Teaching Wound Care at the American College of Physicians Annual Meeting

I recently had the honor of teaching a section entitled “Wound Care for the Internist.” at the annual meeting of the American College of Physicians (ACP) in San Diego.  ACP is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members that include internal medicine physicians, subspecialists, and medical students.  My session was well attended by caregivers from across the healthcare continuum including hospitalists, doctors in outpatient practices, and long-term care providers.  In my introductory remarks I asked the question, “How many of you have had a lecture on wound care in medical school.”  Looking out on the sea of faces, many of whom were young residents and attendings, only ONE person hesitantly raised their hand. It is unfortunate and puzzling that wounds are not on the American medical school curriculum, as they are a major public health challenge.  Chronic wounds impact over 15% of Medicare beneficiaries and incur over $30 billion in annual cost.  Chronic wounds incur adverse outcomes such as pain, infection, amputation, prolonged rehabilitation, hospital readmission, accelerated physical deterioration, and death.  Besides the cost of dressings and daily care, chronic wounds are associated with depression, social isolation, and patient and family dissatisfaction.  The most common wound types are listed below. Lack of knowledge by front-line physicians such as internists has serious implications for quality of care for patients wi...
Source: Jeffrey M. Levine MD | Geriatric Specialist | Wound Care | Pressure Ulcers - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Tags: Featured Medical Articles Geriatric Medicine Pressure Injuries & Wound Care arterial ulcer bedsores burns chronic wounds decubitus ulcer end-of-life care Jeff Levine MD medical education pressure sores pressure ulcers venous ulce Source Type: blogs