Month: December 2008
-
Doctoring in real life
There’s been a lot of talk about the work hours of resident physicians. Given that sleep deprivation has been shown to impair various aspects of human performance, it certainly seems reasonable to limit the level of “resident impairment”. But we have surprisingly little data to work from. And, for better or worse, physicians post-residency don’t…
-
It’s back! Get ready for the flu
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Last year, I gave you weekly flu updates from the CDC and from my position on the front line. So far, it’s still quiet. I haven’t personally seen any cases yet, but I’m sure to soon enough. It’s not too late to get vaccinated. Wash your hands frequently.…
-
Improving medical care—arrogant doctors are a distractor
(Tangentially related podcast here) Here’s the thing: all this talk about arrogance in medicine is a red herring. It’s distracting us from the real question that we should all be asking: how do we improve quality medical care? The personality of individual physicians is important, but not very, just as the medical mistakes of individuals…
-
Choosing a medical specialty III – applying, interviewing and matching
Aside from taking 4th year medical school classes it’s also the time of year that medical students who plan to graduate in 2009 (like me) are applying to residency programs across the country. This is an interesting process and one that many people outside of medicine are unfamiliar with, and quite surprised by. For one,…
-
Two Developments in DTC Drug Marketing
Jeanne Whalen of the Journal reports that European officials are taking a step towards allowing drug marketing: The European Commission proposed legislation Wednesday that would let drug companies give consumers “objective and nonpromotional” information about their medicines in print and online. Currently, drug companies can’t provide any information to European consumers, except on leaflets found…
-
Credulous medical reporting
Science and medicine reporting is hard. In this space we’ve dealt with some of the problems that arise when “generalist” reporters try to “do” science and medicine. And now, CNN has shut down its science unit. Given the increasing complexity of medical and scientific knowledge, this is very bad news. As a fine example of…
-
H. influenzae—it ain’t the flu, but it’s still pretty cool
This was first posted at Science-Based Medicine on Monday, but I can’t seem to keep myself from cross-posting. –PalMD I’ve been thinking about an interesting organism lately, an organism that illustrates some basic principles in science-based medicine. The organism is called Haemophilus influenzae (H flu), a gram-negative bacterium discovered in the late 19th century. H…
-
Obama Meets With Gore, Rejects Denial
It seems Obama didn’t get Nisbet’s memo. Just watching on CNN, future president Obama says: The time for delay is over, the time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be…