Senior Doctors Leaving the Profession; an Armenian Connection
A University of California, Irvine, scientist is leading an international research team that is preparing to examine how certain fat molecules act as chemical messengers in the nervous system.
Dr. Daniele Piomelli, a UCI pharmacology professor, and his colleagues received a $1.2 million, three-year grant from the Tokyo-based Human Frontier Science Program to lead the study.
Piomelli’s group will focus on a lipid (fat molecule) called lysophosphatidic acid. LPA, as it is known, has been associated with inflammation, smooth-muscle cell growth, cancer cell proliferation and other cellular activity. LPA also is similar chemically to a neurotransmitter called anandamide,a compound related to the active ingredient in marijuana.
Piomelli, in a press release, said he was confident that the research will “shed light on how nerve cell growth and functions like memory and pain are managed by the central nervous system. This project will provide greater insight into how lipids like LPA and anandamide work in the brain and how this insight may lead to treatments for a host of disorders affecting the nervous system.”
Piomelli’s collaborators include scientists from the University of Tokyo, the University of Naples, University of California, San Diego, French Institute of Health and Medical Research, University of Utah and Complutense University in Madrid. The Human Frontier Science Program was founded in Japan in 1987 and promotes basic research for international projects in neuroscience and molecular biology.
Older Doctors Getting Out
If the results of a national healthcare staffing firm’s survey are a barometer, it looks like many physicians older than 50 are planning to leave medicine sooner, rather than later.
Merritt, Hawkins & Associates’ survey showed that 38% of doctors 50 years of age or older planned to retire in the next one to three years. Another 28% of older physicians surveyed said they planned to close their practices to new patients, significantly reduce their patient loads, or work on a temporary basis, while another 12% said they would seek jobs in nonmedical settings.
By contrast, only 18% of older doctors said they planned on continuing in their current style of practice.
Sentiments reported in the Merritt, Hawkins & Associates study are “generally true” in the state of California, said Dr. J. Brennan Cassidy, immediate past president of the Orange County Medical Association.
Cassidy said physician satisfaction is being affected by what he called legislation of their daily lives by lawmakers and insurance companies.
“Unfortunately, it’s not just limited to older physicians,” Cassidy said. He told a story of a Stanford Medical School graduate who is looking to take her career in another direction besides clinical medicine.
Dr. Maria Minon, OCMA’s new president, also said she’s seen doctors retiring earlier than expected and seeking other positions, such as working as a health plan’s medical director.
Joseph Hawkins, Merritt, Hawkins & Associates’ chief executive, raised concerns about what older physicians’ retirements will mean.
“These are throwback, workhorse physicians in their fifties or sixties, the kind who are used to working long hours and seeing many patients.” he said in a statement. “Their loss would not only create service gaps for some communities, it also would create gaps in knowledge and experience that would be hard to follow.”
East Meets West
Dr. Roger Ohanesian, founding partner of Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, recently played host to Bishop Parkev Martirosian, an Armenian cleric. Martirosian was visiting various communities in the United States in an effort to help raise funds to provide healthcare to Armenian residents and to raise awareness of that nation’s health issues.
Ohanesian, an ophthalmologic surgeon, is of Armenian descent and often makes trips to the country to care for residents who suffer from cataracts, glaucoma, wartime trauma and other ailments.
The doctor’s next scheduled visit to the west Asian country is in December.
Bits and Pieces:
Kaiser Permanente opened a medical office in Yorba Linda, near the Riverside (91) Freeway. Service offerings include primary care, general internal medicine, ophthalmology, optometry, optical dispensing, pharmacy, orthopedics and radiology services Chapman Medical Center, Orange, started a partnership with surgeons affiliated with the University of Southern California. The doctors are offering diagnostics, treatment, surgery and educational support for digestive and vascular disorders, such as chronic heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Dr. Tom DeMeester will run the Center for Heartburn and Swallowing, while Dr. Fred Weaver heads the hospital’s Center for Vascular Care … TriZetto Group Inc., Newport Beach, entered into an alliance with the Stolas Group Inc., a Fresno software development company. Stolas specializes in practice management software for occupational medicine clinics that treat workers’ compensation cases. TriZetto also was cited in the June 19 edition of BusinessWeek for its outsourcing work with Talbert Medical Group, Costa Mesa.
