August 8th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, News, True Stories
Tags: Allison John, Becoming A Doctor, Cardiff University, Medical Degree, Medical History, Medical School, Medical Student, Organ Transplant, Practicing Medicine
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This occurred after a liver, heart, lung, and kidney transplant:
Allison John, 32, made medical history in 2006 after she received her fourth organ transplant — a kidney from her father, 61-year-old David John, to add to her previous heart, lung and liver transplants.
A life plagued by illness and frequent hospital visits has not deterred John from her dream of becoming a doctor, however. After 14 years of interrupted study, she finally received her medical degree from Cardiff University last month, according to the U.K. press.
Wow.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
August 8th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Accuracy in Diagnosis, Baseball, Best Doctors, Brad Falchuk, Charity, Fenway Park, General Medicine, Malformed Blood Vessel, Patient Empowerment, Preventive Health, Red Sox Foundation, Spinal Cord Tumor, Wrong Diagnosis
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How often do people get the wrong diagnosis? Too often.
There are things you can do help protect yourself. Things like, asking questions, being sure everything makes sense to you, not doing anything you’re not sure about.
At Best Doctors, helping people do this is what we do every day, and so I want to tell you a story. It’s about my brother. I want to tell it to you it because it will help you understand the important work we do here, and because of something very special that happened for him this weekend. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
August 6th, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Communication, ED, Emergency Department, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Room, ER Doctor, General Medicine, Gun, Individuality, Medical Humor, Revolver, Self Protection, Smartphone
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I have a new “smartphone.” It’s a Droid from Verizon. Pretty cool. I like what it can do, though it tends to enable me tendency to chronically check my email. I like the features, between ease of texting, voice dialing, etc. But it’s big, compared to me dear departed flipphone, whose corpse lies in state in my pickup truck.
But I noticed one day, as I reached around my side, that the large phone now on my hip felt remarkably like my revolver. Odd feeling that. I was in public and I remember panicking, wondering if I had forgotten to conceal my concealed weapon for some reason.
And as I pondered this, I realized that both represent fundamental differences in the way we view individuality. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I’m a writer so I’m supposed to stretch. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
August 3rd, 2010 by Michael Sevilla, M.D. in Better Health Network, Interviews, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Emergency Medicine, Leigh Fazzina, Lifesaver, Social Media, Triathalon, Twitter
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Lots of people know about Twitter and what its many functions are. But Twitter as a lifesaver is probably something that you don’t hear about a lot. Leigh Fazzina was in a triathalon race last week in Connecticut when her bike crashed. Her cell phone could not make any voice calls. However, she did figure out that she could send out text:
3 Twitter accounts, SMS and MMS messages, BlackBerry Instant Message (BBM) and voice. I knew Twitter would get me an immediate response as my messages would be sent to the 1,000 or so people in my network. I also knew that my Twitter network being comprised of mostly healthcare communications/public relations colleagues would take me seriously…Remember, it was getting dark and I needed help immediately…
One of her many followers was @DrJonathan on Twitter and he describes in the video interview above from Doctor Anonymous Show 175, what he and a lot of her other followers did — they called the local authorities to let them know their friend was hurt and could not make a voice call. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*
August 2nd, 2010 by Steven Roy Daviss, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: A Doctor's Guilt, Cheaper Healthcare, Cost Containment, Cost of Care, Cost-Conscious Care, Cost-Effective Medical Care, Cutting Healthcare Costs, Expensive Medications, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Healthcare Cost Drivers, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare reform, Internal Medicine, Medical Ethics, Overtesting, Perscription Medications, Pharmacology, Physician Responsibility, Primary Care, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Save Money, Too Many Tests
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Times are tight and we’re all looking to save money, be it our own or someone else’s. Many will say that when it comes to the skyrocketing costs of healthcare, doctors are responsible for part of the problem.
Doctors order too many tests, either to cover ourselves in the event of a malpractice suit, or because patients pressure us, or because we genuinely believe that the tests are necessary for patient care, but in many circumstances, a cheaper option is available. We order medications that are expensive when cheaper medications are available. And psychiatrists offer care — like psychotherapy — that could be done by clinicians who are cheaper to educate and willing to work for less money. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
