September 16th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
Tags: Grand Rounds, News
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Dear Medblogger Friends – I will be hosting the historic Volume 5, edition 1 of Grand Rounds on September 23rd. Please email your submissions to: valjonesmd -at- gmail -dot- com. There is no theme (I’ll accept all submissions). Please put “Grand Rounds Submission” in the subject line of your email. Please send me your URLs by midnight, Sunday, Sept. 21. Stay tuned for some breaking news… (Blog posting will be light here for a little while).
**ABOUT GRAND ROUNDS**
“Grand Rounds unifies the health blogging community.”
Grand Rounds is a weekly summary of the best health blog posts on the Internet. Each week a different blogger takes turns hosting Grand Rounds, and summarizing the best submissions for the week. The schedule for Grand Rounds is currently available at FromMedskool.com. Both Dr. Val Jones and medical student Colin Son coordinate the schedule and identify appropriate hosts for Grand Rounds. Medscape.com features weekly interviews with new hosts of Grand Rounds, usually written by Mr. Son.
Grand Rounds was originally established by Emergency Medicine physician, Nicholas Genes in September, 2004. His concept was to highlight and capture the best medical blog posts in one place each week. The rotating nature of the hosts for Grand Rounds promotes community awareness of new bloggers, and encourages cross linkage to more content.
Grand Rounds is the oldest and most popular medical blog “carnival” on the Internet. Under the stewardship of Dr. Val Jones and Mr. Colin Son, we anticipate that Grand Rounds will remain a pillar of the health blogging community, enjoyed by healthcare professionals and patients alike.
***
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 4th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements, News
Tags: Journalism, News
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I was welcomed as a new member of Washington, DC’s 100-year-old National Press Club (NPC) today. My credentials for membership? I’m a blogger.
The Internet has revolutionized information sharing and news reporting. Not only has it democratized the process, but it has harnessed the power of the common man and woman to bring a new depth and breadth of insight to the news. Just as medicine is becoming “personalized,” one could say that blogging is making journalism “personalized.”
Mainstream media outlets like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal have recognized blogging as a legitimate platform for information sharing. Bloggers like me, KevinMD, Gene Ostrovsky, Dr. Rob Lamberts, and many others are openly recommended sources for further reading. In the span of 5 years, medical blogging has become a respected part of the new media landscape.
When I told my parents that I was becoming a member of the National Press Club, my dad asked if they were going to give me a press credentialling card for my fedora (hat). For him, the NPC clearly conjured up images of 1920s news reporters crowded into small, smoke filled rooms to interview foreign dignitaries.
There was a hint of truth to my dad’s vision – the NPC retains a relatively austere interior, with large flags and club seals prominently displayed in regal blue conference rooms. But beyond the C-SPAN aesthetic, the club is undergoing substantial modernization. The restrooms feature Dyson airblades, the old library’s bookshelves are being torn down to expose bay window views of DC, and the fourth floor studios are constructed with glass and clean-line architecture.
The NPC’s new member luncheon was hosted by two staff and an NPC member who joined the club in 1971. I was astonished to learn that my new membership entitled me to a free daily breakfast and unlimited access to: their librarian for my fact-checking needs, a gym with a full-time personal trainer, meeting rooms that I could book in advance for my convenience, and a Friday night taco bar. Who knew?
Near our table was a portrait of Will Rogers who, among other things, was a nationally syndicated columnist featured in over 4000 different newspapers. Our member-host pointed at the portrait and said, “Back in Will’s day – everyone wanted to know what he thought of current events, so they’d purchase their daily newspaper to find out.”
As I considered Will Rogers’ smiling face, it suddenly struck me that blogs offer today’s readers a filter through which to view current events. And thanks to the abundance of blogs, there is an ever expanding array of personal editorial. Finding a good blog is like finding a voice you can relate to – a living commentator on events. No longer is there one voice like Will Rogers who dominates the national consciousness.
But citizen journalism has its downside, as does Karaoke. Karaoke offers everyone a microphone, but not everyone is a talented singer. In the same way, blog quality varies considerably, and so now more than ever we must cling to the old news addage, “consider the source.” The danger of blogs is that readers may ascribe more authority to their authors than they deserve. When it comes to medicine – and your health is hanging in the balance – it’s important to get the facts straight. So I believe that professional medical bloggers should work extra hard to uphold the ideals of medicine, and respect patient privacy.
Just as the NPC is welcoming bloggers like me into their midst, I hope that new media gurus will welcome what the NPC has to offer them: a rich history of journalistic integrity. I think that a fusion of old and new media might actually produce a hybrid product that will bring us the best of both worlds – a broad array of trusted voices in online journalism.
With this blog I add my “voice of reason” to the choir and look forward to all that the NPC can teach me. At the very least, I’ll enjoy Friday night taco fests with my peers in Washington.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
June 20th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
Tags: Cancer, Colon Cancer, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Research
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I recently met with Tim Turnham, CEO for the Colon Cancer Alliance, to find out what’s been going on in his neck of the woods. He presented me with one of the best non-profit marketing pitches I’ve seen in a long time. His team is organizing a series of races designed to raise support and awareness for colon cancer. The theme? Running the race in your boxer shorts. The title:
The UNDY 5000: A Brief Run To Fight Colon Cancer (see image of Indy 5000 flags made of boxer shorts)
Become an UNDY 5000 sponsor today… because time is short.
I love it.
If you or your organization would like to sponsor a race, check out this website or contact Fran Campion Watson, Director of Events at the Colon Cancer Alliance. Phone: 202-731-0122.
I hope that proceeds will go towards research that will help friends like mine who are battling colon cancer.
For more information about colon cancer (from one of the nation’s prominent researchers) check out Dr. Heinz Josef Lenz’s colon cancer curriculum at Revolution Health.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
June 18th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
Tags: News, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology, Women's Health
2 Comments »
I wanted to let you know about a wonderful new online resource for pregnancy education here at Revolution Health. I helped to develop the Advanced Answers Pregnancy Center along with a team of experts from Columbia University’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It is a comprehensive, multi-media educational tool to help women (especiallly high risk moms-to-be) learn about their pregnancy and birthing options.
I’m very proud of Dr. Mary D’Alton’s team for their outstanding work on this unique center. Where else on the Internet can you find cutting edge, consumer-friendly pregnancy information written by the top minds in maternal health? I guess you could say that I feel as if I’m the proud new mom of a pregnancy education center!
I also want to tell you about another exciting tool that I helped to build: the momScore. This is the first heatlhcare quality index targeted specifically for women. With the help of an interactive map of the United States, women can compare how their home states stack up against others on women’s health issues. How mom-friendly is your state? View the momScore tool to find out.
Thanks for checking out my two new “babies” – knowledge is power, so go get some!
*Advanced Answers Pregnancy Center*
*The momScore*This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
April 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Research
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Sorry for the late notice, folks… but Revolution Health’s sister site, HealthTalk, is hosting a call-in podcast with Dr. Stephen Barrett, founder of Quackwatch.org, TONIGHT. The name of the show is, “One Man’s Mission To Expose Medical Quackery” and Dr. Barrett is a polarizing figure for sure. Love him or hate him, it should be a great interview. To join, go to this page.
You can send in your questions in advance, listen to the call live (8:30pm EDT, Wednesday, April 30th), or listen to the podcast post-show. Hope to meet you there!
Here are a few of my recent posts about how to discern truth from error in medicine:
Good Science Makes Bad Television (And Other Truths)
The Three Pillars of Trustworthy Science: Credibility, Plausibility, and Reproducibility
Plausibility, Homeopathy, and Science Fiction
False Positive Research Findings: The Deck Is Stacked
Reproducibility: The Final Pillar of Trustworthy Science
The Rise of Snake Oil In America
The Placebo Effect: Whatever Works?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
