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 'core'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:04:35 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118611&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpP2-UtiQPnQ%2F By Neal McCluskeyThe good news: Supporters haven’t been able to completely stamp out debate over national curriculum standards. The bad news: The Invasion of the School Snatchers strategy is real, and it is working!  Yesterday, I blogged about a letter from Jeb Bush reportedly causing a subcommittee of the American Legislative Exchange Council to table model legislation opposing national standards. Subsequent to my writing that, a follow-up Education Week post reported that debate wasn’t, in fact, quashed by Bush’s letter. Unfortunately, it appears consideration was postponed for another reason: Most state legislators have no idea what’s going on with national standards: “Legislators have heard of it, but not a whole lot of states engage legislators in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118611 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:20:28 +0100 5118611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118616&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNjfGOgNR6eg%2F By Neal McCluskeyFormer Florida governor Jeb Bush cares about education. He made major education reforms in the Sunshine State, including many centered on private school choice. He has established the Foundation for Excellence in Education, and dedicates much of his time to education reform. Unfortunately, when it comes to national curriculum standards, it seems his genuine caring has led him to avoid—and now attempt to quash—critical debate on both the dubious merits of national standards, and the huge threats to federalism posed by Washington driving the standards train. As I’ve complained on numerous occasions, it’s clear that supporters of national standards have employed a stealth strategy to get their way: back-room drafting of standards, content-free Language ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118616 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:19:38 +0100 5118616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028543&cid=t_161254_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHhgUwFu7e1U%2F Meaningful Use Core Measure: More than 50% of all patients who request an electronic copy of their health information are provided it within 3 business days. Exclusion: Any EP who receives no requests for this information in electronic format.  This measure is distinguished from  the clinical summary measure, (discussed in the previous Meaningful Use Monday post), in two major ways: 1)      “Electronic copy of health information” covers all health information that the provider has regarding the patient, whereas the “clinical summary” is a snapshot of a particular visit. 2)      This measure is driven by requests made by patients or their agents—electronic access must be provided in response to at least 50% of the specific requests received by a provider. By contrast, ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028543 Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:18:26 +0100 5028543 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008140&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FweK8xfT7oaw%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver at Jay Greene’s blog, Sandra Stotsky riffs off an Education Week report about educators around the country not seeing the difference between their old state standards and new, “Common Core” standards. Stotsky offers a theory for why this is: Common Core — as far as anyone can tell because the standards-drafting process was so opaque — was put together largely by the same people responsible for the bad old state standards. As a result, maybe they really aren’t all that different. The general ignorance about the standards brings up an important point. As Mike Petrilli at the Fordham Institute has pointed out, yes, the $4.35-billion federal Race to the Top pushed a lot of states to adopt the Common Core standards, but that doesn&#8... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008140 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:41:53 +0100 5008140 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997522&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-right-and-wrong-ways-to-strengthen-your-core-muscles%2F2011.07.03 What do slouching, back pain, and a middling forehand or weak shot off the tee have in common? Often it’s a weak core—the girdle of muscles, bones, and joints that links your upper and lower body. Your core gives you stability and helps power the moves you make every day. Whether it’s bending to pick up a laundry basket, swinging a golf club, paddling a kayak, or reaching to pull a vase from the top shelf of a cabinet, a strong and flexible core makes the move more fluid, efficient, and robust. Strong, well-balanced core muscles can also improve your posture and help prevent back injuries. And if back pain does strike, core exercises are usually part of the rehab regimen. Core Muscles Click image to enlarge. Your core is composed of many different muscles in the abdomen, back, ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997522 Sun, 03 Jul 2011 22:00:55 +0100 4997522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975984&cid=t_161254_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FjneuVa-B1fM%2F Meaningful Use Core Measure: Provide clinical summaries to patients for more than 50% of all office visits within 3 business days. Exclusion: Any EP who has no office visits during the reporting period. The clinical summary provides clinical information associated with a specific recent visit. (It does not encompass the entire patient chart.) This measure may appear daunting upon first reading of the requirements, but the guidance below should make it achievable.  The clinical summary can be delivered by one of two means: electronic media, (e.g., patient portal, secure e-mail, CD or USB fob), or a printed copy. According to advice received from CMS, the easiest way for a physician to meet this measure is to employ a patient portal as the default option. Following each office visit, the EP... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975984 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:21:40 +0100 4975984 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953043&cid=t_161254_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FFmpmcaEqcC4%2F Smoking is a major and costly health problem. Because it is such a high priority for CMS, smoking is addressed in the Stage 1 meaningful use requirements by three distinct measures, which has caused a fair amount of confusion. I will try to clarify. The first is a core meaningful use measure. Therefore, every eligible professional (EP) must satisfy this requirement, unless they can attest to meeting the exclusion. Core Meaningful Use Measure: Record Smoking Status More than 50% of all unique patients 13 years old or older seen by the EP have smoking status recorded as structured data. Exclusion: Any EP who sees no patients 13 years or older. Description: Smoking status must be recorded as one of the following 6 categories: current every day smoker; current some day smoker; former smoker;... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953043 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:34:33 +0100 4953043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893593&cid=t_161254_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fphysician-professionalism-crucial-core.html " As a former full-time faculty member, I regularly had to rate residents in six core competencies — six general categories of skills or assets needed for one to be considered a competent physician, one who could safely care for patients independently. I had often felt that the most crucial of them all, and the one that is the hardest, if not impossible, to teach is professionalism. Without it, all the others are moot.One can learn the pathophysiology of a disease (medical knowledge), know the appropriate tests to order and the gold standard of therapy (patient care), learn it through actual patient interaction (practice-based learning), utilize the rest of the health team (systems-based practice), and be able to explain it to the patient and the rest of the health team (interpersonal an... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893593 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:24:00 +0100 4893593 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872061&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwCuf0Hmp-sI%2F By Neal McCluskeyIt’s hard to pin down what’s more frustrating about Michael Petrilli’s response to my recent NRO op-ed on national standards: the rhetorical obfuscation about what Fordham and other national-standardizers really want, or the grade-school effort to escape discipline by saying that, hey, some kids are even worse! Let’s start with the source of aggravation that by now must seem very old to regular Cato@Liberty readers, but that  has to be constantly revisited because national standardizers are so darned disciplined about their message: The national-standards drive is absolutely not “state led and voluntary,” and by all indications this is totally intentional. Federal arm-twisting hasn’t just been the result of ”unfo... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872061 Fri, 27 May 2011 15:25:52 +0100 4872061 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862507&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FdEPmL2mnN1w%2F By Andrew J. CoulsonThe focus of the debate over a national curriculum has shifted to the illegality of the federal government extorting states to homogenize their standards and paying for national tests. It’s an important point, but let’s remember another one that Neal McCluskey has been at pains to make: these are bad ideas irrespective of their legality. There is no consistent body of evidence supporting national standards and testing schemes, while there is a vast and consistent body of evidence that the least regulated, most market-like education systems around the world outperform those blessed with the careful oversight of bureaucrats and regulators. The push for homogenized national education standards is so unscientific and anti-empirical, so purely based on the faith its ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862507 Wed, 25 May 2011 18:01:53 +0100 4862507 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862512&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2nl-MZLMTTI%2F By Neal McCluskey…but not this one. According to Education Week, yesterday U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told an audience at the National Center on Education and the Economy that “we have not and will not prescribe a national curriculum.” Many in attendance got a good laugh out of that one. Smart audience. You Can Fool Some of the Audiences Some of the Time… is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862512 Wed, 25 May 2011 14:00:55 +0100 4862512 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4789668&cid=t_161254_180_f&fid=38619&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FALifeCoachsBlog%2F%7E3%2FyXY3EzjadJo%2F You may have noticed a few changes around here lately. Firstly, I started charging for most my Life Coaching ebooks that were previously free and then if you subscribe via RSS you will have noticed that you no longer get the whole post in your feed and e-mail. Now you just get a snippet of each new post that then requires you to click through to read the entire article. I usually only Continue reading... (Source: Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone :) Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4789668 Thu, 05 May 2011 14:01:23 +0100 4789668 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4742371&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FprR3B0AowNA%2F By Andrew J. CoulsonA group of CEOs called on the nation’s governors this week to raise U.S. business standards. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the CEOs declared that state governments have been misleading consumers about the quality of the goods they’re buying. One retired Fortune-500 CEO declared that: America’s standing as the most innovative and prosperous nation on earth depends on our ability to boost business’ productivity. As business leaders, we are pledging to stand with governors who commit to high production and product quality standards in scientific and technological fields. Even today, most readers probably recognize the preceding paragraphs as satirical (I hope!). The idea that it would be helpful to have bureaucrats set productio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4742371 Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:54:18 +0100 4742371 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4696591&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fmedinformaticsmd-and-dr-roy-poses-in.html I have considered Dr. Roy Poses' Dec. 14, 2010 post "The Lancet Emphasizes the Threats to the Academic Medical Mission" (with its hyperlinks to source posts and articles) an excellent summary of many of the pathologies we address at Healthcare Renewal, especially with regard to the academic mission and the disruption of the integrity of the medical literature by commercial interests. His post is consistent with what might be considered our mission statement:Addressing threats to health care's core values, especially those stemming from concentration and abuse of power. Advocating for accountability, integrity, transparency, honesty and ethics in leadership and governance of health care.The Wall Street Journal published the following letter to the editor authored by me today in which I cit... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4696591 Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:15:00 +0100 4696591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4693245&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fmedinformaticsmd-and-dr-roy-poses-in.html I have considered Dr. Roy Poses' Dec. 14, 2010 post "The Lancet Emphasizes the Threats to the Academic Medical Mission" (with its hyperlinks to source posts and articles) an excellent summary of many of the pathologies we address at Healthcare Renewal, especially with regard to the academic mission and the disruption of the integrity of the medical literature by commercial interests. His post is consistent with what might be considered our mission statement:Addressing threats to health care's core values, especially those stemming from concentration and abuse of power. Advocating for accountability, integrity, transparency, honesty and ethics in leadership and governance of health care.The Wall Street Journal published the following letter to the editor authored by me today in which I cit... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4693245 Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:15:00 +0100 4693245 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684268&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbPRcyhr7IUw%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver on his Education Week blog, Rick Hess senses that the "broad but shallow coalition" of national curriculum standards true-believers and folks who just like the idea of a common academic metric might be fracturing.  The cause: The Albert Shanker Institute's national curriculum manifesto released last month, as well as lingering concern about impending national tests. Suddenly -- and seemingly against the wishes of Common Core leaders -- the national standards push is starting to appear much less "voluntary" and much more micromanaging than advertised.  I hope that Hess is right that alarm is spreading over the oozingly expanding national-standards blob, but I disagree with how he seems to characterize what's happening. Hess appears to see these developments,... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684268 Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:10:19 +0100 4684268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676901&cid=t_161254_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FFMimjQqrNlc%2F In response to strong lobbying activity and numerous comments from physicians, the Final Rule on Meaningful Use (Stage 1) included a provision for physicians to exclude certain measures that are outside the scope of their practice. This was primarily an accommodation made to enable specialists to participate in the EHR incentives program without substantially changing their practices—although some primary care physicians may find exclusions applicable to them as well. For a physician to exclude a measure: The measure must be explicitly identified as “excludable” in the Final Rule—not all measures contain such a provision. (6 core and 7 menu measures are potentially excludable, but for some there will be very few providers who would meet the criteria.) The physician must me... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676901 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:10:29 +0100 4676901 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4670079&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Flogical-fallacies-in-support-of.html The kerfuffle over the huge golden parachute given the departing CEO of an ostensibly non-profit Massachusetts health insurer/ managed care organization continues to evolve (see posts here and here), providing some new insight into governance problems afflicting health care organizations.  One of the issues that aroused initially aroused concern was that Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield paid the members of its board of trustees substantial amount, an unusual practice for a non-profit organization.  Board members who feel they owe their pay to the CEO they are supposed to be overseeing might be particularly inclined to over pay that same CEO.Nonetheless, the Boston Globe just reported that other non-profit Massachusetts health insurers were defending their payme... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4670079 Sat, 02 Apr 2011 01:26:00 +0100 4670079 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653283&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fblogscan-place-where-compass-spins.html The 1 Boring Old Man blog is on a roll.  Read this summary post, see its amazing introduction below, then peruse the main page and the archives:At the North Pole, the magnetic compass apparently spins at random, not knowing where to point. Is it because there’s no North? or is North everywhere? That’s the way I feel about this Atypical Antipsychotic story I’ve been preoccupied with for a couple of months. It’s like everyone’s walking around with a compass that doesn’t work any more. The Pharmaceutical Companies involved have forgotten what their products are used for. Many doctors seem to have forgotten why they became doctors. Whole industries have sprung up [Clinical Research Organizations, Clinical Research Centers, Medical Writing companies, etc] without being cle... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653283 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:41:00 +0100 4653283 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653413&cid=t_161254_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fy_6pmqwP78o%2F John requested that the next series of Meaningful Use Monday posts explore the ins and outs of the individual meaningful use measures. To begin this process, today’s post reviews the basic requirements and the type of information that providers will report. Next Monday’s post will address the options available to some providers to exclude certain measures. Following that, I will address the measures, one by one, week by week (…although I can’t promise that I won’t digress as subjects of timely interest arise!) By now, most people interested in meaningful use know that there are 25 measures and that they are divided into two sets—Core and Menu. Providers must meet all 15 of the core measures and any 5 of the 10 menu set measures, as long as one public health measure is included.... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653413 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:10:12 +0100 4653413 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4592366&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2yhf1F4z5Qo%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver at Flypaper, Chester Finn suggests that people like me are either crazy or on the verge of it for fearing that the Shanker Institute's "common content" manifesto might very well be another step toward federal control of American education.   "Over in the more feverish corners of the blogosphere, and sometimes even in saner locales," he writes, "the Shanker Institute’s call for 'common content' curriculum to accompany the Common Core standards has triggered a panic attack." Now, I wouldn't say "panic attack." To panic is to "be overcome by a sudden fear," but I've been watching the move toward federal curriculum control for some time. Back in 2008 many of the groups behind the Common Core called for Washington to "incentivize" adoption of national standards. ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4592366 Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:33:41 +0100 4592366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560248&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FaTp_rdBUiLQ%2F By Neal McCluskeyToday, a group of seventy-five national-standards crusaders released a manifesto calling for "shared curriculum guidelines" to accompany the Common Core State Standards. But don't worry, the petitioners assure us, "use of the kinds of curriculum guidelines that we advocate in the core academic subjects would be purely voluntary." Oh please, please -- stop lying to us! Here's the only absolutely clear thing that we've learned so far from the national standards push: Leading national standardizers do not want adoption of their plans to be truly voluntary. Sure, they talk about creating mere "guidelines," and states being free to choose what they'll use, but they know reality full well: Whatever Washington connects to federal money becomes de facto mandatory, and they mos... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560248 Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:08:19 +0100 4560248 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4552072&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F05%2F7-reasons-charlie-sheen-may-hate-alcoholics-anonymous%2F In one of the myriad interviews he gave over the last week, Charlie Sheen said clearly that he hates AA. A lot of people have trouble with Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is full of people and people can be messy and flawed. The human train wreck formally known as Charlie Sheen is a common sight in the AA meeting halls. The only difference between Mr. Sheen and other self-absorbed, delusional, frantic addicts is the size of the audience to which they rant. These people do not last long in AA. They mock the Fellowship and the 12 Steps (PDF) as too religious or simplistic. AA is beneath them. Here are a few possible reasons why Charlie Sheen might hate AA so much. Reasons Why Charlie Sheen May Hate AA He would have to admit he is powerless. He would need to embrace Humility. Deep tissue Change wo... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4552072 Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:13:27 +0100 4552072 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4318313&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYzAPg4k1bLg%2F By Neal McCluskeyAdopting national curriculum standards — the so-called “Common Core” — is voluntary for states. That is what we’ve long been told, and that is what the text of a new report looking at implementation of the standards repeats. But within that report is powerful evidence of how involuntary and federally led Common Core adoption has truly been. According to the report, which furnishes results of a November 2010 survey of state education officials, the vast majority of states that had adopted the Common Core as of November had done so at least in part because of “the possible effect” of doing so “on success of our Race to the Top application.” Race to the Top, you might recall, was a $4.35 billion federal contest for ed... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4318313 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:39:04 +0100 4318313 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4258807&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Flancet-emphasizes-threats-to-academic.html Discussion of some examples of what may happen to whistle blowers is here.  The survey mentioned earlier (here) showed that about one-third of faculty fear they may be punished for speaking  out.  Leadership of academic medical centers by businesspeople - Ill-informed management may result from leaders who have no background or training in actual health care.  Leaders of teaching hospitals and universities become millionaires -  A recent example is here, and more may be found here.  Leaders of academic medical centers and the parent universities of medical schools often make more than $1 million a year in the US.  When such amounts are in play, executives may focus more on short-term measures that lead to even more pay than on upholding the mission. ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4258807 Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:30:00 +0100 4258807 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4105651&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FaB-XJxH9ZfY%2F By Neal McCluskeyOne of the most regrettable outcomes of government schooling is constant, wrenching conflict as diverse people are forced to fight over the uniform school system they all have to support. Sadly — and in complete opposition to the foundational American value of individual liberty — one of the few ways these conflicts can be resolved is by crushing groups with insufficient political power, keeping them from getting the education they want for their children. Unfortunately, making it easier to do exactly that seems to have motivated at least some people in Kansas to support their state’s adoption of federally backed “Common Core” standards. Under the guise of removing politics from public schooling – meaning, crippling the ability of th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4105651 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:58:17 +0100 4105651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959967&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F09%2F11%2Fin-memory-of-911-2010%2F Today was the 9th anniversary of 9/11 and I have little to say, other than to commemorate the people who lost their lives in that tragedy. Such random acts of violence seem senseless because they are. We try and make sense of them by putting them into some sort of context or definition (e.g., “terrorism”), but at the end of the day, there’s little sense to killing thousands of innocent lives. Although anger is still prevalent when we think of the lives lost that day, 9 years ago, we shouldn’t allow such anger cloud rationality and adherence to the principles that make us Americans. The ridiculous assertions against a mosque and community center, built somewhere in the vicinity of the footprints of the World Trade center, suggests that somehow the Constitution could... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959967 Sat, 11 Sep 2010 23:10:18 +0100 3959967 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3954229&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FaFxueKP-P4Y%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver at PublicSquare.net — a nifty debate site — you can catch another installment of the ongoing McCluskey-Petrilli national curriculum tussle. As always, I think the argument against imposing national standards — and, soon, tests – rules the day, but listen to the exchange and decide for yourself. Once you’ve done that, make sure to leave a note explaining why you think national standards offer no hope for improving American education. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3954229 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:59:13 +0100 3954229 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3899381&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEW3fEekjyhc%2F The hard-nosed, content-at-all-cost folks at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation have been warned, and warned, and warned some more: Get the national curriculum standards you think are so incredibly important, and they will almost certainly be captured by the pedagogical progressives who have dominated education for decades — and whose notions you disdain. Well, if what’s being reported by Common Core’s Lynne Munson – and reiterated in this lamentation for Massachusetts by the Pioneer Institute’s Jim Stergios – is accurate, that is already happening. (Actually, some prominent analysts have long said that the national standards — created by the Council of Chief State School Officers and National Governors Association — are already nothing the... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3899381 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:26:02 +0100 3899381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3880798&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fhow-fallacy-of-perfect-health-care.html We began this blog way back in 2005 to discuss threats to physicians' values, especially from concentration and abuse of power.  Personal experience, and cases and anecdotes described by colleagues suggested that a dysfunctional health care system was making patients and physicians miserable.  Interviews with more physicians suggested pervasive threats to their values, many stemming from how leaders of health care organizations wielded their power.   Threats to Professional ValuesIn a 2007 post, based on an article in JAMA by Dr Arnold Relman, I asserted that the notion that threats to physicians' professional values are a major cause of health care dysfunction was becoming mainstream.  Furthermore, Dr Relman's review of the history of the probl... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3880798 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:37:00 +0100 3880798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3822872&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fge-dont-know-much-about-radiation.html Don't know much about historyDon't know much biologyDon't know much about a science bookDon't know much about the french I took.(Wonderful World, sung by Sam Cook)This is becoming the theme song for executives of health care corporations.  We have posted about a series of cases in which major health care corporations suddenly seemed unable to carry out their core business functions, a phenomenon I am going to start calling "core business incompetence."  Some recent examples:-  Baxter International apparently failed to check the purity of heparin it bought from a foreign supplier; the contaminated heparin resulted in approximately 81 deaths. (See post here.)-  A major Genzyme manufacturing facility had multiple quality problems, resulting in the production of a very expe... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3822872 Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:41:00 +0100 3822872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3812979&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmayo-clinic-center-for-social-media-%25e2%2580%2593-what-it-represents%2F2010.08.02 In a move that may represent a new level of social health organization within large institutions, the Mayo Clinic announced that it has launched The Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media. Mayo intends to “accelerate effective application of social media tools throughout Mayo Clinic and to spur broader and deeper engagement in social media by hospitals, medical professionals and patients to improve health globally.” Look for more information in Mayo’s press release which is diplomatically vague while at the same time lofty and enticing. So what does this really mean? The Mayo Clinic recognizes opportunity. The opportunity to formally offer comprehensive social media training to hospitals and medical schools is huge. The Mayo Clinic can and should leverage what they’ve done both to the... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3812979 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:00:50 +0100 3812979 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3805876&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F07%2F30%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-july-30-2010%2F Boy where did July go? It’s hard to believe there’s just one more month left in summer. Being that we’re more than half way through 2010, it’s a great time to reflect. Have you thought about your New Year’s resolutions and life goals lately? I have. In fact, it’s all I have been thinking about recently. I’ve been wrestling with the battle between accepting the present while working on improving myself for the future. What stirred up this sudden focus on self-reflection? I’m enrolled in an online writing course and something the instructor said really hit home. She said that our unconscious drives our behavior and this includes how we treat others, ourselves and even how we write. In fact, if we are not aware of it, it can sabotage our life. T... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3805876 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:29:46 +0100 3805876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3772223&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqEaxBeR13cE%2F By Neal McCluskeyAs Massachusetts nears decision time on adopting national education standards, the Boston Herald takes state leaders to task for their support of the Common Core standards, which some analysts say are inferior to current state standards. But fear not, says Education Secretary Paul Reville. If the national standards are inferior, the Bay State can change them. “We will continue to be in the driver’s seat.” If only national standardizers — many of whom truly want high standards and tough accountability — would look a little further than the ends of their beaks. Here’s the reality: Massachusetts will not be in the drivers seat in the future. Indeed, states aren’t in the driver’s seat right now, because it is federal money that i... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3772223 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:13:30 +0100 3772223 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3767057&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fpbl-T4f_eDo%2F By Neal McCluskeyAs national education standards continue their hushed and rushed adoption process, there may be only one chance left to significantly slow them down: Massachusetts. The Bay State is seen by national-standards supporters as having the toughest mathematics and language arts standards in the nation, and if Mass refuses to adopt the Common Core standards on the grounds that they’re not up to the state’s high snuff, then national standards will lose a very high profile state.  It certainly wouldn’t be the end of the line for national standards — lots of federal money coercing adoption will see to that — but it would be a relatively high-profile, and maybe even attention-grabbing, loss. Unfortunately, Massachusetts is on the same eye-bli... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3767057 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:20:48 +0100 3767057 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3706730&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F06%2F28%2Fgood-versus-evil-in-strength%2F You have to hand it to Kurt Gray, a doctoral student at Harvard. He knows how to spin a set of three small experiments he conducted to make headlines. Here’s what Gray had to say about his findings: “By perceiving themselves as good or evil, people embody these perceptions, actually becoming more capable of physical endurance.” and “But in fact, this research suggests that physical strength may be an effect, not a cause, of moral acts.” Did Gray actually measure a person’s inherent “goodness” or capacity for evil (or did he measure artificial situations created in a lab that may or may not actually mimic these qualities)? And if so, did he also measure physical strength (or simply one small aspect of strength, physical endurance)? In the three exper... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3706730 Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:33:44 +0100 3706730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3577389&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyC8SNr6u_6M%2F By Neal McCluskeyThere’s a lot to learn about what’s going on in federal education policy today, and none of it is good. First, Steven Brill offers a revealing look at the Race to the Top evaluation process in a piece that can be added to the ever-growing pile of evidence that Race to the Top isn’t even close to the objective — or, I’d add, powerful — catalyst for meaningful reform that the Obama administration insists it is. Second, it appears that congressional Democrats are preparing to pass a Harkin-proposed, Obama-endorsed, $23 billion bailout for teachers by attaching it to an “emergency” appropriation for the war in Afghanistan. (Passing major — and highly suspect – education legislation by attaching it to something to... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3577389 Tue, 18 May 2010 17:39:02 +0100 3577389 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3354302&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3DM13Mv6d28%2F By Neal McCluskeyThree days ago I reported that draft, grade-by-grade, national curricular standards would soon be released by the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Yesterday, they were. (If you want to get a sense for what the proposed standards are follow the link to them. Don’t bother with the appendices, though, unless you really want to get into the weeds.) Naturally, in the coming days lots of people will be offering heaps of commentary about what the standards do or do not contain. That’s not my main concern (though reading through the English standards I am dubious that mastery of them could be easily or consistently assessed). You see, the content of the standards is largely irrelevant because the main problem isn’t what the standards are, but stan... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3354302 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:45:38 +0100 3354302 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3302683&cid=t_161254_180_f&fid=38619&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FALifeCoachsBlog%2F%7E3%2FKQ1UO-lI42w%2F Somebody posed the question on Twitter the other day and I’m paraphrasing because I can’t remember the exact wording, but it went something like this: “How long does it take for you to trust somebody?” My immediate response was one of bewilderment as the question acted like a brilliant pattern interrupt on me. A pattern interrupt is a technique that is frequently used in hypnosis. It’s purpose is to confuse the conscious mind for a few seconds with a non sequitur. A sentence that doesn’t quite make sense, but at the same time sounds like it should and isn’t so preposterous that it can simply be dismissed out of hand. That way, with the conscious mind tied up trying to understand what the hell is going on, it’s possible for the hypnotherapist to communicate directly with the... Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3302683 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:09:50 +0100 3302683 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3287684&cid=t_161254_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fcolon-cancer%2F Pathophyisology 1) solid tumors (usually adenocarcinoma) that develop from pre-existing adenomas 2) progression from adenomatous polyp to dysplastic lesion to microfoci of adenocarcinoma probably involves activation of an oncogene followed by loss of a tumor-suppressor gene 3) mets typically go to mesenteric nodes and liver Signs and Symptoms Right colon cancers – 1) fever 2) fatigue 3) palpitations 4) weight loss 5) angina Left colon cancers – 6) abdominal pain 7) abdominal cramping bloating 9) perforation 10) hematochezia 11) tenesmus 12) small caliber stools Characteristic Test Findings Laboratory – 1) positive guaiac test on rectal exam 2) iron-deficient hypochromic microcytic anemia 3) increased CEA 4) mildly increased transaminases or GGT in liver mets Radiology &#... Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3287684 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:07:05 +0100 3287684 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3266905&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2F13B4-V9mFUI%2F Kids learn best when they are having fun.  This should come as no surprise to anyone. When I go into schools with my new program: “Creative Core Curriculum”TM and we learn through story and song, writing and rapping, music and movement – the kids have no clue that I am just following their curriculum, with a little creative spin.  Why?  Because, unfortunately, students are don’t equate fun and learning. Time to shift that outdated paradigm. In today’s world, children are experiential learners.  They learn by doing, creating, moving — diving into topics and exploring them, firsthand.  That’s why the worksheet mentality of the 1950’s just doesn’t make sense anymore (if it ever did). And, yet when our school system and government needed to “teach” our children t... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3266905 Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:01:29 +0100 3266905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3200425&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FAaJemFRvMNE%2F By Neal McCluskeyAs freedom-minded folks have been celebrating major setbacks for Obama Care, campaign-speech control, and lots of other attacks on liberty, some have been sounding the alarm over the insidious “Race to the Top” contest. A couple of siren blasts I just caught are well worth taking in yourself, one by the Heartland Institute’s Robert Holland and the other by Colorado Board of Education member Peggy Littleton. In particular, the writers think they see the handwriting on the wall in the de facto requirement that states promise to adopt as-yet-unwritten “common” (read: national) standards to compete for RTTT funds.  As Littleton writes: We already know that the federal government, or at the least consortiums of states, wants to develop asse... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3200425 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:47:17 +0100 3200425 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096826&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPOXrOhebBeI%2F By Neal McCluskeyI’ve been fretting for some time over the growing push for national curricular standards, standards that would be de facto federal and, whether adopted voluntarily by states or imposed by Washington, end up being worthless mush with yet more billions of dollars sunk into them. The primary thing that has kept me optimistic is that, in the end, few people can ever agree on what standards should include, which has defeated national standards thrusts in the past. So far, the Common Core State Standards Initiative – a joint National Governors Association/Council of Chief State School Officers venture that is all-but-officially backed by Washington — has avoided being ripped apart by educationists and plain ol’ citizens angry about who’s wri... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096826 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:07:30 +0100 3096826 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3092739&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F12%2F15%2Fpsych-central-mindapps-offer-ecbt-iphone-app%2F A few months ago, MindApps released an iPhone application called “eCBT Mood.” It allows a user to apply tried and true cognitive-behavioral techniques in their everyday life, and track their progress with those techniques over time with a simple graph. I liked it because it explained CBT stuff in a direct, easy-to-understand manner, and most importantly, was “actionable.” It walks you through specific steps of an automatic thought, for instance, and gives you encouragement to try and change it as it’s happening. The application’s core is an “eCBT toolbox” that allows you to learn more about your thoughts and feelings, identify your automatic thoughts, keep a feeling and thoughts log, challenge automatic thoughts, and identify and challenge co... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3092739 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:36:00 +0100 3092739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044730&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fuw-CyuxtMzo%2F There are two things that President Obama’s plan won’t do: win the war, or end the war. While all Americans hope that the mission in Afghanistan will turn out well, the U.S. military’s counterinsurgency doctrine says that stabilizing a country the size of Afghanistan would require far more troops than the most wild-eyed hawk has proposed: about 600,000 troops. An additional 30 to 40,000 troops isn’t just a case of too little, too late; it holds almost no prospect of winning the war. Accordingly, this likely won’t be the last prime-time address in which the president proposes sending many more troops to Afghanistan; my greatest fear is that this is only the first of many. But we shouldn’t just commit still more troops. President Obama should have recogniz... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044730 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:55:33 +0100 3044730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803881&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fauab11dRA2k%2F A millennium or so ago, Steve Martin played a stadium with his stand-up act. He got the crowd of tens of thousands to repeat a series of statements in unison. My favorite, for sheer irony: “We Are all Individuals.” But, the thing is, we are. This is why I never cease to be amazed by disagreements like the one currently playing out between the curriculum groups “Common Core,” and “Partnership for 21st Century Skills.” Is there really one curriculum that is right for every child in this nation of 300 million people? Really? Rather than fighting a winner-take-all Shootout at the O.K. Curriculum, which is what our illustrious leaders seem to want, how about this peace-loving alternative: we let teachers teach whatever and however they want, and we let fam... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803881 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:14:29 +0100 2803881 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2796834&cid=t_161254_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F15%2Fthe-myth-of-core-stability%2F Fads come and fads go, and no more so than in managing back pain. One of the more durable fads has been the plethora of exercises to ’strengthen the core’. I’ve been searching for a good review of the literature on core stability, and surprisingly found one in a journal I rarely read: Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies. Eyal Lederman has written an extensive critical review of the use of core stability in back pain rehabilitation, and although there is a lot of material covered in the review, it is summarised nicely and the reference list alone is worth getting the article! The basic premise of core stability was a finding that in people with chronic low back pain, there are changes in motor control of the trunk muscles. Along with some of the other underlying b... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2796834 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:27:27 +0100 2796834 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2751839&cid=t_161254_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F01%2Finternational-journal-of-palliative-care-nursing-2009-vol-15-no-8%2F Fade Fave: Core attitudes of professionals in palliative care: A qualitative study Fade Skinny: ‘Core attitude’ describes the way in which a person perceives himself and the world, and forms the basis for his actions and thoughts. The aim of this article is to explore what core attitude means for palliative care professionals and whether there is a specific core attitude in palliative care. Contact the library for a copy of this article. Posted in Current Awareness, Journals Tagged: Attitudes, Core Attitude, End of Life Care, Palliative Care, Professionals, Qualitative (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2751839 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:29:40 +0100 2751839 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2613849&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fturning-patients-into-dialysis-dollars.html As we have discussed in previous posts (here and here), prior to a US Supreme Court decision in 1975, physicians (and other professionals) were left free to set up and enforce their own codes of ethics. Until about 1980, the US American Medical Association (AMA) stated,"in the practice of medicine a physician should limit the source of his professional income to medical services actually rendered by him, or under his supervision, to his patients""the practice of medicine should not be commercialized, nor treated as a commodity in trade"The Supreme Court decision was widely construed as meaning that any promulgation by US professional organizations of ethical regulations that constrained any economic practices of their members was a violation of anti-trust laws. Thus, in 1980, the AMA dropp... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2613849 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:24:00 +0100 2613849 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2598191&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWpZvflg_xZQ%2F Recent weeks have seen a swirl of speculation over whether President Obama will or will not re-appoint Ben Bernanke to the Chairmanship of the Federal Reserve Board, when his current term as Chair expires in January 2010. Almost all of the debate has centered on his actions as Chairman. This narrow focus misses an important piece: his actions, and words, as a Fed governor during the build-up of the housing bubble. What should have been Bernanke’s greatest strength as a Fed governor and later chair, his understanding of monetary theory and his knowledge of the Great Depression, has ended up being a weakness. While correct in his analysis of the role of “debt deflation” — where the deflation increases the real burden of debts and correspondingly weakens the balance s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2598191 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:19:43 +0100 2598191 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2588204&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fwindow-on-unworkable-settings-in-which.html This article strongly suggests that we cannot fix the health care crisis simply by changing financing mechanisms or money flows. We can only improve health care by improving the leadership and governance of health care organizations, and by rethinking the size and scope of health care organizations. The most crucial part of health care is what goes on between individual health care professionals and individual patients. Yet our system is composed of endlessly enlarging bureaucracies run by self-interested, often clueless, and sometimes dishonest, if not criminal leaders. This must change, unless we want this crisis to get much, much worse. (Source: Health Care Renewal) Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2588204 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:00:00 +0100 2588204 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2527791&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fwhy-did-us-physicians-give-up-their.html In his recent review of Dr Ezekiel Emanuel's book, (Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America,) Dr Arnold Relman, Editor-Emeritus of the New England Journal of Medicine, discussed the history of the deprofessionalization of American physicians.The behavior of US physicians has been changed by the commercialization of medical care, and this too has increased costs. US medical practice has traditionally relied on fee-for-service, which has always given it some of the attributes and incentives of a business. However, the American Medical Association (AMA) maintained for many years that medical practice was a profession, not a business. The AMA's ethical guidelines therefore advised physicians to limit their income to reasonable earnings from the care of patients, and to re... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2527791 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:08:00 +0100 2527791 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2398788&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2FImI5Gq1RntI%2Fis-a-home-smoking-ban-enough-to-stop-teen-smoking-808.html We all know the power of role models and I have written about the effect of role modes on behaviour many times before: from the moving ‘Children See, Children Do‘ campaign to talking about the effectiveness of the pictures of death and destruction that now adorn our fag packets. All these ideas are supported by the Behaviourist Bandura and his Social Learning Theory which proposes that children especially learn their behaviours through the observation and imitation of role models.  Bandura demonstrated this in his 1961 research where he exposed children to aggressive role models who acted violently (both physical and verbal violence) towards an inflatable bobo-doll. He found that children who were passive witnesses to this violent act were more likely to imitate this behaviour... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2398788 Sun, 10 May 2009 10:22:01 +0100 2398788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348536&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F19%2Fguidelines-for-good-listening%2F My publisher, Guilford Press, reminded me to tell you about The Lost Art of Listening: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships, just released in its second edition. The book by Dr. Mike Nichols explores the ways in which poor communication skills have robbed us of the comfort and security that can only come from genuine human interaction. He then offers “a wealth of practical techniques, simple exercises, and easy-to-reference tips for becoming a better listener and establishing solid lines of connection with those around us.” Listening, as I noted recently in a blog entry about improving your communication skills in a relationship, is a core component to a healthy relationship. Many relationships fail simply because one or both partners in a relationship aren’t ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348536 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:46:40 +0100 2348536 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2182482&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F02%2Fphysicians-unexpected-un-helplessness.html At "Physicians' Expected Helplessness" I wrote that:I am going to coin a new term to describe what I have observed as a corollary to physicians' learned helplessness: "Physicians' Expected Helplessness."I observed that "Physician's learned helplessness", an adverse effect of dysfunctional medical training and culture described here, had perhaps led to societal expectations of physicians being weak in defense of their profession and its patient-protective values, and "having a target pasted to their backs."In a case of human bites dog - or perhaps, more to the point, doctors bite dogs - a physician revolt has led to the ouster of unpopular and apparently ineffectual executives including the CEO, COO and Chief of HR at a large healthcare system based in Nashville.Two more executives leave Sa... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2182482 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:16:00 +0100 2182482 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2116894&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F9dR9UfH_w9g%2Fare-we-over-interpreting-fmri-results-762.html Recently we have looked at the impressive progression in the ability of fMRI scanners to record brain activity in ‘real time’ but are we over interpreting these results?  Over the last decade-or-two more-and-more researchers have been turning to fMRI scanners to open the ‘black box’ which is the brain. These scanners measure brain activity by measuring the amount of oxygen in the different parts of specific cortical or sub-cortical areas (this is a very simplistic view of the technology). However, there is a storm brewing about the validity of these scanners and questions being raised about the short-sightedness of using fMRI scanners to ‘pin-point’ specific areas within the brain when localising functions; asking the question are we oversimplifying t... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2116894 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:53 +0100 2116894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2056650&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F490855082%2Fwould-people-still-obey-today-742.html With the recent announcement of Jerry Berger’s (2009) soon-to-be-published (but available to download here) Replicating Milgram: Would People Still Obey I will be writing a series of articles considering the theories, methods and repercussions of both Berger’s 2009 research and the original that started this journey over 50-years-ago. Part I: Ethics Part II: Was it really a replication? Part III: What does this mean? Part IV: All evil starts with 15 volts? Milgram’s experiment is infamous in the world of Psychology with every student who has ever taken any intro-to-psychology class being able to recant the horrific stories of participants willing to administer shocks of 450 volts to someone whom they believed was just another participant. Even when they heard protest... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2056650 Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:38:17 +0100 2056650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511014&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2FNYBEVWUk77c%2Fwould-people-still-obey-today-742.html With the recent announcement of Jerry Berger’s (2009) soon-to-be-published (but available to download here) Replicating Milgram: Would People Still Obey I will be writing a series of articles considering the theories, methods and repercussions of both Berger’s 2009 research and the original that started this journey over 50-years-ago. Part I: Ethics Part II: Was it really a replication? Part III: What does this mean? Part IV: All evil starts with 15 volts? Milgram’s experiment is infamous in the world of Psychology with every student who has ever taken any intro-to-psychology class being able to recant the horrific stories of participants willing to administer shocks of 450 volts to someone whom they believed was just another participant. Even when they heard protests c... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511014 Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:20:23 +0100 2511014 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2052686&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F12%2F19%2Fand-the-winner-of-sadie-nardinis-core-strength-vinyasa-yoga-power-hour-dvd-is%2F I really wanted to enter this giveaway myself but that would be breaking the ‘organizer cannot participate’ rule that exists with these giveaway. So I guess it’s back to the random number selector to find out who to give the Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga: Power Hour DVD to. And the winner is… A’Lyn Congratulations A’Llyn. You’ll be receiving an email shortly with directions on how and where to provide your mailing address. By the way, anyone keen on learning more about Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga should head over to Sadie’s and subscribe to her monthly Core Strength newsletter, check out the over 100 yoga videos she has posted, and read her Power Hour Blog.  Tags: core strength vinyasa yoga, core strength yoga, fitness DVD, giveaways, healthbolt giveaways, vinyasa yog... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2052686 Sat, 20 Dec 2008 03:57:33 +0100 2052686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2033092&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F12%2F11%2Fhealthbolt-giveaway-win-a-core-strength-vinyasa-yoga-power-hour-dvd%2F It’s all about yoga today. First, I posted about the winner of the Yoga Paws. And now, I’m posting about Healthbolt’s latest giveaway – a Yoga DVD. But it’s not just any old yoga DVD. This one is by Sadie Nardini, director of East West Yoga in New York City and founder of Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, a form of yoga considered a ‘calorie-torcher’ by Time Out New York. Apparently it can transform the body faster in 60 minutes than most yoga does in 90 minutes. This Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga:Power Hour DVD  is full on and features a 40-minute Floor Flow, Core Salutations (Warm + Energize + Tone), a 20-Minute Wall Flow, Core Stretch (Invert + Detox + Stretch ) plus a BEGINNER COMMENTARY on Alignment Tips and Modifications for Basic Level! Healthbolt has one copy of Sadie Nard... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2033092 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0100 2033092 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2026944&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F12%2F10%2Fand-the-winners-of-the-core-rhythms-starter-pack-dance-exercise-program-are%2F Yes, you read that right. The PR organizer of the  Core Rhythms Starter Pack Dance Exercise Program giveaway had so much fun reading the comments that you all left that she contacted the sponsors and organized for not one but two Core Rhythms Starter Pack Dance Exercise Program sets to be given away. So I suggested that maybe she’d like to choose the winners. Yes, I know it breaks with the usual ‘select a winner by random number selector’ but it’s so much fun playing Mrs Santa Claus that I thought I’d share it around. As you know, studies have proven that giving is good for your health. Here’s what she said about choosing the winners ‘Picking them was harder than I thought! I wish I could give one to them all because the comments were so great and some were really funny.’ ... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2026944 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100 2026944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2021405&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F12%2F07%2Fhealthbolts-everyday-a-giveaway%2F I’m starting to feel a little like Mrs Santa Claus this week with all the great prizes that we have lined up to giveaway. In case you missed it, here’s a roundup of the giveaways featured this week in Healthbolt’s 31 Days of Giveaway. There’s still time to enter them all. Just click on the picture and it will take you to that specific giveaway post….                          And if you think these are great, just wait to see what’s lined up for next week… Tags: core rthyhms starter pack, detour runner bars, Healthbolt, healthbolt giveaways, pedi-relax set, sugarettes, tappening water bottles, yoga-pawsShare This (Source: Healthbolt) Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2021405 Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:00:00 +0100 2021405 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2011076&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F12%2F02%2Fhealthbolt-giveaway-win-a-rhythms-starter-pack-dance-exercise-program%2F This looks like just the thing to help you keep fit during the holiday season. Or perhaps after Christmas and New Years, once all the partying and eating have slowed down.                        The Core Rhythms Starter Pack Dance Exercise Program is a set of four DVDs designed to speed-shrink the waistline, burn away fat, and tone the abs without doing floor crunches or purchasing expensive equipment.  Through interactive instruction, Core Rhythms teaches three core movements essential to Latin dancing, and then expands them with step-by-step invigorating dance instruction in the Salsa, Samba and Merengue.  The starter pack includes A Full Workout; Quick Workout; Latin Dance Made Easy; and Kick Start DVDs, as well as a free seven-day Diet Guide with menu plans to ... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2011076 Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0100 2011076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2005717&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F12%2F02%2Fhealthbolt-giveaway-win-a-rhythms-starter-pack-dance-exercise-program%2F This looks like just the thing to help you keep fit during the holiday season. Or perhaps after Christmas and New Years, once all the partying and eating have slowed down.                        The Core Rhythms Starter Pack Dance Exercise Program is a set of four DVDs designed to speed-shrink the waistline, burn away fat, and tone the abs without doing floor crunches or purchasing expensive equipment.  Through interactive instruction, Core Rhythms teaches three core movements essential to Latin dancing, and then expands them with step-by-step invigorating dance instruction in the Salsa, Samba and Merengue.  The starter pack includes A Full Workout; Quick Workout; Latin Dance Made Easy; and Kick Start DVDs, as well as a free seven-day Diet Guide with menu plans to ... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2005717 Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0100 2005717 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1992277&cid=t_161254_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F465275826%2F We all have heard "Use It or Lose It". Now, what is "It"? how does "it" work? why is "it" our best (and too often unrecognized) friend? The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) has just released a user-friendly publication titled Neuroscience Core Concepts, aimed at helping educators and the general public learn more about the brain. Description: "Neuroscience Core Concepts offer fundamental principles that one should know about the brain and nervous system, the most complex living structure known in the universe. They are a practical resource about: - How your brain works and how it is formed. - How it guides you through the changes in life. - Why it is important to increase understanding of the brain." You will enjoy reading the web page ex... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1992277 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:47:54 +0100 1992277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511018&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2FW81sNUilHoE%2Fprojective-tests-what-do-you-see-671.html Probably one of the most iconic tests that jump to mind when a person starts talking about going to a psychologist (or ’shrink’) is the inkblot tests.  These tests, correctly referred to as the Rorschach Inkblot tests were surrounded in ’secrecy’ as practicing psychologists who used them thought that the tests would be invalid if they had been seen previously. The Rorschach Inkblot tests are one of a type of test called a ‘projective’ test which are supposedly meant to give insight into a persons psyche and allow us to rate how ‘healthy a personality’ a person has.  The validity of these types of tests was debated with many who were not avid fans of Freudian thinking and psychoanalysis dismissing them and questioning the objectivity of thes... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511018 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:56 +0100 2511018 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511019&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2Fwz0Pky7YTDM%2Fa-selection-of-strange-stories-theory-of-mind-autism-693.html Only the other week I was talking about the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes‘ task that Baron-Cohen employed in his 1997 research looking at high functioning adults with Autism and Aspergers. In order to validate the Eyes Task as a theory of mind task, participants in the two clinical groups (ASD & Tourette’s) were also tested on Happe’s Strange Stories. This assesses the ability to interpret a nonliteral statement. Relative to normal controls who were IQ and age-matched, individuals with autism or Asperger syndrome performed less well on the task, while performing normally on a non-mentalistic control task. Individuals with autism or Asperger syndrome could provide mental state answers, but had difficulty in providing contextually appropriate mental state answers.... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511019 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:57 +0100 2511019 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1876938&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F421039369%2Fa-selection-of-strange-stories-theory-of-mind-autism-693.html Only the other week I was talking about the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes‘ task that Baron-Cohen employed in his 1997 research looking at high functioning adults with Autism and Aspergers. In order to validate the Eyes Task as a theory of mind task, participants in the two clinical groups (ASD & Tourette’s) were also tested on Happe’s Strange Stories. This assesses the ability to interpret a nonliteral statement. Relative to normal controls who were IQ and age-matched, individuals with autism or Asperger syndrome performed less well on the task, while performing normally on a non-mentalistic control task. Individuals with autism or Asperger syndrome could provide mental state answers, but had difficulty in providing contextually appropriate mental state answers.... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1876938 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:57 +0100 1876938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1860229&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.box.net%2Fshared%2Fstatic%2Fagaiz0ow0k.mov The addition of the new Reicher & Haslam study to the course has introduced to many a long-argued debate surrounding Zimbardo’s original Stanford Prison Experiment; calling into question his conclusions and situational explanation for the behaviour that was seen.   Reicher & Haslam argue against this in their 2006 research from the BBC’s The Experiment (and they have a great new website to support the study now).  The feel that the SPE was massively flawed in it’s implimentation and, basically, Zimbardo told the guards how to act and it wasn’t a result of the situation that they were all subject to.  Click here to view the embedded video. Following on from this you can see Zimbardo answer some uncomfortable questions put to him by Stephen Sackur as he a... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1860229 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:35 +0100 1860229 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511021&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2Fcf5Hqz1qpJk%2Fautism-in-100-words-648.html A short article in the current BJ of Psychiatry where psychologits are asked to condense an important point, concept or theory into only 100 words.  A need for succinctness required.  This time around Baron-Cohen was asked for Autism in 100 words … here’s what he said:  Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) occur in 1% of the population, are strongly heritable, and result from atypical neurodevelopment. Classic autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS) share difficulties in social functioning, communication and coping with change, alongside unusually narrow interests. IQ is average or above in AS with average or even precocious age of language onset. Many areas within the ’social brain’ are atypical in ASC. ASC has a profile of impaired empathy alongside strong ’syste... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511021 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:14 +0100 2511021 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1851616&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F410261745%2Fthe-bbc-prison-study-website-launced-637.html Hot off the press: The new Official BBC prison website has been launched by Reicher & Haslam. www.BBCPrisonStudy.org Having had a link through this new site it offers a massive amount of resources, insight and information about the study that is new to the 2008 specification. The site has a great resources section with ideas in depth, related publications and loads of quantitative data from the study. The BBC Prison Study explores the social and psychological consequences of putting people in groups of unequal power. It examines when people accept inequality and when they challenge it.  Findings from the study were first broadcast by the BBC in 2002. They have since been published in leading scientific journals and textbooks and have also entered the core student syllabus. They have ... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1851616 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:40:35 +0100 1851616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1841689&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F407735123%2Fresisting-authority-memories-from-a-defiant-participant-628.html I’ve just read an account of a participant from the original Milgram experiment. The account in the January 2004 issue of Jewish Currents recounts Joseph Dimow’s experience at the hands of Milgram and the experimenter. When is it proper to refuse to obey authority figures, even if they have been democratically chosen for their positions?  In 1961, I participated in a famous experimental study about obedience and authority — although I and other participants were led to believe it was a study of memory and learning. It’s not very often that we get such an insight into an experiment - from the participant’s point-of-view.  Although it has been written many years after the experiment if some of the suggestions in the article are true Milgram wasn’t entirly tr... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1841689 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:23 +0100 1841689 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1739038&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fmerck-scientific-debate-hits-bottom.html I find Merck Scientific Affairs executive Jonathan Edelman's op ed in today's Philadelphia Inquirer on the Vioxx "ADVANTAGE seeding trial" controversy to be mediocre spin control at best, if not deliberately misleading through selective omission of critical facts:Taking ExceptionGreat value in clinical studiesPhiladelphia Inquirer, Sept. 26, 2008Your articles "Merck faces more criticism" (Inquirer, Aug. 19) and "Journal vs. the bad seed" (Aug. 20) drew the wrong conclusion.The Advantage study was published by the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2003 after passing the journal's editorial and peer-review process that determined the study to be important new information for physicians. Dr. Harold Sox recently wrote in Annals that the way to identify a good clinical trial is to look at the impo... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739038 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:01:00 +0100 1739038 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1733831&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fmerck-scientific-debate-hits-bottom.html I find Merck Scientific Affairs executive Jonathan Edelman's op ed in today's Philadelphia Inquirer on the Vioxx "ADVANTAGE seeding trial" controversy to be mediocre spin control at best, if not deliberately misleading through selective omission of critical facts:Taking ExceptionGreat value in clinical studiesPhiladelphia Inquirer, Sept. 26, 2008Your articles "Merck faces more criticism" (Inquirer, Aug. 19) and "Journal vs. the bad seed" (Aug. 20) drew the wrong conclusion.The Advantage study was published by the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2003 after passing the journal's editorial and peer-review process that determined the study to be important new information for physicians. Dr. Harold Sox recently wrote in Annals that the way to identify a good clinical trial is to look at the impo... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1733831 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:01:00 +0100 1733831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1672161&cid=t_161254_107_f&fid=36585&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHighlightHEALTH%2F%7E3%2F351674497%2F This article was published on Highlight HEALTH. Other Articles You May LikeIncreased Coffee Consumption Associated with Lower Risk of Liver CancerDid You Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables Today?More Education Decreases the Risk of Death Remembering Lunch Can Help Reduce the Desire to SnackTired? You May Not Be Getting Enough Sleep (Source: Highlight HEALTH) Highlight HEALTH blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1672161 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:19:42 +0100 1672161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1643164&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.videoegg.com%2Fted%2Fmovies%2FSUSANSAVAGERUMBAUGH-2004_high.flv The question as to whether humans are the only ones on this planet who have the ability to comprehend and use language has been of great argument since the beginning of psychology. At the moment we follow the progression of Washoe (RIP) and her ‘learning’ of American Sign Language and with the arrival of the new 2008 specification we will see Kanzi’s abilities using a lexicon (click for image). Is it possible to teach a chimp to use a form of language to communicate? What are the boundaries of language? How do we interpret language? Kanzi understands thousands of words and he uses sentences, talks on the phone, and likes to gossip. In short, he uses language in many of the same ways humans do. But, that’s not supposed to be possible. Since the 1950s, linguists inclu... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1643164 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:23:21 +0100 1643164 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1643173&cid=t_161254_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F253600744%2Fthe-core-study-rap-350.html Many thanks to Kim Higgins (who I have the great pleasure of working with) who has written this core study rhyme - rap - song to help remember the 20 core studies and what the researchers were doing. A prize to the first person to put it to music! So … all together now: If you want to be smart, you need to know All twenty core studies - so here we go ….. Social Psychology was right at the beginning, Studies that looked at groups and belonging. Zimbardo studied how guards treated prisoners wearing smocks, And Milgram looked for men who would follow orders and give shocks. Piliavin researched helping behaviour on the subway in New York, Tajfel discovered how prejudice can drive a schoolboy’s thoughts. Cognitive Psychology followed after a while, Looking at studies about languag... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1643173 Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:16:48 +0100 1643173 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1252039&cid=t_161254_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F240040388%2F Conclusions - Barkley's theory has been widely recognized as a significant advance in our thinking about ADHD that helps to organize a vast body of literature and clinical observations about the disorder. As with any theory, it's ultimate value will depend on the amount of new research that it stimulates, and the information that is obtained from those studies. One important point to note is that even if one agress with Barkley's notion that ADHD is fundamentally a deficit of self-regulation, it does not necessarily follow that the interventions he advocates - basically, behavior therapy and medication treatment - are the only approaches to be pursued. Clearly, these are the interventions that currently enjoy the strongest empirical support. They are limited, however, in that neither is c... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1252039 Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:06:18 +0100 1252039 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1143436&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Famgen-reps-instructed-to-poach-medical.html I very much hope the following accusations prove to be inaccurate or exaggerated. If not, what is described here is almost unbelievable.After all the efforts by many different communities to promote the need for medical records privacy, security and confidentiality; with the penalties specified in HIPAA (albeit still rarely enforced); and with the increasingly common instances in the news of medical information misappropriation or stealing, one would think the pharma industry would be ultra sensitive to such matters.This is not to mention that the drug in question, Enbrel, is anything but innocuous, compared to simpler remedies. This medicine interferes with the immune system, an immensely complex system whose pathways and regulatory mechanisms are not entirely understood, to say the least... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1143436 Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:24:00 +0100 1143436 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1090419&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Frelman-in-jama-on-threats-to-physicians.html The purpose of the Health Care Renewal blog is to address "threats to health care's core values," as noted in our side-bar.The latest issue of JAMA contains an important article by Arnold Relman on this topic.(1) Much of its content will be very familiar to Health Care Renewal readers.Relman's first point is that physicians' core values are threatened:Endangered are the ethical foundations of medicine, including the commitment of physicians to put the needs of patients ahead of personal gain, to deal with patients honestly, competently, and compassionately, and to avoid conflicts of interest that could undermine public trust in the altruism of medicine.These threats arise from "the growing commercialization of the US health care system." This has been abetted by physicians who accept "the ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1090419 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:21:00 +0100 1090419 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1070190&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fwhy-dont-physicians-do-what-they-say.html The Annals of Internal Medicine just published a major study that contrasted physicians' attitudes toward professional norms with their self reports of whether they acted in conformity with these norms. [Campbell EG, Regan S, Gruen RL et al. Professionalism in medicine: results of a national survey of physicians. Ann Intern Med 2007; 147: 795-802. Link here.]In brief, the authors developed a survey which asked physicians whether they agreed with various professional norms organized according to the 2002 ABIM/ ACP/ ESIM Physician Charter. They also asked them about whether they acted in conformity with these principles in terms of their recent actions, or in responses to scenarios. Physicians surveyed were primary care practitioners (family medicine, general internal medicine, and pediatric... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1070190 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:29:00 +0100 1070190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=994947&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fmandatory-treatment-of-university-of.html This case is already all over the web [starting here], but it has an unusual health care slant which has heretofore not been covered, so....The University of Delaware, a large, state-supported US university, which includes a College of Health Sciences, recently instituted a new "treatment"program for university students, described in the draft of a detailed report. [Following page references are from that report.] (References to the program, also described as a curriculum, as a "treatment" are on page 8, 10, and 14) Subjects will be exposed to educational and behavioral interventions, the latter described in one document as that which will "leave a mental footprint on their consciousness." An example of one behavioral intervention requires subjects to line up, then step forward or backwa... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=994947 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:24:00 +0100 994947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=927836&cid=t_161254_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fblogscan-how-principle-of-social.html On the Covert Rationing blog, this post discusses how the two principles traditionally recognized as central to physicians' ethics and professionalism, the principle of patient welfare, and the principle of patient autonomy, are in conflict with what DrRich calls the more newly promoted principle of social justice, i.e., the idea that doctors are somehow responsible for the fair distribution of society's resources. I would add that it may be hard to figure out what would be the best possible clinical management for a single patient, or what a single patient really wants, but it doesn't seem impossible to do so. On the other hand, the definition of the "fair distribution of social resources" is, shall we say, somewhat flexible. And often such a definition is politically defined, by those wi... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=927836 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:20:00 +0100 927836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=720043&cid=t_161254_130_f&fid=34941&url=http%3A%2F%2Forthosportsrehab.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F07%2Fcore-strength-and-athletic-performance.html A preliminary study out of the Indiana State University has demonstrated a poor correlation between core strength and strength and power in sports performance. The news article cites Thomas Nesser who stated that "the results are not showing that greater core strength is going to help you -- across the board -- with your sport. Only certain areas of the core showed a correlation with specific performance-based activities, and even then, the correlation was slight."Their core testing consisted of hold time for each of four different trunk positions: back extension, trunk flexion, and left and right bridge. Strength variables measures included bench press, squat, and power clean; and performance variables measured were vertical jump, 20- and 40-yard sprints, and a 10-yard shuttle run. From ... Concepts in Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Rehab blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=720043 Sun, 08 Jul 2007 14:13:00 +0100 720043