Contact: Richard P. Gulla
781-434-7101
rgulla@mms.org
Waltham, Mass. – March 25, 2013 – For years, the annual physical and other periodic health screenings have been considered key elements to sound medical health, providing a means of preventive care against a number of potential illnesses and diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. Yet the value of these tests has recently come into question, dividing the medical community and confusing patients.
The April edition of Physician Focus with the Massachusetts Medical Society, Checkups and Screenings: What do you need?, examines the role of screening tests and preventive examinations, the pros and cons of undergoing such testing, why the medical community seems divided on the question, and what advice patients might follow with regard to these tests. It will also explore the concept of shared decision making between physician and patient.
Guest is Michael Barry, M.D., President of the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation in Boston, Medical Director of the John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Hosting this edition is Mavis Jaworski, M.D., a primary care physician in Beverly, Mass.
Physician Focus is a noncommercial production of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Hopkinton (Mass.) Community Access Television, HCAM-TV. Now in its ninth year, the monthly half-hour program brings viewers health and medical information on timely topics from physicians and other healthcare experts. Distributed as a public service, the program reaches some 275 communities in Massachusetts each month through the courtesy of public access television stations. For details on the program, visit the home page at www.physicianfocus.org.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with nearly 24,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society publishes The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the world’s leading medical journals; the Journal Watch family of professional newsletters covering 11 specialties; and AIDS Clinical Care. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information, visit www.massmed.org.
HCAM-TV was founded April 1, 2004 by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hopkinton as a nonprofit corporation to manage local access to cable broadcast facilities. For information on HCAM, visit http://www.hcam.tv
