Economic Impact of Unilateral Free Trade

President Donald Trump condemned the interdependence of the United States with other countries in a speech on March 24th, 2020 saying, “This crisis has underscored just how critical it is to have strong borders and a robust manufacturing sector. - ''… Our goal for the future must be to have American medicine for American patients, American supplies for American hospitals, and American equipment for our great American heroes.” [1] The United States has also been part of the ongoing US-China trade war, with both sides imposing numerous tariffs on each other's imports. These actions speak to the protectionist economic policies of the Trump administration.

Mayan and Andean Medicine and Urban Space in the Spanish Americas

Mayan and Andean medicine included empirical perspectives and botanical cures that were transmitted in the urban spaces of colonial Spanish America, spaces themselves built over former Amerindian cities. Mayan and Andean peoples, whose histories included development of both urban and rural aspects of civilization, brought their medical knowledge to the Hispanic cities of the colonial Americas. In these cities, despite the disapproval and persecution of the Inquisition, Native American medicine gradually became part of the dominant culture. As this article will demonstrate, Mayan and Andean medical knowledge was absorbed by the “new cities” that Imperial Spain constructed in the colonial Americas, church disapproval notwithstanding. Cities and urban space became prime conduits for the circulation and incorporation of Native American medical knowledge among the newer Hispanic and mestizo population in the colonial Americas.

A National Survey of postgraduate physician assistant fellowship and residency programs

Introduction The development of postgraduate programs for physician assistants (PAs) began in 1973 and by 2020 there were approximately 72 programs spread across a broad range of medical and surgical disciplines. PA Post-graduate education programs are voluntary and available to American licensed PAs. Therefore, an assessment of the characteristics of PA post-graduate fellowships and residencies programs was initiated. Method A non-experimental, descriptive research study was designed to obtain information on the characteristics of PA postgraduate education programs in the US. The source of information was from surveyed members of the Association of Postgraduate Physician Assistant Programs (APPAP). Questions were drawn from consensus discussions. Directors of postgraduate programs that were operational in 2020 were eligible to participate. Results Seventy-two postgraduate program directors were invited to the survey and 34 program directors replied. These programs are geographically distributed across the US in 13 states. The respondents represent a wide range of medicine: surgery, emergency medicine, critical care, orthopaedics, hospitalist, psychiatry, oncology, primary care, pediatrics, and cardiology. Most programs are associated with an academic medical center and some institutions have more than one postgraduate specialty track. The curriculum includes bedside teaching, lectures, mentorship, assigned reading, procedures, simulation, and conferences. An average program length is 12 months and awards a certificate. Stipends for PA fellows are $50,000–80,000 (2020 dollars) and benefits include paid time off, health and liability insurance. About half of the programs bill for the services rendered by the PA. Over 90% of graduates are employed within 2 months of completing a PA postgraduate training program. Conclusion A trend is underway in American medicine to include PAs in postgraduate education. PA postgraduate training occurs across a broad spectrum of medical and surgical areas, as well as diverse institutions and organizations overseeing these programs. Most PA postgraduate programs are in teaching hospitals where the PA resident or PA fellow also serves as a house officer alongside a categorical resident. This study sets the stage for more granular economic and social research on this growing phenomenon in American medicine.

Philosophy within the contemporary practice of American medicine. Various forms of the relationship between both disciplines: Edmund D. Pellegrin's approach

The paper presented here illustrates the issue of philosophy within the contemporary practice of American medicine. Four forms of relationship between both disciplines will be discussed: philosophy and medicine, philosophy within medicine, medical philosophy, and philosophy of medicine. The aim of the paper is to illustrate the specificity of the proposed forms of relationship, i.e. the contrast between the autonomous approach of the both disciplines and the realistic philosophy of medicine promoted by Edmund D. Pellegrin, which closely links the issue of the nature and theory of medicine with the undertaking of philosophical reflection. The issue of the topicality of Edmund D. Pellegrin's philosophy of medicine in the context of the current challenges of American health care will also be discussed.