Hundreds of medical assistants and CMAs (AAMA) are scheduled to attend the 56th Annual Conference of the American Association of Medical Assistants Sept. 7-10 in Scottsdale, at the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort. Attendees can choose from more than 30 topics, including robotic surgery, bariatrics, bullying in the workplace, drug recognition for the medical assistant, and legal issues to avoid in allied health education.

The Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center (SIRC) has received a $6.3 million dollar research award from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of the National Institutes of Health.

The number of Americans considered obese is expected to rise from the current 34 percent to 42 percent by the year 2030, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and discussed at Monday’s “Weight of the Nation” conference in Washington. Diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, and other obesity-related ailments account for countless premature deaths and as much as 18 percent of the $2.6 trillion national cost of medical care.

Help is on the way for consumers flummoxed by health insurance forms, but they’ll need to be patient.

Help is on the way for consumers flummoxed by health insurance forms, but they’ll need to be patient.

As their peers cheered them on, campers at a Mesa school this week raced against one another in a relay designed to increase their heart rates and get them moving.

Bonnie Erbe: Business decisions and personal responsibility are in the midst of a mid-air collision over the "plane fat" laws.

MIAMI - The family of a missing cruise ship passenger said Monday that they suspect the woman "chose an unfortunate ending to her life" and jumped from a cruise ship balcony into the waters off Mexico's coast on Christmas night.

Cheryl Mirto is less than half the woman she used to be. Literally. Mirto, 59, a psychiatric social worker from Scottsdale, has lost 155 pounds from her once 287-pound frame since having gastric bypass surgery nearly three years ago.

As more people participate in weight-loss surgery, Scottsdale hospitals are taking special measures to cater to the population. Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn will install a new CT scan machine next month that can accommodate patients up to 650 pounds and 33 inches around.

BALTIMORE - Some doctors have found a way to use a videoconferencing robot to check on patients while they’re miles from the hospital.

Five years ago, Southwest Ambulance would transport its largest patients using what it described as something similar to a parachute with a ball on it for weight.

Physicians and the public can learn more about surgical weight loss options for morbidly obese people in an upcoming television broadcast, said a Scottsdale Healthcare surgery director who appears in the show.

CHICAGO - The chances of dying within a year after obesity surgery are much higher than previously thought, even among people in their 30s and 40s, a study of more than 16,000 Medicare patients found.

For 21 years, Paradise Valley Hospital has served the north East Valley as a general community hospital, specializing in providing quality emergency medicine, obstetrics services and bariatric surgeries, said the hospital’s chief executive officer.

Sept. 19, 2004

So far, there is less than meets the eye to last month’s announcement that obesity is now regarded as a disease by federal health officials.

In a showcase of public, private and parochial schools, today’s Tribune Education Expo will give parents the chance to research the best education options for their children.

Southwest Ambulance has earned recognition on a national level.

Less than a year ago, Carrie Barrett barely had the energy to walk into her classroom at Madison Camelview Elementary School, where she teaches kindergarten.

As a registered nurse and program coordinator for Paradise Valley Comprehensive Weight Loss Center, Sandra Montelongo knows all the statistics about bariatric surgery.

When it comes to weight loss, most people look for the quick fix.

The public's mixed feelings about the popular dietary supplement ephedra — since the death of Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler last week — can be found at the Hi-Health store on North Miller Road in Scottsdale.