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The importance of continuing ed
Published
8 years agoon
By Dr. Jeff Daniels EBS Medical Columnist
In most professions, the learning process is continuous from the first exam at school until you hang it up for good. In a rapidly changing world, especially in the field of medicine, continuing education is critical to being a good doctor.
Doctors learn all the time: from patients, reading journals, talking to colleagues, and even from watching television commercials for all those new and expensive drugs – I know somebody will ask me if this $600 toenail fungus treatment they’ve seen advertised is right for them.
I recently attended a continuing medical education conference hosted by the University of California – San Francisco, called “Clinical Strategies in Primary Care.” You might think I used this as an excuse to visit that wonderful city, but I’ve attended several other CME events at this university, and I I’ve learned a lot through them.
This conference consisted of 24 one-hour lectures – starting early in the morning and continuing into the evening – for three consecutive days. Here’s some of what I learned from the many lectures I attended:
I discovered that not every woman over 40 needs a mammogram every year or two, and to be wary of the pitfalls of mammography, such as over-diagnosis and over-treatment of minor, non life-threatening cancers. Also, we should be doing more CT scans for lung cancer in chronic smokers, and a condition called nonalcoholic fatty liver is the most common liver disorder in the U.S., with weight loss the only proven treatment.
I learned new approaches to deal with student athletes who sustain concussions, including putting the brain at maximum rest – this means no schoolwork, TV, or video games until symptoms improve – and why some schools are discontinuing high-risk sports, like football.
A lecture on the heart inundated us with new guidelines developed from randomly controlled trials and published in scientific, peer-reviewed journals. These guidelines mainly involve targets for cholesterol, weight, and blood pressure, and most current studies validate what doctors have been doing for many years.
For women experiencing the symptoms of menopause, a supplement called black cohosh may work better than a placebo to help alleviate hot flashes. I also learned about the best and safest approaches to hormone replacement therapy.
I discovered the latest guidelines for stroke treatment using clot-busting drugs, as well as a new stroke-prevention technique for accessing and removing blood clots through blood vessels – called endovascular therapy this is the newest approach to stroke management.
In a lecture on common infections, I learned that a bug called Fusobacterium necrophorum is just as common as strep, can cause the same symptoms, but with worse outcomes if not treated properly, such as pneumonia and even death. We don’t have an easy test for this, and it’s something to be suspicious about when the illness looks like strep but the rapid test we perform in the office is negative.
There were many more lectures, and I brought back a considerable amount of information to share with my staff and the students we teach, as well as our patients. All of this came from just three days in San Francisco.
Dr. Jeff Daniels has been practicing medicine in Big Sky since 1994, when he and his family moved here from New York City. A unique program he implements has attracted more than 700 medical students and young doctors to train with the Medical Clinic of Big Sky.
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
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Trivia from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Waypoint in Town Center. Participation is free, food and beverages available.
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(Wednesday) 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
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The Waypoint
50 Ousel Falls Rd