Internal Medicine Subspecialties Research Articles

Respiratory training in Egypt.

In Egypt, respiratory medicine (more commonly termed "chest diseases") is regarded as a separate speciality rather than a subspecialty of internal medicine. All graduates of Egyptian Medical Schools have to complete a year of internship at teaching hospitals rotating between different medical and surgical departments. Following internship and obtaining licence to practice, doctors are required to work for 6-12 months at primary healthcare facilities around the country. At the end of this period, a doctor can start their specialty training; the choice of which depends on the cumulative score they achieved at medical school.

Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste: Recruiting the Next Generation of Infectious Diseases Physicians.

Sometimes infectious diseases can seem to be the least interesting subspecialty of internal medicine. We don’t offer lifesaving or pain-relieving procedures. We offer the same advice over and over again hoping someday it might stick: wash your hands; stop prescribing antibiotics when there is no evidence of infection; and take your flu shot—it really won’t give you the flu. We give advice that some consider expendable. Shouldn’t all physicians be able to prescribe antibiotics with a little help from an online textbook or computer app? On top of all that, we apparently aren’t very stylish. One of my female colleagues recently told me she can pick out all of the male infectious disease physicians at scientific meetings by the standard uniform of ill-fitting khakis and button-down shirts.But a new crisis is always lurking to remind us that infectious diseases can be one of the most interesting and challenging areas of medicine. Emerging infections—often exotic and frightening—grab the attention of everyone from frontline personnel to the news media: Legionnaires’ disease; HIV; West Nile virus; SARS; MERS; chikungunya; Ebola virus; Zika virus; and Mycobacterium chimaera to name just a few. Without warning, common pathogens create havoc when they acquire new resistance mechanisms or virulence factors: multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli; Staphylococcus aureus; and Clostridium difficile. Standard procedures such as transrectal biopsy of the prostate and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography suddenly become risky due to increasing antimicrobial resistance or inadequate methods for device reprocessing.

New Roadmap for the Journey From Internist to Rheumatologist.

Measurement is necessary to gauge improvement. US training programs have not previously used shared standards to assess trainees' mastery of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to practice rheumatology competently. In 2014, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Next Accreditation System began requiring semiannual evaluation of all medicine subspecialty fellows on 23 internal medicine subspecialty reporting milestones. Since these reporting milestones are not subspecialty specific, rheumatology curricular milestones were needed to guide rheumatology fellowship training programs and fellows on the training journey from internist to rheumatologist. Rheumatology curricular milestones were collaboratively composed by expanding the internal medicine reporting milestones to delineate the specific targets of rheumatology fellowship training within 6 ACGME core competencies. The 2006 American College of Rheumatology core curriculum for rheumatology training programs was updated. A total of 80 rheumatology curricular milestones were created, defining progressive learning through training; most focus on patient care and medical knowledge. The core curriculum update incorporates the new curricular milestones and rheumatology entrustable professional activities. Rheumatology curricular milestones are now available for implementation by rheumatology fellowship training programs, providing a clear roadmap for specific training goals and a guide to track each fellow's achievement over a 2-year training period. The comprehensive core curriculum delineates the essential breadth of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that define rheumatology, and provides a guide for educational activities during fellowship training. These guiding documents are now used to train and assess fellows as they prepare for independent rheumatology practice as the next generation of rheumatologists.

The role of computerized diagnostic proposals in the interpretation of the 12-lead electrocardiogram by cardiology and non-cardiology fellows

IntroductionMost contemporary 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) devices offer computerized diagnostic proposals. The reliability of these automated diagnoses is limited. It has been suggested that incorrect computer advice can influence physician decision-making. This study analyzed the role of diagnostic proposals in the decision process by a group of fellows of cardiology and other internal medicine subspecialties. Materials and methodsA set of 100 clinical 12-lead ECG tracings was selected covering both normal cases and common abnormalities. A team of 15 junior Cardiology Fellows and 15 Non-Cardiology Fellows interpreted the ECGs in 3 phases: without any diagnostic proposal, with a single diagnostic proposal (half of them intentionally incorrect), and with four diagnostic proposals (only one of them being correct) for each ECG. Self-rated confidence of each interpretation was collected. ResultsAvailability of diagnostic proposals significantly increased the diagnostic accuracy (p<0.001). Nevertheless, in case of a single proposal (either correct or incorrect) the increase of accuracy was present in interpretations with correct diagnostic proposals, while the accuracy was substantially reduced with incorrect proposals. Confidence levels poorly correlated with interpretation scores (rho≈2, p<0.001). Logistic regression showed that an interpreter is most likely to be correct when the ECG offers a correct diagnostic proposal (OR=10.87) or multiple proposals (OR=4.43). ConclusionDiagnostic proposals affect the diagnostic accuracy of ECG interpretations. The accuracy is significantly influenced especially when a single diagnostic proposal (either correct or incorrect) is provided. The study suggests that the presentation of multiple computerized diagnoses is likely to improve the diagnostic accuracy of interpreters.

Evaluation of internet-based patient education materials from internal medicine subspecialty organizations: will patients understand them?

The majority of Americans use the Internet daily, if not more often, and many search online for health information to better understand a diagnosis they have been given or to research treatment options. The average American reads at an eighth-grade level. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the readability of online patient education materials on the websites of 14 professional organizations representing the major internal medicine subspecialties. We used ten well-established quantitative readability scales to assess written text from patient education materials published on the websites of the major professional organizations representing the following subspecialty groups: allergy and immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, hematology, hospice and palliative care, infectious disease, nephrology, oncology, pulmonology and critical care, rheumatology, sleep medicine, and sports medicine. Collectively the 540 articles analyzed were written at an 11th-grade level (SD 1.4 grade levels). The sleep medicine and nephrology websites had the most readable materials, written at an academic grade level of 8.5±1.5 and 9.0±0.2, respectively. Material at the infectious disease site was written at the most difficult level, with average readability corresponding to grades 13.9±0.3. None of the patient education materials we reviewed conformed to the American Medical Association (AMA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines requiring that patient education articles be written at a third- to seventh-grade reading level. If these online resources were rewritten, it is likely that more patients would derive benefit from reading them.

Using medical specialty and selection criteria clusters to study specialty selection by Israeli medical students

BackgroundDuring their final year of medical school, Israeli students must consider which specialty to choose for residency. Based on the vocational counseling literature we presumed that choices are made by selecting from a cluster of related specialties while considering professional and socio-economic issues.MethodsQuestionnaires distributed to final-year medical students at two Israeli medical schools ascertained inclinations toward various medical specialties and the importance of various selection criteria. Analysis focused on seven specialties where >20% of students reported they had positive inclinations. For each such specialty, the specialty and selection criteria query were compared using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-tests to determine differences between students with positive inclinations toward the specialty with those not so inclined. These data were placed in tables, with the significant differences highlighted to facilitate visual recognition of cluster patterns.ResultsCompleted questionnaires were obtained from 317 of 455 students. Students often had positive inclinations toward more than one specialty (specialty clusters) associated with a group of selection criteria (selection criteria clusters). For example, interest in internal medicine was clustered with interest in internal medicine subspecialties, cardiology and research. Furthermore, there was a “reciprocal” aspect to some specialty cluster patterns. For example, those interested in internal medicine had little interest in surgical specialties. Selection criteria clusters revealed occupational interests and socio-environmental factors associated with the specialty clusters. For example, family medicine, which clustered with pediatrics and psychiatry, had a sub-cluster of: Bedside specialty with family orientation affording long-term patient care. Another sub-cluster was time for childrearing and family, only daytime work and outpatient care. Clusters also revealed students’ perceptions that differed from expected: Cardiology is changing from a cognitive to a procedure-oriented subspecialty, clustering not only with internal medicine and its subspecialties but also with emergency medicine, surgical subspecialties and anesthesiology.ConclusionsThe concept that career choice involves selecting from a cluster of related specialties provides information about the specialties students might be considering. Moreover, students are not only looking for individual aspects of a specialty, but for a package including clusters of socio-economic and occupational features. Practically, examining clusters can help in career counseling of medical students and assist residency program directors in marketing their specialties.

Integrating Quality Improvement Education into the Nephrology Curricular Milestones Framework and the Clinical Learning Environment Review.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires that trainees show progressive milestone attainment in the practice-based learning and systems-based practice competencies. As part of the Clinical Learning Environment Review, sponsoring hospitals must educate trainees in health care quality improvement, provide them with specialty-specific quality data, and ensure trainee participation in quality improvement activities and committees. Subspecialty-specific quality improvement curricula in nephrology training programs have not been reported, although considerable curricular and assessment material exists for specialty residencies, including tools for assessing trainee and faculty competence. Nephrology-specific didactic material exists to assist nephrology fellows and faculty mentors in designing and implementing quality improvement projects. Nephrology is notable among internal medicine subspecialties for the emphasis placed on adherence to quality thresholds-specifically for chronic RRT shown by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Quality Incentive Program. We have developed a nephrology-specific curriculum that meets Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and Clinical Learning Environment Review requirements, acknowledges regulatory quality improvement requirements, integrates with ongoing divisional quality improvement activities, and has improved clinical care and the training program. In addition to didactic training in quality improvement, we track trainee compliance with Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes CKD and ESRD quality indicators (emphasizing Quality Improvement Program indicators), and fellows collaborate on a yearly multidisciplinary quality improvement project. Over the past 6 years, each fellowship class has, on the basis of a successful quality improvement project, shown milestone achievement in Systems-Based Practice and Practice-Based Learning. Fellow quality improvement projects have improved nephrology clinical care within the institution and introduced new educational and assessment tools to the training program. All have been opportunities for quality improvement scholarship. The curriculum prepares fellows to apply quality improvement principals in independent clinical practice-while showing milestone advancement and divisional compliance with Clinical Learning Environment Review requirements.

The Evolution of General Internal Medicine (GIM)in Canada: International Implications.

General internal medicine (GIM), like other generalist specialties, has struggled to maintain its identity in the face of mounting sub-specialization over the past few decades. In Canada, the path to licensure for general internists has been through the completion of an extra year of training after three core years of internal medicine. Until very recently, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) did not recognize GIM as a distinct entity. In response to a societal need to train generalist practitioners who could care for complex patients in an increasingly complex health care setting, the majority of universities across Canada voluntarily developed structured GIM training programs independent of RCPSC recognition. However, interest amongst trainees in GIM was declining, and the GIM workforce in Canada, like that in many other countries, was in danger of serious shortfalls. After much deliberation and consultation, in 2010, the RCPSC recognized GIM as a distinct subspecialty of internal medicine. Since this time, despite the challenges in the educational implementation of GIM as a distinct discipline, there has been a resurgence of interest in this field of medicine. This paper outlines the journey of the Canadian GIM to educational implementation as a distinct discipline, the impact on the discipline, and the implications for the international GIM community.

What Is a Rheumatologist and How Do We Make One?

Graduate medical education is a critical time in the training of a rheumatologist, and purposeful evaluation of abilities during this time is essential for long-term success as an independent practitioner. The internal medicine subspecialties collectively developed a uniform set of reporting milestones by which trainees can be assessed and receive formative feedback, providing clarity of accomplishment as well as areas for improvement in training. Furthermore, the reporting milestones provide a schema for assessment and evaluation of fellows by supervisors. The internal medicine subspecialties were also tasked with considering entrustable professional activities (EPAs), which define the abilities of a subspecialty physician who has attained sufficient mastery of the field to be accountable to stakeholders and participate in independent practice. Although EPAs have been established for a few specialties, they had not yet been described for rheumatology. EPAs have value as descriptors of the comprehensive abilities, knowledge, and skills of a practicing rheumatologist. The rheumatology EPAs have a role in defining a specialist in rheumatology upon completion of training, and also represent the ways our specialty defines our abilities that are enduring throughout practice. We describe the collaborative process of the development of both the subspecialty reporting milestones and the rheumatology EPAs. The reporting milestones evolved through discussions and collaborations among representatives from the Association of Specialty Professors, the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The EPAs were a product of deliberations by the Next Accreditation System (NAS) working group of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Committee on Rheumatology Training and Workforce Issues. Twenty-three subspecialty reporting milestones and 14 rheumatology EPAs were advanced and refined over the course of 3 subspecialty reporting milestone development summits and 3 ACR NAS working group meetings, respectively. The subspecialty reporting milestones and rheumatology EPAs presented here stipulate reasonable and measurable expectations for rheumatologists-in-training. Together, these tools aim to promote enrichment and greater accountability in the training of fellows. Additionally, the EPAs define, for all stakeholders, the expertise of a rheumatologist in practice.

General Internal Medicine Subspecialty Training Update

The vast majority of general internal medicine (GIM) programs in Canada have become distinct entities that provide training in additional competencies and leadership above and beyond those required for the specialty of internal medicine. In December 2010, after many years of effort, GIM finally achieved recognition as a distinct subspecialty by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. A GIM Working Group has finalized the objectives and requirements for a 2-year subspecialty training program in GIM that will follow after the existing 3-year core internal medicine training program. These documents have now been approved by the Royal College.

Recommended Protected Time for Pediatric Fellowship Program Directors: A Needs Assessment Survey

V IEW F ROM THE A SSOCIATION OF P EDIATRIC P ROGRAM D IRECTORS Recommended Protected Time for Pediatric Fellowship Program Directors: A Needs Assessment Survey Geoffrey M. Fleming, MD; Michael M. Brook, MD; Bruce E. Herman, MD; Chris Kennedy, MD, PhD; Kathleen A. McGann, MD; Katherine E. Mason, MD; Pnina Weiss, MD; Angela L. Myers, MD, MPH From the Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn (Dr Fleming); University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif (Dr Brook); Department of Pediatrics, Primary Children’s Hospital, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (Dr Herman); Children’s Mercy Kansas City, University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Mo (Drs Kennedy and Myers); Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (Dr McGann); Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio (Dr Mason); and Department of Pediatrics, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (Dr Weiss) The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Address correspondence to Geoffrey M. Fleming, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 5112 DOT, 2200 Children’s Way, Nashville, TN 37232 (e-mail: geoffrey.fleming@vanderbilt.edu). A CADEMIC P EDIATRICS 2016;16:415–418 core program requirements: “The program director must devote a minimum of 0.5 FTE regardless of the size of the program.” 14 Core pediatric residency programs have recommendations for additional effort support in a graded increase on the basis of the size of the program and includes PDs, associate PDs, residency coordinators, and liaisons. Currently the “ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in the Subspecialties of Pediatrics” do not delineate any specific required time allotment for fellowship PDs but requires “sufficient pro- tected time.” 2 The goal of this study was to describe current time allotted for PDs in pediatric subspecialty fellowship training programs and to delineate the minimum time required for program administration to meet the regula- tions outlined by the ACGME. P EDIATRIC FELLOWSHIP TRAINING programs are the primary source of subspecialty practitioners who care for our nation’s children. There are 16 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited pe- diatric subspecialties made up of 837 individual training programs that graduated over 8500 trainees from 2004 to 2013 in addition to those who graduated from combined board specialty programs that include a pediatric training component. 1 Explicit in the requirements for graduate medical education (GME) accreditation is the key role of the program director (PD), who is responsible for over- seeing all educational activities, assessing all trainee and faculty performance, maintaining and distributing all pro- gram policies and procedures, directing programmatic evaluation and process improvement, and monitoring compliance with all ACGME regulations. 2 Prior study has identified inadequate PD time as a barrier to complying with ACGME requirements in the nonpediatric subspe- cialties. 3 Dedicated administrative time has been identified as necessary for innovation and curricular design, and has been linked to ongoing accreditation by the ACGME. 4–12 The ACGME program requirements for core residency programs and many nonpediatric subspecialties now delin- eate program administration time requirements for PDs, associate PDs, and other support staff. The time allotted differs by specialty and varies in specification from hours per week to a percentage of total effort. 13 Current require- ments set forth by the ACGME range from 10% to 50% full-time equivalent (FTE) staff for the core medical and surgical specialties and for many of the subspecialty fel- lowships accredited by the American Board of Medical Specialties. For core pediatric residency programs, support of administrative efforts are specifically delineated in the A CADEMIC P EDIATRICS Copyright a 2016 by Academic Pediatric Association M ETHODS The study was conducted in 2 phases through the use of an anonymous national survey of fellowship PDs. An initial survey was created by the author group using a modified Delphi technique through 5 iterations and con- sisted of 23 items, including demographic data, definition of an FTE in the respondent’s institution, time allotted to administer the program, and the time needed by the respondent to administer their program. The survey was created in REDCap hosted by Vanderbilt University Med- ical Center. 15 This survey was distributed from August 20, 2013, to October 16, 2013, using the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD) Fellowship Program Director (FPD) e-mail list. As a result of an initial low response rate, these data were considered pilot data. Volume 16, Number 5 July 2016

English

A certification exam for the new sub-specialty of General Internal Medicine (GIM) was recently developed by an examination board at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCPSC). The board sought to create an exam that would reflect the challenges faced by practising general internists, while minimizing repetition of material already assessed by the Internal Medicine certification exam. In this paper, the authors present evidence for the validity of the content of the exam.

Assessing Physician Barriers to Cardiac Rehabilitation Referral Rates in a Tertiary Teaching Centre

Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has a proven morbidity and mortality benefit, yet rates of referral remain low. We sought to elucidate the knowledge, utilization, referral, and endorsement practices of cardiac rehabilitation in a tertiary care centre. Methods: A 13-question survey was electronically distributed to all Internal Medicine residents, Cardiology residents and subspecialty fellows, General Internal Medicine attendings and Cardiology attendings practising in a tertiary care centre. The survey assessed the physicians’ knowledge of what CR entails, its benefits, patient eligibility and personal practices with respect to CR referral. Results: The survey was distributed to 153 physicians with a response rate of nearly 60 percent. Compared to their medicine counterparts, Cardiology residents and staff had significantly improved knowledge with respect to what CR entails and eligibility criteria for referral (6.92 vs. 6.11 out of 9, p=0.036; 12.04 vs. 10.76 out of 17, p = 0.013). Medicine residents and staff were less likely to be familiar with CR guidelines (72.02 vs. 32.69, p<0.01), and were less likely to discuss the importance of CR attendance with their patients (43.28 vs. 71.15, p=0.0002). A higher proportion of those in Medicine also reported being unsure of both how to refer eligible patients (59.12 vs. 13.46, p<0.0001) and which patients were eligible for CR (64.92 vs. 23.08, p<0.0001). Higher knowledge scores and familiarity with CR guidelines was associated with higher self-reported referral rates. Conclusion: This survey has identified clear physician barriers, most significant among internal medicine residents and staff. These barriers can help inform interventions to improve CR referral and enrolment rates.

Highlights for ESMO 40: celebration review for lifetime achievement awards

My work, my crucial achievement, has been in the management of the transition of the conduct of cancer research/management from basic researchers/surgeons to medical oncologists (figure 1). Figure 1 The Flower of Hope—the ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award. This transition can be divided into four categories: 1. The development, progression and consolidation of global Medical Oncology in Asian countries, especially in Japan. 2. Building a close collaboration with European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and receiving strong support from ESMO, through (A) Adaptation of the ESMO/ASCO Core Curriculum in Medical Oncology,1 (B) Mutual ESMO/ Japanese Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO) joint symposia during their respective meetings, (C) making Annals of Oncology JSMO's official scientific publication,2 along with (D) my own work as an Associate Editor of Annals of Oncology (2011–2014), (E) my work as ESMO's National/Regional Representative and Membership Committee member (2005–2011). 3. Leadership of clinical research in Japan as a key opinion leader and primary investigator in IND (investigational new drug) trials and a chairman of the Japanese Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG; 2000–2009), organising a governmental clinical trial group; and the development of new gold standards in the treatment of malignant diseases, especially in thoracic malignancy by investigator-initiated randomised controlled clinical trials. 4. Encouraging translational research and the publication of numerous articles, especially in the area of the identification of molecular targets for anticancer drugs, as Chief of the Pharmacology Division in the National Cancer Center Research Institute. When I began my training in Medical Oncology, cancer research, including translational research, was conducted by basic researchers, and cancer treatment, including chemotherapy, was conducted by surgeons. There was no place for medical oncologists to play an active part in cancer research and treatment. ESMO was established 40 years ago and now has more than 10 000 professionals as members, and medical oncology has been recognised as …

Autoimmune encephalitis.

Over the past decade, the clinical spectrum of autoimmune encephalitis has expanded with the emergence of several new clinicopathological entities. In particular, autoimmune encephalitis has recently been described in association with antibodies to surface receptors and ion channels on neurological tissues. Greater clinician awareness has resulted in autoimmune encephalitis being increasingly recognised in patients with unexplained neurological and psychiatric symptoms and signs. The clinical spectrum of presentations, as well as our understanding of disease mechanisms and treatment regimens, is rapidly developing. An understanding of these conditions is important to all subspecialties of Internal Medicine, including neurology and clinical immunology, psychiatry, intensive care and rehabilitation medicine. This review provides a contemporary overview of the aetiology, investigations and treatment of the most recently described autoimmune encephalitides.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Frequent Prescription of Antibiotics and High Burden of Antibiotic Resistance among Deceased Patients in General Medical Wards of Acute Care Hospitals in Korea.

BackgroundAntibiotics are often administered to terminally ill patients until death, and antibiotic use contributes to the emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). We investigated antibiotic use and the isolation of MDROs among patients who died in general medical wards.MethodsAll adult patients who died in the general internal medicine wards at four acute care hospitals between January and June 2013 were enrolled. For comparison with these deceased patients, the same number of surviving, discharged patients was selected from the same divisions of internal medicine subspecialties during the same period.ResultsDuring the study period, 303 deceased patients were enrolled; among them, 265 (87.5%) had do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders in their medical records. Antibiotic use was more common in patients who died than in those who survived (87.5% vs. 65.7%, P<0.001). Among deceased patients with DNR orders, antibiotic use was continued in 59.6% of patients after obtaining their DNR orders. Deceased patients received more antibiotic therapy courses (two [interquartile range (IQR) 1–3] vs. one [IQR 0–2], P<0.001). Antibiotics were used for longer durations in deceased patients than in surviving patients (13 [IQR 5–23] vs. seven days [IQR 0–18], P<0.001). MDROs were also more common in deceased patients than in surviving patients (25.7% vs. 10.6%, P<0.001).ConclusionsPatients who died in the general medical wards of acute care hospitals were exposed to more antibiotics than patients who survived. In particular, antibiotic prescription was common even after obtaining DNR orders in patients who died. The isolation of MDROs during the hospital stay was more common in these patients who died. Strategies for judicious antibiotic use and appropriate infection control should be applied to these patient populations.

Female Physicians and the Future of Endocrinology.

Given that approximately 70% of current endocrinology fellows are women, female physicians will compose the majority of the future endocrinology workforce. This gender shift partly reflects an apparent waning of interest in endocrinology among male trainees. It also coincides with a projected shortage of endocrinologists overall. Female physicians face unique challenges in the workplace. To continue to attract trainees to the specialty and support their success, it is imperative that these challenges be recognized, understood, and addressed. A PubMed search using the terms "female physician" and "physician gender" covering the years 2000-2015 was performed. Additional references were identified through review of the citations of the retrieved articles. The following topics were identified as key to understanding the impact of this gender shift: professional satisfaction, work-life balance, income, parenthood, academic success, and patient satisfaction. Several changes can be predicted to occur as endocrinology becomes a female-predominant specialty. Although professional satisfaction should remain stable, increased burnout rates are likely. Work-life balance challenges will likely be magnified. The combined effects of occupational gender segregation and a gender pay gap are predicted to negatively impact salaries of endocrinologists of both genders. The underrepresentation of women in academic leadership may mean a lesser voice for endocrinology in this arena. Finally, gender biases evident in patient satisfaction measures--commonly used as proxies for quality of care--may disproportionately impact endocrinology. Endocrinology is predicted to become the most female-predominant subspecialty of internal medicine. The specialty of endocrinology should take a lead role in advocating for changes that support the success of female physicians. Strengthening and supporting the physician workforce can only serve to attract talented physicians of both genders to the specialty, which will be key to meeting the needs of the increasing numbers of patients with endocrine disorders.

Primum Non Nocere

Medical oncology is a subspecialty of internal medicine that focuses on the treatment of cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in the U.S. Therefore death is a frequent subject for oncologists. However, oncology training emphasizes cancer therapy with little guidance on counseling in preparation for death. Physicians such as the writer Atul Gawande are working to bring back the topic of death into the physician-patient conversation. Furthermore, many religions, including the Bahá’í Faith, can help to address how death is perceived and discussed by physicians. The purpose of this article is to review my personal experience as an oncologist and as a Bahá’í, as it relates to the topic of death.

Development of a Successful Scholarly Activity and Research Program for Subspecialty Trainees

Training young physicians to perform research is challenging on many levels. Thus, many internal medicine training programs, including both core and subspecialty programs, struggle with providing a rigorous and successful research experience for their trainees. Here, the authors report on the rationale, design, practical implementation and outcome of a new program that was developed at the University Gastroenterology Fellowship Training Program. Before program inception, 33% of trainees presented original research at scientific meetings or published their work in peer-reviewed journals. After implementation, 100% of trainees accomplished these metrics. Additionally, the proportion of trainees remaining in academic medicine increased from 14% before implementation of the program to 51% after it began. Several elements were viewed to be critically important for the program including the following: communication of expectations and development of a robust program structure, dedicated protected time, a dedicated research curriculum, programmatic support, mentorship and oversight as well as accountability/tracking of accomplishments. The authors conclude that institutions able to adopt these or similar approaches will reap the many rewards of discovery research performed by trainees.