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Despite Her Demanding Work, This Nurse Is Glad She Never Threw In The Towel

Mark Lamers from Online Nursing Degrees.org contacted me for an interview. Mark, I’m flattered. People tell me that I give good interviews because I’m very opinionated. Mark asked some thought provoking questions and one of them really stood out. He asked me about something that I wrote on my blog a long time ago. The post read, “I was also taught that anyone willing to work long, hard hours could obtain the American Dream. I’m a nurse for life, which means I’m not going to retire. In other words, I’m going to die with my Nurse Mates on.” Mark asked, “At this point in your career, it is safe to say you’ve worked long hard hours as a compassionate caregiver. In retrospect, is that American Dream now your story? What would provide the happy ending? What were the necessary steps to get there?

Answer: Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*

Trust Is Critical To Strong Doctor-Patient Relationships

Often the simplest solutions to problems are the best.  So it would seem when it comes to the impact that increasing patient trust in physicians could have on many of the intractable challenges that face the health care industry everyday like non-adherence, lack of involvement, poor health status, dissatisfaction and so on.

I explore the link between patient trust and outcomes in the following infographic I curated and designed.  What surprised me is how a patient’s level of  trust in their doctor, like so much of what I talk about in this blog, boils downs to the patient’s perception of the physician’s ability to communicate: Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*

How Our Progress Since 9/11 Has Benefitted Public Health Efforts

The events of 9/11 will forever be engrained in our memories. The attacks on the twin towers, Pentagon, and the anthrax attacks which followed were unimaginable at the time. Ten years after these tragic events, what’s changed?

September 11 Newspapers and Headlines

We now know that terrorist threats are ever present and that our nation must be in a constant state of vigilance in order to protect our communities. We’ve come a long way since 2001 in bolstering our nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to catastrophic events whether natural, accidental, or intentional. We are also learning more and more every day that the resources we need for the big disasters are much the same as the ones we use for everyday public health activities.

Check out my list of top 5 accomplishments in the years after the 2001 attacks: Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Public Health Matters Blog*

Required MRI Screenings Following Breast Implants: Unnecessary?

It’s amazing what you will find sorting through more than 20 years of stuff.  This picture of 3 implants includes:  top — an old McGhan double lumen (silicone gel implant surrounded by a saline implant); bottom left – Dow Corning textured silicone implant; and bottom right – Dow Corning smooth silicone implant.  Dow Corning has not made breast implants since approximately 1992.

Last week the FDA met to discuss and make recommendations on postmarketing issues related to silicone gel-filled breast implants.  As a condition of placing silicone implants back on the market in 2006, both Mentor and Allergan (McGhan) were supposed to enroll patients in 10-year-long follow up studies on side effects related to implants.  The aim was for 80,000 women.

I agree these studies are needed, but it is difficult to get women to return year after year.  This is evident in the data presented at the meeting: Read more »

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

NASA Research Has Positive Implications For Motion Sickness Treatment

So how would one go about figuring out the best medication for dizziness due to motion-sickness leading to nausea and even vomiting?

Well, step 1… Put a bunch of people in a machine and figure out the necessary motions that will cause dizziness.

Step 2… Do the same thing, but this time, put people on different medications and figure out what works the best.

Sound crazy?

Well it has been done by the friendly folks at NASA. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*

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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