Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Mother Jones RN, Nurse Ratched's Place,  is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s Veteran’s Day edition here (photo credit).

Welcome to the Veterans Day edition of Grand Rounds. Elvis and I are delighted that you dropped by. The King is very excited today because we are saluting celebrities that have served in the Armed Forces. Elvis said that his days in the army were memorable. I imagine having Life Magazine take your picture while you’re sitting in your underwear would be a memorable experience. My co-host and I want to thank everyone for their submissions, and we especially want to thank Dr. Nick Genes for allowing us to hold Grand Rounds at Nurse Ratched’s Place. ….

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Really patient-centered! via Paul Levy (Running a Hospital):  Here comes the bride - at Anne Arundel Medical Center by Wendi Winters (Capital Gazette)

The bride wore an elegant strapless gown and a radiant smile. The nervous groom was impeccable in his spotless Air Force dress uniform and a TV-sized heart monitor.  …….

"The wedding must go on," senior nursing director Ann Marie Pessagno said as she arranged the chairs for the ceremony that almost wasn't.  ………

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Dr Margaret Polaneczky updates us on HRT and breast cancer in her post:  HRT and Breast Cancer Deaths – Just in Case You Weren’t Listening the First Time…

…………….While the breast cancer risks associated with HRT use appear to be quite real, for a individual woman, they are not that large. Here’s how I explain the risks to my patients ……………..

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From tweeter  @IVLINE “For all your fracture naming needs http://bit.ly/98agy2 with pictures included.”  The link is to LITFL’s Eponymous Fractures.  Here’s an example of the great information you will see there:

Barton’s fracture
John Rhea Barton
1794-1871, American surgeon
Description/ Mechanism of injury:
Fall on outstretched hand

Intra-articular fracture of the distal radius with dislocation of the radiocarpal joint. Fractures may be displaced volar or dorsal direction

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From twitter: @docgrumpy: “The iPhone/iPod app "Nerve Whiz" is awesome for peripheral nerve help- and it's free (I wasn't paid for this, FYI)”

Nerve Whiz is an app designed by a neuromuscular neurologist at the University of Michigan.

Nerve Whiz is a free application for medical professionals interested in learning the complex anatomy of nerve roots, plexuses, and peripheral nerves. Select which muscles are weak, or point to areas of sensory loss, and the application can provide you with distinguishing features and detailed information, complete with relevant pictures and detailed information, complete with relevant pictures and diagrams.

NOTE: Nerve Whiz is intended to be an educational tool only. Nerve distributions vary between patients, and central or multifocal processes can mimic focal peripheral lesions. As such, this application should not be relied upon to make clinical decisions.

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The Alliance for American Quilts received 118 quilts for it’s “New from Old Quilt Contest Contest.” You can see all the quilts here. My entry was “Label Me.” The quilts are now being auctioned off.

Click on an auction week below to view or download an auction guide for that week.

Week One: Monday, Oct. 25-Monday, Nov. 1

Week Two: Monday, Nov.8-Monday, Nov. 15

Week Three: Monday,Nov. 15-Monday, Nov. 22

Week Four: Monday, Nov. 29-Monday, Dec. 6

The bidding for each quilt will start at $50 and each 7-day auction week starts and ends at 9:00 pm Eastern. No Daylight Savings Time changes this year to contend with--DST changes on November 7.

All proceeds will support the AAQ and its projects.

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There does not seem to be any Dr Anonymous’ show scheduled for this week. 

You may want to listen to the shows in his Archives. Here are some to get you started:

GruntDoc, Sid Schwab, Dr. Val, Kevin MD, Rural Doctoring, Emergiblog, Crzegrl, Dr. Wes, TBTAM, Gwenn O'Keeffe, Bongi, Paul Levy, John Halamka, and ScanMan

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

e-Patients is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here.

This is e-Patients.net’s first opportunity to host Grand Rounds. which is a collection of some of the medical blogosphere’s best writing over the last week. We asked bloggers to look at our sister website, the peer-reviewed Journal of Participatory Medicine, and create posts inspired by or extending the articles there. We did this not to be self-serving, but because we think it’s important to shine a light on the Journal’s role as a source of peer-reviewed, evidence-based participatory medicine research. A group of us formed the Society of Participatory Medicine to advance the credibility and understanding of patient empowerment and patient advocacy.

We want to dedicate this edition of Grand Rounds to our friend and mentor, Dr. Tom Ferguson, founder of e-Patients.net and direct inspiration for the founding of the Society for Participatory Medicine and the Journal of Participatory Medicine. Tom’s selfless, tireless work in support of the empowered patient culminated in the creation of the seminal, visionary white paper, e-Patients: How They Can Help Us Heal Healthcare (pdf), published just after his death.

Thanks also to Nick Genes and Val Jones, instigators of Grand Rounds.

This week’s posts …

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Slate has a thoughtful article by Elaine Schattner: Who's a Survivor? An oncologist who's had breast cancer considers the problematic phrase "cancer survivor."

A few weeks ago, I stood among 21,000 people at the Susan G. Komen Foundation's annual Race for the Cure in New York City. The participants, including me and 1,500 other breast-cancer survivors, walked, ran, or wheeled their way to the finish line in Central Park. Nearby was a "survivors' village." I wandered about, uncertain whether I belonged.

Survivor seems a strange term for a patient like me, said by her oncologist to be in remission—meaning that there's no overt evidence of persistent cancer cells in the body. The National Cancer Institute defines a "cancer survivor" as someone who's had a malignant tumor and remains alive. …..

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Literature, Arts, and Medicine Blog has a post on October 6, 2010:  Medical Humanities and Live Theater. See It Now! (the post’s link seems to be broken, so it’s a link to the blog itself)

For those living in or near New York City, there is an unusual opportunity to attend one or all of three plays that bear directly on individual experiences of illness, altered bodily states, and the cultural and social context in which those alterations occur. …

Angels in America, by Tony Kushner. Signature Theater Company."This play explores "the state of the nation"-the sexual, racial, religious, political and social issues confronting the country during the Reagan years, as the AIDS epidemic spreads. ….

Three Women, by Sylvia Plath. 59E59.
"three intertwining interior monologues, contextualized by a dramatic setting: " ‘A Maternity Ward and round about.’ . . The three women of the title are patients, and each describes a different experience."

Wings, by Arthur Kopit. Second Stage Theater.
"the sounds and sights inside and outside of Emily as well as her private dialogue are combined masterfully by Kopit to bring about a high degree of verisimilitude to the chaos produced by stroke."

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Fellow physician, blogger, twitterer, and "angel" Dr. Krupali Tejura's recent presentation: How the real-time web is changing the lives of my cancer patients

Click To Play

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I learned of this blog, Never Lose Spirit,  by a local breast cancer patient via our local newspaper.  I love her header (photo credit).  She is the mother of two daughters.

Welcome to my blog. I've created this blog to keep friends and faraway family up to date on my battle with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. When you’re a writer, there is no need to be reported about - right? So instead, I’m going to be the author of my own story. You keep praying while I fight this nasty disease. We’re going to win!

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Dr Anonymous’ show will be about Social Health Track at BlogWorld Expo. The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Upcoming shows:
10/16 : On Location
10/21 : About DigPharm Mtg
10/23 : Saturday Nite
10/28 : About FMEC Mtg
10/30 : On Location

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Sharp Brains is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds!  You can read this week’s edition here.

Wel­come to Grand Rounds, the weekly col­lec­tion of best health and med­ical blog posts. This week we invite you to enjoy a broad range of insights, tips, and first-hand sto­ries, pre­sented as a Q&A con­ver­sa­tion with blog­gers will­ing to answer, below, a total of 22 good questions. ………….

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 7) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to Change of Shift!
While this is a bit of a “mini” version of the nursing blog carnival, it is far from “lite”.
There are old friends and new blogging colleagues; musings, opinions and rants…it’s all here!
Let’s get it started! …………..

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Interesting NPR segment last Thursday on their show Here and Now:   “The Skinny on Supplements”  (photo credit)

More than half of all adult Americans spent nearly 27 billion dollars last year on dietary supplements to get healthy, stay healthy, lose weight and gain an edge on the sports field and in the bedroom. And in the process, some of them got seriously sick. We talk with Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor for Consumer Reports-Health about the findings of their recent investigation, “Dangerous Supplements, What You Don’t Know, Could Hurt You.”

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From  tweeter@grahamwalker last Thursday (September 30)

I'm announcing my new website: TheNNT.com -- an evidence-based resource for medical interventions. Spread the word! #sa10 #thennt

NNT stands for “number needed to treat” and is explained:

There is a way of understanding how much modern medicine has to offer individual patients. It is a simple statistical concept called the “Number-Needed-to-Treat”, or for short the ‘NNT’. The NNT offers a measurement of the impact of a medicine or therapy by estimating the number of patients that need to be treated in order to have an impact on one person. The concept is statistical, but intuitive, for we know that not everyone is helped by a medicine or intervention — some benefit, some are harmed, and some are unaffected. The NNT tells us how many of each.

Check out Graham’s new website.  It is full of useful information.

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If you are free later this morning (11:30 am CST, my local time) you might want to join in on the first #MDchat on twitter.

@MD_chat: Let's nudge more physicians onto Twitter. Tuesday 10/5 12:30pm EDT is #MDchat - http://MDchat.org #hcsm Plz support them! :)

For more information on MDchat, check out Phil Baumann, RN’s explanation:

………..So rather than waiting for doctors’ orders, I am launching @MD_chat for physicians to participate in advancing our collective understanding of the influences of emerging technologies on our culture, health, privacy, dignity and many other aspects of the human condition.

Below is a slideshow introducing MDchat and explaining how it works (if you can’t see it, you can view it here or here): ……………….

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An article in Evansville Courier Press by Karen Owen-Phelps:  Quilts help old barns become art form -- Local quilters use them like a canvas (photo credit)

An old barn is more than a storehouse for hay and livestock in the eyes of some area folk-art lovers. It's a canvas for their favorite art form — the quilt.

Quilting enthusiasts in Western Kentucky are encouraging farmers to let them hang large panels painted in traditional quilt patterns on their barns.

"The first time I saw a barn quilt I thought, 'I want one of those!'" said Judi Inge, 55, of Owensboro, Ky., who is active in the Owensboro Area Quilters Guild. "My mother felt the same way."  ……….

The article provides links for more info and photos:

Ohio County Barn Quilt Trail
Kentucky Arts Council:  Quilt Trails
Ohio Barns:  Quilt Barns  (photo credit)

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Dr Anonymous’ guest this week will be Dana Lewis & Swedish 2010 Health Care Symposium.      The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Upcoming shows:       
10/9 : From Seattle
10/14 : About Social Health Track at BlogWorld Expo
10/16 : On Location
10/21 : About DigPharm Mtg
10/23 : Saturday Nite
10/28 : About FMEC Mtg
10/30 : On Location

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Dr. Grumpy is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds which marks the first edition at the beginning of GR’s 7th year!  You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

Thank you all for coming. Coffee and bagels are in back. Sign in on the sheet. Medical students, please remember that you're allowed to sit ONLY if there are chairs left after the attendings, fellows, residents, and homeless people (here for the bagels) have been seated.

Food was provided by our drug rep Rikki, on behalf of Wirfliss Pharmaceuticals. She asks that when writing a prescription, please keep their many Wirfliss products in mind. …...

And we're off! The topic was: THINGS THAT MAKE ME GRUMPY!
To start, I present: THE PHARMACISTS!

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A beautiful post in many ways by @epi_junky , a Paramedic who blogs at Pink Warm and Dry.  The post is 89 Years and Two Days.

65 of them married to her first love.  Her only love.  The man she’d spend her entire adult life with.  The only man she ever looked at according to her daughter.

62 of those years spent taking care …...

5 years spent grieving the death of her husband and best friend.

7 months living with pancreatic cancer.  …...

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Want to know more about ADHD and adults.  Then check out these post with video interviews:

Dr. Rob, Musings of a Distractible Mind: Better Health Interviews – Fact or Fiction: Attention Deficit Disorder

Last Thursday (9/17/10) I had the pleasure of attending a conference on Attention Deficit Disorder.  The following are my two interviews.  They are both very interesting, and both apply greatly to my practice as a primary care physician.

The first is Dr. Ari Tuckman, author of the book More Attention, Less Deficit, as well as the podcast with the same name: ….

Kevin, MD:  Fact or Fiction: ADHD in America, panelist video interviews

On September 16, 2010, I attended Fact or Fiction: ADHD in America, a Capitol Hill Forum, along with Val Jones of Better Health and Rob Lamberts of Musings of a Distractible Mind.

The event, coinciding with ADD/ADHD Awareness Week, was a panel discussion discussing the impact ADHD has on our society.

It was sponsored by Shire, in partnership with the Entertainment Industries Council (EIC) and the Lab School of Washington [Disclosure: I received a stipend for covering the event.]

Below are interviews Rob and I did with some of the panelists.  …………

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Much discussion about improving our diets/nutrition.  Here are some links with cooking tips/recipes/etc.

H/T to @gastromom for two links.
The first is to a WSJ Health article, Teaching Healthy Ways To Doctors in the Kitchen, by Melanie Grayce West.  I would enjoy taking this class.

Thirteen of Lenox Hill Hospital's doctors-in-training gather for one more class at the end of another long day of lectures and rounds: How to peel onions and chop garlic. ……

The program—which organizers say is the first of its kind in the city—includes six seminars on everything from nutrition, to weight management to exercise and a cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. It is based loosely on a joint project of the Culinary Institute of America and Harvard Medical School called Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives. …….

The second one is a NY Times Health article, Expert Tips From the Stir-fry Chef.

Grace Young, author of the recently published “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge,” from Simon and Schuster, recently joined the Consults blog to answer readers’ questions about healthful stir-fry cooking.  ……

I too hate eggplant that is greasy. I find that if you steam the eggplant first, you can dramatically reduce the amount of oil necessary for stir-frying. Cut about a pound of eggplant into bite-size pieces and place them in a heatproof bowl. Then steam the eggplant for five to eight minutes, depending on the size of your pieces, until the eggplant is just tender when pierced with a knife. Don’t overcook it, as the eggplant will be stir-fried. I find that I don’t need more than 3 tablespoons of oil and that the steamed eggplant can be stir-fried within one to two minutes with your seasonings.  ….

Here’s an inspiring story:  H/T to @bobcoffield

RT @boltyboy: Kaiser Permanente's own Jamie Oliver and the reason they have 30 farmers markets http://nyti.ms/aRfRG4

The NY Times article, Doctor’s Orders: Eat Well to Be Well, by Katrina Heron features two physicians (father and son)

DR. PRESTON MARING ……. Though Dr. Maring blithely refers to himself as “that food nut around the hospital,” he is serious about the role he believes doctors should play in creating awareness of healthy food choices. To that end, he has worked to obtain fresh local food for hospital trays and in cafeterias. He began a Web site and blog that offers recipes and advice on meal planning and budgeting. He spent the summer working on a series of three-minute Web videos to explain the basics of shopping for healthful foods and efficient preparation techniques.   ……

Dr. Maring’s Farmers’ Market and Update  -- a great source of healthy recipes.

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Here’s more on diet and health.  This comes from @JoshuaSchwimmer    who blogs at InfoSnack. 

Uremic Frost: The Kidney Diet: How to Eat in Order to Protect Your Kidneys and Avoid Dialysis http://bit.ly/byA7II

The link takes you to an eBook, The Kidney Diet:  How to Eat in Order to Protect Your Kidneys and Avoid Dialysis,  which you can read online, download, or print out.  It is full of great information.

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The Quilting Gallery has a post, Caps for Good, which tells of a project by Save the Children.

Baby caps are a simple and effective tool that can keep babies warm and ultimately contribute to reducing newborn deaths in the developing world.

In many developing countries, something as simple as a knit or crocheted cap can help the baby keep warm, which is key to helping newborns survive. ……

This is where you can help by making a cap! Your caps will be sent to Save the Children’s newborn health programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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Dr Anonymous’ guest this week will be EMS Newbie Podcast.     The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Upcoming shows:       
10/7: Dana Lewis        

Shout Outs

 Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Pallimed.org is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

I am not sure if Nick(@blogborygmi) realized this when he approached me about a date to host, but this is the last edition of Grand Rounds for Volume 6.  A hospice blog as final chapter to a great year of medical blogging, there are things in life that are more serendipitous than this of course.  But of course here at Pallimed (@pallimed), we do cover things beyond just the last few days of life. So feel free to take a look at our 1,000 other posts.

On to the best of the medical blogosphere!  No themes here but I did ask (like GruntDoc) to include a post of  other than your submission to help broaden our reach this week…….

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 6) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

I can’t believe two weeks has passed already, but the calendar says that, indeed, it is time for the latest edition of Change of Shift!

Quite the eclectic collection of stories this week!

Before you begin, I just want to remind everyone that I still have discount codes available for BlogWorld/New Media Expo 2010. We’ll be getting together in Vegas next month! Check the button on the top bar for details.  I’d love to meet as many nurse bloggers as possible!

And now, I am proud to present……..

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Great Diane Rehm Show this past Thursday on Thalidomide and the FDA

Fifty years ago, a newly appointed medical officer at the FDA stood up to corporate pressure and refused to approve thalidomide, the drug already used for morning sickness in other parts of the world. The case transformed how Americans think about medicine and the FDA's drug-testing policy. Diane and guests explore how thalidomide is being used today and discuss how Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey saved thousands of babies from the perils of thalidomide.

I have posted about Thalidomide in the past.

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Orac has written a thoughtful response to the New York Time story  by Amy Harmon:    New Drugs Stir Debate on Rules of Clinical Trials.  His post is titled:  Balancing scientific rigor versus patient good in clinical trials

A critical aspect of both evidence-based medicine (EBM) and science-based medicine (SBM) is the randomized clinical trial. …..

The ethics of clinical trials, however, demand a characteristic known as clinical equipoise. Stated briefly, for purposes of clinical trials, clinical equipoise demands that there be a state of genuine scientific uncertainty in the medical community over which of the drugs or treatments being tested is more efficacious and safer……

In oncology clinical trials, as in clinical trials for treatments of any life-threatening disease, there is always a tension between wanting the "cleanest" possible results versus doing the best for each individual patient. It is a balancing act that relies on the ethics of physicians and a combination of hope and altruism in the patients who become subjects in such trials. … How to maximize the good for as many patients as possible is the goal, but, as we have seen, this is a goal that is not so easily accomplished, just as clinical equipoise is a concept that is easy stated but not so easily applied. PLX4032 teaches us that.

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This is worth reading (and listening to):  New York Times article by The Voices of Schizophrenia by Tara Parker-Pope (photo credit)

Few mental illnesses are as complex and confusing as schizophrenia, a mental disorder in which people may experience hallucinations or delusions, hear voices or have confused thinking and behavior.

Although the word “schizophrenia” means “split mind,” the disorder does not cause a split personality, as is commonly believed.

The latest Patient Voices segment by Karen Barrow, a Web producer, offers rare insights into schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, a related condition that combines thinking and mood problems, as seven men and women share their experiences.  ………….

To hear these and other stories of schizophrenia, click on the Patient Voices audio link. And then please join the discussion below.

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I love Jimi Hendrix’ music, so really enjoyed this piece on NPR last week:   Send My Love To Linda: An Untold Jimi Hendrix Story

January 16th, 1970.

The greatest rock guitarist to ever play the instrument, Jimi Hendrix, has eight months and two days to live. He spends part of the day at New York City's Record Plant laying down some tracks. After a few busted takes, Jimi launches into one of the most amazing instrumentals that few people have ever heard.

Hendrix called the piece "Sending My Love to Linda," and ……. Despite being a Hendrix fan, I had to go back and find out more about who this Linda was……….

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Dr Anonymous show this week will be a follow-up school name change & value of alumni.   The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

 

Dr. Pullen is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

Welcome to Grand Rounds Vol. 6 Number 47.  The theme this week is “In the Office.”   This is to be interpreted loosely. My office is an outpatient family medicine office, some of the author’s offices range from a South African Emergency Room to a Vancouver, WA psychology office.  Others are submitted by patient’s discussing their experience at the office or posts about some of the absurdities we face as physicians in our “office lives.”  As usual the medical writing community sent good stuff.  My choice for best in each category is listed first. The rest are in no particular order.  …...

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A discussion of food/nutrition, in and out of the hospital, on twitter produced this tweet by @CatchTheBaby

@DrSnit @gastromom @DrJonathan #EatOn30 for food bloggers who made healthy meals for $30/wk http://bit.ly/STKFi” 

Did you catch that?  Healthy meals for $30 per week!  I have been looking through some of the links, but wish they had easier to find shopping lists.  I also wish they had easier to find receipts for the week(s). 

Still it is interesting and there are many nice recipes to be found among the food bloggers.

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.  Have you submitted one yet?  The entries have been amazing!

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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I love dogs and enjoy walking/running so this article by Tara Parker-Pope caught my eye:  Running With Your Dog. 

Runner’s World magazine this month has a great special section on running with your dog. In addition to lots of great photos, it’s filled with useful information.  Among the stories:

Five Reasons to Run With Your Dog: Number one: a wagging tails reminds us that “running should be joyful.” ……….

People Who Run With Dogs: The post includes a fun video showing a photo shoot and interviews of people who run with dogs, including one great story of a dog in Alaska who saved its owners from a mother bear with cubs.

To see all the articles on offer, go to the magazine’s Running With Dogs link.

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This past Friday while listening to NPR, I heard this segment “Scientists Search For Endangered Amphibians” which included a description a frog species that swallow their eggs and give birth through their mouth!  The frog is the gastric brooding frog (photo credit)

The two species of gastric brooding frog were discovered as early as 1914 in a river catchment in eastern Australia. The frogs were known for their unique mode of reproduction: females swallowed eggs and raised tadpoles in the stomach, giving birth to froglets through their mouths.

During the brooding stage, the frogs' stomachs temporarily stopped producing hydrochloric acid. This condition could have provided insight on the treatment of stomach ulcers in humans; unfortunately, both species of brooding frog are believed to be extinct. The specific causes of the frogs' decline are unknown, though the effects of timber harvesting on the local habitat were never investigated. The chytrid fungus is also suspected to have played a role in the species' disappearance.

Status: last seen in 1985 – listed as Extinct on IUCN Red List

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be 4th Year Med Student @DrJonathan.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Jackie, Dispatch From Second Base, is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

I once worked with a psychiatrist who called listening the most underrated skill, and his words are truer now than ever. Listening is hard work; too often, we just wait for our turn to talk. And that’s if we’re being polite. We don’t talk to each other; we talk at each other or sometimes over each other in the loudest voice possible.

This trend is both sad and wrong, but there is hope, as evidenced by the thoughtful posts I received on all facets of communication. In the wonderful post The Hidden Pearls of Medicine: Stories From Our Patients, Medical Resident recalls a first patient encounter. MR calls hearing patient stories a privilege and ”has been left with a sense of wonder” after these encounters. On behalf of patients everywhere, thank you.

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 3) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Wow – another two weeks has flown by, which means it’s time for another edition of Change of Shift!
Once again, my nurse blogging colleagues have written an interesting, thoughtful group of posts for your perusal!
So ready…set…peruse!

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I have been following @krupali on twitter lately and following her blog, Krupali K. Tejura, MD.   She is currently on a mission trip to Uganda.   She has used twitter and her blog to help her obtain help for several of the people she has encountered there.  Here are two examples: 

Elephantitis. and Elephantitis Update

Baby needs Help--Omphalocele!

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Another physician I have been following on twitter @GregSmithMD blogs at Shrink Rapping.  Currently, he is doing a series “Psychiatry A to Z."   All of them have been good, but the one on grief is especially so.

"Your father has collapsed."
The call comes at the worst time possible. My mother-in-law is moving into a new house, we are moving into her house, we need to pack, someone needs to watch the kids.  ……….

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.  Have you submitted one yet?  The entries have been amazing!

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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The New York Times had this article by Roni Caryn Rabin  Feeding Dementia Patients with Dignity

First Alzheimer’s disease stole Rosemary DeFelice’s speech, mobility and independence. Then, at 75, she lost the ability to eat.

She would chew away at her food, coughing and sputtering and spitting up but swallowing very little, said her daughter, Cyndy Viveiros. And like many relatives caring for patients with advanced dementia, Ms. Viveiros had to decide whether or not to have a gastric feeding tube inserted. ….

But social workers advising Ms. Viveiros suggested another option: continuing to have her mother carefully fed by hand, giving her only as much as she wanted and stopping if she started choking or became agitated.  ………..

which promoted a wonderful post by TBTAM: We’re Feeding Dementia Patients with Feeding Tubes???

An article in this weeks NY Times entitled Feeding Demented Patients with Dignity suggests that hand feeding dementia patients may be a better option than tube feeding them.

My God, are we really putting feeding tubes in the elderly demented? When did this happen?

During college, I worked as a nurses aide in a nursing home outside Philadelphia. For 20 hours a week (40 hours in the summer) for two years, I cared for patients in all stages of dementia, from the walking confused through to the end stage, stiffened victims confined to wheelchairs or beds. But in all that time, I never, ever saw anyone with a feeding tube.  ……

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Via MedPage Today comes an update by Todd Neale:  Tweeting Surgery 

Have you ever wanted a play by play of a colorectal cancer operation on your mobile device of choice? Well, you're in luck.
This coming Tuesday, August 10, at 1 p.m., Southern Regional Health System in Georgia will post updates from a low anterior resection on Twitter (@srhsatlanta). …

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A tweet from @DrJonathan 

Mail carrier who delivered secrets recently retired,here's her blog entry about reading secrets: http://www.fromuktouswithlove.blogspot.com/

I had never heard of the PostSecret project until I followed the tweet and read Kathy’s post:  PostSecret

This is a post that I have been looking forward to writing for some time now. And it has nothing to do with the United Kingdom or the British! It is a project that I became involved in (unknowingly) a few years ago that has turned out to be a very interesting and unique experience. If you are unaware of PostSecret, let me start at the beginning...

As a mail carrier (in Germantown, MD) you get used to seeing unusual things go through the mail. …... But nothing prepared me for PostSecret!  ….

If we could be as open to each other as the people who pour out their secrets, I think it would be a more understanding world. But too often people are afraid to show their inhibitions, sufferings and well, their secrets. As long as we have PostSecret, there is an outlet for those want to share. I have no doubt that it has been a good thing.

Frank's website is one of the most visited websites in the whole world. www.postsecret.com  …….

Some of the “secrets” shared are very, very sad.  Others are equally funny.

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be Pre-Med Student (@premedhellblog).

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/19: 4th Year Med Student @DrJonathan
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Mike, LITFL is the host for this week’s “killer” Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

It is with great honor that the Life in the Fast Lane team and the Utopian College of Emergency for Medicine host this weeks Grand Rounds Vol. 6 No. 45 on August 3rd 2010.

The theme for this edition is ‘Killer Posts‘. We asked the MedBlogosphere to trawl their blog archive and dive deep into the soul of their writing to find their best; most inspirational; clever; witty; well-researched; head-turning; gut-wrenching; magnificent; glorious requiem of a post…and they did! Furthermore, each author has chosen their preferred deadly Aussie critter, and we have coupled each blogger accordingly…

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In case you haven’t heard about the amazing rescue of @leighfazzina with help from her twitter friends last Tuesday, then you need to read her story in her own words:  Twitter Leads Rescue Efforts Fazzina Bike Crash

Twitter. Never underestimate its viral engaging power. Ever. Please, just don’t ever do it.

The power Twitter holds for instant viral communication is utterly amazing, and it helped me get rescued last night after I suffered a mountain bike crash in deep evening-lit woods that I was unfamiliar with.

Yes – that’s right. Thanks to the power of Twitter, I was rescued last night by the The Town of Farmington Fire Department (Connecticut) after suffering a serious mountain bike crash where I ended up off the beaten path alone in a wooded forest that was totally foreign to me. ……………

Listen to Dr. Anonymous’ interview of @DrJonathan who was involved in the rescue as one of Leigh’s twitter followers:  Doctor Anonymous: Dr. A Show 175: Twitter Saves Life.

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New York Times Health segment Patient Voices featured patients with scleroderma this past week:  Patient Voices: Scleroderma

A disease that causes widespread hardening of connective tissue, scleroderma can affect people in a host of different ways. From a stiffening of the skin to digestive and breathing difficulties, scleroderma’s impact can be varied and far-reaching. Here, six men and women speak about how scleroderma has affected them. (Join the discussion on the Well blog.)

One of the six is Erion Moore diagnosed after he noticed increasing problems playing basketball.  (photo credit)

 

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.  Have you submitted one yet?

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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Medical Quack has written  UCLA Hand Transplant Program Announced – Research Study Program And Afflicted Patients Can Apply

Hand transplantation is still experimental. The UCLA Hand Transplantation Program is a research study that has been approved by UCLA's Institutional Review Board. …..

Eligibility Criteria for the UCLA Hand Transplantation Program
18-to-60 years of age
Good general health
Amputation not due to birth defect or cancer
Amputation of limb at the wrist or forearm
No serious infections such as hepatitis B or C or HIV

Patients who meet the basic eligibility requirements and wish to be considered for the UCLA Hand Transplantation Program should contact Dr. Kodi Azari, the Surgical Director of the Hand Transplantation Program at (310) 825-1745, for an initial evaluation.

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Yesterday, there was a very nice episode of the Diane Rehm show on Raising Awareness About Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. and one of the most expensive to treat. Each year, more than 60,000 new cases are discovered and 14,000 Americans die from the disease. Guest host Susan Page and guests look at efforts to spread the word about bladder cancer.

Guests

Sandra Steingraber:  biologist, author and bladder cancer survivor. She wrote "Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment."

Dr. Mark Schoenberg:  director of urologic oncology, The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

Diane Zipursky Quale:  president and co-founder, Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network.

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One of our fellow physician bloggers is in Uganda on a medical mission trip.  She has met a young man with elephantitis who needs help:

I met a 25 year old man named Jaffeer today. His right leg is diseased with elephantitis. ……. he is in constant pain 24/7.
He needs hospitalization in Kampala. He needs amputation. He needs a prosthetic leg.
This all requires money.
If you have always wanted to help, but didn't know how, now is the chance. …….

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be Pre-Med Student Erin Breedlove.  

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/12: Pre-Med Student @InsaneMo
8/19: 4th Year Med Student @DrJonathan
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Inside Surgery is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

Favorite Post of the Week

Dr. Toni Brayer has a guest post at ACPInternist about how insurance companies are killing primary care. I would like every Grand Rounds Reader to take a look at this and think very hard about what they will support in terms of insurance industry oversight. This post was first published on Dr. Brayer’s blog EverythingHealth.net.

From the Surgeons – hey, what can I say, I am a homer

Bongi is a surgeon working in South Africa – he shares part of his day. …….

Don’t forget LITFL is hosting next week.  They are looking for your “killer posts".” 

Trawl your archive, dive deep into the soul of your writing and send us your best; most inspirational; clever; witty; well-researched; head-turning; gut-wrenching; magnificent; glorious requiem of a post…A post that is pathognomic of your writing. A post that is empathic and understanding. A post that is idiosyncratically and inimitably…YOU

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 5, No 2) which is in its 5th year!   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Welcome to the latest edition of Change of Shift!
The nursing blogosphere came through in a big way this week, many thanks to those who have submitted.
I’m excited to showcase these colleague contributions!
So, without further ado,
I present…..Change of Shift!……..

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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There is a nice article in the New Yorker by Atul Gawande on hospice care:  Letting Go -- What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?

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People have concerns besides simply prolonging their lives. Surveys of patients with terminal illness find that their top priorities include, in addition to avoiding suffering, being with family, having the touch of others, being mentally aware, and not becoming a burden to others. Our system of technological medical care has utterly failed to meet these needs, and the cost of this failure is measured in far more than dollars. The hard question we face, then, is not how we can afford this system’s expense. It is how we can build a health-care system that will actually help dying patients achieve what’s most important to them at the end of their lives. ……………

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This tweet from @Doctor_V

RT @Ed: Hundreds of people have asked about my long-time Twitter background. Here's the story http://bit.ly/ArmWeekly

led to the story in the Armenian Weekly:   Armenian Orphan Rug Lives up to Its Name about a rug

Not just any rug, but one created by 400 Armenian orphans from 1924-25 in a town called Ghazir, about 40 miles north of Beirut.

This colorful piece of tapestry, which measures 18 feet by 12 feet, lives up to its name: It has remained an “orphan” rug since it passed through the hands of President Calvin Coolidge in 1926.

The intricacy is woven with a passion unlike others of its kind, containing some 4 million knots made to characterize the biblical Garden of Eden with its collection of animals and other symbolic features…….

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I actually learned of this program, Spokes for Little Folks, from an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette but they don’t have an open policy – you have to have a subscription to read their articles online.  I found this Daily Record article which tells the same story:  

On a recent sweltering Saturday morning, Realtors from North Little Rock rallied together to clean, fix and organize bike parts. Their time was donated on behalf of Spokes for Little Folks. …..
Working with Ron King, who refurbishes donated bikes and donates them to kids who are in need of them, Martin decided to get the NPBOR to join in on the effort. ……..
Anyone can donate any type of bike, working or not, to Spokes for Little Folks.   For additional information or questions, contact Janene Inzer at 501-834-0710 or Bruce Martin at 501-425-5042.

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be  4th year Student Kevin Bernstein and 3rd year FamMed Resident Gerry Tolbert  giving a report on the 2010 AAFP Resident and Student Conference.   Show time this Thursday is 8 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/5: Pre-Med Student Erin Breedlove
8/12: Pre-Med Student @InsaneMo
8/19: 4th Year Med Student @DrJonathan
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

Steve, Adventures of a Funky Heart, is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.   It’s the “heart edition” edition.  You can read this week’s edition here.

Welcome to the Funky Heart edition of Grand Rounds, featuring the latest and greatest medical writing! For those of you visiting for the first time, Adventures of a Funky Heart! is written by Steve, a 43-year-old living with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD). (My specific defect is Tricuspid Atresia) In the United States, an average of 1 person out of every 125 is born with a heart defect – almost 2 million of us at last count! Once considered just a childhood disease, thanks to medical advances and better surgical procedures over 90% of CHD patients can now live to adulthood! For the first time in history, over half of all CHD Survivors are adults!

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Katie, NursesNetwork.com, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 4, No 25) !   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

I joined a book club several years ago.  I have read books I normally wouldn’t choose and always enjoy them.  At a local restaurant I frequent I always order the daily special.  It has forced me to try different and tasty fare. I also have teenagers.  I never make a big decision without talking to them.  They bring a unique and fresh perspective that would not occur to me.

I am thrilled to be hosting Change of Shift.  While I do not always share the opinion of my colleagues, I learn so much and am challenged to view my profession in a new and different light………….

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I’m a huge fan of NPR and for different reasons found these stories from last week of great interest:

Add It Up: Pricing Out A Visit To TV's 'Dr. House'  (interest due to my being in the medical community)

Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) is rude, inconsiderate and doesn't like playing by the rules — but, man, is he a good doctor. ……..How much money would it cost to diagnose the patient in the "Ignorance Is Bliss" episode of House?………

That leaves our poor patient with a total medical bill of at least $298,200………….

Dealing with a Parent's Early Death  (interest is due to having lost my dad when I was eight)

The death of a parent can leave emotional scars on a child that last for decades. One in nine American's have been through this type of loss before the age of 20. Helping children cope with the loss of a parent and dealing with childhood bereavement as an adult………

There was also an interesting WSJ article by Jeffrey Zaslow relating to early loss of a parent:  Families With a Missing Piece

For adults who were children when their parents died, the question is hypothetical but heartbreaking: 
"Would you give up a year of your life to have one more day with your late mother or father?"
One in nine Americans lost a parent before they were 20 years old, and for many of them, this sort of question has been in their heads ever since. …….

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On a lighter note, these two companion tweets from Geek2Nurse of a patient’s rap made me smile:

(Actual) psych patient rap, verse 1: "I'm not manic, I'm not psychotic. I'm not schizophrenic, And I'm not neurotic..." (cont. next tweet)

(Cont.) Psych patient rap, verse 2: "It ain't the hip-hop, It ain't rock & roll; I just gotta get myself some weed, To neutralize my soul."

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The Alliance for American Quilts received 115 quilts for it’s “New from Old Quilt Contest Contest.”  You can see all the quilts here.  My entry is “Label Me.”

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show guest this week will be Family Physician Dr. Kim Yu. The show begins at 9 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

6/24: Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, 33 Charts
Jul-Aug: Summer Break
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

MDiTV is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.   It’s the “best edition ever, maybe” edition.  You can read this week’s edition here.

Thanks to everyone who submitted to this week’s edition of Grand Rounds.  After following the weekly blog carnival for  months, submitting a few times and now playing the role as host has been immensely gratifying. The submissions covered a wide-range of topics; from surgical procedures to how the progression of 80’s music mirrors the evolution of birth control (seriously). ….. Thanks again to everyone that participated and I hope you all enjoy this week’s picks of the best medical blog reads as much as I did!

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Medical schools across the country have been holding their graduation ceremonies and white coat burning ceremonies.  JAMA has include a wonderful essay by Sunita Puri, MD MS on her coat:  Worn

I never thought this day would come.

The meaning of the day struck me at the oddest of moments. I was rushing around my apartment, picking up bedsheets, pillowcases, towels, jeans, gym clothes, all badly in need of a whirl in the washing machine. Oddly, it was always an afterthought to add my short white coat to my pile of laundry. And today, as I placed it at the top of the pile, I suddenly remembered that I never needed to wash it again. I had just returned from my last day of my last clinical rotation as a medical student. The last day I ever had to wear this short, awkward coat.

I began my usual prelaundry ritual of examining my white coat. I emptied its pockets,…….. Yet in surveying the coat now, I was moved by the memories that each imperfection indexed. …..

Mrs J gave me the pen that later leaked, bruising my right lower pocket with a black splotch. …….

Ms A's mother gave me the turquoise necklace that I kept in my lower left coat pocket. …...

I had to retire the coat with the spray of coffee on its entire left side. Mr D was my patient only briefly, in his shuffle between the surgery, medicine, and ICU services, but I had been the one to call and tell his wife that she should drive to the hospital soon. …….

Over the course of this two-year introduction to clinical medicine, my white coats served as time capsules and canvases. Their physical appearance changed as an intoxicated patient's blood splattered during my first attempt at an arterial blood draw …….

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Dinah, Shrink Rap, asked readers for Shrinky Book recommendations and has compiled the full list of recommendations:  Our Readers' List of Best Shrinky Books.  Here are just a few of the suggested books.  Check out the post for the full list.

Existential Psychotherapy, by Irvin Yalom

Shoot the Damn Dog by Sally Brampton

Darkness Visible by William Styron

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamieson

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

In Session by Deborah A. Lott
The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner
In a House of Dreams and Glass By Robert Klitzman, MD
I had a black dog - Matthew Johnstone

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Another list of books.  This one is summer reading suggestions from the New Yorker: If You Liked My Book, You'll Love These.  The list includes suggestions from six writers, genre by genre.

In the science section:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Crown),  by Rebecca Skloot, has spent fifteen weeks (and counting) on the Times best-sellers list.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales (1985)  by Oliver Sacks
Confessions of a Knife (1979) by Richard Selzer
Love at Goon Park (2002) by Deborah Blum
A wonderful character study of Harry Harlow, the dark, eccentric scientist whose amazing, often disturbing research on primates led to much of our understanding of child-rearing.
His Brother’s Keeper: A Story From the Edge of Medicine (2004) by Jonathan Weiner
The tale of a mechanical engineer who turned himself into a geneticist with hopes of saving his brother’s life.

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LockupDoc has written a nice post:  How doctors can use their own feelings to provide better care

……..But, wait. There’s an invaluable clinical pearl that physicians can borrow from the world of psychotherapy to help them to better hone this “sixth sense.”

I’ll explain.

Have you ever been around a negative, depressed person for too long? Or too many negative, depressed people in a short period of time?……………..

And that’s the “secret”–it’s actually quite simple: The feelings that others elicit in you are often reflections of their own internal mood states. So, how you feel in the presence of someone very well might be similar to what they are feeling……

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 Threads has a nice tutorial by Kenneth King on Ribbon Braid. 

This little braid is one I learned a few years ago while flying to a teaching gig. It’s what is called a “two element” braid, which means there are two strands that go into the making of it. For the demonstration, I’m choosing to use white and black ribbon for clarity, but you can use either the same colors for both elements, or a different color……………

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show guest this week will be Ray Saputelli, NJ Academy of Family Physician. The show begins at 9 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

6/10: Ray Saputelli, NJ Academy of Family Physicians
6/17: Family Physician Dr. Kim Yu
6/24: Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, 33 Charts
Jul-Aug: Summer Break
8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

Dr. Muchandani's Medical Services is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.   It’s the “LOL” edition.  You can read this week’s edition here.

I've had a rather interesting time compiling this post for this edition of Grand Rounds. I must say the motive for the theme being humour and laughter was purely selfish. This is the first time I am hosting here and I knew that if I had to keep up the good work of the previous hosts I would have to be totally involved with the selection process of so many many fantastic entries that this event brings on! The only way to screen them would be to enjoy reading every bit and what better way to do that than over a laugh.

So, in no particular order, here are this week's lol posts!……….

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Nurse Teeny, The Makings of a Nurse  is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 4, No 24) !   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

I’m honored to host Change of Shift: Volume 4, Number 24. Thanks to Kim at Emergiblog for this amazing opportunity to bring together the nursing community!

Without further ado, let’s get to the good stuff…

May signals transitions, and several CoS-ers addressed this very issue. the Muse, RN confronted the age-old issue of initiating new grad RNs into practice in “No, We Neglect Them“. As a new RN myself, all I can say about this post is THANK YOU! I only wish there were more nurses out there like you!

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There is an updated guideline for the prevention of alls in older patients.  It was produced by the American Geriatrics Society and the British Geriatrics Society.  It is available in an interactive online format here.

The screening for falls and risk for falling is aimed at preventing or reducing fall risk. Structuring and standardizing the screening process may improve adherence of providers to the guideline recommendations. The use of a finite number of simple questions, requiring a yes/no answer, may also simplify documentation. Any positive answer to the screening questions puts the person screened in a high-risk group that warrants further evaluation.

RECOMMENDATIONS

All older individuals should be asked whether they have fallen (in the past year).
An older person who reports a fall should be asked about the frequency and circumstances of the fall(s).
Older individuals should be asked if they experience difficulties with walking or balance.

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A Better Health post by Dr. John Mandrola:  Remembrance And Rules For Cyclists And Motorists.  Here are a few of the rules, read the entire post for all of them.

Rules of the Road
A cyclist must:

• Obey the instructions of official traffic control signals and signs. Stop at stop signs and for stop lights just like a motor vehicle.
• Ride a bicycle on the right side of the road with traffic.
• When riding at night, operate the bicycle with a white light visible from the front and a red reflector or light visible from the rear.
• DO NOT RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK
• Ride on a bike path adjacent to the roadway, if one is provided.
• Never ride more than two abreast so as to interfere with the normal movement of traffic.

A motorist must:

• Share the road with bicycles.
• Look for cyclists. Because of their narrow profile you will need to develop your eye-scanning patterns to include bicyclists.
• When you are turning right after passing a cyclist, leave ample room so you don’t cut him off when you slow for your turn.
• When opening your car door, check behind for cyclists. 

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Medgadget is sponsoring the The 2010 My Medical Museum Competition along with Dr. Allen Roberts, aka GruntDoc.

This contest is an opportunity to showcase your medical museum's treasures, as well as to document your local medical history and explain how clinicians and scientists in your area contributed to medicine. So, make a presentation and tell everyone a fascinating story.

To get everyone on equal footing, we've implemented a dynamic publishing platform where you create an online presentation. The My Medical Museum website will let you upload pictures, file reports, embed videos, and make a presentation that will impress the judges. Collaboration is fine, too -- form a group and grant access so your teammates can contribute.

The Grand Prize is a brand-new Wi-Fi 32GB Apple iPad, no less.

So, what else are you waiting for? Gather your friends, family or fellow medical geeks and head over to explore your local medical museum. Develop your presentation and finalize it by Sunday, June 13, 2010.

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It’s time again for the web-based quilt festival hosted by Amy – Blogger’s Quilt Festival, Spring 2010.  I submitted my “First Quilt” as part of the festival.  There is a long list of blogging quilters who are participating.  Grab a cup of coffee or tea and have fun checking them all out.

Welcome to the third Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I'm so glad that you are here - and I hope that you plan to enter a quilt in the Festival!  Everyone is welcome to participate, this is a relaxed festival with no judging, no gloves, and beverages are allowed, encouraged even!  :)

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show guest this week will be Dr. Deb Clements, Family Physician who recently was in Haiti. The show begins at 9 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

6/10: Ray Saputelli, NJ Academy of Family Physician

Shout Outs

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

Dr V, 33 Charts, is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.   It’s the “Artsy Doctors, Genes and Creepy Imagery” edition.  You can read this week’s edition here.

It’s been a tough week for the anti-vaccine movement but an important week for pediatric health. Yesterday the UK’s General Medical Council announced that Andrew Wakefield, who’s fraudulent manipulation of data spawned the vaccine-autism cottage industry, would be ‘struck’ from the medical register. This action by the GMC is one more nail in the coffin of the man who has singlehandedly turned back the clock on two generations of pediatric public health. Check out Respectful Insolence for some pithy commentary and a pointed, must see interview with Matt Lauer. This issue finally seems to be circling the drain………

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Dr Lisa is in Haiti and has been blogging her experience. I hope you will check it out. You can begin with her first post from there, First Haiti Thoughts

Landing in Port Au Prince, my first glimpses of Haiti revealed a lush Caribbean island like so many others. The large central mountains, relics of the islands volcanic origin, the rocky coastline, the lush vegetation, then we landed and we were shuttled to the boarding terminal. Damage from the earthquake was still visible in the buildings at the airport. Then we left the airport grounds, and on our short drive, the disarray of the city was obvious. Although despite the extant destruction there were many signs of regrowth.

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Check out this Daily Beast article by Ayaan Hirsi Ali:  Why Are American Doctors Mutilating Girls? 

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently put forward a proposal on female genital mutilation. They would like that American doctors be given permission to perform a ceremonial pinprick or “nick” on girls born into communities that practice female genital mutilation.

Female circumcision is a custom in many African and Asian countries whereby the genitals of a girl child are cut. There are roughly four procedures. First there is the ritual pinprick. This is what Pediatrics refers to as the “nick” option………..

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Tony Brayer  was interviewed by My Life Stages about her experience as a patient:  Enough is Enough -- When Knee Pain Hits the Tipping Point  (photo credit)

…………Not long after that, she scheduled her surgery for the 2009 Christmas holiday. Now recovering from a total replacement of her right knee, she recently talked about her experience as a doctor, patient and woman.

What was the moment at which you knew you needed to have knee replacement surgery?
I never considered that this was something I would be facing. I was in denial. I would try to hide it. I didn’t want anyone to see me limping, and I was surprised when people noticed that something was wrong. I had a lot of pain that I just pushed through. But one day I was getting ready for work and out of the blue, I just burst into tears and said, ‘I just can’t do this anymore. I am really crippled.’ That was my wake up call……….

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As we head into summer you may want to check out the Environmental Working Group’s list of the best and worst sunscreens can be found on their  searchable database.  A few of the best rated include:  Al Terrain Aquasport Performance SPF 30, Badger Sunscreen for Body and Face SPF 30, California Baby Sunscreen SPF 30, and Vanicream Sunscreen Sport SPF 35.

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Dr Wes has done a review of a film I wish all of us could see: The Vanishing Oath: A Review.  He now has reported that the Chicago premiere was a success.

I would like to take a moment to thank the over 120 people who took time out from their busy schedules to attend the Chicago premiere of The Vanishing Oath at the Wilmette Theatre last evening. For many, it was the first time people they were exposed to the challenges that confront physicians daily in our current health care system…..

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Medical Industry News linked to this article by Diane Suchetka:  Burn victim hopes her story calls attention to dangers of surgical fires.  The article includes before and after burn photos.

There are two Lauren Wargos.

One is so beautiful, you can't stop looking at her. The other was so disfigured, you had to look away.

One wants to remember. The other to forget.

One would rather not talk about what happened. The other wants the whole world to know.

Months after the surgery, Lauren Wargo's one eye would still not close all the way, she had trouble reading and her face was scarred.

It's that last Lauren Wargo who's stepping up now, four years after her face was burned during surgery to have a mole removed from her eyebrow. She's doing it, she says, because she wants to make sure what happened to her doesn't happen to anyone else. ……

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Medgadget is sponsoring the The 2010 My Medical Museum Competition along with Dr. Allen Roberts, aka GruntDoc.

This contest is an opportunity to showcase your medical museum's treasures, as well as to document your local medical history and explain how clinicians and scientists in your area contributed to medicine. So, make a presentation and tell everyone a fascinating story.

To get everyone on equal footing, we've implemented a dynamic publishing platform where you create an online presentation. The My Medical Museum website will let you upload pictures, file reports, embed videos, and make a presentation that will impress the judges. Collaboration is fine, too -- form a group and grant access so your teammates can contribute.

The Grand Prize is a brand-new Wi-Fi 32GB Apple iPad, no less.

So, what else are you waiting for? Gather your friends, family or fellow medical geeks and head over to explore your local medical museum. Develop your presentation and finalize it by Sunday, June 13, 2010.

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It’s time again for the web-based quilt festival hosted by Amy – Blogger’s Quilt Festival, Spring 2010.  I submitted my “First Quilt” as part of the festival.  There is a long list of blogging quilters who are participating.  Grab a cup of coffee or tea and have fun checking them all out.

Welcome to the third Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I'm so glad that you are here - and I hope that you plan to enter a quilt in the Festival!  Everyone is welcome to participate, this is a relaxed festival with no judging, no gloves, and beverages are allowed, encouraged even!  :)

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show guest this week will be Dr. Jay Lee, Family Physician & Health Policy Expert. The show begins at 9 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

6/3: Dr. Deb Clements, Family Physician who recently was in Haiti
6/10: Ray Saputelli, NJ Academy of Family Physician

Shout Outs

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

Maria Gifford, Better Health, is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.    You can read this week’s edition here.

As newly-appointed content manager of Better Health and editorial assistant to Dr. Val Jones, I’ve been given the honor of hosting this edition of Grand Rounds — a weekly summary of the best health blog posts on the Internet.

This week’s submissions cover a nice mix of issues important to health and medicine, which I’m presenting in alphabetical order (excuse my somewhat ultra-conservative ways, as I’m originally a product of the Mayo Clinic, and even after jumping ship nearly five years ago, I’m still affected due to my unchanged, self-inflicted physical location — I’ll find my social-media legs soon, I’m sure!)

From geriatrics to Viagra, PET scans to personality disorders, dentists to American Idol, you’ll find it in this ever-so-tidy session of Grand Rounds.

Read, learn, enjoy…
Best of health,
Maria

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The Muse, RN  is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 4, No 23) !   You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

HAPPY NURSES WEEK! ! !

It is my extreme pleasure to bring you all this edition Change of Shift!  My thanks and enduring gratitude to Nurse Kim @ Emergiblog…. beside whom, I just know, I’d love to work….

Here’s to all the Greatest Nurse Bloggers who submitted for this edition AND to their Blogrolls where I ‘discovered’ at least one additional blogger to showcase.  (pssst – thanks for listing the nursing and medical blogs that you follow on your sites!  Its a GREAT way to find each other.)

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Dr Wes has done a review of a film I wish all of us could see:  The Vanishing Oath: A Review

…..As background, the film is a three-year project born in 2007 just before the great US health care reform debate began. Over 200 hours of interviews were conducted explore a simple question: why Dr. Flesher had grown to hate medicine.

It would have been easy for Dr. Flesher and Ms. Pardo to make his story nothing but a rant, but instead, we find that their story is an honest attempt to understand how someone so enthusiastic at the start of their training could become so quickly discontented with the realities of emergency room care and our bloated health care delivery system…….

Addendum: The film will be premiered in Chicago on 25 May 2010. Seating is limited.

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It’s Primary Voting Day in my home state, Arkansas, as well as many other states.  I hope you will get out and vote if you live in one of these states.  In Arkansas, KATV Channel 7 has a nice website with lots of information on the races, the candidates, etc.

The one in Arkansas which seems to be garnering the most national attention and money is the Democratic Senate race between incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln, Lt. Gov Bill Halter, and businessman D.C. Morrison.

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 Medgadget is sponsoring the The 2010 My Medical Museum Competition along with Dr. Allen Roberts, aka GruntDoc.

This contest is an opportunity to showcase your medical museum's treasures, as well as to document your local medical history and explain how clinicians and scientists in your area contributed to medicine. So, make a presentation and tell everyone a fascinating story.

To get everyone on equal footing, we've implemented a dynamic publishing platform where you create an online presentation. The My Medical Museum website will let you upload pictures, file reports, embed videos, and make a presentation that will impress the judges. Collaboration is fine, too -- form a group and grant access so your teammates can contribute.

The Grand Prize is a brand-new Wi-Fi 32GB Apple iPad, no less.

So, what else are you waiting for? Gather your friends, family or fellow medical geeks and head over to explore your local medical museum. Develop your presentation and finalize it by Sunday, June 13, 2010.

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Dr Rob in his 46th House Call Doctor podcast discusses Anaphylaxis and Serious Allergies

What Is Anaphylaxis?

The most serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction is a condition known as anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis happens when an allergen is recognized by antibodies, which you’ll recall from last week’s article are special proteins in the body that recognize invaders. When antibodies mistakenly identify a normally benign substance—like peanuts-- as an invader in the body, the antibodies immediately combine with certain white blood cells, releasing histamine and other substances that have a profound effect on the body…….

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Thank you @sandnsurf for tweeting this “Patterns of Visual Math - Naturally Occurring Fractals http://tinyurl.com/2d7wmc”    The fern may be a simple example, but you need to check out the others.  Beautiful!

FRACTAL FERN: One very simple way to understand fractals and the meaning of "lteration" is to examine a simple recursive operation that produces a fractal fern thru a "chaos game' of generating random numbers and then placing them on a grid.

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show guest this week will be Larry Bauer from the Family Medicine Education Consortium.   The show begins at 9 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

5/27: Dr. Jay Lee, Family Physician & Health Policy Expert

Many Cuts Later – May 16th

I began this blog three years ago with a post entitled “First Cut (I mean draft).”  I now have well over 1,000  posts (cuts which I hope haven’t been torture to endure)  and many new friends.  

I have been interviewed because of my blog for both the  medical and quilting components.  I’ve even been interviewed by Dr. Anonymous (link removed 3/2017).

I have been included among the Better Health bloggers and gone to Las Vegas where I meet many of you in person.

Thank you all for including me in the blogging community. 

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one.

Gruntdoc is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds. He just celebrated his 8th Blogiversary this past week! You can read this week’s “First Non-Narcissist, Non-Personal Attention Getting Grand Rounds” edition here.

I’m pleased to host this roving blog carnival, and thrilled suitably humbled to be the first 7 time host.

Which is a terrible way to start this, the first Non-Narcissist, Non Personally Aggrandizing MedBlog Grand Rounds, and thanks for putting up with my first theme. 31 submissions from 23 submitters makes this theme viable, and well-attended.

Editor’s Pick: Where romance and medicine collide by Movin’Meat. A tale you’ll retell. Recommended by Musings of a Dinosaur.

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Kim, Emergiblog, is the host of the latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 4, No 22) ! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. (photo credit)

Hi – welcome to this edition of Change of Shift, the nursing blog carnival.
We have a diverse group of submissions this week. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry and some will make you think.
So, without further ado, I give you….
Change of Shift.

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TBTAM has written a post, Lung Cancer and Women, highlighting the findings of a new report on lung cancer in women has been published by the Women's Health Policy and Advocacy Program at Brigham & Women's Hospital: Out of the Shadows. Here is a short segment from the report itself

Lung cancer, once rare among women, surpassed breast cancer in 1987 to become the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. Today, one in four cancer deaths in U.S. women is due to lung cancer. A common misconception is that breast cancer takes the lives of more women than lung cancer, but this is not the case – more women are diagnosed annually with breast cancer, but lung cancer kills more women each year than any other malignant tumor. In 2009, it is estimated that 70,490 women in the U. S. died from this disease. Approximately $9.6 billion is spent in the U.S. each year on treatment of lung cancer.

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Thanks to @DrVes for his tweet “Blogging the end of a life: Death at 25 from CF http://goo.gl/IZsM” Check out this interesting CNN article and some of the blogs mentioned.

…. But Eva Markvoort smiled weakly.

"Hello to the world at large," she said in the video. "To my blog, to my friends, to everyone…... "My life is ending."

Markvoort had cystic fibrosis, an incurable disease that causes mucus to accumulate in the lungs….. the 25-year-old continued to chronicle life on her blog…….

Bloggers like Miles Levin, an 18-year-old who had a rare soft-tissue cancer and died in 2007, and Michelle Lynn Mayer, a 39-year-old mother who had scleroderma and died in 2008, shared their thoughts on living and dying, too……

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H/T to @scanman for his tweet “RT @FutureDocs: A Doctor and His Imaging - http://nyti.ms/bRSyjV NYT - the Ethicist on self-referral conflict of interest.”

…….. I say it’s more complicated than trust or don’t trust. And so does Katie Watson, an assistant professor in the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University: “I trust my physicians not to be criminals who intentionally order unnecessary tests to feed their yacht habits. I also trust them to be human beings, which means they’re vulnerable to subconscious influences and incentives just like the rest of us.”………

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Threads has an article by Susan Khalje: Sewing Perfect Matchpoints on Intersecting Seams (photo credit).

It seems so straightforward – lining up and stitching intersecting seamlines (or plaids or stripes) so that they match perfectly. …. But, I’ve got a couple of methods to help you out.
I was teaching in Sacramento awhile back, and someone – a quilter – introduced me to Clover forked pins, which I’d not seen before. She credited them with allowing her to make perfect matches when stitching her quilts; she showed me her work, and the matching was indeed impeccable…..

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show guest this week will be Dr. Daniel Lewis, Family Physician, talking about his recent mission trip to Central America . The show begins at 9 pm ET.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

5/13: Medical Student and Video Blogger, Bryan McColgan
5/20: Larry Bauer from the Family Medicine Education Consortium