When should small kids get online? Is there a magic age? Is there a “best” way to start? What websites should small kids begin their online life with? And, most importantly, is it safe for small kids to be online?
Tune in as Dr. Gwenn talks about helping your youngest kids begin their online safely and smartly with you there as their earliest online guides. Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio here.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
It’s here again: High school graduation season — that annual rite of passage for high schoolers coast to coast to embark upon that much-anticipated journey from home to that first true independent step outside the safety net of their childhood communities.
What always amazes me is the pressure high school kids feel as they embark upon this journey and how often I hear these kids express anxiety over not knowing what they want to be “when they grow up.” And, let’s not forget that we are still talking about kids — these are still teenagers, still developing and maturing. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
Spring and standardized school testing become synonymous in many areas of the country for many public school students, including for my own children attending schools in Massachusetts.
As this annual rite of passage rolls around, I’m reminded of how important it is to help our kids remember that they’re so much more than the sum of their grades, test scores, and project results. Think back on your childhood: What do you remember? Is it the grades, the teachers, the homework amount? Did you have standardized tests and, if so, do you remember the results?
I recall blips of taking tests and filling out scantron sheets for all sorts of tests throughout my educational life. I recall being in class when graded papers, projects and tests were handed back to us. But the moments I recall the most were the times I overcame a challenge or a hurdle that seemed insurmountable at the time — and grew from it in unimaginable ways. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
Do you have a technology participation gap in your family? We do. In fact, most families do somewhere.
For us, we have a few older relatives who firmly believe that technology is for “the younger generation.” What’s interesting is that some of these people are not that old — at least not “old” as I define it.
One relative, for example, was a working woman in her younger days. Retired now, she never bought into any technology past the 1970s! Beyond the automobile, refrigerator, TV, radio, dishwasher, washer and drier, she has seen no need for anything else.
Although she has grudgingly begun to use email and the Web, she has deemed herself ”old” and refused to use a cell phone or any other “high-tech device.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
The [recent] massive recall of some of the most popular [children’s] medications is unsettling, disturbing and concerning. Thankfully it was done as a precautionary move before any child was harmed and that there’s a sufficient supply of generic alternatives of the medications recalled.
Still, having 40 popular medications recalled by one of today’s most trusted pharmaceutical manufacturers rocks our confidence in the safeguards in place at the core. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
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…
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…
Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?
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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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