Integrating Eastern and Western Medicine: Mo, Hi, Ba ... Yo! (1, 2, 3 ... Go!)
Editor-in-Chief, Chester ‘Trip’ Buckenmaier III, MD, COL, MC, USA.
I recently returned from another medical training mission (our fifth annual visit) in Vietnam. These missions are tremendously valuable for training my fellowship and resident physicians on how to educate and function in challenging medical environments. Over the years I have had a number of military physicians comment that their medical mission experience was the single most important training they received in preparation for working in a battlefield environment. Our Vietnamese hosts benefit from the exposure to modern American medical technologies and procedures. While this mutually beneficial relationship has been a medical education success for both parties, I often think our team comes away with far more benefit then we necessarily bring. This last trip was no exception. More
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MAY ISSUE
Military Initiates Form to Track Troops, Families with Possible Exposure to Radiation in Japan WASHINGTON—Military personnel and dependents who were in radiation-exposed areas in Japan during the massive earthquake, tsunami and partial nuclear reactor meltdown are being asked to fill out forms available at MTFs to document their presence in those areas. The forms will be placed in the patients’ medical records, in case any future health issues arise. Health-care providers are also being provided with information on how to counsel patients who were in Japan during that time period and have health concerns. Some 40,000 U.S. military personnel, 43,000 dependents and 5,000 DOD civilian employees were in Japan during the disaster. More
Army Improves Follow-Up Care of Victims of Sexual Assault Within Troops WASHINGTON New Army policies on care of women who suffer military sexual assault put more focus on the needs of the victim. While, in the past, women may have gone to an MTF for a forensic exam and then gone home without anyone knowing what became of them, care is now continuing, officials said. What helped bring about that change was MEDCOM Regulation 40-36, initially released in 2004 to guide health-care providers on how they should respond to sexual assaults. That regulation emphasizes the provision of timely, accessible and comprehensive medical management to victims who present at Army MTFs and indicates that these victims must be provided with all of the necessary follow up care they need. Please read this and other articles on military sexual trauma and participate in this month's online opinion poll about whether Congress should relax requirements for proving the occurrence of a rape or sexual assault, to make it easier for victims to receive benefits and coverage for their medical care.More
Military Personnel Left Confused by Different Evaluation Systems at VA, DoD WASHINGTONThe disability evaluation process for wounded warriors remains "complex and adversarial" despite significant efforts by DoD and VA to revamp it, according to the Army's top doctor. DoD and VA agreed on a new disability and evaluation system to integrate their processes and speed up the delivery of benefits to military personnel after their discharge from service. The system, called the integrated disability evaluation system (IDES), was introduced in November 2007 and is now being piloted at a number of military treatment facilities (MTFs) with the goal of expanding to all MTFs this year. But the process still leaves military personnel "confused," Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker said at a congressional hearing.More
Survey: Women Veterans Dissatisfied with VA Care, Especially Sexual Trauma Screening for New Enrollees WASHINGTONAn American Legion survey has found that women veterans are dissatisfied with many of the services provided through the VA health-care system, including screening processes for military sexual trauma (MST) that new enrollees receive. VA mandates that all veterans coming to their facilities for the first time be screened for MST, but fewer than half of the more than 3,000 female responders said that they were satisfied with the screening process. Details of that dissatisfaction will not be investigated until later phases of the survey. More
Resistant Infections Plummet at VA Hospitals Because of MRSA 'Bundle' Initiative A cultural shift on infection control at the VA has led to a dramatic reduction of 60% in hospital-acquired infections in less than three years. This decrease is the result of the dissemination within VA of a "MRSA bundle"a group of infection-control strategies that include active surveillance of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) incidents in the hospital, MRSA testing of patients as they enter and leave the hospital, contact precautions by staff and improved hygiene. More
mTBI Research Trial Comes Under Fire from DoD IG WASHINGTONA military research clinical trial evaluating the use of antioxidants to reduce sequela of mTBI in 80 troops after blast injury has come under fire by DoD's Inspector General (IG). After receiving allegations of problems with the trial, the IG's office investigated and found that the "management and conduct of the trial were inconsistent with military standards for human subject medical research." In addition, it found there was "possible substandard patient care," and that there are "weaknesses in the process used to review and approve medical research in Iraq." The trial took place at Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq, between December 2008 and March 2009. More
IHS Works to Resolve Management Problem, Still Underfunded Compared to Other Federal Health Programs, Director Says WASHINGTON Indian Health Service officials said that the agency is taking a "very aggressive" approach in addressing serious management problems identified by a Senate investigation last year. That report, from the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, found that an increasingly high number of Equal Employment Opportunity complaints (EEO) had been filed in the Aberdeen Area, which is made up of IHS and tribally-managed units that serve about 100,000 Indians in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. In addition, the report found instances in which doctors and nurses with expired licenses and certifications were treating patients, and several facilities were on the brink of losing their accreditation or certification, among other serious management problems. More
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