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Latest Posts

New Year’s Resolution: Don’t Multi-Task

I’ve been fighting pretty hard to avoid the temptation to multitask. I plan to do so again this year. People who claim to multitask are viewed with awe. Attaining the skill is a badge of honor. In a society that is increasingly 24 /7 where demands from work, family, and friends seems endless and the opportunities to be connected are more, how can a person survive if they simply do one task at a time?

Simple. Research suggests that the person who single tasks actually does better work, focuses better, and is productive.

Oh and it might save your life. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*

Motorcycle Helmets: Why Don’t People Wear Them?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported an analysis of motorcycle helmet use in fatal crashes. What was discovered is not surprising – namely, that in states in which there is not a state helmet law, the odds of a rider in a single-vehicle (e.g., the motorcycle) crash wearing a helmet was 72% less than in states with a helmet law. So, absent a law, people are not particularly inclined to wear a helmet.

One needs to couple this information with the facts about the benefits of wearing motorcycle helmets. First, motorcyle fatalities and fatality rates are increasing at a time when motorcycle riding is becoming more popular. Second, the average age of motorcycle fatalities has moved up to 39 years, from 30 years nearly 20 years ago, probably because the age of motorcycle riders has increased. Third, motorcycles expose the drivers more directly to lethal forces than do enclosed vehicles. Helmets are essential to prevent brain injuries and deaths. Read more »

This post, Motorcycle Helmets: Why Don’t People Wear Them?, was originally published on Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..

Finger Nail Bed Injuries After A Motorcycle Accident

I was supplied these photos by someone who found my blog and then corresponded with me regarding their injury. He had injured his fingers in a motorcycle accident six weeks previous to our “meeting.” He understood that I could not be his treating physician and keep his questions respectful of that. I am grateful to him for the use of his photos as they show how healing occurs.

Read more »

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

President Obama Beat Up My Husband

marine1

Well, indirectly that is. I was spending a nice Sunday afternoon biking around the Potomac with my husband when Obama’s Marine One helicopter flew low over us and took a sudden left turn. The maneuver was eye-catching, and hubby took his eyes off the road to watch. His front wheel slipped off the pavement and got wedged between the grass and bike path. He took a pretty bad spill, and I jumped off my bike to check him out. (I had given him a lecture about not wearing a helmet only a few hours prior). Luckily, he did not hit his head… unluckily, he got a pretty nice abrasion on his left elbow and hip (right through his clothing) as well as this lovely developing bursitis. See photo on next page… Read more »

What Happens When You Put An MRI Machine Near A Large Metal Object?

I’ve come across this image on Fail Blog. Magnetic Resonance Imaging + beds with ferromagnetic parts equal…

mr fail

*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*

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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