MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'JeffreyMD.com' source. Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:38:10 +0100 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/09/10/audience-interaction-requested/ Our microbiology course director decided that he wants lectures to be more interactive. So each medical student has been given a personal response device (a picture of mine above). The little card is an RF device. During lectures the professor will occasionally have slides with multiple choice questions based on the information covered thus far. We then have a short period of time to enter in our answers. After polling closes, a graph is produced and it shows the breakdown of how many in the class chose which answer. The thing I don’t like about the device is linked to a student. So it isn’t exactly anonymous. But so far its been fun to use and see the results. The novelty of it might be the cause of the “fun,” though. I remember watching America’s Funniest Home Videos when I was a little kid (the one hosted by Bob Sagat). I thought it was so cool how the audience all had their little controllers with which to punch in their votes. Going to microbiology lectures is like going to a game show now. Except there are no cash prizes. Oh, and nobody really wins. And its not really that fun. But we do have audience participation… addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F09%2F10%2Faudience-interaction-requested%2F'; addthis_title = 'Audience+Interaction+Requested'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1783158 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1783158 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/09/03/were-baaack/ After a summer off, the class is back together. It’s a bit strange. I was actually pretty excited about school starting up again. Reminded me a little of the elementary school excitement. Orientation was interesting. They went over policy again (briefly). I think a lot of the orientation part could have been skipped. One professor decided to use the orientation to talk to us about what we should do the succeed. Another professor gave us a “Survival Guide” for his class and his staff compiled advice from the class above us about how they prepared for the shelf exams and Step 1. Well my excitement was pretty high on Monday night (the night before the first day). Now, it’s gone down. Anxiety has gone up. They say the year will go by fast and soon I’ll be taking the Step 1 exam. That’s a bit scary. Nine months isn’t that long. I mean, a baby can be formed in that time. And in 10 months, my 3rd year should be starting (God-willing). Today I had my first Microbiology lab. It was pretty simple and consisted of things I had previously done in undergrad. We streaked (bacteria on agar), and then stained bacteria. Nothing terribly complex. It just took a while to do. They had a video showing the whole process before we were allowed to begin. As I’ve written before (at least I think I have), the curriculum is designed to accommodate non-science majors. So even the so-called “simple” stuff gets explained in detail. It’s helpful for those of us who weren’t Biology majors. ***** On another note, be sure to check out The Differential where I, along with other med students, also blog once a week. A posting of mine, summarizing the lessons of year one, is currently on the front page. If it’s not there anymore, here’s the permalink: Lessons of Year One. It’s different from what I post here. They get exclusivity. It’s filled with great info from people farther along in training than I am. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F09%2F03%2Fwere-baaack%2F'; addthis_title = 'We%26%238217%3Bre+Baaack%21'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760381 Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1760381 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/08/31/kauai-pictures/ This is not at all related to medical school. But my last post was written while still on vacation in Kauai. These are some of the pictures I took while over there. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F08%2F31%2Fkauai-pictures%2F'; addthis_title = 'Kauai+Pictures'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1747303 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1747303 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/08/29/classes-are-starting-soon-no/ I’m “back to school” next week after Labor Day. Right now I’m trying to enjoy my last few days of vacation and writing this entry while sitting poolside at a resort on the island of Kauai. Originally I was going to make this trip alone. I just wanted to relax before resuming lectures. But then my sister said she wanted to join me so for the last week its been the two of us. Coincidentally, I’ve met two of my classmates here on the island. Although, one of them did ask me, “Where do I know you from?” Guess that’s a sign for me to start attending more class functions. One day I was walking into the local FoodLand to get some bottled water. As I was walking towards the entrance I noticed a woman looking at me. I dismissed it, figuring she was looking at something behind me. She slowed down and as we met at the front door she pointed at my t-shirt and said she knew about Loma Linda (I was wearing my LLU School of Medicine t-shirt). We chatted briefly and she said she had relatives who had graduated from the medical school at Loma Linda. Later on that day I was at the beach when a man asked me, “Can I ask you something?” Naturally, I said yes. He and his wife had noticed my shirt as well. They asked if I was a doctor. I said no. Apparently they only saw the front because the back of the shirt says “Class of 2011.” It turns out that the gentleman has a PhD in psychology and he teaches “baby docs” (residents) about bedside manner (talking to patients and family, dealing with death, etc.). He and his wife asked me what I wanted to do and I replied that I was not sure yet. His wife mentioned something about children. I wasn’t too sure. And I replied that I had enjoyed my two weeks on the pediatrics service and had really enjoyed my time with Child Psychiatry. She told me that she saw me doing something with children. She said it might be in pediatrics, or maybe delivering babies, but she wasn’t sure. But definitely something with children. I’m not quite sure what kind of look I had on my face. But she felt the need to qualify what she was telling me by saying that she is a Christian. I told her that I am too. She continued by sayhing that I shouldn’t worry about money because the money would come. And to top it all of she said she saw me in some sort of medical mission work. Then, she prayed for me before we said our goodbyes. So even when I’m on vacation, Loma Linda University still has away of doing things for me. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F08%2F29%2Fclasses-are-starting-soon-no%2F'; addthis_title = 'Classes+are+starting+soon%26%238230%3B+no%21'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739674 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1739674 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/08/20/for-now-no-autopsy/ I was supposed to go in for an autopsy yesterday. As I was instructed, I phoned the Pathology Office between 8:15 and 8:30 AM. That’s when I got the bad news. There wasn’t going to be any autopsy at the location I had requested. Unfortunately for me, there wouldn’t be any until Thursday at the earliest. But I can’t go because I’ll be headed out of town during the last week of Summer Break. So instead I drove back home and have been filling my time with the Olympics and cleaning out/packing up my room. My room (at my parent’s house) has looked horribly messy. I’m sure it’s getting on my mom’s nerves. But its messy because I’m backing things in boxes and throwing out trash. So in the end, it’ll all be worth while. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F08%2F20%2Ffor-now-no-autopsy%2F'; addthis_title = 'For+Now%2C+No+Autopsy'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717897 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1717897 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/08/17/surgexperiences-204/ Welcome to another edition of surgeXperiences! SurgeXperiences is a bimonthly blog carnival bringing you stories from the front lines of the operating room. For more information, click here. This week’s (loose) theme was “My First Time.” So, in order of submission (for the most part), with those closest to the theme first, here are the posts! Firsts rlbates, a plastic surgeon from Little Rock, AR, recalls her first surgery rotation during her Junior year that happened to coincide with a record-breaking heatwave in July of 1980. Captain Atopic writes about his first time being awake in the OR and his first time in a non-English speaking country in a appropriately titled post: My First Surgery. Jeffrey Leow from Monash Medical Student shares his reactions to the many firsts in surgery in a post with visual aids aplenty and a nifty soundtrack too. David Gorski over at Science Based Medicine writes about his first encounter with The Orange Man and the lesson that meeting taught him about alternative medicine. Bongi, over at Other Things Amanzi, writes about his first time performing a splenectomy which, incidentally, was also his first time seeing one: see one, do one, teach one. Bongi also shares a humorous story about teaching a medical student how to do a lymph node biopsy and sending the student in(to) the deep end. The Scalpel’s Edge features a post about the first time DrCris begins to seriously consider a career as a surgeon. T vents a bit about the specialty of Anesthesiology after a patient announces to her that she is in a ROAD specialty and that her job is “easy”… which leads her to, in the end, remember the reason she decided on her specialty. The post is titled: Hit the Road, Jack, and Dontcha Come Back No More, No More, No More, No More…” (just kidding, of course). Over at Nursepractitionerblog’s Weblog is a post titled My most interesting patient that discusses some memorable firsts like changing a bedpan for the first time and the first time giving an IV to a gentleman scheduled to have both legs amputated. Opinion Lucia Li, in her first post on The Differential, shares her views on Women in Surgery. In a post titled Disaster Waiting to Happen, a new blogger from New Delhi writes a short paragraph about his thoughts after surgery at SurgeryLounge. Let’s welcome him to the blogosphere. Maggie Mahar at HealthBeatBlog.org writes about the Cultural Divide between Surgeons and Physicians. And related to the last post, rlbates offers her comments on a recent article (A Surgeon’s Outburst) printed in the Boston Globe and the article by Maggie Mahar mentioned above. DrCris also writes about TURFing and asks, Can’t Surgeons and Physicians Work Together? Jeffrey Parks offers his take on Diane Suchetka’s Continuing Anti-Doctor Crusade in a post discussing the newly released list of “never events.” MSNBC.com reported on this list last week. Another article at MSNBC.com reported that surgical errors cost $1.5 billion a year. News In To Heal the Wounded, Donald McNeil writes about a new textbook for surgeons on the battlefield. An interesting read for those interested in military medicine. The story is found at NYTimes.com. bookofjoe compares an article from the Scientific American and a study that appeared in the British Medical Joural about what happens when a surgeon sneezes. Reuters.com carries a story discussing the ethics relating to waiting for death and the quick-harvesting of hearts. Thanks to everyone who submitted. Thanks for allowing me to host this edition of SurgeXperiences. The next edition of SurgeXperiences will be hosted by DrCris a Scalpel’s Edge. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F08%2F17%2Fsurgexperiences-204%2F'; addthis_title = 'SurgeXperiences+204'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1710001 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1710001 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/08/12/free-medical-errors/ This morning I came across this article at MSNBC.com: More states shred bills for awful medical errors - Health care- msnbc.com. Apparently its news when hospitals in 23 states decide that they won’t be charging customers or medicare for awful medical errors. Such errors include “operating on the wrong body part or wrong person, or giving someone the wrong blood.” Well when I found out that another article reported that surgical errors cost employers up to $1.5 billion… well then I guess it is a huge deal. My only problem with this is: What took them so long?!? What other industry would be so daring enough to charge customers for mistakes? Unfortunately for me, my home state of California is not one of the states whose hospital associations have adopted such a policy. C’mon, Governor Schwarzenegger. Instead of cutting state funding to education and laying off workers, why not push the hospitals to save us some money? From the article, here are 28 errors that should NEVER happen. 28 Errors That Should Never Happen Surgery on the wrong body part. Surgery on the wrong patient. Wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient. Object left in patient after surgery. Death of patient who had been generally healthy during or immediately after surgery for a localized problem. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics. Patient death or serious disability associated with the misuse or malfunction of a device. Patient death or serious disability associated with intravascular air embolism. Infant discharged to wrong person. Patient death or serious disability associated with patient disappearing for more than four hours. Patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability. Patient death or serious disability associated with a medication error. Patient death or serious disability associated with transfusion of blood or blood product of the wrong type. Maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy. Patient death or serious disability associated with the onset of hypoglycemia, a drop in blood sugar. Death or serious disability associated with failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia, a blood abnormality, in newborns. Severe pressure ulcers acquired in the hospital. Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy. Patient death or serious disability associated with an electric shock. Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances. Patient death or serious disability associated with a burn in the hospital. Patient death associated with a fall suffered in the hospital. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails. Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist or other licensed healthcare provider. Abduction of a patient. Sexual assault on a patient. Death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault in the hospital. Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or donor egg. Source: National Quality Forum addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F08%2F12%2Ffree-medical-errors%2F'; addthis_title = 'Most+States+Don%26%238217%3Bt+Charge+for+Awful+Medical+Errors'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1701696 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1701696 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/08/07/autopsy/ By now my summer is almost over. I begin my second year in September, right after Labor Day. It’s gone rather quickly. I know I’m going to miss it. Part of me is worried that the summer vacation is going to make me rusty as far as studying goes. But I’ve been reviewing Biochemistry. So hopefully sliding into things in a couple weeks won’t be too terrible. The other day I was driving home from Target with my mom. I mentioned something about having to go back to Loma Linda for an autopsy. I’m not sure how it came out. But she sounded pretty confused as she said, “What?!?” I think it sounded like I was going in for my own autopsy — like it was one of those before-the-school-year-begins kind of things. Like a physical. So I think I caused my mom to doubt whether she knew what an autopsy was. But I assured her she knew what an autopsy was and that I was going to view an autopsy — not have one done on me. I’ll write about it once I’ve viewed it.. But it’ll probably go up at The Differential. So I’ll put up a link then. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F08%2F07%2Fautopsy%2F'; addthis_title = 'Autopsy'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1689337 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1689337 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/08/02/surgexperiences-blog-carnival-coming-soon/ I’d like to thank Jeffrey Leow for giving me the opportunity to host the SurgeXperiences Blog Carnival. Episode 4 of Season 2 will be coming to JeffreyMD.com on August 17, 2008. This will be my first time hosting a blog carnival. To find out more about SurgeXperiences, you can click the banner above. Deadline for Submissions: August 16 Suggested Theme: My First Time If you have a post that does not fit with the theme, that’s alright. Just submit it anyways. Click here to submit your post. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F08%2F02%2Fsurgexperiences-blog-carnival-coming-soon%2F'; addthis_title = 'SurgeXperiences+Blog+Carnival+Coming+Soon'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1675332 Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1675332 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/07/31/summer-update/ Well it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. It’s not because I don’t want to. I just haven’t had much to write about lately since I’m on summer vacation. I have had a couple of posts uploaded to The Differential. Those posts will probably eventually end up here on my personal blog. But for now, they are exclusively at Medscape. About a week and a half ago I received a packet from my school. I eagerly opened it and found a letter officially congratulating me on completing my first year. It also had a tentative schedule and list of required textbooks for my second year. I had been wondering if I was ever going to get such a letter. There were maybe 3 classes where the teacher sent us a congratulatory note that we passed a certain class. But the other classes offered no such satisfaction. I assumed I passed them. I’d hope that if I failed a class, the school would get to me a lot sooner than the end of July (especially since our finals were done by the beginning of June). Anyways, I am finally (officially) a second year. And that, in itself, is very exciting. I’m a quarter of the way done. It’s strange to think that this time next year I will be walking around the wards as a third year doing all the things I watched them do during freshman wards experience. They seem so far off. But I better not get ahead of myself. I still have to take the USMLE Step 1 exam after second year. Well, I actually have to get through second year first. Hopefully I’ll be able to write with more frequency as the school year approaches. Sophomore orientation is September 2! addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F07%2F31%2Fsummer-update%2F'; addthis_title = 'Summer+Update'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1668871 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1668871 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/07/10/science-based-medicine/ This year I had a course called Evidence-Based Medicine. The point of the class was to educate us on how to use the medical literature to determine the best treatments. Medicine has definitely come a long way from bleeding patients as a form of treatment. Now, we have evidence to lead the way. But I recently overheard my parents talking about drinking EPSOM salt as part of an alternative to surgery for removing gallbladder stones. The treatment involved drinking fresh-squeezed apple juice for a number of days, drinking a 1/2 cup of Virgin Olive Oil, and then drinking an EPSOM salt and water mixture. The treatment is supposed to flush out your liver/gallbladder and cause gallstones to be excreted with your stool. The site Curezone.com has a page dedicated to this treatment with a list of the various different “recipes” for the treatment. (Click here to see the liver flushing page.) Oh, and for all the skeptics, the pages come complete with pictures of gallstones people removed from their own stool! Well I was a skeptic. I realize I’m just a medical student. But the idea didn’t sit right with me. Then I found a website called Science-Based Medicine that contained an article titled “Would you like a liver flush with that colon cleanse?” The author, a surgeon, rips apart this treatment. If I were to paraphrase him: The treatment is absolutely ridiculous. You can check out the details at his post. Even in this day and age, there are still plenty of strange treatments that are blindly followed without any evidence to support it. My parents heard about this treatment from a church member who was told that she had gallstones and needed a surgery to remove them. I wish we could educate the public. Maybe a course on evidence-based medicine should be taught at the high school level. I mean, reading a site like the one listed above (Curezone) can be very convincing. You see all these testimonials by people who have “flushed” their livers. You see pictures of these supposed gallstones that were fished out of the toilet. And you think, hey, that’s proof it works! I guess this was one moment where I saw the value of my Evidence-Based Medicine course — a value I failed to appreciate at the time I took it. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F07%2F10%2Fscience-based-medicine%2F'; addthis_title = 'Science-Based+Medicine'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1606433 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1606433 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/07/10/jeff-w-for-president/ I think I might need to come up with a platform… :/ addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F07%2F10%2Fjeff-w-for-president%2F'; addthis_title = 'Jeff+W+for+President%3F'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1606432 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1606432 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/07/09/medical-tourism/ Reference: MSNBC.com: Hip surgery in India? Insurance may pay In the past few months I’ve been hearing about this medical tourism thing. It sounds really cool — maybe even exotic, doesn’t it? You go see the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, and stop by the local medical center for a tummy tuck, face lift, and skin peel. It gives the notion of someone coming back with that “vacation look” a whole new meaning. If you read the article, the American medical experts warn that this isn’t the safest option. They feel that the United States is the place to receive some of the top healthcare in the world (in terms of quality, not price). And I’m inclined to believe them. It’s rather sad that so many Americans are forced to seek healthcare outside our borders. It just illustrates how badly things have become. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F07%2F09%2Fmedical-tourism%2F'; addthis_title = 'Medical+Tourism%3F+Insurance+may+pay+%26%238212%3B+MSNBC.com'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603455 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1603455 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/07/09/ama-to-apologize-to-black-doctors-health-msnbccom/ AMA to apologize to black doctors - Health- msnbc.com I just wanted to point out this article. Just have a look at it if you’re interested. It’s a pretty big deal.. made front page of MSNBC.com. Anyways, I’ll save the commentary.. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F07%2F09%2Fama-to-apologize-to-black-doctors-health-msnbccom%2F'; addthis_title = 'AMA+to+apologize+to+black+doctors+-+Health-+msnbc.com'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603454 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1603454 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/07/05/missionary-doc-in-the-making/ A friend and classmate of mine is over in Zambia this summer for medical missionary work. He’s blogged about it and uploaded some interesting pictures. If you get the chance, or are interested in medical mission work, check out his site: Missionary Doc in the Making. I think DoctaJay will be uploading a video as soon as he gets back home to the States. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F07%2F05%2Fmissionary-doc-in-the-making%2F'; addthis_title = 'Missionary+Doc+in+the+Making'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1582366 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1582366 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/07/01/do-i-really-want-to-do-this/ Honestly, I have asked myself this question numerous times during the year. It’s a difficult questions. I submitted a post about this to The Differential and it just went up today. Check it out by clicking the logo below: addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F07%2F01%2Fdo-i-really-want-to-do-this%2F'; addthis_title = 'Do+I+Really+Want+To+Do+This%3F'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1561534 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1561534 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/26/summer-plans/ The summer between the first and second year is pretty much the last free summer. After second year, students have to take Step 1 of the USMLE exam. Then third year begins in July. There is also no summer break between the third and fourth year. I do keep hearing of some extra time during 4th year, but in theory, that’s supposed to be used to interview and different residency sites. Anyways, this is my last free summer. Quite a few of my classmates are doing mission work. One has blogged about a trip to Africa. If you’re interested, you can read about it at doctajay.com. Other classmates are doing research to pad their CVs for those ultra-competitive residencies. I had applied for an externship and my first choice was Chicago. Unfortunately I received an email stating that there was so much interest in the program and that they were sorry I couldn’t be offered a spot in the program. I didn’t really have any backup plans. And because I really wanted to go to Chicago, I didn’t apply for any of the research projects on campus. So now my summer vacation has really become my summer vacation. But I think I should do something. So I’ve told myself I’d review the material from this year. I think Anatomy is tested on Step 1 and there won’t be any Anatomy lectures next school year. Besides, a review never hurt, right? So that’s the plan for the summer. Since I’m on vacation, I’ll probably have to draw from first-year experiences I haven’t previously written about. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F26%2Fsummer-plans%2F'; addthis_title = 'Summer+Plans'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1547324 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1547324 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/24/the-differential/ A while ago, I mentioned that I received an email from one of the editors of The Differential — a medical student blog that is part of Medscape. Medscape is a part of WebMD and is aimed at health professionals and students. The email, as I wrote before, asked if I would be interested in joining The Differential as a student writer. After a few email exchanges with the editor, I am now one of the medical student bloggers at the Differential. As per our agreement, the posts I write for them will not be showing up here (at least not immediately). So check out that site. There are currently seven authors, all medical students. And everyone should be posting at least once a week. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F24%2Fthe-differential%2F'; addthis_title = 'The+Differential+-+A+medical+student+%28group%29+blog'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544329 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1544329 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/17/the-pursuit-of-excellence/ I had the chance to attend a meeting in which the famous Dr. Leonard Bailey spoke. For those who don’t know, Dr. Bailey performed the first infant heart transplant surgery in 1984 at Loma Linda University Medical Center. (By the way, I really don’t intend this to be a discussion on the ethics of that operation…) Each week during winter quarter my school invited a speaker to speak on one of the values of Loma Linda University. Dr. Bailey spoke about excellence. It was a good speech. I’d even call it inspiring. During his presentation he read something that Vince Lombardi said to his Packers team many years ago: Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. He proposed that each of us sitting there had experienced excellence at one point or another. After all, we had all been accepted into our respective programs. I sat in my seat wondering about a pursuit of perfection — a pursuit with the hope of catching excellence. And I wondered: can I be excellent? This year one of my year long classes has been a course called Physical Diagnosis (PDX). In short, the class is all about the physical exam. We learn normal “human morphology” as well as the skills needed to carry out a physical exam, starting with the patient history. We have been learning to auscultate for heart sounds and lung sounds, percuss the lungs and even liver, and palpate an abdominal. In one of the PDX Labs, we learned how to perform a funduscopic exam (eye exam with the shiny light). At the end of the year we are given a skills test, frequently referred to as the Freshman OSCE. The exam is approximately one hour long, and all the students are paired up with a partner. The examiner, one of the PDX staff members, will announce which exam to perform and one student will perform the exam on his or her partner. Because of its difficulty, the funduscopic exam is one that all students have to perform. I received a tip from an upperclassman. He said that since we will have had plenty of time to practice with our partners, we should just remember how many times to we need to turn the dial in order to focus in on the cup and disc of the eye. That way, in the exam, we can fall back on just counting how many clicks we need. If necessary, we can just fake the exam and pretend to look in the right areas even if we don’t see anything. The tip seemed really useful. Obviously one cannot do that with a real patient because every eye is different and counting the number of clicks will not work in that scenario. But I can see how this can really make things easier when the stress levels are high. And then I wonder to myself, “Can I be excellent if I ‘help’ myself by counting?” Am I cheating myself out of perfect opportunities to practice my funduscopic skills on a healthy patient, when the only thing at stake is my grade and not someone else’s health? More importantly, am I cheating my future patients? If I wanted to be selfish about it, I could probably conclude that I can’t afford (financially and professionally) to be careless with patients. But medicine is all about the patients, isn’t it? So maybe it is the patient that cannot afford for me to be careless. In one PDX Lab session the instructor, a pediatrician, said, “Your patients’ lives depend on you not screwing up. Don’t do it. Don’t do it!” That was it. That was the pep-talk in less than fifteen words. That was her encouraging us to aim excellence in our clinical skills. Throughout this school year I have witnessed numerous examples of excellence: A blind doctor who needs a seeing-eye-dog and walking stick is able to “see” patients and remember details about each one. His memory and hearing constantly amazed me. If he can get through medical school without sight, what do I have to complain about? A psychiatrist is able to deftly negotiate peace between an angry young lady and her mother. Only moments before, a resident struggled with how to deal with them. But the attending came in, took charge, and diffused a volatile situation. A surgeon speaks to an old patient who is terrified about chemotherapy. He comments that he has fought in three wars, but “this” freaks him out. She (the surgeon) took his hand, told him the pros and cons of treatment, and told him that no matter what his choice was, she would not care for him any less. It was absolutely amazing the way she addressed the patient. Clearly, there was a solid doctor-patient relationship there. A textbook example of “bedside manner.” Since I heard that speech I have wondered if I can be excellent. That may not be the right question for me to ask of myself. There shouldn’t be a question of whether I can or cannot relentlessly pursue excellence. Because in the end, when a patient’s life could be on the line, excellence is the only choice. There can be no other alternatives. That’s a lot of pressure. And that’s scary. But if I can’t handle that, I probably don’t belong here. Oh, and by the way, I passed my OSCE. And I didn’t use the counting method. *Image of funduscopic exam from Merck Frosst addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F17%2Fthe-pursuit-of-excellence%2F'; addthis_title = 'The+Pursuit+of+Excellence'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1527302 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1527302 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/12/on-the-wards-general-surgery-day-6/ A third year told me, “you do a whole lot of sitting around and waiting during third year.” That pretty much describes my last day on the General Surgery service. Well maybe not completely. A fellow first-year and I chased around senior residents and attendings trying to find someone to fill out our evaluation from. I asked an attending in the morning at around 9 (right after she finished lecturing on the large intestine to a group of 10 of us). She looked at me, smiled, and said, “How do I know you?” That’s the problem when you are a first year and only spending a week and a half (7 clinic days) on a “rotation.” Each day I saw a different attending. And she suggested that I speak up more so that she could get to know me. I have no idea what to speak up about, though. When I round with the team, I’m the bottom of the totem pole! After only one year of medical school, I still have no idea what they are talking about. There’s no way I can put together a sensible question that would do anything more than waste time and slow them down. Well the attending then looked to a third year and said something to the effect of: “I don’t know why we have to fill out an evaluation on for the first years. They’re here for a week. What are we supposed to evaluate them on?” And she’s right! How are they supposed to get to know us when we hardly see them? And what exactly are we there to do? Watch and observe. So why can’t we just sign an attendance sheet or something like that? We need a full page, triplicate sheet to be evaluated on our performance (that consists of showing up to clinic and watching attentively)?!? Well the attending asked if I’d be around later in the day and I said I would. So she said she would do it later. Well my classmate and I finally found a senior resident who agreed to sign it off for us. But he wanted to sit down and talk to us. But before he actually signed it, he was paged to go round with the attending (the same one I talked to earlier). So we followed like little puppy dogs waiting for a treat — in this case the signature. Well after rounding ended, the chief resident walked off without a word. We thought he was coming back since the attending was still around. But then she walked off in another direction. Unsure about what was going on, we hung out with some of the interns since they were still with the patients. Then, deciding to go look for the chief resident, we went to the OR and found him and the attending scrubbed in and ready to begin a new operation. So then we sit in the call room for two hours just talking to the interns about life and medicine before we decide to go back to the OR and see if the case is done. It is, but we have to wait till the patient is taken to the recovery room. Finally the chief resident takes us back to the conference room. He talks to us for about 40 minutes about medicine, surgery, and life. The conversation was great, though. I learned quite a bit from him and really appreciate the fact that he took time to be so candid and share with us. For that I am very grateful! My frustration stems from these evaluation forms we have to fill out. I could’ve scrubbed in on another case today. But instead, I’m sitting around trying to wait for a signature. Now that’s a really useful and educational use of a day! Well, if I am to stay positive, then at least I got in some very interesting and enlightening conversation. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F12%2Fon-the-wards-general-surgery-day-6%2F'; addthis_title = 'On+the+Wards+-+General+Surgery+%28Day+6%29'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1517021 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1517021 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/10/on-the-wards-general-surgery-part-1/ I switched to General Surgery after a week and a half at Child Psychiatry. For this rotation, I’ll try to give a day-by-day account of how it went down. And I guess I should write that I was assigned to one third year for the whole time. In a sense, I’m discovering what the life of a third-year is like. Day 1: Didn’t do much today. The third year I was following was assigned to Minor Surgery. So watched as two patients had sebaceous cysts removed from their backs. The cuts were about an inch deep (if I remember correctly). Not much blood and since this was a minor procedure, the patient had only local anesthesia and was awake the entire time. The attending asked the 3rd year to suture one patient using a particular method. He replied that he had never done that before. But that didn’t stop him because the attending explained it and had the student do it anyway. I wondered what the patient was thinking as he heard this conversation. Makes me wonder if, should I ever need a major hospital stay, I want to be admitted into a teaching hospital. Day 2: All the third years had lectures this morning. In the afternoon there was clinic. Apparently it was a very busy day with a lot of patients. Before I left, I got to see two patients with either an attending or the 3rd year I am following. There was one attending with whom I was absolutely impressed with. She is a surgical oncologist and invited me to come see a patient with her because I didn’t seem to have anything to do at the time. The patient was an elderly gentleman who had colon cancer. She had resected the cancerous part and now was suggesting that he undergo chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was suggested to reduce the risk of the cancer recurring. The man told us that he had fought in three wars, but this situation scared him. I was so impressed with the “bedside manner” of this attending. She took his hand, explained to him the pros and cons, reassured him, answered all his questions, and then told him that the choice was his to make but that she would not care or love him any less whatever he decided. He remarked that he was glad she was his doctor. He kissed her hand. She hugged the patient’s wife. It was clear that she had cultivated an excellent doctor-patient relationship in which the patient and his wife truly trusted and liked their doctor. I even heard the patient say that he and his wife would adopt the attending. I can only hope that one day I can have that sort of relationship with the people I treat. Day 3: My third year was post-call today. I came in for pre-rounds at around 6 AM. We went around with the senior resident and everyone presented to her. An hour later we joined 2 attending surgeons and rounded with them. Apparently everyone was a bit high-strung because the attendings were present. I learned that the attendings normally only round on certain days and the rest of the week the residents and medical students present their patients to the senior resident. So there was a little more stress since no one wanted to mess up or not have an answer for either of the attendings. Still wondering if I will get in the OR before my time here is up. But then again, I wouldn’t be able to do much… addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F10%2Fon-the-wards-general-surgery-part-1%2F'; addthis_title = 'On+the+Wards+-+General+Surgery+%28Days+1-3%29'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1509586 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1509586 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/10/on-the-wards-general-surgery-day-4/ Since I’m writing a little bit each day during my time on General Surgery, I decided to split the post up. Here’s day 4. You can find days one through 3 by scrolling down or clicking here. Day 4: I think I have a little better idea of what it means to get “pimped.” I thought I had a taste a couple days ago when an attending quizzed me about a CT scan displayed on the computer. It was basic anatomy. Identify the indicated organ (pancreas) and vessel (splenic artery) on the image. Well today, it was a whole other level. I attended a lecture with other medical students and residents in the surgical conference room. There were a total of 3 first year medical students at the beginning. The attending asked who the first years were and we sheepishly raised our hands. Then, looking to one of my classmates, he asked what is the blood supply to the stomach. My classmate replied that it was the gastric arteries coming off the celiac trunk. That answer is true, but the attending wanted more. Not getting any more answers he asked, “Did you make it to second year?” Honestly, at this point, I was telling myself not to laugh. Not because I could’ve done any better. I just think its funny when people have power trips and think they’re so much better than other people. I’m glad I didn’t, though. He then looked to another first year and I. I said “gastroepiploic,” while the classmate next to me answered “right and left gastrics.” Well we both were right (since there are five vessels), but then we got lectured for answering a question with the wrong intonation. He told us we need to be confident. No questions. And then the follow-up, “You want to be doctors, right?” (For those of you wondering, a third year finally correctly answered, “left and right gastrics, left and right gastroepiploics, and short gastric.”) The rest of the hour he spent pestering the residents, particularly one female resident who had the nerve to say “I don’t know” to one of his questions. He retorted that her response was unacceptable as a second year resident. And proceeded to call on her to answer a question at least once every ten minutes. Oh well. I’ve always heard attendings could be rough on us learners. I just have to use this as motivation to learn my “stuff.” addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F10%2Fon-the-wards-general-surgery-day-4%2F'; addthis_title = 'On+the+Wards+-+General+Surgery+%28Day+4%29'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1509585 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1509585 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/11/on-the-wards-general-surgery-day-5/ Well I finally was able to Scrub in on a surgery case. This is one week after my time on the General Surgery service was supposed to start. The case was a morning case with a scheduled start time of 8:45. But we ended up late. It was an abdominal surgery case so I was excited about what I might get to see. (I am purposely being vague about the details of the case to protect the identity of the patient. I have no idea how many operations were done this morning.) However when I got to the OR, I realized that the surgery would be laparoscopic. So instead of standing over a human body with a large incision, I stood staring at LCD monitors for over two hours. I counted at least six holes through which either a laparoscopic instrument or camera was inserted. There was only one camera. The third year I’m following got to hold the camera for the last part of the surgery. I stood quietly trying to stay out of the way. So it was a long morning for me. When the operation was finally over, the surgeon looked at me and told me to stick my finger in one of the holes. Air had been pumped into the abdominal cavity during the surgery. (This provides space for the surgeon to work.) I was then instructed to stick another finger in a second hole. The residents proceeded to suture the other holes while I waited for them to get to mine. My first time in the OR was definitely not exciting, nor was it something to write home about. But for completeness of, I’m blogging about it. And I’m sure I’ve written about more boring things before. In the afternoon I spent an hour and a half in clinic, but there was nothing outstanding about that. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F11%2Fon-the-wards-general-surgery-day-5%2F'; addthis_title = 'On+the+Wards+-+General+Surgery+%28Day+5%29'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1509584 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1509584 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/06/06/its-been-a-slow-week/ Well I finished my week and a half at Child Psych. In my last post I wrote a bit about that. I miss being there. My last day was Tuesday. So technically, I’ve been on the General Surgery service for three days now. But I didn’t go in on Wednesday (my third year was sick and told me not to go in). So I missed my first day on Gen Surg. Yesterday I went and sat through an hour lecture by a neurosurgeon on Intracranial Metastatic Disease. I got to be the designated “next” guy — which means I sat with the keyboard and advanced the powerpoint slides for him. So I definitely didn’t want to fall asleep. At this point I still hadn’t met my third year, but I thought he was sitting in the back of the room (there were less than 15 people). He told me to meet him at the conference room for a lecture, but I hadn’t met him before we got started. After the lecture I met the third year student I would be following for the next week and a half. He took me to the call room where I dropped off my bag and then we headed to the Minor Surgery section. I saw a two masses removed from two different patients. I think they were sebaceous cysts, both located on the patients’ backs. The cut was pretty deep. From my point of view it looked like they cut down an inch deep. Honestly, there was none of the excitement one generally ascribes to time spent on the General Surgery service. I have clinic today later at 1 PM, but I doubt I’ll see anything terribly exciting. I hope I get to scrub in on something next week… ***** Yesterday, after I got home I found an email from one of the editors at Medscape - The Differential. The Differential is a group blog hosted at Medscape. And, I believe, Medscape is a part of WebMD… or closely associated with it? Anyways, the email was asking if I would be interested in joining the group blog over there. I’ll let you know what happens with that. I’m considering joining if they offer. Although, from the looks of it, the blogs there are not-at-all anonymous. But then again, this blog isn’t very anonymous either… addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F06%2F06%2Fits-been-a-slow-week%2F'; addthis_title = 'It%26%238217%3Bs+been+a+slow+week.'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1500555 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1500555 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/05/25/on-the-wards-psychiatry/ I stood at the end of the hallway looking out through the large windows. Outside the sky was gray, the blacktop was damp, and the trees were dripping. It was a stark contrast to the interior. Here, where I stood, the walls were brightly colored, cartoonish faces squinted, frowned, and smiled, and random quotes encouraged readers to share and play nice. Less than ten feet away from me a doctor was interviewing a patient. I’m not sure how the interview went. I wasn’t paying too much attention. I knew of this patient, though. The young pre-teen had been admitted because she had reported thoughts of killing herself. One might think that this bit of information might be betraying the patient’s identity. But sadly, many of the patients I have been seeing in the child psychiatry unit have/had suicidal ideations. In a place like this, the patient population seems to have more in common with the dreary weather outside than the bright, cheerful surroundings inside. I’ve spent three days on the unit, and it has been — well, shocking. I have found it all quite interesting. I will definitely not cross Psychiatry off my “list.” But if I had to describe what I’ve seen in one word, that word would be “sad.” When people hear that I am spending time in the Child Psychiatry unit, I often get asked if they patients look different. Maybe they think these patients have “crazy eyes” or some other telltale sign of craziness. If there are, then I certainly don’t know what the signs are. But to me, these patients look like any other child you might find playing in a schoolyard playground. Except that a number of them are very depressed. And they look sad. But if they were happy, I could picture them laughing and hanging from a jungle gym set or fast and high on a swing set. My point is that visually, these kids wouldn’t stand out if you put them in a lineup with other children. Abuse is common, though. So are hallucinations — if I can call them that. I’m not sure what the doctors are calling them, but a number of the kids report seeing or hearing things others don’t see or hear. I guess the staff will need to determine if they are truly hallucinations. One patient sees demons at night. Another sees ghosts without any limbs. Others hear voices that tell them to hurt themselves or other people. When I found out I had been assigned to psychiatry, I thought it would be really fun. I imagined having adult patients telling me outlandish stories that would make me laugh. Then I found out I was assigned to Child Psych. Most of the patients I’ve seen here have made me cringe. Their stories are heart wrenching. It was shocking for me to see some of the things I saw. And as far as the cases of abuse, I wondered, what kind of society do we live in that produces children so mentally damaged by physical, sexual, and emotional abuse? I have about a week and a half left in Child Psych. I’m sure it’ll be memorable. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F05%2F25%2Fon-the-wards-psychiatry%2F'; addthis_title = 'On+the+Wards+-+%28Child%29+Psychiatry'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1468007 Sun, 25 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1468007 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/05/20/it-is-finished/ I’m really happy. The joy is just crazy. It might even be bordering on giddiness. Today I came out of the two and a half weeks of exams. Previously I posted our final exam schedule. All in all, there were thirteen exams spread out over that time period. Three of those were National Boards Subject Exams, two were practical exams (Anatomy and Neuroscience), and the rest were in-house finals. So tonight I’m just excited to be done with all my exams. Although I’m wondering if tomorrow that excitement will be replaced with dread. Now I will just have to sit and wait for the scores to come back in. Tomorrow, we have orientation for the final month of Freshman Ward’s Experience. I found out that I got assigned to Psychiatry for my first two weeks and then Surgery for the final two. I think I rated both of these in the top 5 on my list of preferences. I heard that for the end of the freshman year I would want a relatively easy rotation. So, psychiatry was my pick. Surgery was listed in the top 5 just for me to see what its like in the event I may one day choose to pursue it. But now, I’m a little regretful. People (namely, third years) have been telling me that its tiring and the schedule is hectic. And, as a first year, I probably won’t get much out of it anyways. Anyways, now that finals are over, and I’m back on the wards, I hope I’ll be able to have some time to write a few more posts about how the year went and things like that. Maybe I’ll even post some of the experiences from these next four weeks seeing actual patients. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F05%2F20%2Fit-is-finished%2F'; addthis_title = 'It+Is+Finished'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1459022 Wed, 21 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1459022 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/05/02/what-a-waste-of-sleep/ Okay, so I’m sitting here about to go to sleep when I get this urge to go check out Twitter.com. So its not a short visit. I already have an account there from way back when I was trying to stay updated on something. Anyhow, I decide to set it up so I can use it with my iPhone (yeah, got one 2 weeks ago). Well now it works with my phone. So I can text a message and it shows up as an update right here on JeffreyMD.com. So next week as I walk into exams, I’ll twitter a little message like “We who are about to die, salute you” or something like that and it will show up on the right sidebar. Ms. Gross, if you’re reading this, you can be happy I did not forget all of my dates and quotes . Oh, and it shows up on my facebook status too. We’ll see if I keep this thing goin or not. But, what I am saying is that this was a big waste of 20 minutes! I should be sleeping now so that I can wake up early and hit the books before I have to drive home (1.25 hours). As usual, the Friday before exams have no scheduled classes. I’m in a wedding this weekend, so I have to pick up my tuxedo. Busy weekend. As you can tell by my writing I’m a bit scatter-brained at the moment… Either that or my brain is not functioning properly because I need sleep! addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F05%2F02%2Fwhat-a-waste-of-sleep%2F'; addthis_title = 'What+a+waste+of+sleep%21'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1416617 Fri, 02 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1416617 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/04/29/medical-humor-compensation/ The patient shook his doctor’s hand in gratitude and said, “Since we are the best of friends, I would not want to insult you by offering payment. But I would like for you to know that I had mentioned you in my will.” “That is very kind of you,” said the doctor emotionally, and then added, “Can I see that prescription I just gave you? I’d like to make a little change…” addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F04%2F29%2Fmedical-humor-compensation%2F'; addthis_title = 'Medical+Humor+-+Compensation'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1408360 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1408360 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/04/28/wal-mart-and-healthcare/ I’ve been hearing a lot about these quick-stop clinics staffed by nurse practitioners. I hear about them in the news or read about them online. They seem to be on the east coast or midwest. Or maybe I’m just not paying any attention to them here locally. As someone going into a medical career, this is somewhat discouraging. I don’t see how a family physician can compete against an NP based solely on costs. It seems like the scope of nursing just keeps getting expanded more and more. I’m sure the nurses are elated about this. And their paychecks continue to rise as they get more specialized. I don’t think we need to go back to the days were the doctors were kings of their wards and nurses stood whenever one came in the room. But I do think that scope of practice of nurses and doctors cannot overlap too much. Because let’s face it, the nurses will always be able to offer their services at lower costs. And, more often than not, they (nurses) have less debt coming out of school. Amy from RNCentral.com sent me this post titled 20 Surprising Ways Wal-Mart Clinics Will Affect US Healthcare. It’s a good read discussing the pros and cons of Wal-Mart entering the health service industry by opening up clinics at their stores. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F04%2F28%2Fwal-mart-and-healthcare%2F'; addthis_title = 'Wal-Mart+and+Healthcare'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1405526 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1405526 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/04/28/memorial-service/ Last week, I attended a Memorial Service at my school. The service was held for all those who had donated their bodies for use in the anatomy labs. There were three schools in attendance (Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Allied Health). A couple of musical numbers were performed by students and a handful of students volunteered to speak and express their appreciation. At the end of the ceremony I looked around and saw some wet eyes. It made me realize that donating one’s body is a sacrifice for the loved ones as well. These friends and relatives never got to bury a coffin. And they won’t. In a few weeks we will have our Gross Anatomy final exams and the school will proceed to cremate the bodies. I’ve heard that some medical schools have ended anatomy dissections. If I remember correctly, UCSF School of Medicine no longer has students dissect in Anatomy lab. They have models that the students can come and look at. Personally, I have long thought models are the way to go. I think a whole lot of Anatomy lab is wasted trying to pick away fat and and fascia. But once you get through all the fat and fascia, there are benefits to actually finding the Vagus nerve coursing through the thorax, or the recurrent laryngeal nerve coming through the tracheoesophageal groove. It’s not something easily forgotten after dissecting to find those structures. So to those who have donated your bodies for science, to those who believed in education enough to sign over yourself, to the families who have waited over a year before getting closure in the form of ashes: Thank You. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F04%2F28%2Fmemorial-service%2F'; addthis_title = 'Memorial+Service'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1405525 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1405525 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/04/28/101st-post/ Well I finally reached my 101st post. Unfortunately I can’t celebrate. It’s been really busy lately. I know my monthly post rate has plummeted recently. Hopefully that has an inverse relationship with my exam scores? Anyways, this is the last week of lectures. I can’t believe the year is almost over. That’s right, it’s the last week of lectures for the first year! So right now I should be studying. The next two and a half weeks will be exams. Some quarter finals and a couple in-house cumulative finals and a few standardized exams. We are required to score in at least the 7th percentile in the standardized exams. And last year, for Physiology, that meant a score of approximately 60%. Wish me luck. Or pray for me. Whichever you believe in. I’ve included a copy of my exam schedule below for any curious onlookers. (A few blocks are highlighted to indicate a recent change in schedule). addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F04%2F28%2F101st-post%2F'; addthis_title = '101st+Post'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1405524 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1405524 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/04/05/cross-cultural-differences-and-alternative-medicine/ I know it has been a while since I last wrote. Been a bit busy lately. And in my moments of downtime I’ve found myself doing a different type of writing. I’ve been writing some fiction. Mostly because it’s a bit therapeutic. Anyhow, back to Medical School related matters. On Friday we had two guest lecturers for our two-hour session of a class called Understanding Your Patient. During the first hour, a professor spoke about understanding cultural differences among our patients. He primarily focused on the latino culture because there is a huge hispanic population in the local area. One thing he mentioned is that in general, the hispanic population would put up very little resistance when talking to a physician. But that does not give any indication that they agree with what you are saying to them. And that is a very important thing. In this class we have discussed the idea of getting a patient to cooperate and accept the treatment plan. And this applies to everyone, not just the latino community. In order to have the best results, doctors must team up with the patient for a common goal. The idea of white-coat-wearing-doctor dishing out his wisdom on health and a patient obediently following instructions is outdated and just doesn’t work. During the second hour he gave the time to a local Mexican woman who talked to us about various herbal and traditional remedies the Mexican people use. She told us that many times they turn to those first, because going to see a doctor is just too expensive. She also brought samples of the things she talked about. I learned that they use a camomile and spearmint tea for a of different things. She shared remedies for many common ailments. There is one treatment, for headaches, that I plan to try. It involves soaking a pinto bean in rubbing alcohol. In the event a headache, the bean is placed on the temples. Supposedly this relieves the pain. I’m quite interested in trying it out. Cause every once in a while, when I don’t drink enough water, I get some pretty annoying headaches. Anyways, I hope to be able to post with a little more frequency this month. P.S. Remember the disclaimer. I’m not offering medical advice on this site. So try that pinto bean thing at your own discretion. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F04%2F05%2Fcross-cultural-differences-and-alternative-medicine%2F'; addthis_title = 'Cross+Cultural+Differences+and+Alternative+Medicine'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1353150 Sat, 05 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1353150 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/03/11/a-random-medical-school-pre-exam-week-post/ It’s getting busy now. It must seem like I say that a lot on my posts. At least I feel like I write that a lot. But its once again the week before exams. The lecture schedule is tapering off. We have only 3 lectures on Thursday (as opposed to the normal 4) and then no lectures at all on Friday. I’ve been posting less in the past 2 months. It was an attempt to cut out some distractions. Although I do enjoy writing here and it can be, at times, quite therapeutic. But as it goes, school comes first. After all, I would have nothing to blog about if I don’t pass the year. And JeffreyMD.com would no longer make any sense. Cause I’m not planning to move to Maryland anytime soon. Even now, I should be studying. I’m sitting here writing this post in the library. But I saw something in here that looked out of place. It looked so out of place that I actually found an excuse to walk by the aisle a second time to get another look. I saw someone sleeping in the library! No, this was not the normal exhausted looking medical student. This was an older woman. And she wasn’t sitting at a desk either. She was sitting in a chair placed in the middle of an aisle of books. She took up the whole aisle. You couldn’t get by her. I suppose one might think she was a student. But something tells me otherwise. She didn’t look that clean. Behind her chair there was what looked like a small piece of luggage. In front of her was some push cart filled with her things. I couldn’t get a good look at what exactly was in there. It just struck me as an odd sight to see. I don’t want to assume she is homeless. But I’m afraid I’ve already done so. That may be a by-product of living within 20 minutes of downtown Los Angeles where I have often seen homeless people going around with a suitcase. Regardless, she does not look like a student. And, technically, I don’t believe non-students are supposed to be in the campus library. I attend a university whose motto is “to continue the healing and teaching ministry of Jesus Christ — to make man whole.” Is her presence in the library a lapse in our security? Or are they intentionally allowing her to escape the nasty heat outside and sit a while in the cool of the library’s basement where she is no bother to anyone. She really isn’t in the way, even if you can’t get at the books she is sleeping in front of. She’s in a part of the library that hardly has any traffic anyways. I wonder if I, hoping to one day become a good, Christian, physician should have gone up to talk to her. From the little experience I have had in life, I know that every one has a story to tell. Maybe she would have been grateful for it. But maybe she would’ve been annoyed at being woken up. I know I don’t like that. Well, as the title implies, this was just a random post. I really don’t have anything to write about except that which I already have. It’s possible I’m just avoiding my physiology notes right now… So with that, it’s off Physio-Land to study the hormonal miracle of life! addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F03%2F11%2Fa-random-medical-school-pre-exam-week-post%2F'; addthis_title = 'A+Random+Medical+School+Pre-Exam-Week+Post'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1296239 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1296239 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/03/05/healthcare-comparisons/ Well it looks like the Democratic nomination just keeps getting more complicated by the minute. Last night Clinton pulled off some victories in Texas, Rhode Island, and Ohio. A while back (in a post titled Hillary Healthcare 2.0)I wrote about the healthcare plan proposed by Hillary. My intention was to highlight the plan so that others who are interested in medicine might get a clearer picture of this. I had hoped to do a comparison of all the major candidates. Well it looks like some other people have done the work for me. I found this site: Health08.org. It had all the candidates and what the proposed (as far as healthcare is concerned). Now, they only list McCain, Clinton, and Obama since they are the only ones left in the race. So just keep in mind that the site changes as the political landscape does. So if you’re reading this 10 years from now, they probably won’t have anything left. Hope it helps for everyone getting ready for the November elections. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F03%2F05%2Fhealthcare-comparisons%2F'; addthis_title = 'Healthcare+Comparisons'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1281149 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1281149 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/02/29/february-month-of-relationships/ Everyone loves February. It’s the cute little month with only 28 days (most of the time). And it also has that special holiday, Valentine’s Day. But someone also referred to it as Singles Awareness Day. So I guess there’s a mixed audience when it comes to that day. This month I also had a couple of hours of lectures covering topics like sexual relationships with patients, dating, marriage, and adultery. Those are the ones I can think of right now but I don’t think I’m missing any February-related topics. The class where we learned about sexual relationships — maybe it was titled “Sexual Boundaries” — was called Understanding Your Patient. The course director is a practicing psychiatrist. I’ll sheepishly admit that I would probably have a hard time explaining what that class is all about. At least not very succinctly. Listing some of the other topics discussed in that class might help paint the picture, though. We’ve talked about how to partner with our patients with a goal of better healthcare (as opposed to giving orders). We’ve discussed breaking bad news to patients. We’ve talked about aging and the difficulties associated with it. We’ve also talked about child abuse, red flags that we might encounter, and the responsibility to report our suspicions to the appropriate higher-ups. We spent two whole hours talking about sexual boundaries. The take home message for those two hours? Don’t have sex with your patients. We heard about doctors having their license taken away for getting involved with their patients. We learned that psychiatrists, because of the intimate nature of their work, can never get involved with their patients. A surgeon, who after operating on a patient, may be able to date the patient as long as number of years has passed. I guess the point was that “they” don’t want a physician to abuse his or her “power differential.” A few days later, in a religion class called “Wholeness for Physicians,” we were talking about adultery. The instructor, who is a practicing psychologist, warned us that it is very easy for physicians to go down this path. Doctors at work, he told us, are constantly being attended to by the nurses. There is a very friendly relationship there (hopefully). And when the doctor goes home, he or she hears, “Honey, I’m tired. Watch the kids.” Eventually the doctor begins to compare the spouse with the attractive young nurse. It can be a recipe for disaster. I think I understand the dynamics now. So that was my experience during the month of love. That was the extent of my foray into anything close to relationship or romance — I listened to lectures about it. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F02%2F29%2Ffebruary-month-of-relationships%2F'; addthis_title = 'February+%26%238212%3B+month+of+Love%3F'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1269713 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1269713 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/02/28/cnn-med-student-struggles-to-preserve-her-idealism/ Last year CNN ran an article written by Emily Breidbart, then a second year medical student. It’s an interesting read. At times I do feel that it is a struggle to protect my own idealism. But maybe she is doing a better job than I. Because I’ll admit, at times I find myself downright cynical — even comically cynical. But that’s another story. Anyways, in her article, Emily writes about how her curriculum, at times, seems to revolve around preventing lawsuits than the patient’s health. Fortunately, this hasn’t been the case for me at my school during my first year. I think there has been the occasional mention of the litigious nature of the profession. And I think we (as students) have all heard plenty of stories about it. So it isn’t like we are ignoring malpractice. I’d say that they, and by they I mean the professors who teach us, choose to focus on the patient. Who knows? Maybe one day Loma Linda’s curriculum will have to change. Maybe someday they will have to place the fear of litigation into the heart of every incoming first year. I hope not, though. Because a society in which doctors are afraid to treat patients is a society in trouble. Oh, and check out Emily’s article “Med student struggles to preserve her idealism” over at CNN.com. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F02%2F28%2Fcnn-med-student-struggles-to-preserve-her-idealism%2F'; addthis_title = 'CNN+-+Med+student+struggles+to+preserve+her+idealism'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1266760 Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1266760 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/02/27/med-school-humor-bringin-study-back/ Well I’m a fan of these medical student videos. So here’s another one. Enjoy. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F02%2F27%2Fmed-school-humor-bringin-study-back%2F'; addthis_title = 'Med+School+Humor+-+Bringin%26%238217%3B+Study+Back'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1263574 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1263574 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/02/27/family-day/ Last week we had Family Day for the first years. Of those who had guests on campus, some had spouses, but I think the majority had parents. My parents came out for the day. My parents and I arrived on campus just before 7:30 AM. We got out of the car and started walking towards the designated registration area. I had my backpack on and walked slightly in front of both of my parents. It felt a bit awkward. I asked my mom when was the last time she went to school with me. “Kindergarten,” she replied. The provided us a small breakfast. After breakfast they had 3 hours of lecture scheduled for us. The first class began at 8:30 AM and was on micturition (urination). Lecture two, at 9:30 AM, was an hour about eye exam. My dad actually fell asleep in this lecture. Me? I was doing my best to stay alert. After all, can’t be falling asleep during a lecture with mom nearby. Third lecture was an embryology lecture on the endocrine system. After lectures we were scheduled to have lunch at 11:45. The large crowd headed towards the conference center below the School of Medicine administration offices. There they served some pretty good food. I don’t think any of the parents believed that the meal was any example of normal treatment for students. That afternoon, we got a chance to show our parents/guests some of the labs. I took my parents to the Physical Diagnosis “lab.” They listened to heart sounds with a stethophone, palpated a simulated prostate, and checked out some ear models. We then went to the Simulation Center in the physiology building. That was pretty cool. They showed off all the high-tech dummies. I thought the whole thing was fun. It was a good chance for the parents to come and see what everything was all about. The students got a chance to show off our campus and facilities. When I started this post I thought I was going to come up with a pretty brilliant way to close the post. Right now I’m kind of blank. End of post. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F02%2F27%2Ffamily-day%2F'; addthis_title = 'Family+Day'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1263573 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1263573 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/02/27/slow-month/ Well it has been a very slow month — at least for this site, anyways. The school side of my life, on the other hand, has been pretty busy. Although, as I sometimes say, it’s nothing to write home about. The business has not involved anything really interesting. Not that the human body isn’t interesting, because it totally is. I actually do have a couple draft posts that I started but I have yet to finish them. Most of the drafts are very short. But one thing of interest that did happen this month was Family Day for the first years. But Maybe that can be another post… addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F02%2F27%2Fslow-month%2F'; addthis_title = 'Slow+Month'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1261970 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1261970 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/02/12/it-left-me-feeling-sicko/ Courtesy of MichaelMoore.com I guess I’m slow. I’ve heard that before. But I finally got to see Michael Moore’s documentary on the American Healthcare System. This was my very first Michael Moore documentary. I didn’t watch bowling for Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11. Prior to watching this film I thought that Michael Moore was pretty obnoxious. Not that I’ve ever met the guy. He just came across that way to me. He seemed confrontational. But maybe you need to be that way to produce an effective documentary. Throughout the film, Michael Moore introduces the audience to various Americans. We get to meet them and find out about their difficulties in the system of medicine that Americans seem to have accepted. As a documentary about the atrocities of the American healthcare system, one would expect to see the negatives. And Mr. Moore does not fail to deliver. He presents one tear-jerking story after another and with his sarcasm points out how broken our system really is. At one point he brings a group of Americans who have health problems resulting from their work at Ground Zero of on 9/11. These rescue workers had many problems that they just could not afford to deal with back home. Moore took them to Cuba where they were treated free of charge. I consider this film to be an argument for Universal Healthcare. As an argument, I didn’t expect an unbiased view. Even so, Michael Moore did point out some of his critics. And one can easily find the opposing viewpoints with a quick Google search. Without getting into a debate about the merits or pitfalls of universal medicine, I previously wrote that there are two entities that keep America from going the route of universal healthcare. Those two are (1) doctors and (2) Big Pharma. (see my post: Reforming the U.S. Healthcare System for more). Overall, I think it was an excellent film for anyone interested in healthcare in America. Is it a good generalization of the state of things in this country? I don’t know. My mother had cancer a couple years ago and was very well taken care of by her insurance (not going to name them, but the founder is briefly mentioned in the film). Maybe my mom was the exception and not the norm? I just haven’t been in and around the hospital system to know. Nevertheless, the film does offer one viewpoint and its probably that we should take a look at. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F02%2F12%2Fit-left-me-feeling-sicko%2F'; addthis_title = 'It+Left+Me+Feeling%26%238230%3B+SICKO'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1226900 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1226900 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/02/10/the-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall/ Well I’ve seen the writing on the wall. Granted, it was on the wall of a bathroom stall. And no, I won’t write about what I was doing in there (although my intelligent readers should be able to figure that one out). But this is what it said: School Socks Crime Spays Man… I find the weirdest things amusing during test weeks… But some things happen with perfect timing. I saw this quote during exam week (last week). It appeared to have been written by more than one person. I don’t think the original author meant to write that crime spays — at least I hope not. And I blame the “socks” on bad handwriting. It probably did say “sucks.” Oh, and if you were wondering, I was in the stall to get some toilet paper…. Runny nose… You believe me, right? ***** Tomorrow is the the first day of lectures after an exam week. In a way, we’re starting fresh. Gotta try to do a better job of keeping up this time. Getting behind is sooo ridiculously stressful. It just snowballs. Because you get behind on one day. And then the next day its hard to catch up. Then you think the weekend is catch-up day but if, for some reason, you can’t catch up on the weekend… well, like i said, SNOWBALL. I’m gonna try to sleep earlier now. I went to sleep around 10:30 PM for towards the beginning of the school year. I think that worked out well. Not sure why I stopped. But I’ll try it again. Here we go. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F02%2F10%2Fthe-writing-on-the-bathroom-wall%2F'; addthis_title = 'The+Writing+On+The+%28Bathroom%29+Wall'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1221416 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1221416 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/31/britney-spears-now-in-doctors-hands/ Related Posts: Dr. Phil, have you heard of… HIPAA? Gabriel Bouys / AFP-Getty Images file I really don’t want to turn this into a gossip column. And I definitely don’t want to turn this into a cebrinews site. But a couple weeks ago I did post about the medical debacle between Britney Spears and Dr. Phil. I posted because it was, in my opinion, an example of very poor judgment on Dr. Phil’s part. You can read that post if you want. I’ve linked to it above. Anyways, this post is just a little more medical news. A follow-up, I suppose. In Dr. Phil’s non-professional (since he claims his visit was just as a friend and not a pscyhologist), Britney Spears needs serious mental help. At least that’s what he said before. Anyways, it appears she just might get the help she needs. Good for Brit. Britney Spears has been placed under a 72-hour “mental health evaluation hold.” For complete details, click the picture above. It’ll take you to the news story. Sorry for not summarizing. I’m stressed. Finals next week. And now, its back to the books! addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F31%2Fbritney-spears-now-in-doctors-hands%2F'; addthis_title = 'Britney+Spears+Now+In+Doctors%26%238217%3B+Hands'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1193005 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1193005 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/25/hillary-healthcare-20/ Related Posts: Reforming the U.S. Healthcare System In the January 8, 2008 New Hampshire Primary, Sen. Clinton edged her opponent Sen. Obama by just 3 percent. With Clinton’s recent New Hampshire win following Obama’s strong showing in Iowa, the race is anything but decided. How will the 2008 Presidential Elections affect the American healthcare scene? Should Hillary win the November Presidential Election, what can we expect? According to Hillary Clinton’s own website, her plan, which she calls the American Health Choices Plan, would cover each and every single American and will improve “healthcare by lowering costs and improving quality.” So far, it sounds like an excellent idea. The Hillary Plan is has five objectives. Again, from her website, they are: Offer New Coverage Choices for the Insured and Uninsured. Lower Premiums and Increase Security Promote Shared Responsibility Ensure Affordable Health Coverage For All [Be] A Fiscally Responsible Plan That Honors Our Priorities. Who could be against such a plan? It’s definitely an ambitious plan. Is it too ambitious? From what I’ve heard, it has been toned down a lot since HillaryCare, the plan Senator Clinton was pushing for in 1992. One of the things she hopes to do is to guarantee access to healthcare coverage. Under this plan “insurers must offer coverage to anyone who applies and pays their premium” and furthermore, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Fabulous, no? I just wonder how she intends to do this. Ask nicely? I doubt it. This would have to be mandated by federal law. And will the industry kindly step back without sending their lobbyists in? Usually, a tipping point must be reached before significant change can happen. If Americans are fed up with the current situation, and their congressional representative are in tune with their constituents, maybe this is possible. I hope that is the case. I also worry that I’m just being optimistic or that I am underestimating the resolve of corporations to keep making money. The objectives are noble. Coverage for all. Budget savings for the federal government. Tax breaks that will help the working person afford healthcare. Guaranteed coverage. But HillaryCare 2.0, as some have started to call it, is not without its critics. They claim that this is just socialized medicine repackaged for an American audience. If, come Inauguration Day, we begin to say Madame President, Hillary Clinton can begin trying to implement her plan. Details of the plan can be found at HillaryClinton.com. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F25%2Fhillary-healthcare-20%2F'; addthis_title = 'Hillary+Healthcare+2.0'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1179344 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1179344 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/22/conversations-learning-so-much/ Usually there are two kinds of conversations I listen to. The first, of course, are the conversations I am involved in. That’s easy. The second, however, are conversations that I overhear. I wouldn’t call myself an eavesdropper. But sometimes I just can’t help it. People get all excited and into their conversations that it seems they think they are the only ones within earshot. Or maybe they just don’t care if other people hear. One conversation I was in recently went something like this: Me: Hi. How’s it goin? Classmate: Great. I’ve learned so much today! [said enthusiastically with a smile] Now, at this point I was walking into lab in the afternoon after 4 hours of lecture that morning. I was wishing I didn’t have to be in lab. I felt like my usual self — thinking about all the material that I still needed to know. And as I stood there walking into Anatomy lab, I felt really jealous. Why didn’t I feel the same way? Why don’t I feel the same excitement over learning? Why am I just tired and feeling like there’s sooo much things to learn? I’m truly glad for my classmate who said this. If only I could feel the same way… addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F22%2Fconversations-learning-so-much%2F'; addthis_title = 'Conversations+-+Learning+So+Much'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1170511 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1170511 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/22/i-want-a-bionic-eye/ I WANT a bionic eye! Well who wouldn’t? If you’ve seen the television show on NBC, then you know what the bionic eye can do. I read an article over at MSNBC.com titled “Vision of the future seen in bionic contact lens.” It looks like we, and by we I mean we as a society, may be getting closer to bionic eyes. Or, at least, bionic contact lenses. As I understand it, a contact lens has been made at the University of Washington that has circuitry embedded in the lens. The researchers hope to one day be able to use the lenses to project an image at the retina. In effect, the user, and the user only, would be able to see images projected by the lens into their own eyes. Check out the story for more. (I’d summarize here but I’m trying to avoid the whole copyright infringement thing… for legal reasons). addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F22%2Fi-want-a-bionic-eye%2F'; addthis_title = 'I+Want+A+Bionic+Eye%21'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1170510 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1170510 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/22/the-jimmy-legs/ I recently saw an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It’s always an interesting way to get my news. But he did one segment which I’ve included below. Check it out. I was gonna write about how surprised I am to hear that increased gambling was listed as a side-effect. But I figured that any way I found to convey my disbelief in such absurdity would kind of be overshadowed by Jon Stewart. If anything, just remember to know what the side-effects are of any medication you take. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F22%2Fthe-jimmy-legs%2F'; addthis_title = 'The+Jimmy+Legs'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1170512 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1170512 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/20/doctor-salaries-a-problem-overseas-too/ In a previous post (Physician Salaries on the Decline) I wrote about declining physician salaries and how that is bad for healthcare. I recently found a post from a medical student in the U.K. The system is kind of different there. He talks about the salary a newly graduated doctor would make out of medical school. Here in the States, I’ve found some residency brochures that advertise paying their residents somewhere between $45,000 and $50,000 USD. Anyways, the post talks about how the financial benefits of a career in medicine might not be enough to entice the “cream of the crop” into medicine. And, the author points out, wouldn’t you want the best and the brightest to be the ones taking care of you when you’re sick? From the post: Where would you want the brightest people in the country to work? Would you have them making you money as stockbrokers; defending you in court as lawyers; writing your next headline as journalists; or would you have them saving lives as doctors? Most people would rank their health as one of the most important aspects of their lives, but is medicine financially attractive enough to entice the cream of the crop? I am not sure. In financial terms medicine might not be the best choice for the bright young future of tomorrow. The post is at sBMJ - Viewpoint: Deterred by the doctor’s salary? addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F20%2Fdoctor-salaries-a-problem-overseas-too%2F'; addthis_title = 'Doctor+Salaries%2C+A+Problem+Overseas+Too'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1165468 Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1165468 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/16/medical-humor-things-you-dont-want-to-hear-a-surgeon-say/ Things You Don’t Want to Hear a Surgeon Say in the Operating Room Oops! Has anyone seen my watch? Come back with that! Bad Dog! Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what’s that? Hand me that…uh…that uh…..thingy What do you mean he wasn’t in for a sex change! Damn, there go the lights again… Everybody stand back! I lost my contact lens! Well folks, this will be an experiment for all of us. What do you mean, he’s not insured? Let’s hurry, I don’t want to miss “American Idol” What do you mean “You want a divorce”! FIRE! FIRE! Everyone get out! addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F16%2Fmedical-humor-things-you-dont-want-to-hear-a-surgeon-say%2F'; addthis_title = 'Medical+Humor+-+Things+You+Don%26%238217%3Bt+Want+to+Hear+a+Surgeon+Say'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1156888 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1156888 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/16/medical-humor-playing-doctor/ The seven-year old girl told her mom, “A boy in my class asked me to play doctor.” “Oh, dear,” the mother nervously sighed. “What happened, honey?” “Nothing. He made me wait 45 minutes and then double-billed the insurance company.” addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F16%2Fmedical-humor-playing-doctor%2F'; addthis_title = 'Medical+Humor+-+Playing+Doctor'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1156887 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1156887 http://www.jeffreymd.com/2008/01/16/medical-humor-nurses-er-rap/ All of the videos I’ve shared on this site have been medical school related videos. This was created by nurses for a National Nurses’ Week Contest. Check it out, and enjoy. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jeffreymd.com%2F2008%2F01%2F16%2Fmedical-humor-nurses-er-rap%2F'; addthis_title = 'Medical+Humor+-+Nurses%26%238217%3B+ER+Rap'; addthis_pub = ''; (Source: JeffreyMD.com) JeffreyMD.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1156886 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1156886