Archive for April 6th, 2005

That’s me. Today, I got up very very early (for me) and drove into downtown Fort Worth to attend a Trauma conference (warning:PDF file). I drove around and found a place to park, then walked around looking for the right door.

That’s when it struck me: I don’t see anyone else going in here. So, out comes the Palm, and a quick check of the schedule shows:

Wrong Day.

It’s tomorrow. There’s a real D’oh! moment.

So, I’ll go tomorrow. And enjoy the rest of today!

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In my conversations with doctors, it’s rare for me to find a single one who doesn’t second-guess their choice of profession or the direction of their practice. I myself have considered at least going to a seminar about “non-clinical careers for physicians”, though currently I’m too cheap to shell out the high price for the conference.

This topic, however, leads to a shameless plug for another new advertiser on the blog, Dr. Ivo Drury and his Career Consulting for Physicians site. I haven’t used his services but have looked over his site, and it looks like this could be a very valuable resource for docs who want to do something with their careers, whether it be getting motivated or doing something else.

Have a look, and let me know if you utilize his services.

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I have just posted my 1,000th entry on the blog. That’s an amazing number to me, especially since I have yet to say anything.

I’m the monkey trying to type Shakespeare, 1,000 pages done.

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Answer to the “guess the diagnosis” now in the extended entry of the original post.

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Shrinkette

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and the mention of someone I know!

Blogborygmi

Emergent Phenomenon: Dr. Louis Binder has compiled his annual emergency medicine match statistics. It’s currently available on StudentDoctor.net:

1. Emergency Medicine experienced an increase of 37 entry level positions in the 2005 Match over 2004 Match numbers (a 2.9% increase), occurring from a combination of quota increases occurring in EM 1-3 and 1-4 programs, and three new programs in the EM match. Emergency Medicine now comprises 5.5 percent of the total NRMP positions and 8.4% of matched US seniors (both all time highs).

2. The overall demand for EM entry level positions increased substantially, from 52 additional US graduates ranking only EM programs to 113 more US graduates and 182 more total applicants ranking at least 1 EM program in 2005, after similar levels of growth of the applicant pool in 2004. The majority of this increase came from US seniors who ranked EM programs. This growth in demand for EM positions far exceeded the increase in supply of positions. The excess applicant demand over and above the size of the training base is 48 to 356 applicants (4% to 27% surplus), depending on how the parameters of the applicant pool are determined.

More programs (now 132), with more spots at existing programs, but still the demand for emergency is outstripping the supply. Of all incoming spots at all residency programs, 5.5% are now EM, and 8.4% of US senior med students matched into emergency medicine. That’s 991 of us this year.

First, congrats (again) to 991 new colleagues-in-training.

Second, Lou Binder was an Assistant Professor in El Paso when I was a med student there, and I have nothing but fond memories of his teaching and his mentorship. Also, I still owe him for letting me be the most hungover med student to ever sleep on his couch (Juarez, $1 tequila shots, etc; would be a really funny story, except just telling it makes my head hurt).

So, new news and old news. Nothing but the best here!

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Respectful Insolence (a.k.a. “Orac Knows”): The Tangled Bank XXV: Dear Journal Editor, It’s Me Again

…
Tangled Bank is about science. So what do scientists do? Well, they do research and experiments. But what do they do after they do their research? They submit articles reporting the results of their research to scientific journals, of course, hoping to get published in a high visibility journal. It’s publish or perish! And, sadly, their articles get rejected. A lot. All too often with nasty comments from the reviewers. I had my organizing principle!

With that inspiration, I knew what I had to pattern this week’s Tangled Bank after: Roy F. Baumeister???s famous comic diatribe against an intransigent journal editor and the journal???s bloodthirsty reviewers. I hereby present to you, blatantly (but lovingly) stolen and altered at will to my own nefarious ends:

Go and read the nefarious ends!

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Waco has a lot to ba happy about today: SI.com - 2005 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament - Lady Bears win first ever women’s hoops title - Tuesday April 5, 2005 10:57PM

The Baylor Lady Bears simply wanted to be a shining light for a university that needed something to applaud. One dazzling national championship ought to do.

Way to go, Baylor!

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