Grand Rounds Here Tuesday, March 1st

February 22, 2011

Grand Rounds will be held here next Tuesday! Please send me a link and brief description of any good medical blogging from this week you would like highlighted- either written by you or another medical blogger you read.  Please send by Sunday night, February 27th. Selfishly I’d like to read some posts that discuss current [...]

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Respond, Don’t React, Live Longer?

January 27, 2011

“This job is killing me” is not a statement of jest. It is a desperate plea of outright sincerity. Stress, anxiety, depression – all have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. But can interventions to help people cope with stress positively affect longevity and decrease risk of dying? The results [...]

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7 + 3 Foods to Avoid

December 31, 2010

A patient reading a copy of Prevention in the waiting room brought to my attention an interesting article entitled “7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Plate.” I would have to agree that these seven commonly eaten foods should be avoided, so I’ll rehash them here, along with 3 more of my own choosing to [...]

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Google Ngrams are Pithy

December 19, 2010

I just learned (via The New York Times) of a new Google tool that allows the curious person to type in a word or phrase and see how often that term is mentioned in over 5.2 million books over the past 500 years. The Google Ngram tool draws from 500 billion words contained in books [...]

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Blood Print

December 9, 2010

I’m diligently writing a detailed note in the patient’s chart as he speaks of his multiple concerns – severe depression, headaches, and dizziness. I’m not making good eye contact. Often this is effective because I can resist the allure of passively following his narrative to its own diagnostic suspicions. Instead I can record his intuitive [...]

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Are the Crying Spells of John Boehner Signs of Depression?

November 7, 2010

When the Republicans took back the House of Representatives this past week, John Boehner, the presumptive new Speaker and current Senator from Ohio, unleashed a “sob heard round the world.” As The New York Times quotes: “I’ve spent my whole life chasing the American dream,” (Boehner) said, beginning to cry. He swallowed and tried again. [...]

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October 20, 2010

I’m increasingly unable to watch the sport of football.  It has become a violent, malicious, hurtful abomination. Here’s to October baseball instead. Deadspin videos of concussions this year.

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Prenatal Vitamins. Necessary? Sufficient? Safe?

October 19, 2010

What is in a prenatal vitamin? Why do most doctors recommend them? Is there any evidence taking them is worthwhile? I decided recently that I would read through the ingredients of these vitamins, often touted as “essential vitamins and nutrients, crucial for the healthy development of your baby.” Hmmm. Does that mean eating traces of [...]

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Letting Go, by Atul Gawande

October 7, 2010

A depressing, inspiring, sobering, and thoughtful essay written about the herculean task of meeting death and illness well. (from The New Yorker)

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One Word Manifestos

September 30, 2010

Life can bring absolutely terrible circumstances to our peaceful lives. A sudden phone call bearing grave news. A nauseatingly bad diagnosis. Financial anxiety. Self-doubt. An irreparable mistake. Guilt. Stressors compound upon one another, and the psychological toll builds. In my office I am visited daily by a torrent of fears, heartaches, and tears from the [...]

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The Charles Prize for Poetry, 2010

September 12, 2010

It is with great pleasure that I announce the winner of the poetry contest. Over 125 poems were received with a general theme of medicine or science. 7 judges were consulted, representing a diversity of training in medicine, science, and the humanities. A few of the judges were moved to tears at times, and all [...]

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September 9, 2010

Winner almost selected, one judge to go. Announcement this weekend

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The Charles Prize (with Tomato) Is Coming Soon

September 2, 2010

I’d like to thank all the contributors of poems for what has been an astoundingly fun project for me. Reading over 125 poems has been enlightening and inspiring. I regret that I ran out of time to post more selected highlights on the blog, but there are definitely poems in the running that have not [...]

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Fireflies

August 30, 2010

Fireflies ~a medical resident Hand clasps hand on the window sill, he in a paper-thin gown, she in her Sunday dress. Snow falls. He craves the sting of crystals on his tongue, a shovel to carve a meandering path to the front door. And she – a spark from dying embers that once flushed his [...]

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Thirteen Ways of Seeing

August 25, 2010

Thirteen Ways of Seeing ~Aidel Moodnick I [Streptococcus pyogenes] Under the microscope gram positive cocci in chains like purple add-a-beads. In the hospital bed the modesty of human flesh is abandoned except for occasional little islands of skin, soon to be the freshest wounds. Without skin the patient is hairless and bumpy and bloody and [...]

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