Denialism

Month: November 2008

  • Choosing a medical specialty

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    MarkH
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    It’s that time of year, 4th year medical students (like me – kind of) are choosing their future careers and starting to interview all over the country in their residency programs of choice. I’ve been notably quiet – subsumed in work, study and applications – but I am catching up on writing about the clerkships…

  • “Kennedy” is a name, not a qualification

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    MarkH
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    I can’t cover this topic better than Orac; he’s the expert. I would like to suggest that you go read his post. This is important. I voted for Obama. I believe that he is one of the brightest people we’ve every had the chance to vote for, and I think that after 8 years of…

  • Double Plus Good: No George Bush Waste Station in SF

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    Chris
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    A group in San Francisco managed to get a measure on the city ballot that would rename our Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the “George W. Bush Sewage Plant.” I thought this a supremely bad idea. Such a move (like protesting the Marine Core in Berkeley) would invite a conservative reaction, possibly stripping the…

  • Pediatrics

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    MarkH
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    I’ve been busy, as you might imagine, with work, study, and applying for medical residency. However, I thought it was about time to get people up to date with some of the clerkships I’ve finished in the meantime before letting you guys in on some of the decision-making processes involved in choosing a residency. So,…

  • How drunk is too drunk—another foray into medical ethics

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    MarkH
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    The best ethical questions are real ones. Sure, it’s fun to play the lifeboat game, but when you’re dealing with flesh and blood human beings on a daily basis, games aren’t all that helpful. So here’s a non-life-and-death question: if a patient comes to see you and smells of alcohol, can you add an alcohol…

  • Looks Like the Same-Sex Marriage Amendment Passed

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    Chris
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    Here in California, the Mormons poured millions into an initiative constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, after the California Supreme Court found a right to marry in the State’s Constitution. Proposition 8 looks like it has passed. Currently, it’s 52-48 in favor, with 95% of the vote counted. I’m really just posting this in order…

  • Watch the returns here!

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    MarkH
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    Watch it happen live! And if I can, I’ll though in some useless editorializing. Now fivethirtyeight and CNN have excellent widgets to watch as well. Fivethirtyeight.com is especially cool, as it has developed a nice reputation for actually being right. Currently, they are projecting a rather wide victory for Obama. Ohio an Penn!!!!!

  • The Adman Can Attack Afflictions!

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    Chris
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    The Times’ Amanda Schaffer covers a retrospective of public health posters on display at the National Academies until December 19th, 2008. The catalog (pdf) is online. My favorite: It reads: “No home remedy or quack doctor ever cured syphilis or gonorrhea. See your doctor or local health officer.” You could replace “syphilis or gonorrhea” with…

  • Discourse give me hives

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    MarkH
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    But a fascinating lesson in scientific discourse is currently underway in the blogosphere. It all started with a harmless little analysis of a letter published in NEJM. The strange part (to those of us who live here) was that the authors responded. On the blog. For real. And they were kinda pissed (in the American…

  • If You’re Surpsied, You’re Not Paying Attention

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    by

    Chris
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    The Journal reports the obvious under the headlines “Tainting of Milk Is Open Secret in China” and “Milk Routinely Spiked in China:” Before melamine-laced milk killed and sickened Chinese babies and led to recalls around the world, the routine spiking of milk with illicit substances was an open secret in China’s dairy regions, according to…