A new correspondence highlights a critical gap in modern medical education, arguing that digital simulations and virtual reality fail to transmit the hands-on "tacit learning" essential for clinical practice. By attempting to recreate a dissection using the detailed ancient texts of the Roman physician Galen, the study demonstrated that written instructions and digital tools alike cannot replace the physical intuition and judgment gained through real-life, mentored practice. To address this, the correspondence suggests identifying and integrating these unspoken, tacit elements into the design of future digital pedagogical tools to better align with the actual needs of clinical skill acquisition.

Some alkaline mineral and medicinal waters may weaken the enteric coating of medications within just a few minutes, potentially reducing their effectiveness, according to a new study by Semmelweis University. The study, published in Pharmaceutics, found that if the active ingredient is released too early in the stomach rather than in the intestinal tract, it may reduce – and, in extreme cases, even eliminate – the effectiveness of certain anti-reflux, gastroprotective, psychiatric, or anti-inflammatory pain-relief medications. 

Lifestyle-induced loss of visceral fat (and not liver fat, pancreatic fat or subcutaneous fats) may have lasting health benefits years after the end of an intervention, even when body weight is fully regained, according to researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and their international collaborators. The findings suggest that a reduction in visceral (intra-abdominal) fat, the harmful fat stored deep in the abdomen around internal organs, may be partially preserved long term and is associated with better cardiometabolic health and lower future risk of type 2 diabetes.

The University of Bath (UK) has recruited leading psychiatric geneticist Professor Laura Huckins from Yale University as Chair of Population Health, as part of a £54 million UKRI Global Talent Fund to bring top researchers to the UK.