WASHINGTON, DC—One of the biggest challenges for Lt. Cdr Heather Huentelman, USPHS, Pharm D, is not providing treatment to HIV patients but making sure the patients actually adhere to the sometimes complex drug regimen.

WASHINGTON, DC—Returning servicemembers are among the some 40 million Americans who suffer from chronic long term sleep disorders, and, for reasons ranging from disrupted sleep during deployment, battlefield stress or even hyper vigilance, their sleep problems can be especially challenging to treat. That is even more the case when post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, pain and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are involved.

WASHINGTON, DC—Even though the overall 2012 budget request for VA includes $50.9 billion for medical care— a net increase of $240 million over the 2012 advance appropriations request of $50.6 billion in the 2011 budget—union representatives are worried that cost-cutting measures may be putting too much strain on VA’s already stretched-thin staff.

WASHINGTON, DC—With a decline in the number of central line associate bloodstream infections in intensive care units, the focus is turning to an area where such infections are burgeoning – kidney dialysis clinics.

WASHINGTON, DC—This time last year, a group of VA-funded researchers at MIT announced that they had developed a robot-assisted therapy for stroke patients that greatly improved patient outcome without significantly raising costs. In chronic stroke survivors, robot-assisted therapy led to modest improvements in upper-body motor functioning and in quality of life.

HARU OKUDA, MD, HAS BEEN NAMED NATIONAL MEDICAL DIRECTOR for the VA Simulation Learning Education and Research Network (SimLEARN) program. Okuda leads a staff of clinical simulationists and educators in conducting research, developing curricula and best practices and coordinating acquisitions of clinical simulation training systems in support of health care providers at VA medical centers.

DAYTON, OH—In the latest VA infection control lapse to come under public scrutiny, Ohio-based legislators are pushing for both U.S. House and Senate investigations into practices at a Dayton VAMC dental clinic that may have resulted in nine cases of hepatitis.

WASHINGTON, DC—Health care providers who work with traumatized patients are at risk for their own type of mental condition with symptoms that closely parallel post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The malady, known as “compassion fatigue” can lead to emotional burnout and a range of physical symptoms, according to a recent webinar held by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE)

WASHINGTON, DC—A parade of military medicine top brass went before a House subcommittee last month to trumpet U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ latest attempt to increase TRICARE premiums in the FY 2012 budget. Previous efforts were rejected by Congress, but DoD officials anticipate that the more modest increase this time will have a better chance of passage.

All exhibits at the National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are closed as of April 3 so the institution can relocate to Silver Spring, MD.