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Presents a guideline for lawyers in responding the attorney letter of the Office of Thrift Supervision in the United States. Responsibility of lawyers in following standard of letter; Need to maintain confidentiality of communication; Forms of inquiry letter to legal organizations.

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) sponsors two summer undergraduate research programs to attract top performing undergraduate students into graduate studies in medical physics: the Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program (SUFP) and the Minority Undergraduate Summer Experience (MUSE). Undergraduate research experience (URE) is an effective tool to encourage students to pursue graduate degrees. The SUFP and MUSE are the only medical physics URE programs. From 2001 to 2012, 148 fellowships have been awarded and a total of $608,000 has been dispersed to fellows. This paper reports on the history, participation, and status of the programs. A review of surveys of past fellows is presented. Overall, the fellows and mentors are very satisfied with the program. The efficacy of the programs is assessed by four metrics: entry into a medical physics graduate program, board certification, publications, and AAPM involvement. Sixty-five percent of past fellow respondents decided to pursue a graduate degree in medical physics as a result of their participation in the program. Seventy percent of respondents are currently involved in some educational or professional aspect of medical physics. Suggestions for future enhancements to better track and maintain contact with past fellows, expand funding sources, and potentially combine the programs are presented.

Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs) are a vital component of the clinical research enterprise providing a pivotal role in human subject protection through the numerous activities and responsibilities assigned to them. In 2006, the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research resources (NCRR) implemented the Clinical and Translational Science Awards program (CTSA) to advance biomedical research. As a part of this endeavor, many workgroups were formed among the Consortium to support translational research. The Research Coordinator Taskforce was created as part of the Regulatory Knowledge group of the Clinical Research Innovation Key Function Committee, and focuses on enhancing CTSA capabilities to provide support and training for CRCs. In the spring of 2008, this taskforce conducted two surveys of the then 24 CTSA Consortium members to better understand the current expectations and responsibilities of research coordinators in addition to the mechanism for providing education, training, and support in order for CRCs to successfully meet the study responsibilities placed upon them. The results of these surveys are summarized in this article and provide context to the recommendations of the Research Coordinator Taskforce for institutional considerations, approaches, and best practices for providing education, training, and support the expanding role of CRCs in fulfilling their responsibilities delegated to them by investigators., (© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A rural hospital that has been downsized to a freestanding emergency department is an important model in that it offers a possible solution to a community's need to have emergency-care services locally available. This model could include other important local services, such as skilled-nursing and outpatient services. This study looks at the financial feasibility of a rural hospital shutting down acute-care services and maintaining emergency services. Expenses were determined, and changes to revenue and expenses were estimated. Reimbursement was assumed static. Medicare cost reports and hospital financial disclosure reports were used in investigating three model categories: an urgent-care clinic with emergency services; a hospital-based emergency department with an outpatient clinic; a hospital-based emergency department with an outpatient clinic and a hospital-based skilled-nursing facility. Even with best-case assumptions regarding continued reimbursement, results show only a small increase in net income and, in two cases, large losses compared with the size of the hospital operations. A subsidy would be required from the community or an affiliated hospital or network for the model to remain financially stable. The regulatory barriers to implementation are noted, as well as the potential problems with the human aspects of implementation--staffing, recruitment and retention, professional education and quality. If the model rural hospital is an affiliate or partner with one or more health care facility, which could assist with financial and staffing needs, it may be feasible.