Recent evidence indicates that humor is an important aspect of a person's health, and studies have shown that increased levels of humor help with stress, pain tolerance, and overall patient health outcomes. Still, many healthcare providers are hesitant to use humor in their practice for fear of offense or failure. Understanding more of how and why humor works as well as some of the issues related to real-world examples is essential to help practitioners be more successful in their use and understanding of humor in medical care. Through case studies and real-world applications of therapeutic humor, the field can be better understood and advanced for best practices and uses of this type of therapy. With this growing area of interest, research on humor in a patient care setting must be discussed. Cases on Applied and Therapeutic Humor focuses on humor in medical care and will discuss issues in humor research, assessment of the effectiveness of humor in medical settings, and examples of medical care in specific health settings. The chapters will explore how propriety, effectiveness, perception, and cultural variables play a role in using humor as therapy and will also provide practical case studies from medical/healthcare professionals in which they personally employed humor in medical practice. This book is ideal for medical students, therapists, researchers interested in health, humor, and medical care; healthcare professionals; humor researchers; along with practitioners, academicians, and students looking for a deeper understanding of the role humor can play as well as guidance as to the effective and meaningful use of humor in medical/healthcare settings.

Once labeling complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as quackery or fraud, the biomedical community is becoming increasingly complex as it struggles to cope with the explosion of alternative treatments seen in the United States. With the establishment of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine along with an increase in departments or courses on alternative medicine seen in major American medical schools, CAM has nudged its way into mainstream medicine.

Now that it has gained a foothold in the biomedical community, several questions arise about its impact on our culture. This issue of the "ANNALS" sheds light on the political-economic role as well as socio-cultural influences of CAM over the past 20 years. This collection of articles also addressees the global and cross-cultural dimensions of CAM.

With ever-changing messages in the media about CAM and biomedicine, the task of evaluating it is daunting. Yet the contributors to this issue - social scientists devote to researching the effects of Cam on our society - are able to provide insight and a thorough commentary on the meanings of health, illness and modes of healing.

This set includes Volumes 1-7 of 15 short atlases reimagining the classic 5 volume Atlas of Human Central Nervous System Development. A handy paperback edition completes the coverage of the first trimester of human brain development. Serial sections from specimens between 4mm and 60mm are illustrated and annotated in great detail, together with 3D reconstructions. An introduction and glossary summarize these earliest stages of human Central Nervous System development. Key Features 1) Classic anatomical atlases 2) Detailed labeling of the earliest phases of prenatal neurological development 3) Appeals to neuroanatomists, developmental biologists and clinical practitioners. 4) Persistent relevance - brain development is not going to change.

This issue of Surgical Clinics of North America, guest edited by Drs. Ronald Martin and Paul Schenarts, is devoted to Development of a Surgeon: Medical School through Retirement. They have assembled expert authors to review the following topics: Residency Surgical Training at a University Academic Medical Center; Fellowship Training: Need and Contributions; Evolving Educational Techniques in Surgical Training; Transition to Practice: From Trainee to Staff Surgeon; The Value of the Surgeon Emeritus; Alternative Methods and Funding for Surgical Training; Medical School Training for the Surgeon; Residency Surgical Training at an Independent Academic Medical Center; Assessment of Competence: The ACGME/RRC Perspective; Assessment of Competence: The American Board of Surgery Perspective; The Impaired Surgeon; Continuing Medical Education: The American College of Surgeons Perspective; Workforce Needs and Demands in Surgery, and more!

If there's one thing author Paul Sybert knows well, it's the act of living life in the face of adversity. In "The Kindness of Strangers," Sybert shares his life story and shows how he has confronted his fears and troubles and placed his trust in Jesus Christ.

This memoir shares some of the most important moments in his life, as well as the tribulations that have tested him. "The Kindness of Strangers" recalls some of the most important events of Sybert's life-being baptized at age twelve, earning a bachelor's degree in engineering, experiencing divorce and the loss of love, struggling with an alcohol addiction, appreciating the gift of a spiritual mother, and surviving a stroke.

But most of all, Sybert shares how God has worked in his life. Through anecdotes and illustrations, he communicates the importance of maintaining a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. "The Kindness of Strangers" offers insight into the life of a man who faced his fear and persevered.

The Year Book of Medicine brings you abstracts of the articles that reported the year's breakthrough developments in medicine, carefully selected from more than 500 journals worldwide. Expert commentaries evaluate the clinical importance of each article and discuss its application to your practice. There's no faster or easier way to stay informed! Chapters include Rheumatology; Infectious Disease; Hematology and Oncology; Kidney, Water, and Electrolytes; Pulmonary Disease; Heart and Cardiovascular Disease; The Digestive System; and Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism.

The Ob/Gyn Hospitalist, the newest subspecialist in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, has the potential to improve patient safety, patient and provider satisfaction, workforce challenges and clinical outcomes. Programs are exploding across the country, mirroring the growth of the internal medicine hospitalist programs 10 years ago. Ob/Gyn hospitalist jobs are the most sought after in the field. We will present the history of the Ob/Gyn Hospitalist movement, available evidence to date supporting Ob/Gyn Hospitalists, and where we believe the field is going.

This is the first book in bioethics that explains how it is that you actually go about doing good bioethics. Bioethics has made a mistake about its methods, and this has led not only to too much theorizing, but also fragmentation within bioethics. The unhelpful disputes between those who think bioethics needs to be more philosophical, more sociological, more clinical, or more empirical, continue. While each of these claims will have some point, they obscure what should be common to all instances of bioethics. Moreover, they provide another phantom that can lead newcomers to bioethics down blind alleyways stalked by bristling sociologists and philosophers. The method common to all bioethics is bringing moral reason to bear upon ethical issues, and it is more accurate and productive to clarify what this involves than to stake out a methodological patch that shows why one discipline is the most important. This book develops an account of the nature of bioethics and then explains how a number of methodological spectres have obstructed bioethics becoming what it should. In the final part, it explains how moral reason can be brought to bear upon practical issues via an 'empirical, Socratic' approach.

This special issue of Heart Failure Clinics examines heart failure with a truly global perspective, exposing health inequities in the treatment of heart failure.

Physicians have been known as healers long before they could provide cures for common ailments, but the art of healing is rarely found in the current era of managed care and five-minute office visits. Patients cry out for a physician who cares, someone who will take the time to listen to their complaints. In Healing Through Empathy, Dr. Francis Adams illustrates the vital importance of the doctor-patient relationship through seven of his patients' histories. In these life stories Dr. Adams describes the role of empathy in this vital relationship and illustrates how a physician's emotional response to his patient's illness may educate him rather than blur his thinking. Healing Through Empathy allows the reader to see into the mind of one physician as he seeks the best outcome for his patients' problems. Dr. Adams offers suggestions for choosing a physician, and challenges physicians and managed care institutions to restore the balance between technology and the art of medicine.

The average life expectancy of a male born on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota today is 40 years old-the lowest life expectancy of all peoples not only in the U.S. but also in the entire Western Hemisphere. Written by and for nurses, this is the first text to focus exclusively on American Indian health and nursing. It addresses the profound disparities in policy, health care law, and health outcomes that affect American Indians, and describes how these disparities, bound into the cultural, environmental, historical, and geopolitical fabric of American Indian society, are responsible for the marked lack of wellbeing of American Indians. American Indian nurse authors, natives of nine unique American Indian cultures, address the four domains of health-physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional--within each region to underscore the many stunning disparities of opportunity for health and wellbeing within the American Indian culture as opposed to those of ""Anglo"" culture. In an era of cultural competency, these expert nurse authors bring awareness about what is perhaps the least understood minority population in the U.S. The text covers the history of American Indians with a focus on the drastic changes that occurred following European contact. Included are relevant journal articles, historical reports, interviews with tribal health officials, and case studies. The book addresses issues surrounding American Indian nursing and nursing education, and health care within nine unique American Indian cultural populations. Also discussed are the health care needs of American Indians living in urban areas. Additionally, the book examines the future of American Indian Nursing in regard to the Affordable Care Act. Key Features: Focuses exclusively on American Indian health and nursing-the first book to do so Written by predominately American Indian nurses Covers four domains of health: physical, mental, spiritual and emotional Highlights nine specific cultural areas of Indian country, each with its own unique history and context Includes chapter objectives, end-of-chapter review questions, and case studies

Proper health education is a vital component to ensuring patients' satisfaction, safety, and well-being. To achieve this goal, interdisciplinary collaboration has emerged as an innovative method for promoting healthy living. Healthcare Community Synergism between Patients, Practitioners, and Researchers is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly research on the various collaborative efforts to improve the current state of health systems and patient education. Highlighting research methodologies aimed to enrich the quality of available information in healthcare environments, this book is ideally designed for medical professionals, educators, and researchers.