Chris Muir is an excellent cartoonist. I’ve been supporting him for a while, and today I got my gift in return:
GruntDoc: Patron of the Arts
December 7, 2010 by
Think Fast! book gives interview
December 7, 2010 by
Yes, he’s my brother, the smart one. Here he gives an interview to GoRacing TV (new to me) about his book, and why you should definitely buy one for Christmas. Oaky, he didn’t say that, but it’d make an appreciated gift to an aspirng racer…
The interview starts at 1:10
goracingtv on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free
The book can be ordered through the web site or through Amazon. (I get nothing from the book sales except satisfaction that my brother the Aerospace Genius has achieved his career dreams).
Dr. Wes: Our Health Care Reform Illusion
December 6, 2010 by
The idea of a fit for all is an illusion. Justice and equity are seen differently. We imagine some public consensus at our own peril. But honesty has been in short supply. To paraphrase Oprah: what do we know for sure?
Some people want a relationship with a trusted doctor who knows them well. They want to pick the doctor, the neighborhood and the hospital they attend. Others want immediate access and have little trust or interest in a personal relationship with a doctor.
Some people want…
What, one-size-fits-all isn’t a good plan? It’s almost like we’d need a market to fulfill these disparate desires…
Movin’ Meat: Market Economics in Action
December 1, 2010 by
… All of a sudden, we started seeing large numbers of herion users, many of them “novice” injectors, still using their veins. Most of them were pretty frank that they had only recently started using heroin, and few of them had any record of ER visits for drugs in the past. So, amateur economist that I am, I started systematically asking the heroin users how long they had been using, whether and what they had used before, and why they changed. …
Excellent post about economics in action, as seen by an Emergency Medicine physician.
Nice one.
FWIW, Fort Worth is mostly a cocaine town, with a smattering of meth and black tar heroin only once or twice a year. AFAIK, our Rx drug problem is hydrocodone (sorry about that word, spam filter, you’re about to get a pounding). I think Oxycodone and its ilk being Schedule II in Texas, requiring different State prescription pads, has kept that class abuse down (some).
Dr. Wes: The Need for Doctors’ Right To Investigative Free Speech
December 1, 2010 by
For medical device companies that pay doctors as consultants, they have to be willing to have the knife cut both ways during clinical testing of their devices, regardless of the implications to their investors
via Dr. Wes: The Need for Doctors’ Right To Investigative Free Speech.
Damn right.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder No Longer in D.S.M. – NYTimes.com
November 30, 2010 by
#fb
Narcissistic personality disorder, characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance and the need for constant attention, has been eliminated from the upcoming manual of mental disorders, which psychiatrists use to diagnose mental illness.
via Narcissistic Personality Disorder No Longer in D.S.M. – NYTimes.com.
So. blogging is normal then? Kinda takes the fun out of it…
Man who lost his sight every time he had sex | Mail Online
November 29, 2010 by
A man was forced to seek medical help after going temporarily blind every time he had sex.The unnamed patient would lose his sight every time he climaxed during intercourse.
via Man who lost his sight every time he had sex | Mail Online.
And you think you have problems.
Interview with Dr. Flea « ScienceRoll
November 22, 2010 by
Interview with Dr. Flea « ScienceRoll.
Interesting interview with Flea, an early medblogger and the definition of beware what you blog. Read the interview for the lowdown on that…
He’s wrong about not blogging anonymously. I think he means not to blog like you’re anonymous, which is a different thing…
Anyway, good for Berci for getting the interview!
Sergeant Friday on the TSA searches
November 22, 2010 by
amednews: Editorial – Welcome to our archives :: Nov. 22, 2010 … American Medical News
November 22, 2010 by
Most of that older content has been behind an access-control wall. By knocking down that barrier, we are making available 10 years of full content and several years more of selected earlier articles. All told, about 15,000 articles now can be searched and read.
We invite our readers to visit the archives and link to our articles from their own sites, blogs and posts.
via amednews: Editorial – Welcome to our archives :: Nov. 22, 2010 … American Medical News.
Thanks, AMedNews! I suppose an I told you so would be rude, so, I won’t.
AMA Policy on Social Media
November 19, 2010 by
New AMA Policy Helps Guide Physicians’ Use of Social Media
For immediate release:
Nov. 8, 2010SAN DIEGO – Millions of Americans use social networks and blogs to communicate, but when those users are physicians, challenges to the patient-physician relationship can arise. New policy adopted today by the American Medical Association (AMA) aims at helping physicians to maintain a positive online presence and preserve the integrity of the patient-physician relationship.
It’s not surprising there is some guidance on social media from the AMA. I suppose the only surprise is that it took this long.
Follow the link above to read the policy, which I find remarkably reasonable. I have some litle heartburn about this one:
(e) When physicians see content posted by colleagues that appears unprofessional they have a responsibility to bring that content to the attention of the individual, so that he or she can remove it and/or take other appropriate actions. If the behavior significantly violates professional norms and the individual does not take appropriate action to resolve the situation, the physician should report the matter to appropriate authorities.
Plenty of thoughtful people disagree with things I’ve written (and a few unthoughtful folks disagree with everything), but I’m not a fan of giving AMA blessing to harass.
Yes, there’s some things written out there I’m not a big fan of. I take it as a sign of strength that we can disagree but not make a federal case of it.
And, for you aspiring to get into a professional school, f) is not just for practicing physicians:
(f) Physicians must recognize that actions online and content posted may negatively affect their reputations among patients and colleagues, may have consequences for their medical careers (particularly for physicians-in-training and medical students), and can undermine public trust in the medical profession.
You’d have to go a long way to damage the medical profession, but it takes one facebook post to damage yours. “Dude, I was so wasted when I…” doesn’t instill confidence in you or your judgement. Just putting that out there.
So, rare kudos from me for the ever-shrinking AMA.
Another satisfied ABEM Diplomate
November 18, 2010 by
I get emails after bemoaning the inefficient / laughable requirements being imposed by ABEM for continuous certification, and while I thank them for writing I’m not interested in being the Lonely Critic who Wails at ABEM.
So, allow me to publish (with their permission) someone elses’ lament at the current state of ABEM:
Thank you so much about your column about ABEM! It is making me feel like I am not the only one going thru this. We have 150 hours of CME required now, 4 through my state, 8 through my insurance, and now I find we can’t count the LLSA’s as continuous ed! Plus the articles in LLSA are horrible.
I took my CONCERT this year and the scores still aren’t out 8 weeks later for a computerized test. Someone needs to rise up against ABEM, they are not our advocates. I felt like maybe ACEP can help but I don’t think they can. ABEM I think is run by a lot of ivory tower guys who work 4 shifts a month in a University Hospital with the residents doing all the work. Thanks again for your columns!
One of my colleagues recently took the recertification test, which is now computer-based, and his description was less than flattering. “It’s like they scanned a photograph of a slide, and then uploaded that for the test”. He’s also about 8 weeks out from the test, and awaiting his scores…
I don’t want to be the anti-ABEM forum (is EMED-L still around?) but when I get emails like this it tells me I’m not alone in wanting ABEM to perform better. Significantly better.
Imagine Medicine: The Photography / Photoshop Contest
November 18, 2010 by
Medicine rocks! It makes the sick heal, pain go away, and healers proud and happy. Medicine is an art, where the instruments are medical technologies, warm hands, and learned minds. Many of us see medicine everyday: in ERs, ORs, ICUs, PACUs, PICUs, and SICUs. We see medicine through our eyes and our hearts. But what about your camera?Welcome to the Imagine Medicine contest! We are looking for fascinating medical photography that… imagines medicine. Nothing is off the table: portraits, group shots, happy shots, tragic shots, clinical shots, photoshop illustrations, macro, micro, and anything in between. Can you imagine medicine, showcase it as art, and make us wonder?Here’s the lowdown. The contest is open to all. Upload your photographs to Flickr, and tag them with “imaginemedicine” and “medgadget” keywords. Make sure you add at least one sentence describing your work. The deadline for submissions is 11:59pm ET on December 5, 2010. The winner will be announced on December 10th and the prize is a brand new 16GB iPad with Wi-Fi.
MedGadget is having another contest. This time, though, it’s not medical fiction (which was a lot of fun to read and judge) but is medical photography.
An iPad is first prize, and I’m please to be one of the judges.
Hie thee over to MedGadgets‘ place, read the rules, and get to snappin those photos!
