Computers are incredibly useful in recalling vast databases of information reliably and quickly. Knowing this, should we be “teaching” computers medicine? If so, how should we utilize them in the process of working up a patient’s symptoms?
Many patients I’ve encountered on the wards (especially those receiving chemotherapy) have been directly affected by our country’s drug shortage. It’s incredibly disheartening to know they’re receiving suboptimal therapy as many times their prognoses are dismal to begin with. :-(
I’d like to be very straightforward – most med students who utilize social media are amenable to suggestions and thankful whenever our colleagues, professors, mentors, and even the general public question our postings. As a group of aspiring physicians, we share the same intention – to educate others while in…
So I was perusing through some charts today when I came across an interesting problem list.
Medical school. Inundating us with knowledge. Some of which is interesting. A lot of which is tedious. All of which is important.
C. difficile is a bacteria part of our normal bowel flora, but when certain antibiotics (namely clindamycin) wipe out the other healthy organisms, C. diff’s growth is left unchecked. C. diff colitis is something I saw all the time in February while working on the gastroenterology service at St. Luke’s,…
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is routinely used to treat refractory depression and catatonia, especially in the elderly where pharmacotherapy could result in undesirable side effects. Essentially, it involves jolting the brain to create a controlled clonic seizure – the patient loses consciousness, has convulsions, and cannot recollect the procedure. I had…
Over the past week, I’ve sat in on several group therapy sessions for those coping with depression, treatment-resistant mental illnesses, and bipolar disorder. Going in, I was expecting run-of-the-mill conversations – “Hello, my name is _____, I have _____, I’m learning to cope with it.” Truth to be told, I…
This morning over breakfast, I discussed the new ACGME guidelines with the ENT resident I’m researching with. Beginning in July, these new provisions will affect all first year residents namely on two fronts – interns won’t be allowed to work shifts in excess of sixteen consecutive hours and an attending…
Nowadays, it’s customary (and sometimes required) to take a foreign language starting as early as middle school. I remember back in the day, my pre-med friends who attended private high schools would take Latin to have an “edge” in understanding the language of medicine. Living in Houston, I did what…