Kevin Liu

Participants in a recent shared medical appointment include, front row from left, patient Ellen Nelson, Merranda Holmes, MD, and Kevin Liu, MD, Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellow. Back row from left, Francis Balucan, MD, MBA, Taina Ovchinnikov, APRN, F-NP, and Erica Gray, PharmD.

Program studies impact of shared medical visits on loneliness and other issues

Vanderbilt is is studying how the use of shared medical appointments — when patients with common needs meet together with several health care providers — might impact loneliness, as well as other factors such as depression, substance abuse and utilization of emergency care.

Enjoy burgers? Better use tick repellent.

The lone star tick continues to be common across a wide swath of this region, and a bite can give you an allergy to red meat.