global health in India

• Interested in global health or community-based primary health care?
• Want to explore a side of India that few outsiders ever see? (The rural areas of India are home to 68% of its population!)
• Want to experience real public health work in the field instead of a classroom?
• Want to visit a community health & development organization recently profiled in the National Geographic? http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/12/community-doctors/rosenberg-text

If so, then consider applying for this summer's 1 month course in community-based health and development at the Comprehensive Rural Health Project in Jamkhed, Maharashtra, India. Course runs from June 21 - July 19, 2010. Students from Downstate traveling to Jamkhed for the past 3 years have given excellent feedback on their experiences. Ten Downstate students have already taken this opportunity and references can be provided upon request. Applications will be accepted until April 1st but spots tend to fill up by mid-March so apply early to secure a seat. The course is open to medical, public and allied health students throughout the world and the class tends to be very diverse.

For more information, to download the brochure, read student comments, and to download the application, visit http://jamkhed.org/Allied.shtml.

If you're interested in applying or have additional questions, e-mail me (alexander.kaysin@downstate.edu) back as I will be holding an information session sometime in March or April. For more information about CRHP, you can search Jamkhed on Youtube or purchase the book, 'Jamkhed' on Amazon.

Good luck in the new semester!

Alex Kaysin

MD/MPH Candidate

SUNY Downstate COM 2011

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2010

International Coordinator, USA

Comprehensive Rural Health Project, Jamkhed

www.jamkhed.org

Public Health

1) NYC Department of Health’s Health Research Training Program

See http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/hr/internship_program.html

Global Health

2) CDC Medical Student elective

See http://www.cdc.gov/EpiElective/

Examined LIfe: Writing and the Art of Medicine

Beginning April 28 to 30, 2010, the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine will host The 4^th Annual Examined Life: Writing and the Art of Medicine, a three-day conference exploring the intersections of writing, medicine and medical education. Our featured presenters this year include:

· Poet Marvin Bell,

· Iowa Writers’ Workshop Director Lan Samantha Chang,

· Author and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics Sayantani DasGupta,

· University of Iowa Professor of Voice and Opera Singer Stephen Swanson, and

· University of Iowa Professor of Composition and Director of the Center for New Music David Gompper.

The program and registration can be found at http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/osac/examinedlife. We hope you’ll come to add your perspective to the discussions!

Best regards,

Dave Etler
Conference Coordinator
Office of Student Affairs
Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
University of Iowa
319.335.8058
1191 MERF

VSA

Dear AAMC OSR,

Approximately eighty medical schools and teaching hospitals will use the Visiting Student Application Service (VSAS) to accept visiting student applications for the 2010-2011 academic year! A list of these institutions can be found at http://www.aamc.org/programs/vsas/students.

We recommend you review the VSAS Student Handout, http://www.aamc.org/programs/vsas/students/vsasstudent.pdf, which includes step-by-step instructions on using VSAS, where to find host institution application requirements and application dates, and when you can use the service. A few key highlights are listed below.

• You will only use VSAS if you are applying for senior electives at one of the participating VSAS host institutions.
  If you are applying elsewhere, please continue to use the Extramural Electives Compendium (EEC) for visiting student application information.
• You may log into VSAS once your home school issues you authorizations.
• You may submit applications to host institutions once those institutions have made their electives available for application. This application date will vary from host to host so use the VSAS "Institutions" tab to research these days (the tab, and list of new host institutions, will be available February 3, 2010).

For more detailed information, please review the VSAS Student Handout and visit the VSAS website at http://www.aamc.org/vsas. If you have any questions or concerns please contact our Help Desk at vsas@aamc.org or (202) 478-9878.

Happy New Year!
Melissa Donner

Senior Specialist, VSAS

(202) 478-9878

vsas@aamc.org

Summer internship at the CDC

Dear students,

The attached link describes a paid summer internship in Atlanta with the CDC on unintentional poisoning.
Note that it is open to medical students or public health students majoring in epidemiology.

http://aptrweb.org/prof_dev/internship.html

The deadline is January 15.

Great Imaging Website for Cardio

http://www.med.yale.edu/intmed/cardio/imaging/

Legislative Update

Happy New Year from your OSR Legislative Affairs team. With 2010 comes many exciting legislative changes on the horizon for both medical students and physicians. We will continue to keep you informed on these issues as they develop and, as always, will be available to respond to your emailed questions or concerns.

As you may already know, prior to the congressional holiday recess the Senate passed H.R. 3590: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act more commonly known as the "Senate health care reform bill." Similar to a bill passed in the House, this Senate reform bill has a mandate that all Americans have health insurance, prohibits insurance plans from denying individuals with pre-existing conditions, creates a subsidy program to help low income pay for insurance, and expands the Medicaid program. Items in the bill which may be pertinent to you include:

I. Additional Residency Positions

II. Federally Qualifiied Health Center (FQHC) Spending

II. The Future of Health Care Reform

IV. Other Health News

I. Additional Residency Positions

Section 5503 of H.R. 3590 calls for an increase in the available number of residency positions effective July 1, 2011 and the distribution of these positions amongst training programs. The majority of increases, 75%, will be designated to primary care or general surgery programs. Furthermore, increases will favor regions with physician shortages. In total, the bill allows for an increase in residency positions of up to 15%.

II. FQHC Spending

Health care reform measures proposed sought to emphasize increased funding for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in order to provide primary care services to low-income, underserved, or uninsured Americans. FQHCs include community health centers, migrant health centers, and health care for the homeless. Section 5601 calls for increased funding for FQHCs up to $8.3 billion by 2016.

III. The Future of Health Care Reform

With different health care reform bills passed in the House and Senate, the next steps for legislators is to reconcile the two versions of the bill to present to President Obama. While a publicly funded health care option was included in the House bill, it was dropped from the Senate version in order to garner the necessary 60 votes. House leaders acknowledged that if a public option is not in the final bill, a fair concession plan must be put in place to ensure all Americans now mandated to have health insurance have an affordable option. Other contentious issues that must also be resolved in talks between the two chambers, include how to handle abortion coverage and undocumented immigrants, which taxes to raise to pay for the expansion of insurance coverage in the Medicaid program, how to enforce the proposed payment cuts to Medicare providers, and the level of subsidy offered to low income individuals to purchase insurance. For more detailed commentary on the resolutions needed between the House and Senate Bills, please visit here.

To read the complete text from H.R. 3590 and the read the sections referenced in this email, please visit the Library of Congress, click "bill number" and enter search term "HR 3590."

For some questions and answers regarding H.R. 3590 not discussed in this email, please visit here or New England Journal of Medicine article.

IV. Other Health News

The House of Representatives voted to temporarily delay 2010 Medicare payment cuts to physicians. Read the article.

The President extended COBRA, temporary health care insurance for laid-off workers. Read the article.

NIH approved thirteen more stem cell lines for research use. Read the article

Your OSR Legislative Affairs Team:

Nathan Copeland, Southern Region
nathan.copeland@gmail.com

Amanda Mure, Central Region
amandamure@gmail.com

Ryan Padrez, Western Region
ryan.padrez@ucsf.edu

Matt Reilley, Northeast Region
reimat@gmail.com

Thure Caire, National Delegate
mcaire@health.usf.edu

Anesthesia Research Fellowship

Dear SUNY Downstate Medical Students:

I am pleased to announce that the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) has selected SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Department of Anesthesiology as a Host Department for the 2010 Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship program. FAER MSARF program provides support to medical students (through the Host Department) for 8 to 12 weeks of anesthesia-related research experience.

If you are interested, the next step in the process is for medical students to apply through the FAER website: (www.faer.org/). On your application, you may rank your preferred location for the fellowship. FAER’s Student Fellowship Committee will then match selected students to host departments. We hope you will apply and consider the many opportunities that are available in our Department of Anesthesiology at SUNY Downstate. Should you have any specific questions about our program, please feel free to contact me (Rebecca S Twersky, MD, 718-613-8742; or Email: rebecca.twersky@downstate.edu).

Deadlines and Applications

Student applications will be available for download: Immediately

Student applications due: February 1, 2010

Student notice of award mailed: February 22, 2010

Rebecca S. Twersky MD, MPH
Professor, Vice-Chair for Research
Department of Anesthesiology
Medical Director, Ambulatory Surgery Unit
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
450 Clarkson Avenue, Box 6
Brooklyn, NY 11203
Office 718 613-8742
FAX 718 613-8794
Pager 917 760-1904
Cell 516 316-5345
Rebecca.Twersky@downstate.edu