Harvard Med changes how it reviews applicants of color
Harvard Medical School is disbanding a subcommittee that for years has interviewed and recommended minority applicants to the school's admissions committee because lawyers said the medical school is inviting legal trouble.
The subcommittee's job has been to flag strong applicants for admission. But after the Supreme Court struck down the University of Michigan's point-based undergraduate admissions policy three years ago, Harvard's lawyers insisted on the change.
The medical school gave in after lawyers brought in outside consultants to review the policy. Next year's class will be the first chosen without it.
Dr. Robert Mayer, associate dean for admissions, said a dean still will flag the applications of underrepresented minorities -- defined as African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans -- to make sure they're thoroughly reviewed. ''Our commitment to diversity is as strong as ever," he said.
Brigham and Women's airs medication problems
In policing itself, the medical profession has mostly focused on reducing drug errors that occur in the hospital. But a group of Brigham and Women's Hospital/Faulkner Hospital doctors said many mistakes occur during and after discharge -- and they were willing to air the hospital's own faux pas to prove it.
Last month, they published a paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine showing that in a study of 178 patients, nearly half left the hospital on different drugs or doses than when they were admitted, or missing their medications altogether. Dr. Jeffrey Schnipper and his colleagues wrote that hospital physicians often don't know what medications patients take because the patient hasn't told them and they don't have access to the records. The confusion caused some patients' conditions to worsen and they had to be readmitted.
The Brigham has created computer software to address the problem. The hospitals' doctors will be required to use it.
In brief
Caritas Christi Health Care, despite an improving financial picture, continues to lay off employees. Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center recently laid off about 30 workers in a variety of jobs. A spokeswoman said they did not include doctors or nurses. She said the hospital expects cuts to its federal Medicare reimbursement next year and wants to be prepared. . . .
Dr. Alan Ezekowitz, chief of pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, on April 1 became the latest high-ranking doctor to leave a major Harvard teaching hospital for a large for-profit company. He will head immunology, respiratory, and endocrine research for
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's obesity surgery program is the first in Massachusetts to receive accreditation from the American College of Surgeons, which means the hospital can get paid for treating Medicare patients.
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