JAMA Medical News

In this Medical News article, William Pettit, DO, dean of the new Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, discusses how the first US medical school on tribal land came into being. Related Article(s): A Partnership With the Cherokee Nation Advances Medical Education on Tribal Land

The Price of Success—How to Evaluate COVID-19 Vaccines When They’re Available Outside of Clinical Trials; When the Human Voice Speaks Volumes About Lung Function; COVID-19 Vaccines vs Variants—Determining How Much Immunity Is Enough Related Articles: The Price of Success—How to Evaluate COVID-19 Vaccines When They’re Available Outside of Clinical Trials When the Human Voice Speaks Volumes About Lung Function COVID-19 Vaccines vs Variants—Determining How Much Immunity Is Enough

Researchers Investigate What COVID-19 Does to the Heart; “Important Conversations” Are Needed to Explain the Nocebo Effect; Therapists Donate Their Time to Counsel Distressed Health Care Workers Related Article: Researchers Investigate What COVID-19 Does to the Heart “Important Conversations” Are Needed to Explain the Nocebo Effect Therapists Donate Their Time to Counsel Distressed Health Care Workers

Pandemic Spotlights In-home Colon Cancer Screening Tests; Does Vitamin D Deficiency Raise COVID-19 Risk?; COVID-19 Conspiracies and Beyond: How Physicians Can Deal With Patients’ Misinformation Related Article(s): Pandemic Spotlights In-home Colon Cancer Screening Tests Does Vitamin D Deficiency Raise COVID-19 Risk? COVID-19 Conspiracies and Beyond: How Physicians Can Deal With Patients’ Misinformation

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges to people experiencing homelessness because they can't easily practice mitigation measures such as frequent handwashing and social distancing. Jennifer Tan, MD, a Massachusetts General Hospital dermatologist who has been caring for Boston's homeless population for several years, helped assemble special care kits, which included hand sanitizer and masks as well as over-the-counter treatments for skin problems, for distribution in Boston and Portland, Maine.

Communication science expert Brian Southwell, PhD, recently launched a training workshop at the Duke University School of Medicine to address a major clinical problem: What should physicians do when patients are misinformed about their health? It’s one of only a few such programs in the nation. Southwell, a scholar with the medical school’s Social Science Research Institute and a senior director at the independent, nonprofit research institute RTI International, chatted with JAMA Medical News Associate Managing Editor Jennifer Abbasi about the viral spread of false health information and malicious disinformation campaigns, why we’re vulnerable to falling for them, and how time-pressed physicians can deal with all the noise. Related Article(s): COVID-19 Conspiracies and Beyond: How Physicians Can Deal With Patients’ Misinformation

JAMA Network Articles of the Year 2020; Looking to Long-term Survivors for Improved Pancreatic Cancer Treatment; Musical Spine Surgeons Lift Spirits With Songs of Hope Related Article(s): JAMA Network Articles of the Year 2020 Looking to Long-term Survivors for Improved Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Musical Spine Surgeons Lift Spirits With Songs of Hope

Ala Stanford, MD, founder of Philadelphia's Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, talks with JAMA Medical News staff writer Mary Chris Jaklevic about her work to establish COVID-19 testing sites for the city's Black residents. Related Article: Surgeon Fills COVID-19 Testing Gap in Philadelphia’s Black Neighborhoods

JAMA sat down with Elvis Francois and William Robinson to talk about their unexpected fame as a musical duo. Videos of the 2 performing uplifting songs, with Francois on vocals and Robinson on the piano, have gone viral, leading the 2 spine surgery fellows to record an EP at a Nashville studio this past spring. They're donating all the proceeds from the successful EP to COVID-19-related charities. Related Article: Musical Spine Surgeons Lift Spirits With Songs of Hope

Could Frequent Testing Help Squelch COVID-19?; Nursing Homes’ Next Test—Vaccinating Workers Against COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2 Testing Hesitancy Could Hamper Mitigation Efforts Related Articles: The Challenges of Expanding Rapid Tests to Curb COVID-19 Nursing Homes’ Next Test—Vaccinating Workers Against COVID-19 First It Was Masks; Now Some Refuse Testing for SARS-CoV-2