Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- all links removed as many no longer active and it was easier than checking each one. 

Barbara, In Sickness and In Health, is this week's host of Grand Rounds. The theme began as “connections” and organized into sci-fi films.  You can read this excellent edition here.

The (optional) theme I suggested for this Grand Rounds was connections -- connections among people, groups, ideas, opinions, facts, devices, places, events, just about anything. ………..

One area of connection that has fascinated me for decades is the realm of science fiction films. Sci-fi films connect the past, the present, and the future; our darkest fears and loftiest hopes; the devastation humans cause and the healing we bring; the divine and the utterly outrageous.

Here's a confession. For the past twenty seven years I have attended the annual 24 hour science fiction film festival. I bring my pillow and my ray gun and sit in the dark with my crew watching the sublime( Blade Runner), the drek (Plan 9 from Outer Space), the naughty (Invasion of the Bee Girls) the forgotten ( A Boy and His Dog), the political (Aelita - Queen of Mars), and the Sean Connery (Zardoz)

So the organizing theme for this Grand Rounds is sci-fi films.

The first edition of Change of Shift (Vol 3, No 14) for 2009 is up over at  Crzegrl, Flight Nurse!  Emily did a great job and I hope you will check it out.  You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. 

As I sat down to lay out this edition of Change of Shift, I realized how many first timers took the plunge and decided to submit blog posts. That in itself is very exciting. A few I corresponded with, giving words of encouragement and even went out and got a video blog post from another blogger who didn’t originally intend on submitting.

Trauma Junkie, Surviving RT School, is a starting a new blog carnival.  I love the logo! (photo removed 3/2017) The first edition is planned for Friday, February 13th.  If you have any posts related to lung/respiratory care than I would encourage you to submit them.  You can find the instructions here.

I'm planning a blog carnival for Respiratory Bloggers: therapists, students, patients, and anyone who has anything pertaining to respiratory care, lung disease, breaking news for respiratory therapists and modern advances in equipment. Basically, anything that has do with respiratory therapy will be included in the carnival, regardless of who submits it

On January 8, 2009, NPR ran a wonderful story called Learning to See in Stereo by Joe Palca.  You can read and / or listen to it here.

Children who are born with a crossed eye can develop a peculiar condition affecting vision called amblyopia, or "lazy eye." The eyes register two different images of the world, and the brain can't handle it — so it ignores one of them.

Surgery is commonly done to correct the crossed eye, and a patch is worn over the strong eye to force the weak eye to work harder. Conventional wisdom holds that after age 7, a child's vision isn't likely to improve.

But researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, believe that adults with the condition can improve their vision. I decided to go and meet them because I'm hoping they can help me.

There are times when we need to give presentations.  I’m not always comfortable doing so.  Allergy Notes twittered

RT @Berci: The 10 Worst Presentation Habits http://tinyurl.com/ka3ur

The article, The 10 Worst Presentation Habits (Speakers can be their own worst enemies. Here are our expert's tips on how to make a presentation sing) By Carmine Gallo, comes from Business Week.  It is worth checking out.  For example

Bad Habit #2  Avoiding eye contact

Great communicators understand that eye contact is critical to building trust, credibility, and rapport. Far too many business professionals have a habit of looking at everything but the audience -- a wall, a desk, or a computer.

Do this instead:
Maintain eye contact with your listeners at least 90% of the time. It's appropriate to glance at your notes or slides from time to time, but only for a few seconds and only as a reminder of where to go next. You are speaking for the benefit of your listeners. Speak to them, not the slides.

This week on  Dr Anonymous BTR show, he will be discussing ProMed Network.  

The ProMed Network is a site for medical and health programming producers to share their shows with other medical professionals, students in the health care fields, and members of the public interested in health related programming.  Each of the shows listed on the site is either produced by a medical professional or has been reviewed and is determined to present peer reviewed or medically relavent information.

While no program here can be used to provide specific medical advice or diagnoses, it is hoped that the general information presented here will help to provide a high quality source for medical news and content.  The ProMed Network and its member podcasts and webcasts will provide a single resource for diverse, independently produced audio and video programs by and for medical and health care professionals.