Better Health: Smart Health Commentary Better Health (TM): smart health commentary

Latest Posts

Dr. Paul Auerbach’s Update From Haiti

Today was another remarkable day. Here are some of the highlights:

The team continues to be incredibly strong and we are receiving reinforcements from all directions, both from International Medical Corps and from many other NGOs. Before I go any further, I want to express my appreciation for the incredible effort from the U.S. Army, which has provided protection, supplies, transportation, medical assistance and most important, peace of mind. This is not an easy situation, and having a compassionate and responsive military, never shirking a task when we need their help, is incredible.

We continued to triage, operate on and otherwise treat approximately 700 patients, with injuries that will change their lives forever. We have seen countless amputations, disfigurements and open fractures, and face wounds that are in some circumstances infected to the point of gangrene. The medicine is intense, but we are up to the task most of the time. It is quite hot outside and there is little time to eat, drink or go to the bathroom, so by the end of the day we are quite tired and bit dehydrated. But we do not complain, because these people are so strong and now so disadvantaged. Read more »

This post, Dr. Paul Auerbach’s Update From Haiti, was originally published on Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..

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…

Read more »

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…

Read more »

See all interviews »

Latest Cartoon

See all cartoons »

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…

Read more »

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…

Read more »

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…

Read more »

See all book reviews »

Commented - Most Popular Articles