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Changing The Micropore Density On The Skin: Advancement In Drug Delivery

One of the major areas of research in the medical device industry is how to effectively deliver drugs to their target sites. The gold standard for systemic delivery of drugs is an intravenous (IV) injection, though it is not a great way to deliver meds that address chronic needs because of the pain and inconvenience. There have been exciting developments in transdermal delivery, such as the nicotine and birth control patches, though certain molecules and drugs do not easily diffuse through the epidermal layer to reach the more vascularized layers below.

One potential solution is to Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*

Europeans Open To Innovations In Their Healthcare System

Pascal Lardier, International Director of Health 2.0 asked me for an interview about the future of health 2.0. Here is the interview and an excerpt:

Basically, the medical acts remain the same: doctors will continue to receive their patients. But both stakeholders need to adapt and be able to deal with the rapidly growing amount of information available online. As the patient’s motivation is clearly more important (their health is at stake), they are more open to these innovations/developments while medical professionals use the internet and social media for other purposes: education, collaboration, diagnostic technologies, etc… Patients and doctors basically use the same type of technologies for different purposes. I’m sure social media, used with strategy and caution, will help fill the gap between patients and their physicians.

*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*

Advancement In Medicine: Are Physicians Losing Their Clinical Heritage

“There is already plenty of evidence to show that we are in danger of losing our clinical heritage and of pinning too much faith in figures thrown up by machines. Medicine must suffer if this tendency is not checked.”

– Paul Wood, MD   January 1950

These words from Dr. Paul Wood are interesting. Wood was a mid-twentieth century master cardiologist out of the UK.  His story is remarkable if you like those playing strong supporting roles in modern medical history. He’s the guy to the left posing with the cigarette.

I like the quote because it captures the insecurity doctors feel with change. It also supports Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*

Virtual World Hopes To Find Path To Real Participatory Healthcare

One of the best initiatives in social media and healthcare I’ve recently seen is definitely the Radboud REshape Academy.

Finding for our path to migrate into real participatory healthcare we come across a lot of interesting people, information, innovations and most of all questions.

Right from the beginning we started to share, with our network. We have been doing this with our conferences, our research, our lectures and through field trips made to our Radboud REshape & Innovation Centre for HC institutions, insurers, government and other people interested in changing healthcare. And of course our Innovation Centre.

In setting up The Radboud REshape Academy (@REshapeAcademy on twitter) we would like to create Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*

Comic Books Educate Children About Their Medical Conditions

I’ve recently come across Medikidz, a fantastic initiative with a mission to help children understand medical information, especially diseases. I cannot imagine a better way to promote such important messages to children.

Millions of children worldwide are diagnosed every day with conditions that even their parents may find difficult to comprehend. Most children don’t understand their medical conditions, or associated investigations, procedures and treatments, and are often scared by what is going on around them.

That is where the Medikidz come into action!

The Medikidz are Read more »

*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 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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