Healthy Observances and Health Care Coverage in the Month of October

Each month throughout the year has its own list of observances related to health and medicine, and October is one of the richest among them. These monthly designations do a great job of reminding the general public and health care providers about some of the most important—and sometimes overlooked—threats to health and what we all can do about them.

These monthly observances also serve as a good way for us at Consultant and Consultant360.com to determine whether the breadth of our peer-reviewed clinical content and our news and industry coverage is hitting the mark. Despite the national trend, we don’t offer pumpkin-spice anything here in October, but we do offer you practical clinical information that you can use in your primary care practice today.

For example, October is Eye Injury Prevention Month and Home Eye Safety Month, and this issue’s review article on the primary care diagnosis, treatment, and referral of ocular emergencies (retinal detachment, acute angle-closure glaucoma, amaurosis fugax, and corneal ulcer) fits nicely with that theme. And you can find much more clinical coverage of and news about the management of eye disorders at the Ophthalmology 360 specialty area at Consultant360.com.

This month also includes International Infection Prevention Week (October 16-22) and Bone and Joint Health Action Week (October 12-20), and the patient’s case at the center of one of this issue’s “Case in Point” articles, beginning on page 931 and focusing on a case of abrupt-onset low back pain with fever in a man, reinforces the message of both of these October observances. In this case, the patient’s back pain was the result of an unexpected pathogen, not a traumatic or chronic injury. Again, Consultant360.com has these awareness weeks covered with the Infectious Disease 360, Orthopedics 360, and Rheumatology 360 specialty areas, at which we have curated the clinical articles from Consultant along with the latest news from each practice area.

October features National Primary Care Week, and October also is Health Literacy Month. Both observances resonate at Consultant and Consultant360.com, given that our mission is to be the authoritative source for comprehensive and practical peer-reviewed clinical articles, information, and education for primary care physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. Each of the articles in the pages of Consultant, and all of the content at Consultant360.com, serve that mission exclusively, and we take that responsibility very seriously. 

Let us know how we’re doing. Contact me at editor@consultant360.com, or call me at (800) 237-7285, ext. 4396. As always, thank you for reading.

Michael Gerchufsky, ELS, CMPP
Managing Editor, Consultant