Today on Health Lab, we are sharing an episode of The Fundamentals, another podcast from the Michigan Medicine Podcast Network that just launched its second season earlier this month. On this episode of The Fundamentals: "Cannabis and psychedelics: stigmatized substances or powerful therapeutics?" Dr. Kevin Boehnke talks about cannabis, psychedelics, and the increasing body of evidence for their legitimization as therapeutics.

Nearly 200 Medical School faculty members earned promotions in the 2024 cycle. Their new appointments were approved May 16 by the U-M Board of regents and take effect Sept. 1, 2024.

The University of Michigan Regents approved seven U-M Medical School Department of Anesthesiology faculty promotions during their May 2024 meeting.

Recent developments represent a dramatic change from long standing federal policy around these substances that has historically criminalized their use and blocked or delayed research efforts into their therapeutic potential.

Commencement ceremonies are, by design, full of Pomp and Circumstance. There are speeches to deliver and diplomas to dispense. And, of course, there is an air of celebration and accomplishment for the graduates and their families and friends. The 2024 Medical School M.D. graduation ceremony had all of this, as well as an added layer of humor when William Flanary, M.D., a prolific writer of both medicine and comedy, delivered the Commencement address May 10 in Hill Auditorium.

In the second season of The Fundamentals podcast, co-hosts Kelly Malcom and Jordan Goebig talk to several leading experts from the Medical School about their fields and the fundamental questions they are trying to answer — and discover why U-M is such an amazing place for research. Six new episodes of the popular podcast were released on May 6

An ophthalmologist and beloved comedian shares his thoughts on the field to aspiring clinicians.

Drs. Paul Picton (University of Michigan Medical School) and Matt Whalen (Emory University School of Medicine) join host Dr. Adam Striker to discuss perioperative stroke.

On today’s The Fundamentals is Dr. Brummett, Professor at the University of Michigan where he serves as the Senior Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Anesthesiology. He has more than 280 publications, including articles in top journals such as JAMA, JAMA Surgery, Anesthesiology, and Annals of Surgery. He is the Co-Director of the Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network or OPEN at the University of Michigan, which aims to apply a preventative approach to the opioid epidemic in the US through appropriate prescribing after surgery, dentistry and emergency medicine. Moreover, he is the Co-Director of the cross-campus Opioid Research Institute, which was launched in the spring of 2023. He leads multiple NIH grants studying these concepts and receives funding from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, SAMHSA, CDC, and multiple foundations. You can learn more about Dr. Brummett here, and you can follow Dr. Brummett @drchadb and the department of anesthesiology @UMichAnesthesia on X.

When M4 Ahmad Hider crosses the stage at Hill Auditorium this week to receive his diploma and officially become Dr. Hider, like his fellow graduates he is excited about the future that awaits him in residency and beyond. As Hider becomes more fully immersed in the health care system, however, he also feels that many things need fixing. So, when he begins a residency in general surgery at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, he is preparing to for a dual role — becoming the best surgeon he can, and improving health care for patients.

Rebecca Nause-Osthoff, MD, has received the University of Michigan Medical School Office of Graduate Medical Education's (GME) 2024 Faculty Equity and Inclusion Award.

Paul Picton, M.B., Ch.B., MRCP, FRCA, has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Anesthesiology in the Medical School, effective May 1. The provost has provided interim approval of his appointment, and it will be reported at the May Board of Regents meeting

Four with Medical School ties are among 12 University of Michigan faculty and staff members recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as 2023 fellows in recognition of their extraordinary achievements.

The number of patients using cannabis for medical purposes has increased more than 600 percent since 2016.

Data on medical cannabis use found that enrollment in medical cannabis programs increased overall between 2016 and 2022, but enrollment in states where nonmedical use of cannabis became legal saw a decrease in enrollment