MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'becoming a doctor'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:52:13 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4118932&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fheart-murmurs-a-cartoon-guide%2F2010.10.29 Ever wonder what the six grades of heart murmurs really means? SOURCE: A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor *This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4118932 Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:00:33 +0100 4118932 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3911702&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fare-you-cut-out-for-primary-care%2F2010.08.27 If you’re considering primary care medicine as a career someday and want some great insights into what it takes to become a good one, Dr. Rob clarifies the personality type and tolerances required. So what does it take to be a specialist? Exactly the same. Except the part where he describes a possible need for outward social status and only working on left fingers. Just realize that those extra years of training that we not-so-specialists endure are really there just so we can completely forget most of what we once knew and how to fill out discharge paperwork. -WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist. *This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3911702 Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0100 3911702 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3902899&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-gift-of-being-a-doctor-what-are-you-going-to-do-with-it%2F2010.08.25 I’m going to do something unusual: Reprint in its entirety a commentary from a fourth-year medical student, Jonathan. He posted it in response to comments from other readers to my blog about Dr. Berwick’s commencement address to his daughter’s medical school class. I tweeted about Jonathan’s post, calling it a needed voice of idealism at a cynical time. This is what Jonathan had to say to his physician colleagues: “To begin, I am a fourth-year medical student going into primary care and this directly applies to me. We have two options when reading [Dr. Berwick's] address. We can take, in my opinion, the weak road or the strong road. Our new generation, as well as the one that raised us, is one of apathy and selfishness. We are only concerned about how changes ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3902899 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:00:00 +0100 3902899 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3845099&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fa-tough-route-to-becoming-a-doctor%2F2010.08.08 This occurred after a liver, heart, lung, and kidney transplant: Allison John, 32, made medical history in 2006 after she received her fourth organ transplant — a kidney from her father, 61-year-old David John, to add to her previous heart, lung and liver transplants. A life plagued by illness and frequent hospital visits has not deterred John from her dream of becoming a doctor, however. After 14 years of interrupted study, she finally received her medical degree from Cardiff University last month, according to the U.K. press. Wow. -WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist. *This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3845099 Sun, 08 Aug 2010 22:00:00 +0100 3845099 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3798564&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fcareer-counselor-thoughts-on-becoming-a-doctor%2F2010.07.28 As a physician, I’ve had several people ask my “honest” opinion of their plans to become a doctor. I know what my response is to this question, but I wonder what others in my profession would answer. Would your response depend, in large part, on who’s doing the asking — could you answer your own child as you would someone you just met? Be careful, your answer to this question, if honestly given, might shine an unsettling light on your own feelings about your current career choice. Last week I spoke with a college junior working to fulfill her lifelong plans to become a physician. She told me about a recent conversation with her own doctor where she shared her plans to go to medical school and he’d tried to dissuade her. She couldn’t recall a single cogent reason given f... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3798564 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:00:26 +0100 3798564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3740596&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-reason-i-stayed-a-doctor%2F2010.07.09 This week I traveled to a small town outside Chicago to help my mother with her move from an assisted living facility to Alabama so she can live with my sister. I suspect many people, thanks to current economic times, have realized that the savings that were supposed to be there are not and change must happen. Such is the case with my mother. It’s sure to be an emotional time, one which both of us had hoped to avoid. For her, she will be moving from the region of her childhood, her college, her marriage, her first home, her dream home, her caldron of first-grade student graduates and her dearest friends. For me, I will miss our spontaneous visits, morning coffee conversations, trips to the local restaurant in the town of my childhood, her gentle smile, and her helpful advice. But th... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3740596 Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:00:00 +0100 3740596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3563960&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhen-doctors-consider-a-career-change%2F2010.05.14 What awaits some physicians who decide to quit medicine: Source: A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor *This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3563960 Fri, 14 May 2010 14:10:10 +0100 3563960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2007043&cid=t_166115_93_f&fid=36658&url=http%3A%2F%2Fxavier-emmanuelle.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Fi-had-great-day-today.html I had a great day today. Not the most productive day, but a fantastic one none the less.I wanted to get through more material than I did, but I became an expert on the molecular biology of obesity today, and I'm proud of that.Then my health promotion partner and I gave a mental health presentation for first year students, and I feel like we really got through to them and gave them some great study tips as well as concrete ways to help with their stress levels. They asked good questions and this led to us giving an impromptu seminar on non-medical ways to deal with insomnia, and I'm proud that we were able enough to do that without prior preparation.Do you ever have one of those days where you actually feel like you're very slowly, but at least in the process of, becoming a doctor? Good day... I'm Not Anti-Social, I'm Just Pre-Med blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2007043 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:36:00 +0100 2007043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1810151&cid=t_166115_93_f&fid=36658&url=http%3A%2F%2Fxavier-emmanuelle.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F09%2Faboriginal-adolescent-health.html I finally got word about my community health project... I got a combination of two things that I'm super interested in: aboriginal health and adolescent health together. AWESOME. I'm going to be working mainly with off-reserve high-risk aboriginal teens... sounds challenging and interesting and full of social justice issues to work on.Part of this project is also going to be teaching aboriginal youth about health care careers, to try to encourage them to consider medicine, nursing, or OT/PT as a career path -- we might even get to take them on tours of the hospital, or take them to the skills lab (aka letting them intubate plastic dummies and other wicked stuff like that). I'm rather keen on the skills lab idea -- I know if I were a teenager I would just about kill for a day in the clinica... I'm Not Anti-Social, I'm Just Pre-Med blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1810151 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:22:00 +0100 1810151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1724010&cid=t_166115_93_f&fid=36658&url=http%3A%2F%2Fxavier-emmanuelle.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fwhy-vet-med-has-got-me-pegged-for-rural.html I loved veterinary medicine. I spent 6 months where I lived and breathed vet med... reading up on the surgeries and conditions at every opportunity, leaving just enough time for my calculus homework and essay writing, and my dance classes of course. Throughout the whole experience I knew that I didn't want to be a veterinarian -- I like talking to human patients too much -- but it was a fantastic learning experience.Every morning I would put on my scrubs and head to the veterinary hospital, bright eyed and excited to learn. Most days I spent the morning in surgery with my preceptors, which meant helping to prep patients for surgery, and getting to do some simple things like calculate IV fluids and help with pre-op bloods. In the OR I mostly just observed and sometimes got to monitor anaest... I'm Not Anti-Social, I'm Just Pre-Med blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1724010 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:25:00 +0100 1724010 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544573&cid=t_166115_93_f&fid=36658&url=http%3A%2F%2Fxavier-emmanuelle.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fclinical-skills.html I met a med student in the movie theatre today. Random place to meet, that's for sure! (She's from a tiny town as well, which is why she wasn't fazed when I struck up a conversation the way most city people are).Anyway, we got to talking, and it turns out that we live in the same neighbourhood, and now we're going to get together to practice our blood pressure taking and ECG reading skills :) Means I need to do some revision this week! Warning to everyone around me, I'll be taking your BP a whole lot this week, and I may also ask you to look at ECG strips with me. You have been warned.Love,Xavier (Source: I'm Not Anti-Social, I'm Just Pre-Med) I'm Not Anti-Social, I'm Just Pre-Med blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544573 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:12:00 +0100 1544573 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1532329&cid=t_166115_93_f&fid=36658&url=http%3A%2F%2Fxavier-emmanuelle.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fintimacy-with-strangers.html I've reached the point in my university schooling where something that I should have expected, but somehow didn't, has started to happen. I blame it on pathology last semester -- prior to path I had learned plenty about diseases, but mostly just on a microscopic level, whereas in pathology we saw lots of real life pictures.Now, all of a sudden I know too much about the total strangers around me. I know what it means when a woman passes me on the street with a butterfly rash. When a child across from me on the bus has those characteristic facial features. When a man walks by me with a moon face, and a buffalo hump. I know so much about them just by looking at them, and yet they know nothing of me.I'm glad that I am learning to recognize all of these things, and yet at the same time I feel l... I'm Not Anti-Social, I'm Just Pre-Med blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1532329 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:09:00 +0100 1532329 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1297720&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fas-regular-readers-know-only-too-well.html As regular readers know only too well, one of the prime objectives of NHS BLOG DOCTOR is to publicise the widespread dumbing down of health care that is insidiously, gradually but relentlessly destroying the NHS. Of course, when you keep banging a drum, people stop listening after a while and you become a voice in the wilderness. Yesterday, I highlighted the dumbing down of cardiology in the community. Once again, I said that a nurse is no subsitutue for a doctor. The usual vitriolic comments came in from the blinkered, egalitarian fantasists who lack insight into their own ignorance.I think you need to put the rose-tinted glassess that you use when looking back "at the way things were", as it simply NOT the case that things are always getting worse. It must be the distorted view form yo... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1297720 Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:22:00 +0100 1297720 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1174872&cid=t_166115_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fdo-you-want-your-children-to-become.html Elsewhere, Dr Crippen looks at Gordon Brown, Patricia Hewitt and morale in the NHS"As an experienced father of four teenagers I no longer enter into the “will you tidy your bedroom” conversation. I never win. Experienced parents know that the key to managing teenagers is not about winning the battles. It is about choosing which battles to fight...."See "I don't want my children to go into medicine" (Source: NHS Blog Doctor) NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1174872 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:46:00 +0100 1174872