I for one am spending it with my significant other, my boards review book.
But it’s not all bad. There’s a new Indiana Jones trailer out.
And rejected Shoebox Greeting Cards:
Oh, and by the way? Paget’s Disease? I hate you and all the damn questions about you.
Thanks, Dr. Bryce Swanson, DO, for recommending Rapid Slim SX to me on TV! I know you’re only a “Resident Physician,” but you said you read the
study about Rapid Slim SX and it’s going to work, right?
You’re in your last year of Anesthesia Residency
, so you’re clearly an authority on weight loss. Which is why it surprised me that in your
“Talk With Dr. Bryce Swanson”
you glaze right over the health benefits of weight loss.
As an anesthesiologist, I would’ve thought you would’ve spoken most about how obese patients are more challenging to manage in the operating room, due to their decreased chest wall compliance and decreased functional residual capacity or talk about any of the other health benefits of weight loss (decreasing insulin resistance, decreases in cancer risks, etc). But instead, when you’re asked “In your opinion, what are the benefits to losing weight?” you say “I think that losing weight helps a woman feel better inside and out. She’s more confident, she’s more energetic, she regains that spring in her step because she likes the way she looks,” and mention that “also” there are health benefits. I’m also scratching my head, Dr. Swanson, because you say that “A major diet overhaul must be gradual so it can be sustained over time,” but then you go on to say that “I would recommend RapidSlim SX because it delivers amazing weight-loss results so quickly and because available published research reveals it to be a superior formula and brand.” [my emphasis] (Also, superior to what? And what’s the “available published research?” I can’t seem to find it, even though you flaunt the study all over the damn website.)
I’ve also been quite impressed with Chief Scientific Officer Marvin Heuer, MD’s work history . (Thanks, Angry Doctor!) I also love his resume , with most of his publications being listed as “Submitted for Publication.” I should fatten my resume that way. I’ve got TONS of things I could submit for publication!
Hey, if it really works, and you really believe in it, Dr. Swanson, that’s great. But a little more intellectual honesty might get you a lot further. (But I guess that doesn’t really sell pills, does it?)
As I am counting down the days until I can get Step 2 over with (T-minus 10!), I’m going insane memorizing diseases I will never see in my lifetime. I need some laughs. So I’m asking everyone to please post their favorite medical joke. (And plus, it’d be a great chance to see people’s faces and comedic timing.) Oh, fine, if you’re anonymous, I guess you just can post the text, but come on, video is sooo 2008. (If you use YouTube, tag your video as “ medicaljoke ” so they’ll be easier to find.)
Either comment or email me the Youtube link or your blog posting, and I’ll start a running list here on this blog post. And if you don’t have a blog, just leave a comment! Please! I’m begging you! Help a guy escape from the hells of Boards reviewing. I’ll start:
You know, that’s the thing about socialized medicine. There’s no motivation for innovation. There’s no research or development. It all comes from The United States of America. Except, apparently, growing new bones for a patient using stem cells harvested from the patient’s own adipose tissue.
Great online resource for orthopedic testing of the knee, shoulder, and ankle from this professor at UC Fresno. Also available as a Podcast , so you can download the videos to your computer (or iPod, I guess!). Pretty cool.
In which I agree almost completely. I’d add in a course on medical ethics, and one on health policy as well.
I think Organic Chemistry serves a purpose, but it’s not because Orgo is useful to a clinician. It’s to see if a person has the dedication and ability to memorize an insane amount of very abstract material in a very short span of time, and then be able to apply said material to a specific problem. (Which you have to do in med school.) This also does a good job of weeding out people.
I’d love to see a mandatory second language of one’s choosing in there too (which most of my classmates probably already meet anyway). Similar to the organic chemistry metaphor, medicine is learning a language. (And it also comes in handy with patients. Just two days ago I was doing a second look at a program and helping an intern with a lumbar puncture, and my seemingly-useless French allowed me to communicate with our patient.)
Sorry for the dearth of posting lately; I’ve been busily hitting city after city on the interview trail–and the residencies, unfortunately, continue to be great (making my ranking decision next to impossible).
Two quick bits: Thanks to the LA Times for the mention about the placebo study (and very cool that the reporter found me via my blog).
And thank you to Chicago, where I’ve been interviewing as of late. After 11 years driving without a single parking ticket, thank you, Chicago, for welcoming
your forgotten son (I went to undergrad in the area) back with open arms. Two tickets and my car towed today for a tow away zone sign that was crumpled and gnarled
away. I missed you too.
(I’m really not that happy about it. I swear.)
Many companies are already paying for disease management programs to help patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes. So why not encourage people to take the medicines they need. You “pay a nurse $65 an hour to call call a diabetic [employee] and say, ‘Take a beta blocker.’ And the employee says ‘I know it’s important, why did you raise my copay from $15 to $30,” Fendrick says. “It’s a classic example of the misalignment of incentives in the U.S. health care system.”
Sadly we apparently have to keep doing the studies, because parents who don’t understand science don’t believe it.