Shout Outs

 Updated 3/2017--photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Dr Val, Voice of Reason, is this week's host of Grand Rounds.  She  and Mr. Colin Son are now the stewards of Grand Rounds as the blog carnival enters its 5th year.
Here is Dr Val’s message to us:

This day happens to be historic for me as well, since I have just taken the leap into blogging independence. I’m excited that “Dr. Val and the Voice of Reason” lives on at the Getting Better Blog. I am committed to integrity, transparency, and medical accuracy – presented in a warm, and down-to-earth manner. Unfortunately, my new site is not live yet, so KevinMD and Kim from Emergiblog have graciously allowed me to crash guest blog at their sites for this edition of Grand Rounds.
Enjoy!

Emily (Crazy Girl, Flight Nurse) is the host of  the current issue of Change of Shift (Vol 3, No 6).  It is the Pirate Edition!   Go check it out.  Arrrrrrrrrrg!

Glad ye lubbers could find the place. Grab ye a bit o’ grog and settle in for this here edition of Change of Shift!
*hack*
*cough*
Okay. I am not as good as others at spewing the pirate lingo, but hosting CoS this close to International Talk Like A Pirate Day was just too good to pass up!
For those of you who are not familiar with this all important holiday, I would suggest some background reading. Although I may be forced to walk the plank, the first blog post is being linked to without permission, or prior notification. I think this here scallywag will be forgiven in the Spirit of the season as this post is by the holiday’s Captain, (columnist) Dave Barry.

Kimball Atwood over at Science-based Medicine has begun a series on the Pitfalls in Regulating Physicians.  I hope you will check it out.

I had intended today’s posting to be a summary of a real case faced by a state medical board. It is a case of licensed physicians treating patients with a substandard, dangerous, and unequivocally illegal method. My intent was to use it as an illustration of how difficult it can be for medical boards to discipline such practitioners, even when the treatment involved is obviously, blatantly bad. Only yesterday I was informed by the pertinent board that because this case has yet to be resolved, I may not discuss it. So be it: I’ll save the specifics for another time. Instead I’ll offer a general example of a dubious treatment as a prelude to Part 2 of this series, which will attempt to discover some of the reasons that medical boards might, under such circumstances, be ineffectual.

 Audio slideshow: The art of mathematics

To the untrained eye, these vivid images might appear to be random sets of colourful swirls and circles.
But they are in fact precise visual representations of mathematical theory known as dynamical systems.
Some of the images - created by mathematicians from across the world - have gone on display at the University of Liverpool.
Here, mathematician Lasse Rempe explains how they are made - and considers their artistic merits.

I received an e-mail last week from Don Elton, MD who is a pulmonary and critical care physician in South Carolina.  He has started a blog / forum called  ReformHealthCare.net  where he wants to discuss ways to "fix healthcare":

This site is created as a forum for discussing what’s wrong with the US healthcare system and most importantly what can and should be done to improve things. There’s plenty that’s right about the US healthcare system which is why in most parts of the world people, if given the choice, would rather be taken care of here if they’re really sick or need surgery but that doesn’t mean things are perfect by any means. There’s plenty of room for improvement both in terms of how care is delivered and most importantly how it is paid for.
Read the posts and articles and then contribute in a constructive way.

This Thursday  Buckeye Surgeon will be the guest on the Dr Anonymous' Blog Talk Radio show.  I am looking forward to this interview.  I hope you will join us this Thursday night at 8 pm CST (or 1 am GMT) both to listen to the show and to participate in the chat room.   That's where all the fun is.