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Mammography And Jack Black’s “Boob Saver 5K”

June 4th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, Video

Tags: Boob Saver 5K, Breast Cancer Prevention, Breast Cancer Screening, Comedian, Community and Preventive Medicine, Gary Schwitzer, HealthNewsReview.org, Jack Black, Mammogram, Mammography Machine, Preventive Health, Preventive Screening, Public Awareness, Public Health, Public Service Announcement, Radiology

This video has been available for months, but I just saw it for the first time. I suspect many women would get a chuckle from seeing the always buffed, ripped, and jacked comedian Jack Black partially disrobe to put his breast in a mammography machine — or as he calls it, the “Boob Saver 5K.”

*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*

Medical Receptionist Extinction?

June 4th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor, Opinion, True Stories

Tags: Airline Industry, Customer Service In Healthcare, Extinction, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Human Assistants, Internal Medicine, Medical Appointment Check-In, Medical Office Staff, Medical Receptionists, Pathology, Patient Satisfaction, Patient Socialization, Patient-Centered Care, Primary Care, Prothromin Times, Regular Blood Draws, Routine Lab Tests

Medical receptionists beware — your days are numbered.

This little gizmo was placed in one of our facility’s lobbies this week. (No, it’s not being used to get your boarding pass at the airport, but it’s amazing the parallels healthcare is taking with the airline industry.)

Instead, it’s used to check in patients presenting to have their blood drawn for prothromin times. Just swipe your credit card, confirm your appointment, sign your name, and away you go!

On seeing this, one doctor exclaimed: “But INR checks are my patients’ only chance to get out and socialize!”

Fortunately for now there are still human assistants there to help patients learn how to use the new device.

-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.

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

The Diabetic New Mommy

May 29th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Humor, True Stories

Tags: Blood Sugar Check, Breastfeeding, Dexcom, Diabetes, Diabetic Mommy, Endocrinology, Glucose Control, Glucose Management, Glucose Meter, Glucose Tablets, Insulin Pump, Newborn, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pediatrics, Test Strips

You know you’re a diabetic mommy when…

• The bottle of glucose tabs is just as important as the bottle of breast milk in the diaper bag.
• You have already started wondering how you’re going to explain juice as “medicine” to the kiddo.
• When you wake up for 3am feedings and they double as a 3am blood sugar check.
• You start cooing sweetly at your meter when it gives you a result of 100 mg/dl. (“Oooh, what a good meter you are! Yes you are!”)
• Your baby ends up with a dot of blood on the back of her pajamas from your middle-of-the-night blood sugar check that didn’t stop bleeding right away.
• When you talk about “the pump,” you need to clarify “the insulin one, not the boob one.”
• Sometimes you have to draw numbers to see who gets to feed the baby. And by “draw” we mean blood samples.
• Nothing makes you happier than a full baby with a clean diaper and a full pump with a full battery.
• You need a diaper bag just for diabetes supplies.
• Your bedside table has just as many burp clothes as used test strips gathered at its base.

And when the Dexcom starts to “BEEEEEEEP!” you wonder if it needs a diaper change.

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*

iCalipers

May 28th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion

Tags: Calipers, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Cardiology, ECG, Electrocardiogram, iCalipers, iPhone App, Medical Technology, Waves

Who needs calipers when you have an iPhone?

-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.

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

Who Is This “Eye Doctor” Anyway?

May 28th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories

Tags: Clinical Doctor, Doctor Creep, Dr. Nurse, Eye Doctor, Lay Public, Layperson, Licensing Standards, Medical Credentials, Medical Doctor, Ophthalmology, Optometry, Physician, Professional Clinical Training, Public Awareness, Public Health, Public Knowledge, Sam's Club, Walmart

I snapped this picture of “The Eye Doctor Is In!” sign at my local Sam’s Club. Who is this “eye doctor?” Are they a Dr. Nurse? Are they an optometrist? Are they a medical doctor? What is the difference between an optometrist and an ophthalmologist? The sign just says “eye doctor.” Who is it? Who knows. What are their credentials? Who knows.

To practice optometry, an optometrist must graduate from an accredited four-year post graduate institution after completing at least three years of undergraduate preoptometry course requirements and then get licensed in their state of practice.

To practice ophthalmology, an ophthalmologist must graduate from an accredited four-year medical school after completing the 90+ undergraduate premedical couurse requirements, then complete a residency in ophthalmology which consists of an internship year in internal medicine or general surgery and three years or more of additional training in ophthalmology. Then they must get licensed by state authorities.

The lay public — the really lay public — has no idea what the state and federal licensing standards are for the different professional clinical training tracks. Read more »

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