March 1st, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Opinion
No Comments »
It’s out there. It makes a cool picture, but I wonder how many medical students realize how unimportant apps like this have become to today’s cardiovascular care. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to hear the difference between a systolic and diastolic murmur, or for the really talented, a diastolic rumble on physical exam. Recognizing the difference between mild and severe aortic stenosis is also very helpful. After all, the physical exam remains the most cost-effective instrument in medicine. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
November 4th, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, True Stories
No Comments »
When a patient comes in with an infection related diagnoses, efforts are often undertaken to keep that pathogen from spreading to other patient rooms. In British hospitals they’ve banned ties and long sleeves. At Happy’s hospital we place a dedicated stethoscope in the patient’s room which is then shared by all health care workers caring for the patient. And that stethoscope shall remain forever in that patient’s room.
At Happy’s hospital, the dedicated stethoscopes look like they were made in a Chinese toy factory. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Happy Hospitalist*
July 24th, 2009 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, True Stories
No Comments »
Long, long ago, when I was a medical student, we joked that you could tell how senior a physician was by how much junk was in their lab coat pockets. As students, we tended to carry around big bags full of every medical gadget we could think of, plus a few reference texts. The attendings were slim and graceful in their long white coats with empty pockets.
When I became an intern and moved into the hospital full-time, all that crap became just too much to lug around. I ditched the bag, and my short white coat (with interior pockets, thank god) became loaded down with tons of stuff: reflex hammers, pocket reference guides, photocopied research papers for reading, patient lists, a procedure log, a PDA with epocrates, a bit of a snack maybe, and more. The coat weighed at least ten pounds fully loaded. As a junior resident, I pared it down to the few references and gadgets I actually used frequently, and the coat got a lot lighter. With each succeeding year I have lightened the load somewhat, down to the absolute essentials. I shed the white coat years and years ago. Now the only things I bring with me to the hospital are:
Three items. It’s very liberating. Of course, I have epocrates and more on every computer workstation, so the references are there in the ER for me, but still, it’s something of a victory over inanimate junk and my own packrat tendencies that I can go to work with only three things in my pockets.
The downside is that if I happen to forget any one of these three sacred totems, it totally ruins my whole day.
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
