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Biomedical subjects

B M Ferrier

Publications and source records attributed to B M Ferrier.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Choosing a career within medicine: do the style and structure of medical schools make a difference?

Thirty people close to graduation from each of the medical schools at McMaster University (MU), Rijksuniversiteit Limburg (RL), Tufts University (TU) and the University of Edinburgh (UE) were interviewed about their future career choices. Few of them recognized features of the medical programmes as influences on their choices, except for the research experience available to some students in an Honours year in Edinburgh and during electives in RL. For all groups, having done research at any time was associated with plans to do research in the future. Differences in other aspects of their development as physicians were found to be associated more often with whether the medical school had post-secondary education prerequisities for admission (MU, TU) or not (RL, UE), than with whether the programmes used traditional education methods (TU, UE) or not (MU, RL).

Career Choice↗
PubMed1989

Correlates of certification in family medicine in the billing patterns of Ontario general practitioners.

There is conflicting evidence as to whether physicians who are certified in family medicine practise differently from their noncertified colleagues and what those differences are. We examined the extent to which certification in family medicine is associated with differences in the practice patterns of primary care physicians as reflected in their billing patterns. Billing data for 1986 were obtained from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan for 269 certified physicians and 375 noncertified physicians who had graduated from Ontario medical schools between 1972 and 1983 and who practised as general practitioners or family physicians in Ontario. As a group, certificants provided fewer services per patient and billed less per patient seen per month. They were more likely than noncertificants to include counselling, psychotherapy, prenatal and obstetric care, nonemergency hospital visits, surgical services and visits to chronic care facilities in their service mix and to bill in more service categories. Certificants billed more for prenatal and obstetric care, intermediate assessments, chronic care and nonemergency hospital visits and less for psychotherapy and after-hours services than noncertificants. Many of the differences detected suggest a practice style consistent with the objectives for training and certification in family medicine. However, whether the differences observed in our study and in previous studies are related more to self-selection of physicians for certification or to the types of educational experiences cannot be directly assessed.

Canada↗
PubMed1987

Career choices of McMaster University medical graduates and contemporary Canadian medical graduates.

The MD program at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., differs from that at most other Canadian universities in the profile of students admitted and in its teaching methods. To investigate influences of selection policy outcomes and the education program, the career choices of 408 McMaster graduates were compared with those of 1620 graduates of other Canadian English-language schools by analysis of data from the CMA's Physician Manpower Data Bank. Compared with graduates of other schools, McMaster graduates were more likely to have chosen internal medicine, less likely to have chosen surgery and equally likely to have chosen primary care as their medical field. Of those in primary care, a higher proportion of McMaster graduates than other graduates held certification in family medicine. This was largely responsible for the overall higher rate of certification in the McMaster group. While the nature of practice and time spent on patient care did not differ between the two groups, several variables, including time spent on professional activities other than patient care, proportion involved in research and classroom teaching, and proportion of salaried physicians employed by universities, indicated a higher than average level of interest in academic medicine among the McMaster graduates. This could be partially explained by differences in the student profile if students who are interested in education are more likely to choose an educationally innovative medical school.

Canada↗
PubMed1979

Action of oxytocin on mammary gland: influence of hypotonicity.

The enhancement of the response of an isolated strip of lactating mouse mammary gland to oxytocin, resulting from dilution of the Tyrode solution in which oxytocin is administered, is due to the effects of hypotonicity per se and not to changes in concentration of any of the ions in the bathing solution. Inhibition of membrane ATPase also causes an enhancement, which is probably due to activation of a secondary facilitating mechanism, rather than to enhancement of the entire train of oxytocin-induced reactions. A variety of conditions which alter the response to oxytocin have the same effect on the response to acetylcholine. Hypotonicity can therefore increase the sensitivity of this bioassay for oxytocin, but not its selectivity.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1977

A preparatory course for medical students who lack a conventional academic background.

McMaster University School of Medicine admits students who may not have had an extensive education in physics, chemistry, and biology. For several years a short preliminary course was offered to those students. The course has since been discontinued, and its objectives have been incorporated into the M.D. program. This approach has been taken in an attempt to conform to the educational policy of the program. However, since the course was seen to be highly successful and, therefore, may be of use to others, its objectives and teaching methods are described.

Biology↗
PubMed1977

Glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase activity in pregnant mouse mammary gland: hormonal influences studied in tissue culture.

Glutathione-insulin trandhydrogenase (GIT) activity has been shown to be stimulated in culture of explants of pregnant mouse mammary gland by a mixture of insulin, cortisol, and prolactin. Since this hormone mixture stimulates lactogenesis in vitro it is possible that the increase in GIT activity is functionally related to one of the processes of milk secretion or ejection. Oxytocin is degraded by GIT and the interaction of this hormone with its mammary gland receptors may be influenced by the change in enzyme activity. The increase in GIT activity caused by insulin, cortisol, and prolactin in vitro can be prevented by the addition of progesterone or oxytocin to the culture medium.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

The synthesis and some pharmacological properties of (2-L-DOPA)-oxytocin.

The first reported synthetic analogue of a naturally occurring peptide with a residue of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) was prepared by coupling N-carbobenzoxy-S-benzylcysteinyl-L-DOPA azide with isoleucylglutaminylasparaginyl-S-benzylcysteinylprolylleuclglycinamide. The protecting groups were removed from the resultant nonapeptide derivative by sodium in liquid ammonia and the peptide analogue was formed by short term oxidation of the dithiol-containing compound. It was isolated by sequential partition chromatography and exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-25. It was unstable at neutral or alkaline pH. [2-L-DOPA]-oxytocin was found to possess a minimum milk-ejection-like activity of 54 +/- 9 U/mg and uterotonic activity of 26 +/- 4 U/mg. These potencies are approximately 12% and 5% of the corresponding potencies of oxytocin.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Synthesis and some pharmacological properties of (2-tryptophan)-oxytocin.

Previous studies have suggested that an aromatic amino acid residue at position 2 in oxytocin facilitates the expression of the hormone's biolgocial activities. [2-Tryptophan]-oxytocin, in which a residue of tryptophan has replaced that of tyrosine in oxytocin, has been synthesized by the method of azide coupling of the N-terminal dipeptide and C-terminal heptapeptide amide. It was found to have approximately 0.1% of the potency of oxytocin in milk ejection and uterotonic biological activities.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Synthesis and some biological properties of 1-deamino-4-glu-oxytocin (1-beta-mercaptopropionic acid-4-glutamic acid-oxytocin) and its use in preparing a hormone-agarose complex.

1-Deamino-4-glu-oxytocin (1-beta-mercaptopropionic acid-4-glutamic acid - oxytocin) was synthesized by sequential reduction by sodium in liquid ammonia and oxidation by hydrogen peroxide of the octapeptide derivative, S-benzyl-beta-mercaptopropionyl-tyrosyl-isoleucyl-gamma-O-benzyl-glutamyl-asparaginyl-S-benzyl-cysteinyl-prolyl-leucyl-glycinamide. The oxidation analogue was isolated and purified by partition chromatography in two different solvent systems followed by exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-25. It was found to possess approximately 13 I.U. of uterotonic activity, 34 I.U. of milk ejection activity, and 83 I.U. of milk ejection-like activity per milligram, measured on an isolated strip of lactating mouse mammary gland. 1-Deamino-4-Glu-oxytocin was coupled to AH-Sepharose 4B by the way of the free gamma-carboxyl group of its residue of glutamic acid. The water soluble 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride caused the coupling with approximately 70% effectiveness. The resultant peptide-agarose complex had low biological potency in the assay of milk ejection-like activity.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Gender differences in practice patterns of Ontario family physicians (McMaster medical graduates).

This study examined the extent to which physician gender influences practice patterns. Data came from the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan billing profiles of general practitioner and family medicine graduates of McMaster University School of Medicine. The women physicians studied were more likely to be certified in family medicine than the men and a higher proportion of their patients were female. Women were more likely to be working part time, billed during fewer months of the year, earned less, and saw fewer patients. They provided greater numbers of services in psychotherapy and counselling and ordered more laboratory tests; associated with this were higher costs per service and per patient. Women offered a less diverse mix of services than men. They provided fewer hospital, emergency room, and intrapartum services and a lower proportion of women included house calls, after-hours work, hospital, emergency room, surgical or intrapartum services in their service mix. Thus these women appeared more likely to restrict their practices to the office setting and to provide a higher proportion of psychosocial care. The overall impact of these sex differences in practice patterns on the health care system requires further exploration.

Family Practice↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Career interruptions and hours practiced: comparison between young men and women physicians.

This study compares current level of workforce participation and number, type and length of career interruptions since entering medical school reported by young men and women physicians. By 10 years from medical school entry, one third of the women studied had taken a maternity/child care leave and 24% had taken time away from their careers for other reasons while only 11% of men had interrupted their careers. The average time taken and reasons given for non-maternity-related career interruption were similar for men and women. Both men and women in the types of medical careers that historically have attracted more women work shorter hours than those in medical career types where women are under-represented. Across career types, women worked shorter hours per week than men and the presence of children further reduced hours of work for women only. Although the women studied are more active professionally than previous generations during their childbearing/rearing years, a considerable gap in the participation level remains.

Adult↗