Glad to see so many could make it to this week' s Grand Rounds! Since we couldn't get Richard Simmons to come in and do a quick exercise break, we' ll be following Dr. Emer's Fidget Your Way to Better Health program to keep us slim, trim, and hopefully awake. So jiggle your feet, twiddle your thumbs, and enjoy the best of the medical blogosphere.
Note: Unlike regular meetings, no PowerPoints were abused in the making of these presentations.
Keynote
Only The Cheerful Oncologist could use the existentialism of Sartre to explore the difficult balance sought by those who work with the seriously ill and dying: "How does one, after exchanging job descriptions at a cocktail party or in the bleachers, reply to this follow-up question: How do you do it? "
Hot Topics
Are you fidgeting yet? If not, check out the Hospice Blog, which advocates that, when dealing with terminal patients, "more doctors [should] realize that there is a time when they should shut up and listen."
And Catallarchy asks if doctors or drug companies know best how to educate patients about their disease states. Is DTC destined for life support?
A most effective way to reduce wait times: Make docs do more for less. Or that's the plan in Ontario, according to Interested Participant. The result? "On February 11, the operating rooms in about two dozen hospitals throughout Ontario will shut down due to a strike by angry anesthesiologists."
A Plethora of Pill Posts
Prescribing& How much is too much when it comes to depending on drugs to solve medical and psychiatric issues? Maria at intueri has some answers plus some notes about comfort food like shi fan, also known as "congee" or "jook" (what ever happened to tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches?).
Perplexing publications& While Different River feels the British Medical Journal should have been more proactive about apologizing for its publication of an article saying Eli Lilly withheld documents about Prozac from a court trial (which it didn't), Mental Notes thinks the retraction of the article was "Dan Ratheresque." He says, "after years and years of tolerance of an increasingly cozy relationship between a great profession and the forces of capitalism, the efforts at distancing coming this late in the game seem reactive. My worry is that the public recognizes this, that it actually exacerbates a crisis of confidence among those we serve, and thus threatens the trust that physicians have worked so hard to earn over the past century."
A pox on Vioxx& JournalClub skips that controversy in favor of the one about Vioxx and the 140,000 MIs. DB s Medical Rants chimes in, saying, "Vioxx has a new place in history - that of a drug which should revolutionize how we consider drug safety." Chris at RangelMD explores whether doctors are to blame for the mess.
Those annoying pop-ups& Kevin, MD , warns us to hold our snickers at the warning in the ads for Levitra; you know, the one that says: "In the rare case an erection lasts for more than four hours, seek immediate medical attention." Dr. Kevin says, "I've seen some articles refer to this as the warning that's actually a selling point. " But priapism is no laughing matter.
Back to School
While Joe, the Mad House Madman is stymied by student loans (check the comments for some good advice), Nick at Blogborygmi looks at the recent urology match snafu that "left several prominent schools with unfilled positions."
Now that medical students are blogging on forums like the Medical Informatics Student Blog, LiveJournal is a little worried that their posts, which talk about specific patients in a specific city on a specific day, might cause some
medical privacy concerns and HIPPA violations.
Back to the Future
MedPundit s Senator Tomorrow is an interesting look at what one senator thinks healthcare could look like by 2015 and why Sydney thinks it ll happen when pigs can fly. And she may well be right. Remember body scanning, which was supposed to be the next revolution in healthcare (or at least the next big profit center)? Orac does, and he does a neat little dissection of its demise.
Matthew at the The Healthcare Blog also is doing a Carnac the Magnificent act (we miss you, Johnny Carson!) with Health costs and the road to Armageddon, where he tackles the ever-thorny issue of how to resolve the health insurance crisis.
Strange But True
Poor tennis star Serena Williams, who won the Australian Open despite a "dislocated rib" (not possible) or some other "rib dysfunction." CodeBlueBlog calls her on it and wonders if athletes use medical time-outs to change the momentum of the match. "It is really remarkable how frequently these top superstar athletes are injured during important matches. Of course, the injuries almost always come at a time when the injured player is losing& "
Bonus Round
Dr. Charles provides a beautiful reminder of what it feels like to have a patient call you "my doctor."
Thanks for stopping by! And look for next week's Grand Rounds at Enoch Choi's MedMusings. Enoch asks that you send submissions to him at enochchoimd-thoughts AT yahoo.com--he'll be en route to Singapore, so next week's Grand Rounds may be a little late.
Glad to see so many could make it to this week s Grand Rounds! Since we couldn t get Richard Simmons to come in and do a quick exercise break, we ll be following Dr. Emer s Fidget Your Way to Better Health program to keep us slim, trim, and hopefully awake. So jiggle your feet, twiddle your thumbs, and enjoy the best of the medical blogosphere.
Note: Unlike regular meetings, no PowerPoints were abused in the making of these presentations.
Keynote
Only The Cheerful Oncologist could use the existentialism of Sartre to explore the difficult balance sought by those who work with the seriously ill and dying: "How does one, after exchanging job descriptions at a cocktail party or in the bleachers, reply to this follow-up question: How do you do it? "
Hot Topics
Are you fidgeting yet? If not, check out the Hospice Blog, which advocates that, when dealing with terminal patients, "more doctors [should] realize that there is a time when they should shut up and listen."
And Catallarchy asks if doctors or drug companies know best how to educate patients about their disease states. Is DTC destined for life support?
A most effective way to reduce wait times: Make docs do more for less. Or that's the plan in Ontario, according to Interested Participant. The result? "On February 11, the operating rooms in about two dozen hospitals throughout Ontario will shut down due to a strike by angry anesthesiologists."
A Plethora of Pill Posts
Prescribing& How much is too much when it comes to depending on drugs to solve medical and psychiatric issues? Maria at intueri has some answers plus some notes about comfort food like shi fan, also known as "congee" or "jook" (what ever happened to tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches?).
Perplexing publications& While Different River feels the British Medical Journal should have been more proactive about apologizing for its publication of an article saying Eli Lilly withheld documents about Prozac from a court trial (which it didn't), Mental Notes thinks the retraction of the article was "Dan Ratheresque." He says, "after years and years of tolerance of an increasingly cozy relationship between a great profession and the forces of capitalism, the efforts at distancing coming this late in the game seem reactive. My worry is that the public recognizes this, that it actually exacerbates a crisis of confidence among those we serve, and thus threatens the trust that physicians have worked so hard to earn over the past century."
A pox on Vioxx& JournalClub skips that controversy in favor of the one about Vioxx and the 140,000 MIs. DB s Medical Rants chimes in, saying, "Vioxx has a new place in history - that of a drug which should revolutionize how we consider drug safety." Chris at RangelMD explores whether doctors are to blame for the mess.
Those annoying pop-ups& Kevin, MD , warns us to hold our snickers at the warning in the ads for Levitra; you know, the one that says: "In the rare case an erection lasts for more than four hours, seek immediate medical attention." Dr. Kevin says, "I've seen some articles refer to this as the warning that's actually a selling point. " But priapism is no laughing matter.
Back to School
While Joe, the Mad House Madman is stymied by student loans (check the comments for some good advice), Nick at Blogborygmi looks at the recent urology match snafu that "left several prominent schools with unfilled positions."
Now that medical students are blogging on forums like the Medical Informatics Student Blog, LiveJournal is a little worried that their posts, which talk about specific patients in a specific city on a specific day, might cause some
medical privacy concerns and HIPPA violations.
Back to the Future
MedPundit s Senator Tomorrow is an interesting look at what one senator thinks healthcare could look like by 2015 and why Sydney thinks it ll happen when pigs can fly. And she may well be right. Remember body scanning, which was supposed to be the next revolution in healthcare (or at least the next big profit center)? Orac does, and he does a neat little dissection of its demise.
Matthew at the The Healthcare Blog also is doing a Carnac the Magnificent act (we miss you, Johnny Carson!) with Health costs and the road to Armageddon, where he tackles the ever-thorny issue of how to resolve the health insurance crisis.
Strange But True
Poor tennis star Serena Williams, who won the Australian Open despite a "dislocated rib" (not possible) or some other "rib dysfunction." CodeBlueBlog calls her on it and wonders if athletes use medical time-outs to change the momentum of the match. "It is really remarkable how frequently these top superstar athletes are injured during important matches. Of course, the injuries almost always come at a time when the injured player is losing& "
Bonus Round
Dr. Charles provides a beautiful reminder of what it feels like to have a patient call you "my doctor."
Thanks for stopping by! And look for next week's Grand Rounds at Enoch Choi's MedMusings. Enoch asks that you send submissions to him at enochchoimd-thoughts AT yahoo.com--he'll be en route to Singapore, so next week's Grand Rounds may be a little late.
