Let’s start a conversation: mental health stigma in medical school Staff Writer – Monika Cieslak
The journey through medical school is, no doubt, a rigorous one. Medical students face daily emotional, physical, and mental challenges within an exceptionally competitive environment. The pressure to maintain academic excellence in spite of sleep deprivation, 60-hour work weeks, and exposure to illness and mortality can be grueling. Unsurprisingly, medical students experience much higher rates […]
Shining a light on 22q11 Deletion Syndrome Director – Suzanne Murphy
Despite 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) being the most common recurrent copy-number variant disorder, it is one few medical students have a clear understanding of. It is caused by a microdeletion occurring in chromosome band 22q11.2 and a 2004 study estimated it to have an incidence of approximately 1 in 4000 individuals.1 Some of the confusion […]
The Opioid Epidemic: what is it and how do we address it? Staff Writer – Maria Mikail
Introduction According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2017 the United States of America (US) had 72,306 deaths occur due to drug overdoses; 49,068 (67.8%) of those deaths were secondary to opioids.1 On a daily basis, it is estimated that 115 people in the United States die due to opioid overdose.2 Internationally, the […]
Getting Published: the good, the bad and the ugly ICHAMS Social Media Officer – Clare Lambert
Despite having been published, my relationship with research has been a challenge. It began during my undergraduate degree in Canada, when I worked in a neurobiology lab doing electrophysiology on snails. I spent hours looking down a microscope trying to stab single cells with a glass pipette. Each experiment took many hours and, sometimes, late […]
Figuring it Out RCSIsmj staff writer Alexandra Mitcham
No matter how much training health care professionals have in using the precise phrasing to describe a lesion, articulate symptoms, or present a case to consultants’ satisfaction, a picture is worth a thousand words. App Figure 1 has capitalized on this idiom; it is an application that acts as a platform for sharing clinical images […]
Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Premature Infants RCSIsmj staff writer Maria Mikail
Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Premature Infants Online casinos often sponsor money for the treatment of necrotizing enterocolitis in premature babies. This disease occurs in 1-3 cases per 1000 live births, which requires funding, which is facilitated by the online casino, since the emergency condition of the gastrointestinal tract in premature babies with a mortality of 30-50% […]
Going Viral RCSIsmj staff writer Julia Hunter
In the United States, approximately 90% of cervical cancers may be associated with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).(1) HPV has also been identified as a carcinogen for cancers of the penis, vulva, vagina, anus and oropharynx. A 2012 study found that 4.8% of cancers occurring globally can be attributed to HPV infection.(2) While there are over […]
The sum of our parts RCSIsmj staff writer Katie Nolan
The scientific and medical field have been buzzing with anticipation since Italian neuroscientist Sergio Canavero revealed plans for the first human head transplant in 2013. 1 As the proposed date for this pioneering work looms closer, December 2017, experts and critics have been weighing in heavily on the pitfalls and likely outcomes of a surgery […]
Pediatric Complex Care RCSIsmj staff writer Stephanie Tung
Children with medical complexity (CMC) are a fast growing group of heterogeneous children who face substantial clinical obstacles in their journey through the health care system. CMC are increasing in prevalence likely due to the medical successes in survivorship of premature infants (1), those born with congenital anomalies (2) and/or chronic conditions (3) as well […]
A new high: fentanyl RCSIsmj staff writer Julia Hunter
In the United States, synthetic opioid deaths increased 79% from 2013 to 2014 and the number of drug products seized which tested positive for fentanyl increased by 426% during the same period.(1) Recent years have seen fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, contribute significantly to rising mortality rates due to opioid overdose and fentanyl-contaminated heroin use.(2) Due […]