Are Michigan State University medical school (MSU-CHM) alumni more likely to practice in the region of their graduate medical education primary care program compared to non-MSU-CHM alumni?

BACKGROUND: Over the past 10 years, three new MD schools have been created in the state of Michigan, while the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MSU-CHM) has increased their class size to 850 students. The aim of this study was to determine if MSU-CHM alumni who graduate from an MSU-affiliated primary care residency from a single graduate medical education (GME) training program in Michigan are more likely to go on to practice in close proximity to the location of their training program immediately after graduation compared to non MSU-CHM alumni. Changes over time in the proportion of primary care graduates who received fellowship training immediately following residency were also compared between these groups. METHODS: A review of historical data was performed for all 2000-2016 primary care (Family Medicine, FM; Internal Medicine, IM; Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, IMP; Pediatrics, Peds) program graduates sponsored by Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners (GRMEP). Study variables included primary care program, gender, age at graduation, fellowship training, practice location immediately after graduation and undergraduate medical education location. Summary statistics were calculated for the data. Comparisons were made using the chi-square test or Fisher's Exact test when appropriate. Significance was assessed at p < 0.05. RESULTS: There were 478 primary care program graduates who went into practice immediately following graduation, 102 of whom also graduated from MSU-CHM. Just over half of the graduates were female and the average age at graduation was 32 years. There were 152 FM, 150 IM, 50 IMP and 126 Peds graduates. Those that graduated from both MSU-CHM and GRMEP were more likely to practice in Michigan immediately after residency training (79.4% vs 52.0%; p < 0.001), as well as within 100 miles of GRMEP (71.6% vs 46.4%; p < 0.001). There were 8% of MSU-CHM primary care graduates who went on to fellowship training from 2000 to 2009, increasing to 34% from 2010 to 2016 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Medical school graduates of MSU-CHM who receive GME training in primary care are more likely to practice medicine within close proximity to their training site than non MSU-CHM graduates. However, plans for fellowship after training may add one caveat to this finding.

Discovery of species-wide tool use in the Hawaiian crow.

Only a handful of bird species are known to use foraging tools in the wild. Amongst them, the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) stands out with its sophisticated tool-making skills. Despite considerable speculation, the evolutionary origins of this species' remarkable tool behaviour remain largely unknown, not least because no naturally tool-using congeners have yet been identified that would enable informative comparisons. Here we show that another tropical corvid, the 'Alala (C. hawaiiensis; Hawaiian crow), is a highly dexterous tool user. Although the 'Alala became extinct in the wild in the early 2000s, and currently survives only in captivity, at least two lines of evidence suggest that tool use is part of the species' natural behavioural repertoire: juveniles develop functional tool use without training, or social input from adults; and proficient tool use is a species-wide capacity. 'Alala and New Caledonian crows evolved in similar environments on remote tropical islands, yet are only distantly related, suggesting that their technical abilities arose convergently. This supports the idea that avian foraging tool use is facilitated by ecological conditions typical of islands, such as reduced competition for embedded prey and low predation risk. Our discovery creates exciting opportunities for comparative research on multiple tool-using and non-tool-using corvid species. Such work will in turn pave the way for replicated cross-taxonomic comparisons with the primate lineage, enabling valuable insights into the evolutionary origins of tool-using behaviour.

Seed dispersal by a captive corvid: the role of the 'Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis) in shaping Hawai'i's plant communities.

Species loss can lead to cascading effects on communities, including the disruption of ecological processes such as seed dispersal. The endangered 'Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis), the largest remaining species of native Hawaiian forest bird, was once common in mesic and dry forests on the Big Island of Hawai'i, but today it exists solely in captivity. Prior to its extinction in the wild, the 'Alala may have helped to establish and maintain native Hawaiian forest communities by dispersing seeds of a wide variety of native plants. In the absence of 'Alala, the structure and composition of Hawai'i's forests may be changing, and some large-fruited plants may be dispersal limited, persisting primarily as ecological anachronisms. We fed captive 'Alala a variety of native fruits, documented behaviors relating to seed dispersal, and measured the germination success of seeds that passed through the gut of 'Alala relative to the germination success of seeds in control groups. 'Alala ate and carried 14 native fruits and provided germination benefits to several species by ingesting their seeds. Our results suggest that some plants rely heavily on 'Alala for these services. In captivity, juvenile birds displayed seed dispersal behaviors more often than adult birds for most fruiting plants in our study. We introduced captive 'Alala to two large-fruited, dry-forest plants, not previously recorded as 'Alala food resources, but which may once have been part of their natural diet. The seed dispersal behavior that 'Alala displayed toward these species supports the inclusion of dry and mesic forests in 'Alala habitat restoration plans and adds weight to the idea that plant dispersal limitation may contribute to the rarity of these plants. Our study provides evidence that 'Alala have the capacity to play a vital role in maintaining the diversity of fruiting plants in native Hawaiian forests through seed dispersal and enhanced seed germination, thus adding greater urgency to efforts to restore 'Alala to their former range.

Captive breeding and rearing of critically endangered Mauritius fodies Foudia rubra for reintroduction.

In-situ captive rearing of endangered passerines for reintroduction has rarely been used as a conservation tool. Nests of Mauritius fodies threatened with predation by introduced mammalian predators were harvested from the wild, and chicks were reared to independence for release onto an offshore, predator-free island. The daily probability of the survival was higher in captivity than in the wild, and 69 chicks were reared to fledging of which 47 would have been expected to fledge in the wild. Harvesting of nests probably had little impact on the wild population. Captive breeding trials on Mauritius fodies showed that large numbers of individuals could be produced for a release program from a small number of pairs if enough space was provided. Artificial incubation of passerine eggs and rearing of chicks can be used to increase the productivity of endangered taxa. Zoos can play an important role in in-situ conservation programs through provision of avicultural expertise and training of local staff. Zoo Biol 27:255-268, 2008. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.