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ABC’s Private Practice Takes On Teen Pregnancy

Last night, ABC’s Private Practice took on the very challenging issue of teenage pregnancy in a story arc that began with last week’s show when 15 year old Maya announced to Addison that she was pregnant. The show well depicts the shock, the emotion and the difficulty of handling the pro-choice/pro-life discussion when a teenager is at the center of the discussion.  It was a raw episode at times and in the end we are left with a 15 year old opting to keep her pregnancy.  It’s tempting to criticize the writers for not focusing enough on Maya but, in truth, the show was more realistic than you may realize.

In the episode, Maya’s mom, Naomi, basically freaks out from the start. This pro-life mom first storms out of the room then tries to force an abortion onto her daughter. When that doesn’t work, she shows Maya a woman in labor only to have Maya entranced by the sight of a baby and determined to keep the pregnancy even more. The show concludes with Naomi leaving the building not talking to anyone, in tears. True to life? You bet. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*

Mentoring Medical Students In Primary Care

“Dr. A, your student is here,” the front desk squawks through the intercom. “Sheesh,” I say to myself as I look at my full schedule of patients. Now, don’t get me wrong. I really enjoy teaching. Something I do know is that I could not do teaching full time. I thought about possibly joining a residency program or exploring the possibility of teaching full time at the med school. But, at this point in my career, patient care is still my passion. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*

A Classic ER Patient: A Poem

Classic presentation of the perfect patient

“What’s the problem? You’re the doctor,

why don’t you tell me!

I’m suffering an awful lot it must

be plain to see;

I’ve got back pain from that car wreck

back in nineteen sixty-five.

If I’d have worn my seat belt

there’s no way I’d be alive!

I’m out of my prescription and I

need help, I’m afraid.

I ain’t worried ‘bout the price, you see

I got my Medicaid. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*

The American College Of Surgeons Creates Case Log For Surgeries Performed In Haiti

My friends at the American College of Surgeons’ Operation Giving Back have come up with a really smart strategy to collect as much information as possible about surgical cases in Haiti. Thanks to a new data collecting tool, every surgeon who volunteers in Haiti can contribute to this case log. The potential result will be one of the most comprehensive registers of surgical care in a disaster situation. Depending on what we find, I think that this data could make a big difference in preparing surgical responses for future missions.

This is an example of crowd-sourcing at its best.

Here is a summary statement from ACS: Read more »

Research Blogging Awards Now Open For Nominations

ResearchBlogging Awards 2010

Seed Media Group’s Research Blogging Awards honor the outstanding bloggers who discuss peer-reviewed research. With over 1,000 blogs registered at ResearchBlogging.org and 8,500 posts about peer-reviewed journal articles collected, it is time to recognize the best of the best.

Any blog that discusses peer-reviewed research is eligible for nomination, and the winners will be determined by votes from their peers in the Research Blogging community. All finalists will be highlighted on ResearchBlogging.org, and winners will receive cash prizes totaling $2000.

Here’s how the awards will be chosen: Read more »

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 Cartoon

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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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