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Problem Addressed: In 2006, leaders of undergraduate family medicine education programs faced a series of increasing curriculum mandates in the context of limited time and financial resources. Additionally, it became apparent that a hidden curriculum against family medicine as a career choice was active in medical schools., Objective of Program: The Shared Canadian Curriculum in Family Medicine was developed by the Canadian Undergraduate Family Medicine Education Directors and supported by the College of Family Physicians of Canada as a national collaborative project to support medical student training in family medicine clerkship. Its key objective is to enable education leaders to meet their educational mandates, while at the same time countering the hidden curriculum and providing a route to scholarship., Program Description: The Shared Canadian Curriculum in Family Medicine is an open-access, shared, national curriculum ( www.sharcfm.ca ). It contains 23 core clinical topics (determined through a modified Delphi process) with demonstrable objectives for each. It also includes low- and medium-fidelity virtual patient cases, point-of-care learning resources (clinical cards), and assessment tools, all aligned with the core topics. French translation of the resources is ongoing., Conclusion: The core topics, objectives, and educational resources have been adopted by medical schools across Canada, according to their needs. The lessons learned from mounting this multi-institutional collaborative project will help others develop their own collaborative curricula., (Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.)

Introduction: The pain of acute herpes zoster (shingles) is severe and difficult to control. The medications used to control pain have a variety of important and potentially serious side effects. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first case report of using a plain topical occlusive dressing to reduce the pain of herpes zoster, avoiding the use of medication., Case Presentation: A 40-year-old Caucasian man and a qualified physician (the author), developed a dermatomal vesicular rash consistent with herpes zoster. Applying plain topical occlusive dressings reduced the severity of his pain to an ignorable level., Conclusion: Plain topical occlusive dressings provide effective pain relief for acute herpes zoster, thereby avoiding the risks accompanying medication use.

In an 8-year review of ectopic pregnancy (EP) rates in donor egg recipients and standard patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) at a large university-based program, we report an EP rate of 0.6% in donor egg recipients and 0.9% in standard IVF patients, a difference that is not statistically significant. Donor egg recipients were found to have a significantly lower incidence of tubal disease compared with standard IVF patients; however, tubal disease was not found to be an independent risk factor for EP in our practice, perhaps owing to aggressive management of tubal disease.

Objective: To determine whether early measurement of the serum cytokines interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R), IL-6, and IL-8 along with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and progesterone (P(4)) can differentiate an ectopic from an intrauterine gestation., Design: Retrospective analysis., Setting: University-based fertility center., Patient(s): 75 women who underwent treatment with in vitro fertilization (IVF) and subsequently had an ectopic gestation (n = 15), spontaneous abortion (SAB) (n = 30), or term delivery (TD) (n = 30)., Intervention(s): Serum samples were obtained 14 (day 28) and 21 (day 35) days after oocyte retrieval., Main Outcome Measure(s): Serum concentrations of IL-2R, IL-6, IL-8, P(4), and hCG., Result(s): Median hCG readings on day 28 and day 35 were statistically significantly lower in the ectopic gestation group than in those with spontaneous abortion or term delivery. On day 28, median IL-8 levels were lower in the ectopic gestation group when compared with all intrauterine gestations combined. No statistically significant differences in IL-2R or IL-6 levels were noted between groups. Despite P(4) supplementation, median day-35 P(4) levels were lower in ectopic gestation than in the spontaneous abortion and term delivery cycles., Conclusion(s): In the setting of a rise or plateau in hCG levels, low day-28 IL-8 and day-35 P(4) levels suggested an extrauterine implantation. This assay combination may facilitate earlier diagnosis of an ectopic gestation when pregnancy location is unclear.

Objective: To report a case of a heterotopic primary abdominal pregnancy after two-blastocyst IVF-ET., Design: Case report., Setting: University-based IVF program., Patient(s): A woman with a heterotopic abdominal pregnancy after IVF-ET., Intervention(s): Pituitary down-regulation with luteal antagon, ovulation induction with menotropins, IVF-ET, progesterone in oil for luteal support, dilation and curettage for missed abortion, laparoscopy, and resection of abdominal gestation., Main Outcome Measure(s): Human chorionic gonadotropin levels, pelvic ultrasound examinations, and laparoscopic and pathologic findings., Result(s): A heterotopic abdominal pregnancy occurred after a two-blastocyst IVF-ET. The concurrent intrauterine gestation resulted in a miscarriage., Conclusion(s): The number of embryos transferred has been identified as a powerful risk factor for heterotopic pregnancy; however, heterotopic pregnancy can occur following a two-embryo, blastocyst stage transfer.

In a 6-year review of ectopic pregnancies (EPs) after fresh and frozen embryo transfers in IVF cycles conducted at a large university-based program, we report an overall 0.9% rate of EP that seems to have increased with the programmatic shift to routine blastocyst transfer, but remains lower than nationally reported rates. Aggressive management of tubal disease may contribute to low rates of EP, whereas blastocyst transfer may increase the rate.

Objective: To assess the rates of select obstetric outcomes in oocyte donation (OD) recipients aged <35 years and > or =40 years and compare them to similarly aged IVF patients., Design: Retrospective anonymous questionnaire study., Setting: University-based IVF center., Patient(s): Live-birth outcome was experienced by 199 OD recipients and 488 IVF patients <35 or > or =40 years., Intervention(s): The OD or IVF cycles., Main Outcome Measure(s): Response rate, pregnancy outcome, and complications., Result(s): Response rate was 60%. The OD recipients had significantly higher rates of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) than their IVF counterparts. The OD <35 years had the highest rate (42%), followed by OD > or =40 years (26%), IVF > or =40 years (14%), and IVF patients <35 years (12%). In twin pregnancies, the rates of PIH remained higher in the OD groups: OD <35 years (56%), OD > or =40 years (36%), IVF > or =40 years (25%), and IVF <35 years (22%). Twin pregnancy rate was lowest in IVF patients > or =40 years (19%) and a lower preterm delivery rate (16%) reflected this difference. The cesarean section rates were 50% for singleton and 78% for twin deliveries in the OD patients <35 year; in OD patients > or =40 years, the rates were 75% and 84%, respectively., Conclusion(s): The OD recipients are at higher risk for untoward obstetric outcomes than their IVF counterparts. Young OD recipients reported the highest rate of PIH, warranting further investigation into an association between early loss of ovarian function and PIH.