Blog List - Penn Medicine

Breaking Down the Barriers to Medication Adherence

July 12, 2013

“Drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them.” — C. Everett Koop, MD Medication non-adherence -– ie, not taking essential medications or not taking them as prescribed -– can lead to serious outcomes and, as a result, readmissions to hospitals. Indeed, in this country, nearly one in five hospital...

Health Care Quality and Safety Patient Care

Lessons from Across the Pond: Should Radiologists be the Gatekeepers of Medical Imaging?

July 05, 2013

Big changes are coming to the US health care system—some in response to the mounting scrutiny of medical imaging. New task force recommendations, the Choosing Wisely campaign, and Affordable Care Act policies are all attempting to curtail overtesting—with CT scans, MRIs and any other screening often ordered unnecessarily—that can drive...

Patient Care Radiology

What's the Use of Narrative?

July 03, 2013

In certain circles, narrative has always been its own reward. But there are other surroundings in which narrative is seen as a poor substitute for something else, for something more . . . serious. In recent years, more medical professionals have embraced narrative, while others continue to regard it with...

5 Things to “Remember” About Alzheimer’s Disease

June 28, 2013

Neurological diseases are a bit intimidating to talk about – the last time most of us thought about axons and neurotransmitters, we were in high school biology – so in an effort to make the science a little easier to digest, we're going to make an effort to start trying...

Aging Brain and Behavior Neurodegenerative Diseases

The New Adventures of Hayley Goldbach (’15): A Week in Haiti

June 25, 2013

Before she fully dives into the communications piece of the NBC News Global Health and Media Fellowship (next stop: India), Perelman School of Medicine student Hayley Goldbach scrubbed in for a few procedures at the L’Hopital Bernard Mevs in Haiti. In a second blog post for this series, Hayley shares...

Education Emergency Medicine

Opening Science Career Doors Early On

June 24, 2013

As a ninth grader at Northern Liberties’ Bodine High School for International Affairs, Kareema Dixon took part in the BioEYES program developed by Jamie Shuda, EdD, Director of Life Science Outreach at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRM), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Little did she know that...

Bringing Trauma Care and Research Into Focus

June 21, 2013

While many people carefully research and review which doctors they choose to see for conditions such as cancer and heart disease, most people rarely think about the doctors and nurses that will care for them after a sudden injury brings them to a hospital trauma bay. Over the last two...

An Important Early Lesson for Tomorrow’s Health-Care Providers

June 19, 2013

Team work. It’s a part of all successful organizations. But nowhere is this combined effort more essential than in the medical field, where health-care professionals working as a team -- instead of in side-by-side silos -– open lines of communication and, as a result, improve patient care. Throughout the University...

Education Health Care Quality and Safety Nursing

Penn Medicine Nurses Teach West Philadelphia Residents Lifesaving CPR Skills

June 14, 2013

Whether it’s a stranger going into cardiac arrest in a local mall or a larger scale tragedy like the recent bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon, first response to those in need can be a matter of life and death. The American Heart Association says that “70 percent of Americans...

Osteo…huh?

June 12, 2013

Doctors search for new ways to solve the puzzle of a rare bone cancer Zach Sobiech (Image courtesy of YouTube) Recently, the world watched as 18-year-old Zach Sobiech transformed from a high school student living with cancer, to a rock star, living his dream of recording music and embracing his...

Cancer Orthopaedics