International review of psychiatry
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Social media is difficult to explain to a physician who has never used it. The medical literature on its pitfalls and abuses has overshadowed its positive applications and made many physicians wary of it. While I was initially reluctant to develop my own presence on social media, since embracing it as a tool for teaching and learning I have developed a different perspective. ⋯ Much like a megaphone, it can amplify our voice so that the impact of our work can extend beyond the borders of our institutions and countries. Aided by the guidance and support of mentors who used social media before and alongside me, it has helped me to become a more competent, professional, engaged, and impactful physician. Within this article I will share my story to illustrate the many ways that social media can be used to enhance the profession of medicine.
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The journal club offers a model for lifelong learning and maintenance of certification (MOC) for residents and faculty staff. First, it sharpens participants' critical appraisal skills by providing a space to discuss relevant medical literature. Second, it motivates participants to seek new medical literature on their own using technology. ⋯ In most academic settings category 1 continuing medical education (CME) credits can be awarded so journal club can have the added benefit of satisfying maintenance of certification CME credits. From journal club both residents and faculty can learn what is new and learn to apply this new information in their practice. Finally, because technology creates an overabundance of relevant medical literature, participants using our model can develop strong critical appraisal skills and methods for organizing the information they find that make this information readily available for future use and retrieval.
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I have been actively learning and teaching psychiatry since starting residency in 1966. Over the decades my educational endeavours have been guided by a fairly consistent set of operating principles. ⋯ Readers may wish to try out some of these ideas. They have worked for me, and they may work for others as well.
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The term frontotemporal dementia (FTD) refers to a group of neurodegenerative disorders that are associated with atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes, and present clinically with impairments of behaviour or language. Three main subtypes are described, behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD) and two subtypes of the language presentation (known as primary progressive aphasia or PPA) called semantic variant of PPA and non-fluent variant of PPA. Most imaging studies of FTD have used volumetric T1 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emissions tomography imaging to identify patterns of grey matter atrophy or hypometabolism in these different subtypes, but more recently newer imaging techniques have been used to help define abnormalities in structural connectivity (white matter tract integrity using diffusion tensor imaging), functional connectivity (resting state networks using resting state functional MRI) and perfusion (using arterial spin labelling perfusion MRI) in FTD. These techniques have the potential to improve the differential diagnosis of FTD from other disorders and to provide more informative imaging signatures of FTD syndromes.
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Abstract The recognition of somatization process in cancer patients is a challenging and neglected area, for the extreme difficulty in differentiating and assessing the psycho(patho)logical components from those biologically determined and related to cancer and cancer treatment, as well as for the scarce usefulness of rigid categorical DSM criteria. However, several dimensions of somatization (and the interconnected concept of abnormal illness behaviour) have been shown to be diagnosable in cancer patients and to negatively influence coping and quality of life outcomes. ⋯ More research is also needed regarding the association of somatization with personality traits (e.g. type D distressed personality, alexithymia), developmental dimensions (e.g. attachment), and cultural issues (e.g. culturally mediated attributional styles to somatic symptoms). Also, the impact and effectiveness of specific therapeutic intervention in 'somatizing' cancer patients is necessary.