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Latest Posts

Pet Safety: Dog Bite Awareness And Prevention

It seems that each year, I just miss National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which is the third full week of May. As you know, it’s June already. But can it ever hurt to review such important information?

More than 4.7 million people a year receive bites from man/woman’s best friend. If you have read this blog for very long, you know I dearly love my dogs — deceased ones (Columbo, Ladybug, and Girlfriend) and the living one, Rusty. I have no illusions that dogs bite, and given the right provocation I think mine would (although most of the time they are totally harmless and would just invite you in to rob me).

Most dog bite-related injuries occur in children 5 to 9 years of age. Almost two thirds of injuries among children 4 years or younger are to the head or neck region. Dog bites are a largely preventable public health problem, and adults and children can learn to reduce their chances of being bitten. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

How To Deal With Unhappy Or Difficult Patients

There’s a nice article in the May issue of Plastic Surgery Practice that discusses how to deal with unhappy or difficult patients. No matter the area of medicine or surgery, you’re bound to have one or two of these patients over the years. It never hurts to learn or review tips in dealing with them.

In the article, Rima Bedevian interviews Julie Ann Woodward, M.D., chief of the oculoplastic and reconstructive surgery service at Duke University:

…how to successfully deal with them -– with compassion and humanity without allowing them to “run you over” or manipulate a difficult situation into a potentially litigious one.

Dr. Woodward provides a helpful checklist for doctors. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

Environmental Cancer: A Report From The President’s Panel

While most of the news sources are reporting that cancers from the environment are ‘grossly underestimated’ in response to the recently released 240-page report from the President’s Cancer Panel, I want to focus on the steps individuals can take to lessen their personal exposure to environmental carcinogens. Collectively, these small actions can drastically reduce the number and levels of environmental contaminants. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

A Look At The History Of Microsurgery

Facial transplants, hand replants, and free flaps are only possible in large part due to microsurgery. 

I finally got around to reading the “History of Microsurgery.” The article is good reading for anyone interested in the history of microsurgery.

The article, written by Susumu Tamai, M.D., Ph.D., (Japan) was received for publication in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery on June 14, 2007.

Microsurgery is relatively young, and Dr. Tamai breaks down the history into four periods. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

Good Sense In The Sun

SunSense WristbandWe’re past spring break and headed toward the end of the school year and summer vacations. I noticed this product in the April issue of Plastic Surgery Practice.

UVSunSense is a wristband that monitors your exposure to sun. If you and your children have trouble remembering to reapply sunscreen or to just get out of the sun, then this might be just the ticket. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

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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