As the influenza season will coincide with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s perfect timing for the release of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) influenza vaccination updated guidance. The comprehensive report indicates that COVID-19 vaccines can be co-administered with other vaccines, including influenza vaccines like egg-based flu vaccines and cell culture-based inactivated and recombinant vaccines.

Shawna McCafferty, MD, a US Navy Veteran and a pediatrician in Charleston, South Carolina, provides a glimpse into her role as a “terrified and angry” doctor and mother seeing kids suffer from this latest wave and ultimately asking the question, “…exactly how much child death and devastation is acceptable?”  

Your identity as a physician is tough to get away from when you step away from the profession. Still, retirement is a unique opportunity that can take you in a completely different direction or provide new opportunities in medicine. From part-time locum tenens work to medical editing or writing, here are some ideas if you’re thinking about how you can still contribute to the profession after retirement.

Reference Source: JAMA Network OpenDesign: Retrospective study of 8,953 patients from the National Cancer Database; compared the use of definitive treatment between 2004 and 2014 of 1,280 young adults (YAs, aged 18-39 years); 3,937 patients aged 40-64 years; and 3,756 patients age 65+.Results: Amputation – 8.1% (YAs), 5.5% (40-64), 5.3% (65+). Chemotherapy – 39.4% (YAs), 29.5% (40-64), 9.3% (65+). Radiation – 59.3% (YAs), 69.1% (40-64), 63.4% (65+). Unique to young adults, clinical stage II disease vs. stage I disease and positive surgical margins were not associated with the use of radiation.

Despite peripheral blood making up 80% of all of hematopoietic cell transplants, there are similar rates of overall survival, disease-free survival, and transplant-related mortality when comparing marrow and peripheral blood as graft sources. Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and cytokine release syndrome (CRS) are more significant in those who received peripheral blood, yet the standard of care hasn’t changed. Here, two doctors reflect on the debate.

Publication: The LancetDesign: Open-label, single-arm study of 157 patients who had undergone a median of six previous lines of therapy and who received at least one dose of teclistamab; 40 patients received the recommended phase II dose of teclistamabResults: Of the 40 receiving the phase II dose, 58% achieved a very good partial response or better; 40% achieved a complete response or better