New Study Highlights Hidden Obstacles in Medical Licensing Applications
Despite the rising prevalence of mental health conditions among physician trainees, fewer than one-third seek professional help. Most physicians avoid seeking care because of fear of professional consequences, stigma, and confidentiality concerns. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death, mainly among medical residents in the United States, which highlights the urgent need for […]
The Ripple Effect of Pass/Fail: Step 1: What It Means for Clinical Training and Step 2 CK Performance
Medical education reforms in grading systems and licensing examinations in the United States are transforming how student performance is assessed and how residency applicants are evaluated. Pass/fail grading in the preclinical years has been adopted at several U.S. medical schools over the last 20 years and has replaced tiered grading systems. A major milestone occurred […]
Effects of a Hypertension Management Mobile App on Urinary Sodium Excretion in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: Randomized Controlled Trial
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2026 Mar 16;14:e68447. doi: 10.2196/68447. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Excessive salt intake is detrimental to the kidneys. Nevertheless, salt restriction is often suboptimal in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Smartphone app-based interventions might help reduce salt intake by supporting self-monitoring and behavior change at scale. However, clinical trials evaluating these interventions for salt […]
D2A: a community-led smartphone tool for malnutrition screening in Kenya
Front Public Health. 2026 Feb 27;13:1695850. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1695850. eCollection 2025. ABSTRACT Timely assessments of child acute malnutrition are essential for effective treatment and prevention of undernutrition. We developed a simple smartphone app, D2A (“Data to Analysis”), to enable regular self-collection of Family MUAC (Mid-upper Arm Circumference) and key household drivers of wasting by mothers and […]
Evaluating hypothetical interventions effects on hospital-acquired infection outcomes with stacked probability visualization: R Shiny apps based on a multistate modelling approach
PLoS One. 2026 Mar 16;21(3):e0343837. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0343837. eCollection 2026. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), contribute to increased morbidity, prolonged hospital stays, and higher healthcare costs. Evaluating intervention effects in dynamic clinical settings requires advanced modeling techniques. This study presents HAISim and StaViC, two interactive R Shiny apps designed to support decision-making in Infection Prevention and […]
Development and external validation of a machine learning model for predicting in-hospital mortality in ICU patients with diabetic kidney disease: a study utilizing the MIMIC database and a Chinese cohort
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026 Feb 27;17:1699647. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2026.1699647. eCollection 2026. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) face an exceptionally high risk of in-hospital mortality. Currently, effective tools for their early risk stratification are critically lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and externally validate an interpretable […]
The visibility effect: Female residents as catalysts for gender diversity in surgery
Am J Surg. 2026 May;255:116849. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2026.116849. Epub 2026 Jan 28. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Since 2019, women comprise the majority of incoming U.S. medical students yet remain underrepresented in surgical specialties. METHODS: This study analyzed gender representation among applicants and residents in General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery, and Urology from 2019 to 2024. Applicant […]
Networks of Digital Addiction Symptoms
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2026 Jan;29(1):57-66. doi: 10.1177/21522715251401080. Epub 2026 Jan 10. ABSTRACT Digital addictions, such as Internet, game, social media, and smartphone addiction, pose health risks. This cross-sectional online survey of 1,764 participants aged 16-28 (75.7 percent women) identified four addiction subtypes using specific scales. Network analysis revealed significant comorbidity (95.35 percent) among subtypes, […]
AI vs. USMLE: Five Leading Models Tested on Step 1 Medical Licensing Questions
Health care and medical education are increasingly being transformed by artificial intelligence (AI), which enables machines to replicate human cognitive functions such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving. The emergence of large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT and similar systems, has created new opportunities in clinical decision support, diagnostics, and the training of medical students. Previous […]
StepsConnect: A Real-Time Step-Sensing Ambient Display System to Support Connectedness for Family Members Living Apart
Sensors (Basel). 2026 Mar 9;26(5):1726. doi: 10.3390/s26051726. ABSTRACT Physical separation between family members arises not only from life choices such as education and employment, but also from health-related constraints that limit physical co-presence. This paper presents StepsConnect, a real-time step-sensing-based ambient display system that transforms personal walking data into dynamic digital art, providing low-effort and […]
