Read article – Quotes Carrie Colla, associate professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about a study she led that suggests that private healthcare plans do not perform better. “What kind of insurance you have does affect your access to health care,” says Colla. “But once you’re in front of the doctor, by and large you’re treated the same way as any other patient.”

Read article – An opinion piece by Kathryn Kirkland, professor of medicine and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in which she discusses how metaphors invoking war, battle and the fighting spirit are commonly used in response to diagnoses of cancer, but that there is an unintended effect of assuming that fighters should battle against the disease: the missed opportunities to fight for things that are most important — and achievable. Those would include time with family, completion of estate planning, restoration of relationships, and even bucket lists.

Read article – Quotes H. Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and professor of economics, about the overuse of genetic tests. “In some ways it’s easy for us to try and find something definitive and act on that even though it has nothing to do with what is wrong with the patient,” says Welch. “Genetics is an amazing tool. . . but to what extent does that data predict something that you care about? Is it useful knowledge?”

Read article – Tim Lahey, associate professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, shares facts about human papillomavirus (HPV), including how HPV is spread, how to recognize the symptoms of HPV, and the benefits of the HPV vaccine.

Read article – Quotes Elizabeth Talbot, associate professor of medicine, about how an Upper Valley resident is the first in New Hampshire this year to be diagnosed with Jamestown Canyon virus, a rare mosquito-borne illness that lead to serious infections. “It’s very rare in humans,” says Talbot. People are “only accidentally infected.”

Read article – Quotes Glyn Elwyn, professor and senior scientist at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about a recent study he conducted that examined the privacy laws regarding patients recording doctor visits.

Read article – An article that quotes William Weeks, professor of psychiatry, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, from a 2016 article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association about losing his sister, who was a chronic pain patient.

Read article – Quotes Bryan Luikart, assistant professor of molecular and systems biology, about a new study that reveals that scientists have successfully corrected a dangerous mutation in genes in human embryos, fixing a mutation that causes a common heart condition that can lead to sudden death later in life. “It is pretty amazing. It is a super-exciting time to be a scientist right now,” says Luikart, who was not involved in the study.