Job sharing as an employment alternative in group medical practice.

Although physicians discuss quality-of-life and employment issues with their patients, they often fail to consider flexible scheduling and reduced employment options to lessen their own job stress. We examined one of these options by surveying two community-based, private practice groups with a combined 13-year experience with job sharing. We found that a majority of respondents rated job sharing as successful, and most wanted it to continue. Job sharers derived considerable personal benefit from the arrangement and had significantly more positive attitudes toward work than full-time physicians. Job sharing appeared to have little impact on practice parameters. Dependability, flexibility and willingness to cooperate were the most important attributes in choosing a job-sharing partner. Job sharing is an employment alternative worth exploring to retain physicians in medical group practice.

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in hunter-killed white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in four regions of Minnesota.

Sera from 1,367 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from 4 geographic regions in Minnesota collected during 4 hunting seasons (1990-1993) were tested for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii using the modified direct agglutination test incorporating mercaptoethanol. Sera from 30% of the deer had antibody titers > or = 25; 8.6% were positive at a titer of 25, 11% at a titer of 50, and 10% at a titer > or = 500. There was a significant increase in seropositivity with age (P < 0.0001). Adult deer were twice as likely to be positive as yearlings; yearlings were 2.5 times as likely to be positive as fawns. There was no difference in prevalence by sex when adjusted for age (P = 0.316), nor was there age-sex interaction. Only males showed a slight increase in titer with age (P = 0.049). There were no significant differences in prevalence among the regions of northeast pine/aspen forest, southwest tall-grass prairie, southeast mixed-hardwood forest, and aspen/oak suburban park land. There were no statistically significant differences by year of collection. The prevalence of T. gondii antibodies in white-tailed deer remains high and deer hunters and consumers should ensure that venison is well-cooked or frozen prior to consumption.

Radiographic diagnosis of hereditary chondrodysplasia in newborn lambs.

Normal appearing Suffolk lambs affected with hereditary chondrodysplasia (HC) and normal appearing unaffected lambs were radiographed at birth, and at 2, 4, and 8 weeks of age. In affected lambs, lesions were seen consistently in the elbows, shoulders, sternum, and spine. Similar lesions were not identified in unaffected lambs. A malformed Corriedale lamb was radiographed to compare its lesions to those seen in HC. The Corriedale lamb had islands of ossification of the anconeal process similar to those identified in lambs with signs of HC at birth. The islands of ossification seen in the Corriedale lamb were fused by 2 months of age, whereas elbow lesions seen in lambs with HC increased in severity during the same period.

Comparison of G-banded chromosomes from clinically normal lambs and lambs affected with ovine hereditary chondrodysplasia (spider syndrome).

Lymphocytes from 5 clinically normal lambs and 5 lambs affected with ovine hereditary chondrodysplasia (spider syndrome) were cultured, G-banded, and karyotyped. Fifty metaphase karyotypes and one heterogram were evaluated for chromosome number and morphologic features. All lambs had normal diploid (2n) chromosome numbers of 54,XX or 54,XY, and there were no apparent differences in the morphologic features of the chromosomes.