July 12, 2010

España rules! http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/how-theyre-celebrating-in-spain/

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Mars500 Mission – An Exercise in Isolation

July 8, 2010

It’s been just over a month since the European Space Agency “launched” the Mars500 project, an earthbound simulation of an interplanetary mission to Mars. Six men climbed into a windowless mock spaceship on June 3rd to spend the better part of 520 days sequestered away from the world, with only books, games, work, shoddy internet, [...]

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Lillie Love Tribute

July 4, 2010

On my Friday commute to work I sometimes hear a tale of someone’s life as recorded through Story Corps. NPR plays these short, oral narratives in which an “average” person recounts some significant moments in his life, or reflects on what really mattered in her every day routine. They are short, pithy, genuine, and often [...]

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What Makes Us Happy?

June 18, 2010

The bilious oil hemorrhaging from the bowels of the Earth, coupled with the usual stressors of life, makes me feel sad and pessimistic of late. And while I’m still pretty sure that ignorance, intolerance, and our polluting routines will be our ruin, I also search for ways to retain optimism and hope. Amid the constant [...]

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Flowers for the Lovely Wounded

May 31, 2010

How could she be on my schedule again? I had just seen her the day before, diagnosed her with an infection of the skin, placed her on a few medications, and told her to follow up only if the infection worsened. Was her arm now being consumed by the bacteria, or had she returned simply [...]

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An Open Letter to Those in the Healing Professions, or, “How You Are Like Batman”

May 30, 2010

Someone close to you died, was sick, or you simply figured out that humanity could be wicked, fallible, and miserable. But instead of recoiling into cynicism and solitude, you decided to embrace the suffering of the human condition. Fundamentally you hoped to change things, to protect others, to make the world of the infirm a [...]

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What the final episode of Lost meant to me

May 25, 2010

I don’t watch much television, but I have remained faithful to the Lost series over the years. I found the final episode moving, not because I’ll miss the characters so much, or because any particular unity was achieved from the still-conflicting plotlines. But if you saw the finale you couldn’t help being stirred by each [...]

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White Silken Ribbons

May 16, 2010

“And your mother, how is her health?” I asked the cheerful young woman who had come in for a physical examination. She was draped in a blue paper gown under which her naked alabaster skin seemed translucent. Her branching veins coursed like roots close to the surface as they returned indigo blood to the warmth [...]

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Grand Rounds, May 11th Edition

May 11, 2010

Welcome to Grand Rounds, a weekly collection of excellent writings submitted by medical bloggers.  The theme for this week is minimalism – I’m going to restrain myself and let the authors speak for themselves: Editor’s Pick:  OB Cookie, a future Ob-Gyn who writes a creative medical and food blog, baked a funked out cake with [...]

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Caring for the Patient Who Is a Zombie

May 8, 2010

The zombie is an undead, shambling, flesh-hungry monster with a particular appetite for human brains. Although an uncommon sight in the doctor’s office, it behooves the astute physician to gain some familiarity and expertise in the medical care of zombies should one appear for an impromptu “check up.” Universal precautions are of utmost importance when [...]

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Joined Facebook

May 8, 2010

Why not?

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Grand Rounds, this week and the next

May 4, 2010

This week’s compilation of medical blogging highlights is up at Gruntdoc.com. Read through his collection of great links from the past week. I’ll be hosting next week’s Grand Rounds. Please send me an email with a link to your best writing, or a link to another medical blogger whom you think wrote something worthy! drcharles.examining [...]

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Each day

May 2, 2010

the artist came to paint her brightly colored mural on the brick wall of the warehouse by the derelict park. Around noon an old man would arrive and take his customary seat beneath a great elm tree. He enjoyed watching the artist work. On the day the mural was finished the artist approached the old [...]

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Cellphonophobia

April 26, 2010

I’d like to propose a new condition into the medical lexicon: Cellphonophobia – the fear that using a cell phone causes bodily harm, usually associated with avoidant behaviors that equate electromagnetic radiation with contagion. Cellphonophobia is related to the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders rather than those of the anxiety classification. Sufferers worry about being tainted [...]

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