The Spina Bifida Association of America encourages medical professionals to share this information with patients. The recommended amount of folic acid for these women is only available through a prescription. The association also encourages physicians to counsel pregnant women on the importance of folic acid. Women who consumed 0.4 mg of folic acid prior to pregnancy or during their first trimester, can reduce the incidence of folic acid preventable spina bifida and anencephaly by up to 75 percent. To encourage discussion between women and health providers, the association developed a folic acid counseling kit for health care professionals.
Single copies are free.
Medical students, residents lobby congress to change student loan laws Congress is considering legislation that could provide thousands of dollars of savings to residents over the life of their student loans. A recipient of the 2001 AMA Foundation Leadership Award, Dr. Sha attended the AMA National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., and the Congressional Day organized by the Resident Fellow Section and Medical Student Section. Now, he and medical students are encouraging classmates and others to write letters to their federal legislators about the money students could save on loans if Congress passed this legislation. Ultimately, this jeopardizes patient care because patients in rural and some urban areas suffer from a shortage of primary care physicians. Much effort has been made to provide primary care physicians in underserved rural and urban areas of Indiana.