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Medical Terminology Reasoning (Or Lack Thereof)

SpitballIt’s been a very long time since I did an “Ask Dr. Rob” post. It’s also been a long time since I shot a spitball out of a straw and hit someone behind the ear during social studies class. I realize that just because it’s been a long time since I’ve done something, it doesn’t mean the world is better off with me doing it again.

Still, there have been some interesting questions that have come up and I think it’s time they should be answered. They’re both along the same line:

Question 1: What’s the difference between health care and healthcare? I see that you contribute to the Health Care Blog, but you write about healthcare all of the time. What’s the deal?

Question 2: What’s the difference between EMR and EHR?  It seems that some people feel that it’s vile and uncouth to call it “EMR,” only accepting people who call it “EHR” into their secret societies of people who are smarter than everyone else. What’s the deal? Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*

Preventive Health In HD: A Video Just For Men

Check out this darkly humorous advertising campaign from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How do you convince men to go to the doctor and get the preventive healthcare that’s known to save lives?  You make it all about television. Men + HD TV = “Yes.” This video is funny on so many levels.

*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*

A Clinic For Diarrhea And International “Travelers?”

Diarrhea ClinicI’m not sure what country this photo was snapped in, but the clinic owners were smart enough to help international travelers seek care for traveler’s diarrhea. There’s no beating around the bush on this one. If you’re in this waiting room staring at strangers, they’re all going to know why you’re there.

Diarrhea Clinic — that’s simple brilliance. That doctor needs to be hired by the ACP and SHM and ABIM to help us answer questions like “What is an internist?” and “What is a hospitalist?” For these doctors, everyone knows exactly what he does — no questions necessary.

*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*

You Know You’re A Doctor When…

They had been married for over 35 years, both successful ophthalmologists who had entered retirement after selling their practice. The kids had grown and their house was just too big for them now, so they decided to downsize to a condominium.

After many days of searching, they toured a lovely place and were excited to make a deposit, but the husband first wanted to inspect the building from the outside before committing. As he rounded the building with his wife beside him, he looked up, struggling to find the unit they were interested from the ground.

“Which one is it dear?” he asked.

“The one on the right, third floor.”

“I don’t see it,” he said.

His wife saw where he was looking.

“No sweetheart, not that one,” she said directing him to the right side of the building, “It’s the one over there, on the patient’s left side.”

-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*

The “Magic” Of The Placebo Effect

Magician Eric Mead shows us a magic trick and talks about the placebo effect at TEDMED 2009:

*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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