Hello All, We are currently in Sitka, Alaska where I will soon be debarking to pick up some souvenirs. Yesterday, I took pictures in Glacier Bay where there are several glaciers and all are beautiful. Unfortunately, because of climate warming, ice is not forming in great patches over most of them anymore. The ocean, however,…
I have written a lot of blogs for Authentic Medicine that are intense and at times, controversial. I’ve decided to add a bit of levity. Several years ago, I was a ship physician for a major cruise line. I’m a nomadic doc and can become very unhappy when I begin to feel stagnant. I decided…
Medicine is going to hell in a handbasket. Bats**t crazy. Optometrists…they wish to perform surgery on one of the most delicate areas of the human body. The eye. No matter that they don’t possess the training, just take an expedited course and walla!! Your eyeball is in their incapable hands. At a discounted price no…
I entered medicine not because I loved people but as a result of my love of anatomy and physiology. While in high school, I took anatomy and physiology (A&P) and was instantly smitten. And I was good at it–straight A’s. We dissected pigs, cats, worms, and oysters. I was amazed at the organization of organ…
I recently read an anonymous post by a medical student who was applying to the residency match…for the second time. He was a bit melancholy and disheartened with the entire match process. He had good grades, performed decently on the MCAT, had great letters of recommendation and received many interviews. Yet he did not match.…
A national story that made its rounds in medical circles is the tragic case of the 19 y/o college student in Oklahoma who died from a pulmonary embolus that was missed by a nurse practitioner (NP). I’ve read multiple comments in multiple forums about how unfair it was that this NP was dropped from the…
When most of us were pre-med students, we were incredibly motivated to succeed. We aggressively, and single-mindedly, pursued our objective of becoming physicians. We allowed nothing, and I do mean nothing, to stand in our way. Regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, religion, citizenship, race, etc., we all shared a commonality….we were driven to achieve an…
In the early 1900s, the American Medical Association(AMA) formed the Council on Medical Education(CME) to restructure medical education. Why? Because it was a hodgepodge of inconsistency. The AMA wanted better doctors, better medical education, and better quality of care. Why? Because it was necessary to ensure the safety and care of the public. The CME,…
col·lab·o·ra·tion /kəˌlabəˈrāSH(ə)n/ noun The action of working with someone to produce or create something.“he wrote on art and architecture in collaboration with John Betjeman” cooperation alliance partnership participation combination association concert teamwork joint effort working together coopetition OR Traitorous cooperation with an enemy.“he faces charges of collaboration” fraternizing fraternization colluding collusion cooperating cooperation consorting sympathizing…
On January 28, 1986, the Challenger air shuttle disaster occurred. The shuttle broke apart 73 seconds after takeoff. The cause: a flaw in the design of the O-ring seals on the solid rocket boosters which were not designed to withstand very cold temperatures. This flaw was previously known by managers at NASA (since 1977) but…