Internal medicine looks ahead
This issue addresses ACP's virtual meeting for student members, advances in heart failure comanagement, and conference coverage.
Medicine has gone through a lot since March 2020, with profound effects on all physicians and physicians in training. ACP's Future I.M. Experience, a virtual event held in May, offered a chance for the latter group to reflect on the past and move toward the future. Sessions on May 14 and 15 covered such topics as COVID-19, career skills, and racial justice, with ACP Resident/Fellow and Medical Student Members sharing their stories and College leaders, past and present, sharing their wisdom. Read more about the meeting in our story.
Advances in heart failure treatment recently led to publication of a new pathway from the American College of Cardiology for patients with reduced ejection fraction. Out story looks at the guidance, including which drugs should be started first, and offers advice on managing heart failure in primary care. Physicians can help patients navigate through the process by explaining different treatments, avoiding polypharmacy whenever possible, and initiating discussion about palliative care, experts said.
Our conference coverage is from Digestive Disease Week and SHM Converge, both of which were held virtually in May. At the former, two experts debated the clinical relevance and best treatments for two esophageal disorders, ineffective esophageal motility and eosinophilic esophagitis, and a moderator weighed in after presentation of the evidence. At SHM Converge, an academic hospitalist offered his top 12 tips for newcomers to the field. Learn why it's important to take time to find your niche, among other advice.
Two Q&As continue our theme of medical education and the future of internal medicine. Chief residents and a faculty member from Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut discuss a new distinction pathway allowing residents to focus their learning on race, bias, and advocacy in medicine, as well as a recently established Committee on Anti-racism in Resident Education that works toward integrating antiracism teaching. Authors of a study noting that the number of applicants for internal medicine residency and subspecialty fellowships increased from 2020 to 2021 discuss some potential reasons for the findings and what they might mean for the physician workforce going forward.
Finally, on June 9, ACP and Annals of Internal Medicine hosted a fifth virtual COVID-19 forum, focusing on persistent symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our story summarizes the discussion, including ongoing research, interim treatment guidance, and pitfalls to avoid, and provides a link to access a replay of the event.
Have you seen patients with postacute sequelae of COVID-19 in your practice? What is your institution doing to combat racism in medicine? Let us know at immatters@acponline.org.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Kearney-Strouse
Executive Editor
