Public commentary is being sought on the draft of objectives for Healthy People 2020, online at http://www.healthypeople.gov/hp2020/Comments/default.asp. Those who wish to comment can register to receive email updates on the objectives, or can comment anonymously.
Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for promoting health and preventing disease. Every 10 years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leverages scientific insights and lessons learned from the past decade, along with new knowledge of current data, trends, and innovations.
The AAMC has sent out a message to the Medical Education community, requesting that faculty, students, residents and researchers urge their members of congress to support increased funding the NIH.
Your action on this issue is extremely important. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved its subcommittee allocations for the FY 2010 spending bills. These allocations set the limit on the amount of funding each subcommittee has for the programs under its jurisdiction.
The Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which includes NIH, received an allocation of $160.7 billion. While this amount represents an increase of nearly $8.9 billion (5.8 percent) over the subcommittee’s funding level in the FY 2009 omnibus (P.L. 111-8), it falls approximately $50 million short of the President’s request. You will recall that the President’s budget calls for $30.759 billion for the NIH through the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, a $442 million (1.5 percent) increase over the FY 2009 appropriated level of $30.317 billion.This number excludes funding provided to NIH through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L. 111-5).
The committee also announced the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee tentatively is scheduled to mark up its bill July 8, followed by full Appropriations Committee action July 14, and House floor consideration July 22 through July 24. This means there is only three weeks to get messages of support for increasing NIH’s budget to Congress before the House subcommittee considers its bill. Given the competing priorities within this bill and an allocation that barely matches the President’s budget, it is critical that the medical research community deliver an emphatic message of support for increased NIH funding.
Further information about NIH funding and this initiative from the AAMC, including sample letters, can be found at http://www.researchmeanshope.org/.
Our warmest congratulations to all of our students who will be graduating this week!
As you head towards that finish line, please take a minute to make sure that you’ve returned all books and videos to the libraries, and cleared any outstanding fines. You can checkyour record online, stop by the circulation desk, or give us a call (215-762-7631 for Hahnemann, 215-991-8740 for Queen Lane).
But you don’t have to say “good-bye” to us! While we regret that we can’t offer off-campus access to our electronic collections, alumni are welcome to visit the libraries and are entitled to borrow books from our collections using their Drexel University alumni card,
The Health Sciences Libraries would like to extend our best wishes to all of our students for success on their exams. Don’t forget that there is 24-hour study space available at both Hahnemann and Queen Lane, with access to computers, printers and copiers.
And when your exams are over — RELAX! Have a wonderful break! We’ll look forward to seeing you when you come back.
The National Library of Medicine Office of the Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) offers some information resources that are frequently updated with Swine Flu outbreak and mitigation developments:
CDC web page on Swine Flu. This site is kept updated with recent facts and status on Swine Flu. There is a link on the page to the facts and figures about the current investigation.
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
A transcript of the April 24 press briefing about the Swine Flu situation is located at:
http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t090424.htm?s_cid=tw_epr_53
Some recent articles in the MMWR on swine flu in California.
Update: Swine Influena A (H1N1) Infections – - California and Texas, April 2009
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 Apr 24; 58(Dispath);1-3.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm58d0424a1.htm
Swine Influenza A (H1N1) infection in two children–Southern California, March-April 2009 MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 Apr 24;58(15):400-2.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm58d0421a1.htm
CDC has a Twitter feed that contains updates on the Swine Flu:
http://twitter.com/cdcemergency
You can also add the following RSS feed on Swine Flu to your feed reader to get regular updates:
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/rss/?s_cid=tw_epr_54
Latest CDC Health Advisory
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/pdf/HAN_042509.pdf
Information updates from World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
From NYC Health Dept – Chart: steps required to confirm suspected cases of swine flu
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2009/pr015-09.shtml
If you are interested in the view from overseas – European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control http://ecdc.europa.eu/
“Stretching the Spine: Books on Health & Healing,” a collaborative exhibit between Drexel University’s Health Sciences Libraries, Hahnemann Library, and the Philadelphia Center for the Book, has been mounted in the exhibit area outside of the 2nd floor entrance to the Hahnemann Library. It explores medicine, health, and healing as they are interpreted through the form of the artist’s book and other book-inspired objects. The exhibition will be available through October 2. Stop by and check it out, and stay tuned for an announcement of a formal opening.
Earlier this week, the NY Times reported that the recently-passed economic stimulus bill will, “for the first time, provide substantial amounts of money for the federal government to compare the effectiveness of different treatments for the same illness.”
The article reflects concerns that the inclusions of issues of cost vs. effectiveness could lead to rationing of healthcare, or that it could “put the government in the middle of the doctor-patient relationship,” but also mentions similar initiatives that have been in place in Great Britain, France and other countries for more than a decade.
The Health Sciences Libraries Research Guides include two lists of websites recommended for learning more about evidence-based practice, and specialized tools for finding evidence-based practice information such as the systematic reviews mentioned in the article. Explore:
Evidence-based Medicine, and
Nursing: Evidence-based Practice
This week the Josiah Macy Foundation issued a new report, “Revisiting the Medical School Educational Mission at a Time of Great Expansion”
The report cites the current medical school expansion as an “unparalleled opportunity” to examine existing medical school curricula and explore innovative ways to improve the education of the next generation of physicians. Among the report’s recommendations: make increasing diversity a top priority, find ways to reduce the burden of medical school debt, reexamine the medical school admissions process, ensure that senior academic medicine leadership embrace and champion the change agenda, shift education of students to ambulatory sites where most care is provided, and train future physicians to be skillful in preventative as well as curative medicine.
Press release on the report (pdf, 113k)
Chairman’s Summary (pdf, 136k)
The Hahnemann Library now has a collection of leisure DVDs available for borrowing by Drexel patrons. The basic or starter collection is in place, and new titles will be added as they arrive. DVDs circulate for five days, cannot be renewed, must be returned to the Hahnemann Library, and are limited to two per person. Please come take a look- they are located in the leisure seating area on the 2nd floor, near the collection of leisure books.
Effective Monday, November 3, 2008, all Hahnemann Library computers will require a Drexel ID and password for access, with the exception of a very small number of computers which will be identified as available for public access. Under this new arrangement, it is very important that users who have used a personal login for access LOGOFF after they have completed their sessions. Patrons who use the public access computers should NOT logoff the computers at all. For further information, contact Linda M.G. Katz, Associate Director, Health Sciences Libraries at lk32@drexel.edu.
