September 2023 — MHCE Newsletter

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24 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us SEPTEMBER 2023 EDITION Physician Opportunities BERKSHIRE HEALTH SYSTEMS IS SEEKING COMPASSIONATE, COMMUNITY- FOCUSED PHYSICIANS IN THE FOLLOWING DISCIPLINES: ANESTHESIOLOGY • CARDIOLOGY • DERMATOLOGY • ENDOCRINOLOGY • ENT • FAMILY MEDICINE • GASTROENTEROLOGY • HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY • NEUROLOGY • NEPHROLOGY • OB-GYN • PSYCHIATRY • PRIMARY CARE • RHEUMATOLOGY • UROLOGY Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) is the leading provider of comprehensive healthcare services for residents and visitors to Berkshire County, in western Massachusetts. As the largest employer in Berkshire County, BHS supports more than 4,000 jobs in the region, and, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, BHS is committed to partnering with local municipalities and community organizations to help the county thrive. Working at BHS offers a unique opportunity to both practice and teach in a state-of-the art clinical environment at Berkshire Medical Center, the system’s 298-bed community teaching hospital in Pittsfield, which is a major teaching affiliate of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine. At BHS, we also understand the importance of balancing work with quality of life. The Berkshires, a 4-season resort community, offers world renowned music, art, theater, and museums, as well as year round recreational activities from skiing to kayaking. An affordable lifestyle with excellent public and private schools makes this an ideal family location. We are also only a 2½ hours drive from both Boston and New York City. Contact us to learn more about these exciting opportunities to practice in a beautiful and culturally rich region, as part of a sophisticated, award-winning, patient-centered healthcare team. Interested candidates are invited to contact: Michelle Maston or Cody Emond, Provider Recruitment Berkshire Health Systems | (413) 447-2784 | mmaston@bhs1.org | cemond@bhs1.org Apply online at: berkshirehealthsystems.org
WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 25 Study Links 'Forever Chemicals' to Testicular Cancer in Military Personnel Gary Flook served in the Air Force for 37 years, as a firefighter at the now-closed Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois and the former Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana, where he regularly trained with aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF -- a frothy white fire retardant that is highly effective but now known to be toxic. And multiple studiesopens in a new tab or window show that firefighters, both military and civilian, have been diagnosed with testicular cancer at higher rates than people in most other occupations, often pointing to the presence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the foam. and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) found strong evidence that airmen who were firefighters had elevated levels of PFAS in their bloodstreams and weaker evidence for those who lived on installations with high levels of PFAS in the drinking water. And the airmen with testicular cancer had higher serum levels of PFOS than those who had not been diagnosed with cancer, said study coauthor Mark Purdue, PhD, a senior investigator at NCI. "To my knowledge," Purdue said, "this is the first study to measure PFAS levels in the U.S. military population and to investigate associations with a cancer endpoint in this population, so that brings new evidence to the table." In a commentaryopens in a new tab or window in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, Kyle Steenland, PhD, a professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, said the research "provides a valuable contribution to the literature," which he described as "rather sparse" in demonstrating a link between PFAS and testicular cancer. More studies are needed, he said, "as is always the case for environmental chemicals." Flook volunteered at his local fire department, where he also used the foam, unaware of the health risks it posed. In 2000, at age 45, he received devastating news: He had testicular cancer, which would require an orchiectomy followed by chemotherapy. Hundreds of lawsuits, including one by Flook, have been filed against companies that make firefighting products and the chemicals used in them. But the link between PFAS and testicular cancer among service members was never directly proven -- until now. A new federal studyopens in a new tab or window for the first time shows a direct association between PFOS, a PFAS chemical, found in the blood of thousands of military personnel and testicular cancer. Using banked blood drawn from Air Force servicemen, researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
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September 2023 — MHCE Newsletter

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