Health Notes: University of Minnesota ranks fifth for rural medicine

The University of Minnesota Medical School ranks fifth in the nation for rural medicine in the latest ratings by U.S. News & World Report.

The U’s Academic Health Center touted the rating, along with other top-10 rankings, in a news release.

Rural medicine is a primary focus of the medical school’s Duluth campus, which shares space with the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The Duluth campus leads the country in terms of the proportion of its graduates who practice in small towns and rural areas, Gary Davis, the school’s dean, has said.

The Medical School also ranked seventh nationally in primary-care instruction and 10th in family medicine. Primary care, rural medicine and family medicine all are areas where Minnesota and many other states face shortages, the news release said.

The magazine ranked the University of Minnesota’s College of Pharmacy, which also has a campus in Duluth, third in the nation.

St. Luke’s recycles to reduce plastic in landfills

St. Luke’s hospital kept more than 25,000 pounds of plastic waste out of landfills last year by reusing its sharps containers.

The hospital went to reusable sharps containers in 2004 and its clinics followed suit in 2009, a hospital news release said. Once the containers are full they are emptied, sterilized and returned to be used again.

The program allowed the hospital to keep 25,288 pounds of plastic and 1,834 pounds of cardboard out of landfills last year, the news release said. According to Stericycle, the company contracted to manage the sharps, that’s the equivalent of 14,969 pounds of carbon dioxide, the amount of emissions released by about 770 gallons of gasoline or 280 home-barbecue propane cylinders.

Veterans clinic to open in Ely

Ely will have a Veterans Affairs outreach clinic beginning this summer.

In a news release, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a Cincinnati company, Sterling Medical Associates, has been awarded five-year contracts to operate an outpatient clinic in Hibbing and an outreach clinic in Ely.

The VA has had a clinic in Hibbing since 1998; the contract with a California company is being discontinued, the news release said. The Ely clinic will replace a satellite clinic that has been operated at Cook Hospital since 2009.

The Hibbing clinic, open Monday through Friday, will be at Iron Gate Plaza, 990 W. 41st St., Suite 5. The Ely clinic, open two to three days a week, will be at 720 Miners Drive.

More than 3,000 veterans are enrolled in the existing Hibbing clinic. Data indicate a significant number of veterans in the Ely area as well.

Form of yoga draws interest from far away

People are coming from all over to learn about a specialized form of yoga therapy in Duluth this weekend.

The intensive training in SomaYoga will take place Friday through Sunday at Yoga North, 4628 Pitt St., a building shared with St. Michael’s Lakeside School.

SomaYoga uses Somatics, a system of neuromuscular retraining focused on addressing musculoskeletal problems, Ann Maxwell, Yoga North co-owner, said in a news release.

The sold-out program has participants coming from Chicago and New York City, the news release said. That’s because only about 150 people in the world are certified Somatic educators, and five of them are instructors at Yoga North.

Information about Yoga North is available by calling (218) 722-9642 or on online at www.yoganorthduluth.com.

Helping smokers quit is focus of study

A Minnesota nonprofit wants to help friends and family help smokers quit.

“Nonsmokers have tried nagging their smokers, or hiding their cigarettes,” Raymond Boyle, director of research for ClearWay Minnesota, said in a news release. “This study is offering a new approach by educating friends and family about strategies to become support people for the smoker in their life.”

The study, carried out in conjunction with the Mayo Clinic, is open to all nonsmoking Minnesota residents. For more information, look online at www.supportasmoker.com or call the study information and registration line at (800) 957-2950.

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