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Diabetic retinopathy is a common yet severe complication of diabetes mellitus and is the leading cause of blindness in middle-aged adults. After years of poorly managed hyperglycemia, complications begin as non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy but can then progress into the proliferative stage marked by neovascularization of the retina. Multiple pathologic mechanisms caused by chronic hyperglycemia damage the retinal vasculature leading to pericyte drop out and the progression of the disease. This review outlines the major pathways of pathogenesis in diabetic retinopathy, highlighting the protective role pericytes play in preserving the blood-retinal barrier. Given the loss of this cell line is a defining feature of the disease, ways in which to prevent pericyte dropout within retinal vasculature is discussed, targeting various pathogenesis pathways of diabetic retinopathy.

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In the past decade, the rise of state legislation that allows for advanced practice provider (APP) independence has grown steadily across the country. Most recently, Montana has enacted House Bill 313, which allows for physician assistant independent practice in primary care services. This is a concerning trend because there is a multitude of studies that demonstrate worsened patient outcomes and increased healthcare expenditures for care delivered by nonphysicians. There are also many unintended consequences that are likely to occur due to this inappropriate expansion of scope of practice for APPs. In this commentary, we outline the ramifications that are likely to occur in states such as Montana that enact legislation that expands the scope of practice for nonphysicians.

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A patient is told he will have to wait overnight for emergency care from an on-call specialist and his team.

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The Medicare Advantage (MA) Program, home to nearly half of the eligible Medicare population, has recently come under increased scrutiny. Recent investigations conducted by the United States Senate Committee on Finance and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have uncovered marketing practices of MA insurance agents that "were not complying with current regulation and unduly pressuring beneficiaries, as well as failing to provide accurate or enough information to assist a beneficiary in making an informed enrollment decision." These findings come at a time in which MA programs are under investigation for denials of prior authorization requests that fall within Medicare guidelines for covered health services. In this Commentary we consider the backdrop for the growing scrutiny of the MA program and the implications thereof to its future trajectory.

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Value-based healthcare payment models are an alternative insurance payment system that compensates healthcare providers based on their patients' outcomes rather than the individual services healthcare workers provide. This shift from the current fee-for-service model that predominates our medical system has received renewed popularity and attention within organized medicine such as the American Medical Association. Advocates believe that this new payment model will address many of the unsolved issues in healthcare such as medical waste and unsustainable healthcare costs. In practice, however, this model is plagued with a myriad of unresolved issues of its own. In this commentary, we outline these issues and suggest that the intentions of those advocating for value-based payment models are either misguided or disingenuous. We then offer solutions that preserve our current fee-for-service model while making necessary changes that will benefit both physicians and patients nationwide.

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives have garnered increasing attention within medical education as there have been increased efforts to diversify the physician workforce among medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings. One way in which programs can improve their DEI initiatives and attract a more diverse pool of applicants is through DEI content on their graduate medical education websites. Prior studies characterizing the content and prevalence of DEI material on residency webpages have shown that dermatology residencies have relatively low levels of DEI content on their websites in which almost ¾ of all programs having no DEI content. Little is known, however, if similar findings are to be expected for the three main dermatology subspecialty fellowship program webpages: Dermatopathology, Pediatric Dermatology, and Micrographic Surgery and Dermatology Oncology. Fellowship programs were identified using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's online database of fellowship programs. Programs were evaluated on a standardized scoring system for five equally weighted criteria: fellowship-specific DEI webpage, DEI commitment statement, DEI initiatives (summer research opportunities for under-represented minorities, DEI council, etc.), link to the institution's DEI homepage, and information about bias training. The mean score among all programs was 12.5. Pediatric dermatology ranked the highest among all specialties, while Mohs ranked the lowest. A link to the institution's DEI homepage was the most prevalent factor accounting for 42.1% of all programs collected, whereas information about bias training and fellowship-associated DEI webpage were the least prevalent. The results of this study reveal an overall lack of DEI content across all dermatology subspecialties' webpages and represent an actionable area of improvement for fellowship directors to increase their DEI efforts to attract a diverse pool of applicants to their program.

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This quality improvement study characterizes diversity, equity, and inclusion content on ophthalmology fellowship program websites.

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In the United States, healthcare providers have the federally protected right to conscientiously refuse to provide treatments or services that they feel violate their moral or religious values. This refusal of services is colloquially known as "conscientious objection," which has become a polarizing topic in today's medical and ethical landscape. Typically, physicians exercising their right to conscientious objection do not represent a barrier in access to care for most patient populations. This dynamic shifts, however, in rural America, where there are relatively few providers. In this commentary, we discuss some of the unique ramifications that are likely to occur when rural providers invoke conscientious objection in their medical practice and how this can in turn establish conscientious monopolies for the members of their communities.

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Artificial intelligence has experienced explosive growth in the past year that will have implications in all aspects of our lives, including medicine. In order to train a physician workforce that understands these new advancements, medical educators must take steps now to ensure that physicians are adequately trained in medical school, residency, and fellowship programs to become proficient in the usage of artificial intelligence in medical practice. This manuscript discusses the various considerations that leadership within medical training programs should be mindful of when deciding how to best integrate artificial intelligence into their curricula.

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Lassa virus (LASV) causes an acute multisystemic hemorrhagic fever in humans known as Lassa fever, which is endemic in several African countries. This manuscript focuses on the progression of disease in cynomolgus macaques challenged with aerosolized LASV and serially sampled for the development and progression of gross and histopathologic lesions. Gross lesions were first noted in tissues on day 6 and persisted throughout day 12. Viremia and histologic lesions were first noted on day 6 commencing with the pulmonary system and hemolymphatic system and progressing at later time points to include all systems. Immunoreactivity to LASV antigen was first observed in the lungs of one macaque on day 3 and appeared localized to macrophages with an increase at later time points to include immunoreactivity in all organ systems. Additionally, this manuscript will serve as a detailed atlas of histopathologic lesions and disease progression for comparison to other animal models of aerosolized Arenaviral disease.

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INTRODUCTION: In 2020, the American Osteopathic Association merged its residency programs into one system under the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The effects of this transition on the ophthalmology match is not fully understood. The purpose of this study is to assess the early impact of the transition to ACGME accreditation on MD, DO, and IMG representation in ophthalmology residency programs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Information about resident medical degree and resident medical school was gathered from ophthalmology residency program websites from a resident class before and after the Transition. Additionally, the medical degree of residency program directors (PD) was collected to analyze MD vs DO leadership in ophthalmology residency programs and to further stratify resident data to identify any trends in PD preference for different medical graduates. RESULTS: Data was obtained for 915 ophthalmology residents in 110 residency programs that met the study's inclusion criteria. Of these programs, 102 were allopathic with MD leadership, 1 was allopathic with DO leadership, 3 were osteopathic with MD leadership, and 4 were osteopathic with DO leadership. Overall, MD representation increased while DO and IMG representation decreased although not significantly. For both classes analyzed, DO and IMG representation was disproportionately low. DISCUSSION: The transition to ACGME accreditation seems to have primarily harmed DO and IMG applicants in the ophthalmology match while benefitting MDs. Various factors such as loss of protected residency positions for DO applicants and the closure of osteopathic ophthalmology residency programs are likely reasons to blame for this decrease in osteopathic representation.

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The United States is currently facing a physician shortage crisis including a lack of specialist providers. Due to this shortage of specialists, some primary care providers offer colorectal cancer screenings in communities with few gastroenterologists, especially in under-resourced areas such as rural regions of the United States. However, discrepancies in training and procedural outcomes raise concerns regarding informed consent for patients. Because osteopathic physicians play a critical role in addressing the physician shortage in these under-resourced communities, this commentary may be especially useful because they are likely to encounter these ethical complexities in their day-to-day practice.

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