Ohhhhh . . . Tuesday Morning . . . feels like a hangover. I'm finally coming down from the
caffeine buzz of last weeks
Grand Rounds hosted by Kim at
Emergiblog. I'm in withdraw after a week of working on the incredible submissions for this week's edition of the best from the medical blogosphere. Actually, I'm looking more like
Ground Round! I should have heded
Kim's advice - but you know it's difficult for lawyers to take advice.
Lawyers are known for their written and verbal communication but any good defense trial lawyer knows that
a photo is worth a thousand words. Hmmm . . .
photos . . . theme? Photos tell a story. Photos enhance the story. Social interaction adds value to content. Social networking is content. Using
Flickr within a theme? How will online social networking change the landscape of medicine and health? Just some thoughts.
It's a
fascinating time to watch the evolution of online social interaction these days and
discuss its impact on the health care industry.
Not long ago we were all using
the internet as a static place to
obtain information. Listserves, bulletin boards and early individual blogs became the first generation of social networking. Soon came the growth of more blogs on specialized topics, more interaction, community blogs and carnivals, like
Grand Rounds -- all mediums that allow sharing of information and knowledge in a decentralized process, providing a forum for feedback, comments, discussion and disagreement. Lately we are seeing the next generation develop. Two health care examples are
Organized Wisdom, a collaborative health information resource, which allows patients and professionals to share health experiences in a learning environment, and
Sermo, which allows physicians to consult with colleagues, share clinical observations, challenge or corroborate each other's opinions (
for pay) and accelerate the emergence of trends and new insights on medications, devices and treatments,
building open, collaborative health care. What next?
It's Your World,
Your Imagination. What about
Second Life Medical? or
Project Virtual Hospital?
Flickr , an online social photo sharing service was one of the early
web 2.0 success stories. As an experiment to add value to content I've used "keyword" links for each submission. For example, check out
alzheimers,
new drug or
insulin pump. I urge you to drill down and explore some the photo links, comments on the photos and consider how the photos change your impression of the written posts.
On with the rounds . . .
First the Host's Favorites . . .BREAD: From the
don't always believe what you see department comes a post at
Unbounded Medicine about a Thai student who bakes human being parts out of bread. Yum . . . .
YUPIK: The TundraPA at
Tundra Medicine Dreams shares with us the experience of death, funeral, family, and feast as a
Yupik Eskimo village loses one of its members in a post called
A Village Funeral.
FISH: A
fishy topic is on the line at
DiseaseProof. In
Gone Fishing Again, Gerald Pugliese contemplates a recent article in
The Los Angeles Times, pointing out that even the EPA acknowledges the confusion over fish consumption. Mr. Pugliese utilizes Dr. Fuhrman's past comments to add more to the fish tale. Dr. Emer at
Parallel Universes is also fishing around this controversy with
To Eat or Not To Eat Fish.
DEATH: From
The Differential: Medscape Med Students, Ali Tabatabaey, an Iranian medical student, confronts death in
The First Patient Death Leaves Its Mark. At
why am i still here? a third year medical student
confronts whether she would want extravagant measures taken if it were her 16-year-old daughter.
COMPETITION: Dmitriy Kruglyak, at the Medical Blog Network, takes a close look at what's left for hospitals in the current competitive environment in The Shifting Basis of Hospital Competition.
FOOD: I've got the rumblies in my tumblies. May I take your order please?
Emergiblog covers the etiquette of ordering food in the ER in
Here to Save Your Derrieere, Not Feed It.
The Best of the Rest . . .FEET: From the foot bone is connected to the ankle bone comes
The Foot Blog. A new community blog started this month covering everything for the podiatry community, a great example of a community blog modeling the
long tail toe theory.
DIABETES: Amy Tenderich at
Diabetes Mine announces the ultimate diabetic "extreme (medical) makeover" in her post
Pimp Your Diabetes. A D-Dream Team has been put together and the progress of the individuals will be tracked at
Diabetes Mine. Amy also provides a one blog mini-seminar on the thyroid in
Hello, Mr. Thyroid and questions all the buzz on the new wireless monitoring devices for diabetes in
Remote Control Diabetes? Not.
SPINE:
The Science Creative Quarterly by Prashant Nair covers spinal injuries in
Spinal Injuries: So many ways to strike a chord. The article made this lawyer confront the altered existence lived by victims of spinal injuries and their hopes for the future. But consider
Mark Zupan and don't miss
Murderball.
HIPAA: The
HIPAA Blog covers the
latest recommendations by the
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics . HIPAA may no longer just apply to "covered entities." All that hard work of creating business associate agreements might be for not.
CATHOLIC: Dr. Lei at
Genetics Health interviews Catholic genetics blogger,
Rebecca Taylor. Ms. Taylor, a clinical laboratory technologist in molecular biology at a Catholic hospital blogs at
Mary Meet Dolly, where the world of genetics and genetic engineering
(Dolly) meets the teachings of the Catholic Church on the sanctity of life
(Mary). Mary Meets Dolly resonates with many people feeling alienated because most science and medicine bloggers are largely atheist or agnostic.
SHOPPING: Comparision shopping, Canada vs. Israel, comes your way via
InsureBlog's post titled
Isrameds. Canada isn't the only "foreign" country offering discount medications. If you've got a hankerin' for strictly kosher meds, Bob Vineyard has your source. The InsureBlog also has some surprising stats on
"What Bothers People About Their Own Health Care" and a
followup post poll.
INTUBATED:
Homeschooledmedstudent confronts her own sadness and helplessness in
Lingering, about an intubated, terminally ill patient.
POLICY:
Matthew Holt covers the
Six Dirty Little Health Care Secrets of health care.
AUTISM: Dr. Deborah Serani posts
Gene Mutation Linked to Risk of Autism highlights further genetic underpinnings for Autism in a study coming out of Vanderbilt University that will be featured in the upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DIAGNOSIS: From the "What's Your Diagnosis?" category comes
Failure to thrive in a 20-month-old from
Rural Pediatrics. The case report involves a 20-month-old toddler with a one-year history of poor weight gain and large, mushy, smelly stools. Turns out the diagnosis was chronic
Giardia infection due to likely becoming infected from playing in a mountain stream while his parents gold-panned. The full article can be obtained from
Infectionus Disease in Children.
NEW DRUG:
Straightfromthedoc discusses
Duke University researchers' efforts to significantly prolong the effects of an anti-inflammatory drug by modifying a drug called interleukin-1 receptor antagonist. The engineered drug is potentially useful for providing longer-lasting treatment for osteoarthritis.
Gloria Garnat also writes about the recently USFDA-approved drug,
ARICEPT, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, at
The Pharm Voice.
WELLNESS : Musing about the (un)balanced nature of
Wellness is Dr. Rob Lamberts' post at
Musings of a Distractible Mind. Dr. Lamberts asks the question "does wellness really exist?" and concludes that the physician's role is to "relate to our patients as they go through life and not treat them as a project to complete."
ALZHEIMERS: Mona Johnson at
The Tangled Neuron highlights
current studies of those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and the ongoing efforts to better understand the early stages of dementia and Alzheimers. Why be tested for Alzheimer's when there is no effective treatment? Contribution to research and ultimately finding a cure for the disease. Ms. Johnson, who went through testing at the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention, recommends participating in testing at a memory clinic, university, or Alzeimer's Disease Research Center so that the results can be used in future studies. West Virginia's own
Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Center is leading a shift from laboratory tests to clinical trials.
WIKIPEDIA: Mnmonics Guy (MG) brings us
CLMAA and a link to a Wikipedia page that includes volumes of
medical acronyms and abbreviations. MG's post speculates that medical acronyms may be a dying art with the introduction of EHRs. MG also highlights the difference between
acronyms and abbreviations. My favorite misspelled acronym is
HIPPA.
HOSPITAL STORIES:
Hospital Impact, authored by Tony Chen, shares the 2nd edition of Friday's Great Patient Stories with
Great Patient Stories - Harry Potter, Hamburgers and Hemmorroids. Chen's initial post, along with my Pre-Rounds interview by Nick Genes,inspired me to start a new series of regular posts called
The West Virginia Doctor.
STRETCHING: With advice on how not to over-stretch your back comes
The Stretch You Need The Least from Dr. Jolie Bookspan at
Healthline: The Fitness Fixer. Thanks, Doctor. Your submission was much needed advice after spending hours bent over my laptop working on Grand Rounds.
ODOR: A volunteer ER chaplain writes about wonderful ER odors in
The Olfactory Tour at
Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good.
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: In recognition that October is
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Emer at
Parallel Universes posts about
statistics on breast cancer in the Phillipines, catching breast cancer early, and the importance of regular
breast self-examination.
PEG Tubes: This week, Dr. Marcucci at
Inside Surgery covers the surgical facts and details of
Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tubes.
FDA: From the
California Medicine Man comes the
"story" behind Lester Crawford's departure as the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the importance of the FDA maintaining integrity.
MEDICAL SCHOOL:
Vitum Medicinus, who is journaling his experiences as he goes through medical school, reminds us of the excitement of practical learning and experience in the post
Back in the Hospital: ER Shadowing.
CEO: At
Running A Hospital the CEO asks,
"How am I doing?" to which Kevin, M.D. responds
pretty good job. Congratulations go out to the other blogging hospital CEO who
details his trip to Northern Virginia to see Little Lucy for the first time.
VACCINES: Two posts on vaccines from
PediatricsInfo .
First, the FDA approved the rotavirus vaccine in Febuary 2006.
Second, the MMR vaccine has been cleared from causing autistic disorders according to a trial published in the October 2006 issue of Pediatrics.
PERSONA:
GruntDoc takes a look at his
Work Persona.
BLOOD PRESSURE: South African medical student Karin Little, who blogs at
Just Up The Dose, nostalgically remembers her first diagnosis in
Thump-thump-thump as she winds down on her degree. Along the same vein comes
Hypertension-Silent Killer with a
hypertension quiz.
TUNNEL VISION:
Wandering Vistor muses about viewing the tunnel from the outside in
Are You Suffering from Tunnel Vision?YUPIK: The TundraPA at
Tundra Medicine Dreams shares with us the experience of death, funeral, family, and feast as a
Yupik Eskimo village loses one of its members in a post called
A Village Funeral.
STINGRAY: Dr. Paul Auerbach, at
Medicine for the Outdoors, blogs about
Another Stingray Attack reported last week in Florida which follows the tragic death of the Crocidile Hunter, Steve Erwin, in a similar unlikely incident.
CALIFORNIA: Nancy L. Brown, PhD, at
Teen Health 411, provides insight into the confidentiality laws related to reproductive health care in California for minors and points out the practical issues related to information leaking through the billing process when the minor seeks care covered under her parent's insurance.
POVETRY:
Borneo Breezes recognizes the
contributions of Mohammed Yunus, a Bangaladeshi economist and founder of Grameem Bank, who will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort at ending poverty through providing credit to the poorest of the poor.
INSULIN PUMP:
Kerrie Morrone, a twenty-something type 1 diabetic, contemplates incorporating her insulin pump into the tangles of daily dressing in
Insulin Pumping, After a Fashion.
JEFF GOLDBLUM: A Caribbean medical student blogging at
the rumors were true explores his own
science role model.
Jeff Goldblum?
HORMONES: A four-part post on
Hormone Replacement Therapy at
The Blog That Ate Manhattan.
FLU: In his post,
Pediatric Flu Vaccine Supply Delayed, Not a Shortage, Dr. Choi at
Tech Medicine helps this lawyer understand why his two-year-old can't get her flu shot -- there is only one FDA-approved flu vaccine for children under three.
NFL:
The NFL's Punitive Substance Abuse Policy covers Brett Farve's standing up to the NFL and its substance abuse policy after the suspension of Packer's wide receiver Koren Robinson.
RANT: Citing one of my all time favorite movies, Terry Gilliam's "Brazil,"
Digital Doorway rants about healthcare bureaucracy in
Bureaucracy Now! --- A Rant. Is it Buttle or Tuttle? Also,
ranting about medblog ranting comes Pointing The Finger from
Medblogopathy.
INFORMATION: David Williams at
The Health Business Blog provides us a link to the original piece titled,
"Information Is The Answer," used by ABC News in its week-long series, Prescription for Change.
HALLOWEEN:
The Family Fork: Feeding the Kids and You provides
timely advice for choosing healthly alternatives as you prepare to make the Grand Rounds with the kids next Tuesday Night.
The question remains whether
Dr. Hebert's Medical Gumbo will be cooking up
tricks or
treats as the host of
Grand Rounds 3.6.
As the first health care lawyer to host Grand Rounds, I just want to say thanks to Nick Genes for giving me the opportunity to host from the hills of West Virginia. Thanks to the contributors who make Grand Rounds what it is -- a wonderfully eclectic collaboration of individuals and health professionals who share a breadth and depth of knowledge unmatched anywhere.
NOTE: I accidentally change the title of the Grand Rounds post which then automatically changed the permalink that was used in the Pre-Rounds Interview on Medscape. This created a dead link for all of these visitors coming from Medscape. To correct the problem I created a duplicate post of Grand Rounds here. You can read comments posted on the duplicate post here.
