Doctor and Medical News

Current Events
Anti-Semite Resident Fired from Cleveland Clinic: A resident at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio was fired after the clinic was made aware of anti-Semitic comments that the resident posted on social media. In a statement, the Cleveland Clinic is adamant in their organization’s full embrace of diversity, inclusion and a culture of safety and respect across their health system. The former employee’s beliefs are not in any way reflective of those of their organization. The clinic was notified of the former resident’s Tweets by a group that searches social media for anti-Semitic comments.

Doctors’ Role in the Opioid Crisis
In light of the opioid epidemic that has taken lives from all across the country and that has affected people of all ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic groups, many doctors are being challenged as to what their role in contributing and preventing this is. Fingers of blame are often pointed at physicians even though there is a fine line for them between sufficiently addressing and treating a patient’s pain, to prescribing pain medications that are known to be addictive to over 10% of the population that is prescribed them.

One basic step that physicians can do to help to avoid contributing to the opioid crisis in the U.S. is to only prescribe three to five days of opioid medication when non-opioid alternatives are not sufficient. This is because studies have shown that most patients are at a higher risk of opioid addiction if given greater than seven days of medication.

It is important for physicians and healthcare providers who prescribe pain killers, to keep abreast of current developments in the opioid crisis and to be informed on how best to help and prevent this ongoing epidemic.

Student Loan Forgiveness for Physicians
No matter where you live and whether or not you attended a public or private medical school, most recent medical school graduates have a significant amount of debt. Chiropractors, orthopaedists, ophthalmologists, and general practitioners alike, typically have student loan debt that overwhelms most recent graduates.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness is one option for paying back federal student loans. To qualify for this, a medical school graduate needs to work full time for a government agency or for certain types of nonprofit organizations, have federal direct loans, be on an income-driven repayment plan and make 120 qualifying payments. If you want to apply for this, it is important to get up to date details because the current administration’s policies may change this program.

The Role of Physician Assistants in the Shortage of Physicians
Physician assistants are clinicians that have at least a master’s degree in what many consider to be a condensed medical school model. PAs are being looked at as an answer to the growing shortage of doctors in a variety of specialty fields. PAs do the same kind of work as a physician provider. They perform physical exams, order and interpret lab tests, make diagnoses, prescribe medications, assist in surgeries, work in emergency rooms and essentially, manage patients in every clinical setting in which patients are seen. There are currently more than 123,000 PAs practicing in the U.S., and 

Education: Choosing Between Becoming an Optician, Optometrist or an Ophthalmologistvisits to these providers are on the rise. PAs working in teams have been shown to deliver high-quality health care to patients.

For many students, the eyes “see” it all, and they have to make a “clear” decision on whether to become an optician, optometrist or an ophthalmologist. Opticians make glasses and typically fit contact lenses. In general, a person can become an optician through an apprenticeship or through schooling. Optometrists are doctors who have earned an O.D. or Doctor of Optometry degree which is usually a four year program after completing an undergraduate degree. An ophthalmologist typically goes to medical school and on to complete an internship, followed by three years of an ophthalmology residency program. Where a student’s interest lies, can help them to determine which field of eye care to go into.