Editorial: Expert medical courts: An idea whose time has come
September 1st 2004We may have seen the first glimmer of light in the otherwise dark tunnel of the professional liability insurance crisis. On July 12, during a speech at the National Press Club, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist proposed "an expert medical court system with transparent decisions, limits on punitive damages, and scheduled compensatory damages to provide rapid relief to truly injured patients (instead of trial lawyers)" while holding negligent doctors accountable.
Editorial: John Edwards: The wrong prescription for ob/gyns!!
August 1st 2004Ending months of speculation, Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) has picked Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) as his running mate. Kerry's choice offers insights into his administration's likely health-care priorities. And unfortunately for ob/gyns, it also raises profound concerns about the prospects for federal tort reform during a Kerry-Edwards administration.
Ectopic pregnancy: Prompt diagnosis spells effective treatment
August 1st 2004Skillful interpretation of ultrasound images, hCG values, and patients' signs and symptoms can help identify ectopics early on. Once the diagnosis is made, salpingectomy, salpingostomy, and methotrexate are your therapeutic options.
Our Generation: What I've learned on the way to a career
July 1st 2004In the 2 years since I completed my ob/gyn training, I've had four jobs in three different practice settings in three different cities. I'm now headed back where I started geographically, combining the practice of obstetrics and gynecology with raising a rambunctious 7-year-old boy and a 9-year-old Hllary Duff-wannabe as a single parent.
Message from the Interim Administrative Director
June 28th 2004Although I am the new interim administrative director, I am familiar with the society. In fact, I am one of the founding members and I was the first ISGE secretary. Compared to the early years of the society, endoscopy today is much more advanced.
Recognizing depression in gynecologic patients
June 1st 2004Nearly twice as many women as men suffer from clinical depression, and up to 50% of ob/gyn patients have the disorder or its symptoms. Since you may be the only clinician many of these women see, you're uniquely positioned to detect its presence and steer patients toward appropriate treatment.
A practical approach to hyperemesis gravidarum
June 1st 2004Delay in aggressively treating out-of-control, unremitting vomiting in pregnancy can dehydrate, deplete, and nearly starve a woman and her fetus. This expert's approach tells you how to quickly distinguish developing hyperemesis gravidarum from something more benign.
Our Generation: We must return to fee-for-service
June 1st 2004The only way for women's health care as we know it to survive is if young ob/gyns lead the way in saying NO. Let's stop taking the horrible contracts offered by insurance companies, HMOs, and managed-care organizations and take back control of our futures.