AMSA UW

Are you stressing out about your graduate school application?  Are you facing difficulty communicating the bulk of your undergraduate experiences in an eloquent and concise way?  Are you uneasy about the stylistic conventions of the statement of purpose?  The CLUE Writing Center is here to help!

The CLUE Writing Center will be conducting a statement of purpose workshop that targets graduate school applications this Wednesday, 1/30 at 7:00PM in Mary Gates Hall 288!

In this helpful presentation, we’ll review all necessary information regarding the statement of purpose, including structure, relevant content, and appropriate tone.  The statement of purpose is a slippery genre to which most undergraduate students have not been exposed, so come to the workshop to get all of the help you need!  CLUE Writing Center tutors will be on-hand to assist participants with any specific questions, so please feel free to bring any materials that correlate to your own application.

All pertinent details are listed below.  We hope to see you there!

WHAT: Statement of Purpose Workshop

DATE: Wednesday, January 30th

TIMES: 7:00PM

LOCATIONS: MGH 288

The revised MCAT will be administered in the year 2015! This MCAT will be lengthened by 90 minutes and incorporate information from the social sciences such as sociology and psychology. Read more about this, here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/a-better-medical-school-admissions-test/?ref=health

Best,

Angela Kim

VP of Advocacy and Education

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/us/07nurses.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=health

KERMIT, Tex. — It occurred to Anne Mitchell as she was writing the letter that she might lose her job, which is why she chose not to sign it. But it was beyond her conception that she would be indicted and threatened with 10 years in prison for doing what she knew a nurse must: inform state regulators that a doctor at her rural hospital was practicing bad medicine.

When she was fingerprinted and photographed at the jail here last June, it felt as if she had entered a parallel universe, albeit one situated in this barren scrap of West Texas oil patch.

“It was surreal,” said Mrs. Mitchell, 52, the wife of an oil field mechanic and mother of a teenage son. “I said how can this be? You can’t go to prison for doing the right thing.”

Click on the "source" above to read the rest of this article on New York Times. If you were a clinician in the situation of the nurse, what would you do? Stick to your moral guns and risk legal consequences? Or deter a potentially ugly legal mess to save your career by taking no action at all? Would you take another different action entirely? 

Best,

Angela Kim (VP of Advocacy and Education)

Just a week or two ago, the Food and Drug Administration discovered contamination of multiple Johnson & Johnson products (primarily children's medicines) by bacteria "Burkholderia cepacia", a strain resistant to common antibiotics. Products include Benadryl, Tylenol, Zyrtec, and another ~50.

Can the most common medicine be trusted? What do you think?

Read for more information: http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/05/news/companies/childrens_tylenol_recall_bacteria/

Best,

Angela Kim

VP for Advocacy/Education

As promised, here is an outline and summary of the Health Care Reform Bill

By CBS News Capitol Hill Producers Jill Jackson and John Nolen

Updated March 23, 5pm ET

Cost:

• $940 billion over ten years.

Deficit:

• Would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first ten years. That is an updated CBO estimate. Their first preliminary estimate said it would reduce the deficit by $130 billion over ten years. Would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion dollars in the second ten years.

Coverage:

• Would expand coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured.

Health Insurance Exchanges:

• The uninsured and self-employed would be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level.
  
• Separate exchanges would be created for small businesses to purchase coverage -- effective 2014.
• Funding available to states to establish exchanges within one year of enactment and until January 1, 2015.

Subsidies:

• Individuals and families who make between 100 percent - 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and want to purchase their own health insurance on an exchange are eligible for subsidies. They cannot be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid and cannot be covered by an employer. Eligible buyers receive premium credits and there is a cap for how much they have to contribute to their premiums on a sliding scale.

Paying for the Plan:

• Medicare Payroll tax on investment income -- Starting in 2012, the Medicare Payroll Tax will be expanded to include unearned income. That will be a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for families making more than $250,000 per year ($200,000 for individuals).
  
• Excise Tax -- Beginning in 2018, insurance companies will pay a 40 percent excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" high-end insurance plans worth over $27,500 for families ($10,200 for individuals). Dental and vision plans are exempt and will not be counted in the total cost of a family's plan.
  
• Tanning Tax -- 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services.
  

Medicare:

• Closes the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" by 2020. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate.
  
• Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The bill also includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.

Medicaid:

• Expands Medicaid to include 133 percent of federal poverty level which is $29,327 for a family of four.
  
• Requires states to expand Medicaid to include childless adults starting in 2014.
  
• Federal Government pays 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016.
• Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.

Insurance Reforms:

• Six months after enactment, insurance companies could no longer denying children coverage based on a preexisting condition.
  
• Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions.
• Insurance companies must allow children to stay on their parent's insurance plans until age 26th.

Abortion:

• The bill segregates private insurance premium funds from taxpayer funds. Individuals would have to pay for abortion coverage by making two separate payments, private funds would have to be kept in a separate account from federal and taxpayer funds.
  
• No health care plan would be required to offer abortion coverage. States could pass legislation choosing to opt out of offering abortion coverage through the exchange.

**Separately, anti-abortion Democrats worked out language with the White House on an executive order that would state that no federal funds can be used to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or health of the mother.

Individual Mandate:

• In 2014, everyone must purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine.
  
• There are some exceptions for low-income people.

Employer Mandate:

• Technically, there is no employer mandate. Employers with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine of $2000 per worker each year if any worker receives federal subsidies to purchase health insurance. Fines applied to entire number of employees minus some allowances.

Immigration:

• Illegal immigrants will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges -- even if they pay completely with their own money.

For more information or to read this article online, please visit: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000846-503544.html?

Best,

Angela Kim

VP of Advocacy & Education

According to a 2004 journal, "Pediatrics", lice can be eliminated from affected hair by using a gentle facial cleanser branded "Cetaphil". Some doctors recommend their patients to coat dry hair with Cetaphil, comb it, then blow-dry until it hardens; 8 hours later, the patients should shampoo it all out. The logic behind this technique is to "shrink-wrap" the hair such that it literally suffocates lice.

The study reveals that the method is ~95% successful when repeated once a week for 3 weeks; that's better than conventional treatments using Malathion (17%) or Dimethicone (73%). Best of all, Cetaphil is extremely mild and is not known to cause any significant side effects.

What do you think about the study? Praises or criticisms? 

Pretty cool stuff....

Enjoy,

Angela K.

Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/the-alternative-medicine-cabinet-cetaphil-for-lice/

Here's an awesome site: http://www.rxlist.com/drug-slideshows/article.htm

It provides a large list of slideshows regarding all kinds of health/medical/anything else topics. 

Some include Truths/Lies about Asthma, How to recognize certain bugs/bites/and skin disease, etc...

Enjoy!

I thought this was an interesting read...

This is your chance to produce your own cultural and medical anthropology on what "gender" is...

Best,

Angela K.

VP of Advocacy/Education

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New York Times: January 21, 2010

"I.O.C. Panel Calls for Treatment in Sex Ambiguity Cases"

By GINA KOLATA

A panel of medical experts convened by the International Olympic Committeerecommended Wednesday that the issue of athletes whose sex seemsambiguous be treated as a medical concern and not one of fairness incompetition.

Athletes who identify themselves as female but have medicaldisorders that give them masculine characteristics should have theirdisorders diagnosed and treated, the group concluded after two days ofmeetings in Miami Beach. The experts also said that rules should be putin place for determining an athlete’s eligibility to compete on a case-by-case basis — but they did not indicate what those rules should be.

“We did not address fairness,” said Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson ofFlorida International University. He is an expert on such disorders andparticipated in the meeting. “The entire concept was that theseindividuals should be allowed to compete.”

The group, sponsored by the I.O.C. and the governing body for track and field, met on Sunday and Monday in the wake of an international controversy over Caster Semenya, the South African runner who won the 800 metersat the world championships in Berlin in August. Other athletescomplained that her masculine features suggested that she should not beallowed to compete as a woman, and track and field’s governing bodyordered sex testing. The results of those tests have not been released.

The panel’s recommendations were criticized by some athletes, whosaid that athletes with masculinizing disorders are so different fromother women that their presence in competition is unfair.

“If you start to do this you are making a joke of the fact thatthere are two classifications — male and female,” said Doriane Coleman,a law professor at Duke University and a former elite 800-meter runner. “They might as well open it up and have women competing with men.”

Masculinizing disordersare rare but significantly more common among elite athletes than in therest of the population, said Dr. Eric Vilain, a medical geneticist at U.C.L.A.and a participant in the meetings. They can be caused by an overactiveadrenal gland, which would result in high testosterone levels fromfetal life onward. Or someone might have the male Y chromosome but berelatively insensitive to testosterone. As a result, the persondevelops as a woman but has high testosterone levels that are onlypartly effective.

Exercise physiologists say one reason men have huge advantages innearly every sport is their testosterone levels, which not only affectmuscle and skeletal development but also are thought to affect thingslike the size of the heart and the amount of oxygen-carrying red bloodcells in the body.

Members of the panel said that their concern was with sportsfederations’ responsibility for athletes with medical disorders.Athletes’ health might be endangered if their disorders are notdiagnosed and treated, they said.

“Those who agree to be treated will be permitted to participate,”said Dr. Maria New, a panel participant and an expert on sexualdevelopment disorders. “Those who do not agree to be treated on acase-by-case basis will not be permitted.”

But, for critics like Coleman, this stance avoids the issue offairness. It is not enough to simply lower testosterone levels afterdiagnosing an athlete’s disorder, she said. By that point, the athletehas already reaped the benefits of a lifetime of heightenedtestosterone.

But panel members said it was impossible to wipe away every advantage an athlete might have.

Forget about level playing fields, said Dr. Myron Genel of Yale.“For a lot of us here, there is no such thing,” he said. “We were toldat the meeting about a Finnish family that was extraordinarilysuccessful in cross-country skiing. They were found to have a geneticdisorder that provided them higher levels of hemoglobin, and thereforethey had superior oxygen-carrying capability. Specific genetic defectsprovide advantages.”

The guidelines so far are merely recommendations, the participantsemphasized. Some of the group’s suggestions were deliberately vague.For example, it advised that medical “centers of excellence” be createdto diagnose sex-development disorders.

How that would work was not spelled out publicly, although New saida more specific plan had been discussed. Sports authorities would sendphotographs of athletes to experts like her. If the expert thinks theathlete might have a sexual-development disorder, the expert wouldorder further testing and suggest treatment.

“This is a sea change from what they are doing now,” New said.

Also left unresolved was how to enforce the policy about treating athletes whose sex seems ambiguous.

Consider, Vilain said, an athlete with a disorder that gives her ahigh testosterone level. Must she be treated to bring her testosteronelevel down to the average range for women? Or can it be in the highrange? And how often must she be tested to be sure she is complyingwith her treatment?

Simpson, of Florida International University, said he recognizedthat some female athletes would find the guidelines unfair. But, hesaid, “we have to balance fairness to female athletes to fairness toother competitors.”

“My opinion remains unchanged,” Simpson said. “If you have a disorder of sexual development, you should be allowed to compete.”

Andrew Keh contributed reporting.

Cheeeeeyaaa.... check it out --> http://lettucelink.blogspot.com/2010/01/packing-seeds-for-spring.html

Unfortunately the only picture is of me (haha), but the point is, UW AMSA premed made a difference in Seattle's community ---- specifically families in poverty ---- by packing vegetable seeds to distribute out to food banks. Lettuce Link (the agency we worked with) strives to educate families in self-sustainment (growing own food) to reduce living costs yet be able to maintain access to healthy/nutritious foods!

Woo-hoo! 

Angela K. 

VP of Advocacy/Education

Here's what I learned from our MLK day of service project with Solid Ground-Lettuce LInk:

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Vitamin A: 

- keeps your skin smooth and the linings of mouth/nose/throat/lungs/intestines healthy

- need it for healthy eyes

- helps prevent certain types of cancer

- I could go into the biochemistry of this but.... know this for now!

B Vitamins:

- for energy!!! and more...

- insufficiency leads to anemia, diseases of the nervous system, mental confusion, and diarrhea

Vitamin C:

- strengthens the immune system to help prevent colds

- also helps prevent polio, certain types of cancer, and heart disease

- humans cannot make Vitamin C or store it in our body (water-soluble) and tus we must get it in our diets!

Calcium:

- important mineral for building strong bones and teeth

- only a tiny amount is necessary for our heart nerves, and muscles to work

Carbohydrates:

- body's main source of energy! then comes fats, and lastly proteins if we ever do need to break them down

- vital in immune system functioning and blood clotting

- helps reduce risk of heart disease or obesity (we're talking complex carbs!! not simple sugars...)

Fiber:

- "keeps you regular"

- may reduce the risk of colon cancer

- some types of fiber can help lower blood cholesterol!

- keeps digestive tract working smoothly

Folic Acid:

- also known as folate or folacin

- makes blood, builds cells

- women need this TREMENDOUSLY during pregnancy because the fetus is constantly growing!

- fetus cannot develop properly if mother lacks folate in her diet during pregnancy

Iron:

- mineral, important for red blood cells (RBC)

- carries oxygen from lungs to cells/muscles/organs

- without enough iron, organs cannot work properly and we feel tired, weak

- woman especially need iron because much blood is lost through menstruation

- pregnancy and breastfeeding also increase woman's need for iron

- some forms of iron may cause constipation, so if you're getting a supplement for it, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE NATURAL KIND!!

- high iron content in red meats.... stick with the lean ones

Magnesium:

- deficiency causes high blood pressure, insomnia, and muscle spasms....

- combination of magnesium, calcium, and vitamin D will increase absorption/utilization of calcium for bones!

Potassium:

- micronutrient that maintains fluid and electrolyte balances in the body

- important for muscle contraction!

- muscle cramps occur because of lack of potassium in body

Selenium:

- may help fight certain types of cancer by enhancing the body's immune system!

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I hope everyone enjoyed this!

Best,

Angela K.

VP of Advocacy and Education