Research Roundup

Physicians track head injuries

A new surveillance program at Strong Memorial Hospital is tracking head injuries in an effort to develop a brain injury registry of emergency treatment that could become a nationwide model for treatment and prevention. Jeffrey Bazarian, assistant professor of emergency medicine, will use a $560,000 National Institutes of Health grant to start the nation's first emergency department-based traumatic brain injury registry. Physicians will be trained to conduct interviews and to analyze data to evaluate care and track outcomes.

Can strep damage the brain?

Neurology Professor Roger Kurlan has been asked to resolve the question of whether common strep infections make children more likely to develop tics, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or other conditions marked by behavioral difficulties. Kurlan's research team plans to study at least 10 Rochester-area children between the ages of 7 and 14 as part of a nationwide study of 80 children who have physical or vocal tics and/or have been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Funded with $3 million from the National Institutes of Health, the study, led by Kurlan, will be conducted at 11 medical centers around the country.

Report challenges doctor training

According to a report by lead author Ronald Epstein, associate professor of family medicine, published in the January 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, physician training should emphasize competence in real-world skills, such as teamwork, interpersonal skills, clinical reasoning, and managing ambiguous clinical situations. "For patients, it's not enough to know that their doctor scored well on a multiple-choice test," said Epstein. In the JAMA article, Epstein points out that sometimes student doctors who perform well on standardized tests may lack such traits as empathy, responsibility, and tolerance.

Maintained by University Public Relations
Please send your comments and suggestions to:
Public Relations.