Association releases accountability guide for academic medical centers
Academic medical centers have a special responsibility to be accountable to the public, according to "Achieving Accountability: A Proactive Process for Academic Medical Centers," new publication available from the Association of American Medical Colleges. As a primer to the proactive process necessary for achieving accountability, this publication presents a template to distinguish and define different levels of accountability and identifies the specific categories of accountability for academic medical centers. It establishes a roadmap for providing internal and external accountability, and outlines the administrative steps required to implement the process, including a suggested organizational chart. For more information, please visit http://www.aamc.org/publications.

NIH announces new clinical-translational sciences initiative
The National Institutes of Health have introduced an initiative to enhance the discipline of clinical and translational sciences. At a meeting last week, the NIH National Center for Research Resources sought the advice of the biomedical research community on ways the NIH can foster the clinical and translational sciences into a new academic discipline, promote the training of clinical and translational investigators, expand resources for clinical and translational research, and improve inter-institutional collaborations. According to NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D., the goal of this NIH Roadmap-related initiative is to "provide the academic home and integrated resources needed to advance the new intellectual discipline of clinical and translational sciences, create and nurture a cadre of well-trained investigators, and advance the health of the nation by transforming patient observations and basic discovery research into clinical practice." For more information, please visit http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/clinicaldiscipline.asp.

CMS now accepting applications for National Provider Identifiers
Health providers may now apply online to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to receive their National Provider Identifier, as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Currently, CMS is accepting applications from individual providers; large group electronic file interchange requests will be collected later this year. All HIPAA covered entities, except small health plans, will be required to use NPIs by May 23, 2007. For more information, please visit https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov.

Hispanic students wanted for CDC internship program
The Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools are accepting applications for nine available positions in the 2005 HSHPS/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Student Internship Program. This eight-week internship experience is intended to equip Hispanic health professions students with research and clinical experiences directed at improving the health of Hispanic populations. The program has recently been expanded to include internships in CDC satellite offices in West Virginia and Ohio and will incorporate training opportunities along the U.S.-Mexico border. The program will cover students' costs for travel, housing, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses. Applications must be postmarked by June 5. Medical and public health students are welcome to apply. For more information, please visit http://www.hshps.com/html/student_internship.html.