their physicians. The December issue of Virtual Mentor, the AMA’s online ethics journal, considers this issue from a variety of angles.

Avoid making one of the 4 common mistakes while studying for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1. An expert gives advice for studying smartly.

Genomic-based diagnosis and treatment of hypertension is still in its infancy, but there are cues physicians can use today to improve outcomes around hypertension.