Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Research, School, Uncategorized
Pre-med education is fundamentally flawed. This is something that the Medical Education community has known and written about for decades but has never acted upon. There are three critical problems:
- Pre-med science requirements were established almost 100 years ago and have not changed since then despite extraordinary advances in clinical medicine and biomedical science.
- These requirements consume an enormous amount of time and energy, detracting severely from what should be an enriching, stimulating college education.
- The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is an expensive (between the tests fees and pre courses), time-consuming hurdle that perpetuates the need to focus on memorization of facts and competition for grades.
More than 100 years ago, Abraham Flexner reformed medical education throughout the nation. He was considered visionary and is responsible for establishing what we currently consider to be the gold standard for how medicine is taught, both in medical school and in preparing for medical school. Since then, medicine and science have changed more rapidly than any other field, with the possible exception of information technology. Yet educators at both the college and medical school levels have failed to refresh his vision and align the physician training with society’s needs. We’ve also perpetuated the notion that everyone has to be taught the same requirements in lockstep, with little room for flexible, individualized, and self-directed learning.
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Cancer, Gastroenterology
Guest post by David Carr-Locke, MD, Chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases at Mount Sinai Beth Israel
If there was one thing you could do to almost guarantee you won’t get cancer, you’d probably jump at the chance to do it, right? There is such a screening. Colonoscopy has helped reduce the rate of colon cancer in recent years. (more…)
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Health Tips, Holistic Health, Integrative Medicine, Social Work
Guest post by Abigail Strubel, MA, LCSW
Meditation is a centuries-old practice that can significantly enhance one’s physical and emotional wellness, imparting an improved ability to cope with stress, frustration, anger, insomnia and chronic pain. Research has shown that regular meditation practice can increase brain capacity in areas related to learning and memory, and decrease the volume of areas that are related to anxiety and stress.
Don’t Be Intimidated
Meditation can seem like a mysterious and intimidating practice, but it doesn’t have to be. Guided meditation, also known as guided imagery, helps you concentrate and focus by giving you detailed instructions—essentially a script you can follow—for what to think about so you aren’t just sitting quietly and trying not to think about your worries and concerns.
A Mental Bubble Bath
Some guided imagery seeks to engage the five senses by vividly describing sights, sounds, aromas, and physical sensations, thus involving all aspects of your imagination. One guided imagery I like to lead with clients is imagining a day at the beach—the soft sand shaping itself to the contours of your body as you lie on your towel, the echoing cries of seagulls, the salty tang of the sea air, the cool water lapping at your feet, the warmth of the sun on your skin.
By engaging all your senses, the practice trains your abilities to concentrate and focus your mind. After 20 minutes of detailed imagining, you’ve created a mental refuge—an intensely detailed memory that you can return to in stressful times for momentary relief, almost like a mental bubble bath.
Meditation Resources on the Web
The Internet is a terrific resource for people seeking to learn more about how to practice meditation, including numerous free audio downloads of meditation practices.* Here are some good sources:
• Kaiser Permanente has links to audiocasts for physical and mental well-being on everything from allergies, insomnia and chronic pain to addressing anger, self-confidence and grief.
• Fragrant Heart offers meditations for relaxation and stress relief, weight loss support, social anxiety and healing.
• Tara Brach, a leading psychologist and practicing Buddhist, offers a number of free meditations on such topics as embracing life, being present in the moment and accepting life on life’s terms.
• Things to make you say “Om” offers an extensive list of links to free meditation resources.
• Dr. Emmett Miller, another leading psychologist and meditation specialist, offers free meditations on such topics as changing habits, addictions and behaviors.
• Belleruth Naparstek’s Health Journeys, from a pioneer in the guided meditation field, has a free 15-minute guided imagery download.
You can also find many free or inexpensive guided imagery meditation downloads on iTunes, such as:
• The Meditation for Health podcast
• Dr. Miller’s guided imagery
• Belleruth Naparstek’s guided imagery
For More Information:
How Meditation May Change the Brain (New York Times)
Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress (Mayo Clinic)
The Benefits of Meditation (MIT News)
Reduce Anxiety and Depression with Guided Imagery (Huffington Post)
* Beth Israel Medical Center is not responsible for, does not endorse, and cannot assure the accuracy of information on these outside web sites.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Cardiology, Diet and Nutrition, Exercise, Health Tips, Heart Disease
This guest post was written by Simone Walters, MS, RD.
February is American Heart Month, and this year marks the 10th anniversary of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign, celebrated on February 1! So, why does heart disease need a whole month to itself? For starters, it is the number-one cause of death among men and women in the United States, affecting some 81 million people. Everyone should care about heart disease, because if you do not have it, someone you know probably does. (more…)
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Your Health
This Saturday, February 23rd, marks the 1-year anniversary of the Geriatrics Emergency Department at Mount Sinai. Recognizing that the US population is aging, and that existing emergency departments were too often designed around provider’s needs – rather than that of their older patients – Mount Sinai emergency medicine researcher Ula Hwang was one of the first to describe the compelling need for specialized geriatric emergency care. Transforming that vision into a reality involved years of planning, construction and even specialized programming of our electronic systems.
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