Blog Topic: reproductive medicine infertility

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  Lifeline: Penn Medicine Mental Health Experts Work to Expand Suicide Prevention Strategies in the Emergency Department

  April 11, 2012

  Approximately 12 million Americans are seen in U.S. emergency departments each year for mental health-related symptoms. Of those patients, around 650,000 are evaluated for suicide attempts. For many of these people, it’s a frightening stop on the long and painful road of suffering that results from depression, anxiety, and substance...

  Brain and Behavior Community Emergency Medicine Health Care Quality and Safety Patient Care Research
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  More Tests, More Answers? Not Always

  April 09, 2012

  The Choosing Wisely initiative, announced last week by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, aims to spark conversation among both doctors and their patients about the types of tests and treatments that are likely to be unnecessary, and perhaps even harmful. More tests, the group explains, does not always mean better care – and overuse of these diagnostics is a huge contributor to the United States’ surging medical costs. The issue of overtesting is a special challenge for emergency physicians. Most of the time, patients are unknown to them, and sometimes, unconscious or otherwise too sick to explain their symptoms or medical history. That often means starting from scratch with determining what might be wrong, and making calls to their previous physicians doesn’t always yield answers, especially during off hours.

  Cancer Clinical Trials Emergency Medicine Experts Health Care Quality and Safety Patient Care
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  Peer Support Group Helps Amputation Patients Find Their Way

  April 05, 2012

  William Fahringer and Christopher Gorrell, PT, DPT In 2005, William Fahringer tore his meniscus – the piece of cartilage that acts as a shock absorber for the bones that come together to form the knee -- while working as a plumber for the School District of Philadelphia. What seemed like...

  Community Patient Stories

• Filling Drug Discovery Niche, Penn Team Helps Move Alzheimer’s Drug Into Clinical Trials

  March 30, 2012

  In a layer cake of research labs nestled on separate floors in a remote corner of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, a new use for an existing drug was uncovered. The drug, epothilone D (EpoD), stalled after original tests as a cancer treatment, but Perelman School of Medicine...

  Aging Basic Science Clinical Trials Neurodegenerative Diseases Translational Research
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  Penn Med at the Science Festival!

  March 26, 2012

  Penn Medicine will play a starring role in the Philadelphia Science Festival again this year. The Festival is a citywide collaboration showcasing science and technology every April. This year it runs from April 20-29 -- 10 days to celebrate the region’s strengths in science and technology, bringing together more than 105 partners from academia to museums to restaurants.

  Education Research
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  The Affordable Care Act – A “Supremely” Big Debate

  March 26, 2012

  David Grande, MD, MPA, assistant professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and a senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, helps break down the oral arguments the Supreme Court will hear regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

  Community Experts Health Care Quality and Safety In the News Patient Care

• Genomic Study May Help Halt Rising Health Care Spending

  March 23, 2012

  In the face of rising health case expenditures, Katrina Armstrong, MD, MSCE, chief of the division of General Internal Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, suspects that the fast-growing field of genomics may be a source of meaningful cost savings. Genomics is the study and testing of one person’s genes, as well as the interactions between those genes and with the subject’s environment. Writing in the March 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Armstrong notes that despite being a new technology – and therefore often associated with higher health care costs – genomics can also be used to identify individuals who will show little or no benefit from a medical intervention, possibly because they have a low risk of suffering harm without the intervention, or because they will not benefit from the intervention. In either case, genetic testing could reduce the use of treatments that are unnecessarily expensive or that are unlikely to yield a benefit. The result is an overall cost reduction.

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  Penn Medicine CAREs In the Community

  March 21, 2012

  Packing food boxes for distribution by Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization. Helping at a camp for children who have lost a parent. Reaching out to children and teens to keep them from smoking … or to encourage them to quit. These are just a few of the ways...

  Community
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  Match Day Madness!

  March 16, 2012

  It's the morning of Match Day and medical students across the country are eagerly awaiting their ceremonies. NPR reports on this exciting and emotion filled experience for these future doctors. Perelman School of Medicine students will be reporting to Stemmler Hall at 12 pm to accept their match letters. Our...

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  Anticipation and Excitement Lead the Way to Match Day

  March 14, 2012

  Our medical student bloggers share their feelings on the days (hours and minutes!) leading up to the Match Day! Tamara Bockow Match day is around the corner. I know it’s a few days away, but I am still having trouble sleeping! I know there will be screams, tears and hugs....