New research led by Jane Zhu, M.D., reveals private equity firms that acquire physician-owned medical practices experience greater churn in the workforce and rely more heavily on advanced practice providers rather than physicians. She says, “We really ought to be paying more attention to how these big-picture practice delivery shifts are affecting physicians.”

Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, Ph.D., M.B.A., RN, says her priorities as the new American Nurses Association president include safe staffing and fighting racism; about nurse staffing she says: “This has been an issue well beyond COVID. COVID exacerbated it and shined a light on some of these issues, but this has been going on for some time. We need to focus on solving this one because it has a lot of impact on patient safety. This has an impact for nurses staying in the workforce.”

In an article on stories that “made a difference” in 2022, an anecdote was included that soon after a story on OHSU’s Healthy Oregon Project’s free genetic testing was published, the study team saw an increase in interested participants.

An analysis by the developing Gun Violence Prevention Research Center at OHSU that found gun injuries in Oregonians of all ages early doubled between 2019 and 2021, and Oregon gun deaths increased by 18% is cited in a The Astorian op-ed on shifting public opinion on gun violence.

In a story about the value of medication-assisted therapy in addressing the opioid epidemic, Todd Korthuis, M.D., says, “Buprenorphine and methadone allow the brain to stabilize. It’s not replacing one addiction with another – it’s treatment”

Becker's Hospital Review notes the appointment of Brooke Baldwin, D.N.P., M.S.N., RN, NE-BC, as vice president and chief nursing executive, effective Feb. 5. Dr. Baldwin will also serve as associate dean of clinical affairs in the OHSU School of Nursing.

Roger Chou, M.D., provides perspective in a Healthline story reporting on a new study finding that people using cannabis for pain relief may reduce their use of prescription drugs, including opioids: “While this study certainly suggests that patients feel that cannabis helps their chronic pain, similarly designed studies have suggested the same thing for a number of other therapies that ended up being ineffective.”

Robert Cloutier, M.D., and Leslie Garcia, M.P.A., Ed.D., discuss OHSU's efforts to support diversity in medical education at OHSU in light of Association of American Medical Colleges data that indicates enrolled students at U.S. M.D.-granting programs are becoming more diverse. American Indian and Alaska Native student enrollment is increasing at OHSU’s M.D. program, while it is decreasing nationwide; Cloutier says: “We’re making inroads”

Robert Cloutier, M.D., and Leslie Garcia, M.P.A., Ed.D., discuss OHSU's efforts to support diversity in medical education at OHSU in light of Association of American Medical Colleges data that indicates enrolled students at U.S. M.D.-granting programs are becoming more diverse. American Indian and Alaska Native student enrollment is increasing at OHSU’s M.D. program, while it is decreasing nationwide; Cloutier says: “We’re making inroads”

OHSU and OHSU Knight Cancer Institute leaders are featured in a Salem Statesman Journal story highlighting the university’s work to increase diversity in clinical trials. Principal investigators for the SHARP, Pathfinder 2 and CASCADE studies share details on their efforts to engage the community. Jackie Shannon, Ph.D., says: “It’s not just about taking information and answering our questions, but it’s sharing that information back to the people that we’ve engaged in carrying out this research.”