AI and IM, updates on weight loss drugs, and more

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has exploded onto the scene in the past year, offering promise but raising fears in many fields, perhaps especially medicine. Managing Editor Ryan DuBosar talks to experts about the best ways for health care to move forward with this new technology. All agree that while AI has great potential, it must be handled and used with the utmost care, especially as it relates to protected health information. AI will never be able to do a physician's job, but harnessed correctly, it might ease some of their routine administrative burdens.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, initially used solely as diabetes medications, have emerged as a new tool for weight loss, up to 20% of body weight or more for patients in some clinical studies. But they're not a cure-all, and questions of access, cost, and potential long-term effects have yet to be resolved. Our story provides advice for internal medicine physicians who are considering incorporating these drugs into their patients' care plans.

The road to becoming a doctor is fairly structured, but once you've begun or are about to start practicing, how do you decide what's next? ACP sponsors a new program, "Live Your Best Life," that's aimed at helping members who are residents, fellows, and early career physicians answer that question. Program participants can learn how to design a career path, negotiate at work, and plan for career transitions, among other topics.

While financial incentives can be an effective lure to bring physicians to rural areas, support and involvement with the local community may be more likely to make them stay. A Veterans Affairs researcher explains the most common types of incentive programs and why they might not be enough. Also, an interview offers insights from the corresponding author of the American Thoracic Society's new guidelines on acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), including why the recommendation to use neuromuscular blockers in early severe ARDS is considered controversial.

In this issue's Pearls from I.M. Peers, a primary care sports medicine physician offers advice on evaluating a sore shoulder that can help you make a diagnosis on physical exam about 80% of the time. And if you're going to ACP's Internal Medicine Meeting 2024 next month in Boston, we have a sneak peek at what's in store, from precourses to sessions on case-based learning to simulation training in the Clinical Skills Center.

What are your thoughts about AI in medicine? Do you prescribe GLP-1s for weight loss in your patients? Let us know at immatters@acponline.org. We'd love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Kearney-Strouse
Executive Editor