ANTI-CANCER DRUG: An anti-cancer drug developed by Kinex Pharmaceuticals of Buffalo and a UB faculty researcher has begun clinical testing with patients with advanced cancer who have not responded to other therapies.
Read more about this anti-cancer drug discovery
TACKLING DEADLY TOXIN: A discovery by UB biologists that may explain the evolution of a lethal toxin that was implicated last year in deaths and illnesses involving individuals who ate bagged spinach could lead to more effective treatments for humans who fall victim to the toxin. Learn more about this discovery
PAYING FOR DONOR ORGANS: UB economist Julio Elias has co-authored a study indicating that allowing the purchase of donor organs for kidney and liver transplants would help eliminate the long waiting lists of patients in need of a transplant while increasing transplant cost by only 12 percent. Read more about this study
SPIRITUALITY AND HEALING: A study led by UB sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund suggests that pediatric oncologists most of whom describe themselves as “spiritual” might help their young patients and their families more by learning ways to engage them on a spiritual basis. Learn more about this spiritual healing method.
This message is from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at UB
Where: Farber Hall, Room 180–South Campus
When: Wednesday, November 28 from 4:00-6:00 pm in 180 Farber Hall
Food and dessert will be served.
Public health is the future. During the past 50 years there has been a 30 year increase in global life expectancy, the greatest seen in human history. It has been estimated that 25 years of the increase has been due to public health and prevention. Because of workers in public health, the world is the healthiest it has ever been. Sadly enough, there are not enough people trained in public health. There are 70 times more clinicians than people trained in public health. There are 8 times more undertakers than people trained in public health. The world knows more about burying people than preventing disease.
Public health is a career where you can make a difference. If you are interested in health research, think about training in epidemiology. It is not boring. We are in public health because we love it and we would like you to consider training with us. Our field needs people from many different areas, such as Engineering, Medicine, Anthropology, Nursing, Physics, Environmental Sciences, Nutrition, and Exercise Science. We need people with bachelor’s degrees; we need those with M.D., DVM and PhD degrees as well. You can come fresh out of an undergraduate program, or senior people might consider a degree while taking a sabbatical. We are interdisciplinary.
We are recruiting for students to our PhD programs in Epidemiology and in Community Health. We also have openings for students interested in our MPH or MS degree programs.
Students can enroll at all point in their life. Students graduate with excellent research skills, as evidenced by publications, presentations at national meetings and a wide variety of job possibilities. We offer many exciting programs of research including foci on cancer, aging, heart disease and diabetes, molecular epidemiology, international epidemiology, nutrition, physical activity and women’s health.
Come to a workshop to find out more about the program! If you are interested in attending, please send an email to JWoltz@buffalo.edu.
Information about the department and our graduate programs can be found by clicking on the link.
This article appeared recently in The Chronicle of Higher Education
Enrollment of First-Year Medical Students Reaches a New High
By KATHERINE MANGAN
The number of first-year students enrolled in the nation’s medical schools reached an all-time high this year, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
That’s welcome news to medical educators who have been sounding an alarm about the potential for a serious shortage of physicians over the next decade as baby boomers age and thousands of doctors retire.
First-year enrollments in the nation’s 126 accredited medical schools climbed 2.3 percent this year, to 17,759. The number of black and Hispanic male applicants each increased by more than 9 percent. The number of black males who were accepted and enrolled was up 5.3 percent, while enrollment among Hispanic men remained about the same as in 2006.
Although applications were up among both black and Hispanic women, their first-year enrollments declined by 5.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
“With our nation expected to face a serious shortage of physicians in the future, we are pleased to see interest in medicine as a career continuing to increase,” said Darrell G. Kirch, president of the medical-colleges’ association. “We are especially encouraged by the growing interest among students from groups historically underrepresented in medicine.”
Still, only 6 percent of the nation’s practicing physicians are black, Hispanic, or Native American, even though those groups represented 29 percent of the nation’s population in 2006, according to the report. “We would be the first to admit that we have a long way to go to truly reflect the diversity of our nation,” Dr. Kirch added.
The association has set up a Web site, AspiringDocs.org, to help recruit minority applicants (The Chronicle, November 16, 2006).
Two years ago, the association urged medical schools to increase their enrollments by 30 percent by 2015 (The Chronicle, November 7, 2005). Less than a decade before, educators had been worrying about a glut of doctors.
This year, 11 medical schools increased their class sizes by at least 10 percent. Those schools, starting with the one with the highest increase, are affiliated with Michigan State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Arizona, Florida State University, Emory University, New York University, the University of California at Davis, Marshall University, Drexel University, Howard University, and the University of Minnesota.
In recent years, several medical schools have added programs or campuses, and at least six new medical schools are in the pipeline, with many more in the early planning stages (The Chronicle, January 12).
The high cost of medical education remains a barrier to future increases, especially among low-income and minority students. In 2006 the average medical-school graduate owed more than $130,000 in educational loans. The average annual tuition at public medical schools is $21,000, and at private schools, it’s $38,000.
Schools that expanded their enrollments this year apparently did not have to lower their admissions standards; the 2007 first-year students had the highest grade-point averages and scores on the Medical College Admission Test on record. There has also been a steady increase in recent years in the amount of research and community service medical-school applicants have performed.
First-Year Enrollees in U.S. Medical Schools, 2002-7
2002: 16,488
2003: 16,541
2004: 16,648
2005: 17,003
2006: 17,361
2007: 17,759
BETTER CORONARY IMAGING: A newer imaging method called positron emission tomography myocardial perfusing imaging, or PET MPI, provides a more accurate “picture” of coronary obstruction, costs 30 percent less, reduces the needs for follow-up invasive procedures by 50 percent and produces excellent clinical outcomes. Read about this new imaging method.
ALS’ PEPTIDE “FINGERPRINT”: For the first time, a nanotechnology developed by a UB professor has enabled researchers to identify a molecular signature common to both familial and sporadic cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Learn more about the ALS fingerprint.
GROWING THIN FILMS: UB chemists have developed a novel way to grow chemically pure, zinc oxide thin films characterized by dense, bristle-like nanostructures and a new method for depositing them on temperature-sensitive substrates, including polymers, plastics and tapes. The research may lead to the development of more efficient solar cells, liquid-crystal displays, chemical sensors and optoelectronic devices. Read on.
Please click on the Newsweek article for the link. The real message behind this article is to major in something that you truly ENJOY and find satisfaction and meaning in studying. It does not mean you should change your major to English or anything else if you are not truly interested in it. The bottom line is that medical, dental schools, etc., will accept students coming from ALL majors.
INCREASING DIABETES RISK: Selenium, an antioxidant included in multivitamin tablets thought to have a possible protective effect against the development of type 2 diabetes, may actually increase the risk of developing the disease, an analysis by UB researchers has shown. Read the analysis.
PRIMATE INFANT MORTALITY: New research led by a UB anthropologist has found that some primate tourism practices provoke an unprecedented level of adult aggression that is proving deadly for infant monkeys.
Learn more about this danger to primates.
MALT LIQUOR LINK: Drinking malt liquor – the cheap, high-alcohol beverage often marketed to teens – may put young adults at increased risk for alcohol problems and use of illicit drugs, particularly marijuana, according to a study at UB’s Research Institute on Addictions. Read about the increased risk to teens.
It is has recently come to the attention of prehealth advisors across the US that some medical schools will *not* accept the September MCAT scores for application for fall 2008. While the list is quite short, there are other schools that will accept the scores, but do wish to be notified that the student is taking the exam in September. The lists below have been assembled and distributed by the Princeton Review.
The schools indicated as NOT accepting September scores are:
Albany Medical College
Columbia University
University of California, Davis
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Southern California
University of Utah
Virginia Commonwealth University
If you wish to check about other schools wishing to be notified, please contact Libby Morsheimer at etm3@buffalo.edu.
Some of schools (NYS) wishing to be notified include:
Albert Einstein
Cornell University
University of Rochester
Finally, the University of Texas at Galveston indicates students taking the September MCAT will be at a “marked disadvantage”.
The test was administered on 12 different dates between January and July. It will be administered 11 more times in August and September. Statistics about the first half year’s experience follow:
Students took the MCAT 38,700 times between January and July. Including check-in, the length of the testing day for the average student was six hours, almost three hours shorter than it was under paper delivery. Just as they did in the past, students with disabilities received suitable testing accommodations. Fewer than 90 of the first 38,700 testings were interrupted by technical problems that were preventable (e.g., registration errors, server failures). Additionally, thirty-five students were unable to test due to inclement weather. All of these students were rescheduled and tested or have reservations to test.¼br> Students submitted fewer complaints about excessive noise, heat and other bothersome testing conditions than in the past. With 200 complaints filed thus far, test center complaints are down by 80% compared to this time last year. AAMC staff has responded to all of the students’ complaints, making determinations about the probable impact of these circumstances on students’ scores, retesting students when needed, and refunding testing fees. (This process is described more fully below.) The time needed to report students’ scores was cut in half from 60 to 30 days.
There are two ways that students can register complaints about the conditions of their test administration:
(1) Students who feel that testing conditions may have disadvantaged them on the test day are invited to file a test center complaint (called Center Problem Reports or ‘CPRs’) before they leave the center. The test center administrators will submit the CPRs to Prometric and AAMC. These reports are used for general monitoring of test center conditions and as background for further investigation. Please tell your students to file these reports as they are vital to correcting procedural, room, equipment and any other issues.
(2) If students decide after they leave the testing center but before they receive their scores, that their testing conditions were problematic, they are instructed to write to AAMC about their complaints. Instructions for students who want to file complaints to the AAMC are provided in the MCAT Essentials document and on the MCAT Website .
Prometric staffs review complaints. Students are rescheduled/retested when the conditions are deemed likely to have effected test scores. AAMC also prepares letters for the medical schools to which students apply that describe the testing conditions and their likely impact on student performance.
As some of you may be aware, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the central service through which you apply to US MD schools, has initiated a pilot study for the 2008 entering class. They are piloting the use of criminal background checks for all ACCEPTED applicants for 2008. You can go to the AAMC site for further details. The listing of the 10 participating schools for the pilot study are provided and include the University of Rochester.
