an academic medicine weblog
If you are looking for a good book from which to learn how to read EKGs, I’ve been told the standard recommended text is “Rapid Interpretation of EKG’s” by Dale Dubin. I have never used it but have heard good things about it from everyone from medical students to residents to attending physicians.
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So I made a post last night about previous graduate students’ records being a factor to consider when choosing a lab for your PhD research / graduate school. A similar argument can be made for medical students who will be taking a year or two off to do research. Anyway, in choosing a lab there [...]
Here are two surprising residency interview questions that have previously caught residency candidates off guard:
1) Tell me a joke.
2) What are five things you can do with a potato [or some other object]?
Note, do not tell a dirty or sexist joke–no matter how funny. I have it first hand from a faculty member who does [...]
If you are a graduate student in the process of finding a thesis advisor, one factor that you should consider is how well previous graduate students have done. Some objective measures to look at are:
1) How many publications did each graduate student finishing in the last 5 years have?
2) Does the lab produce high quality or [...]
Here’s an interesting article suggesting that “older scientists publish more papers”:
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081029/pdf/4551161a.pdf
(if the link is down, see the October 30 2008 issue of Nature (vol. 455, issue 30) on page 1161)
Sounds like scientists in their 50s and 60s are publishing as much if not more than their 30 or 40 year old counterparts.
I guess there’s hope for all [...]
So my first residency interview did not go at all as I expected. I think I was asked two questions the whole time: what do I like to do for fun and to talk about my PhD dissertation. Actually, I was asked one other question over and over again: “what questions do you [...]
I saw this sign driving through North Carolina:
Final stages of preparation. See my earlier post questions not to mess up during an interview. Reviewing my questions not-to-miss. Looking up faculty in the department doing research related to my interests. Gaining an understanding of that research. Probably should have done this sooner, but who has the time? Which is why I’m putting it [...]
Tomorrow. I made into Chicago in one piece with little trouble. Note, if you do fly to Chicago–either Midway or O’hare airports–and you’re not renting a car, take the metro/subway/L (whatever you want to call it) into town. It costs much less than a cab ($2 vs. $50) and it’s convenient.
Ran into some trouble at the [...]
Sickle cell disease is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder, predominantly affecting African-American individuals, that causes deformity of the red blood cells. These deformed red blood cells get stuck in and block off the capillaries (the smallest blood vessels), thus preventing adequate blood flow (and therefore oxygen) from reaching the tissues of the body. This blockage of small blood vessels [...]
I’m traveling a lot these days for residency interviews and it is expensive. I do a lot of my traveling by amtrak to avoid the hassles at the airport and I found this website for amtrak promotion codes to use when booking amtrak tickets online or by phone:
http://www.promotioncode.org/Amtrak
It looks like the main site, http://www.promotioncode.org/, has promotion [...]
I was talking to a buddy of mine who is interviewing at various universities for a faculty job right now and he mentioned to me that some of his interviewers remembered him from his residency interviews. This reminded us of an important point–
Good grades and professional accomplishments will get you only so far. [...]
You would think that the exclamation point in the title reflects the great benefits of vitamins E and C in decreasing peoples’ risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke as well as dying from these events. But sure of enough no, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The results of a randomized [...]
I worked with a resident in the E.R. today who did his training at an osteopathic medical school (and is therefore a D.O. instead of an M.D.) so he has training in manual spine manipulation. We got to talking and he offered to check out my back. Years of sports has left me [...]
It is sadly understood that there exists in this country health care disparities for individuals of different race. This translates to disparities in health and disease outcomes.
The extent of this problem is astounding:
1) African Americans and Native Americans have higher overall mortality rates than any other group.
2) The death rate from all cancers in blacks is [...]
According to a study in the Nov. 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (PM Ridker et al), healthy men and women with normal cholesterol levels may significantly reduce their risk of developing or dying from heart disease (including chest pain, coronary bypass grafting or stenting), heart attacks and stroke by taking a crestor, a member of the [...]
This is one of my favorite knockout animal models!
The myostatin gene in mice (and other animals) inhibits muscle growth and instead promotes deposition of fat. This gene is thought to have been evolutionarily conserved in order to promote formation of energy stores (fat) and restrict calorie consumption (by muscle) in animals who don’t have a guaranteed source of food. This makes sense [...]
I read a very interesting article (click here to go to the article) in today’s issue of Science magazine that highlights the changing nature of research training and mentorship in academia producing a place for academic unions.
Here is an excerpt from Taken for Granted: Joe the Plumber and the Postdocs by Beryl Lieff Benderly:
“Supervisors have largely abandoned any [...]
Are you a medical student looking for a short term research project that will get you a publication?
How do you communicate this to the professors / investigators you want to work with?
This is a dilemma facing many medical students, who are looking for research experience that will lead to publication(s), which–let’s face it–are becoming more and [...]
For those of you interested in bioinformatics or taking advantage of cutting-edge bioinformatics to analyze your data (e.g. microarray, proteomics), check out the Chinnaiyan lab at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor:
http://www.pathology.med.umich.edu/dynamo/chinnaiyan/index.jsp
This lab has published a lot of cool bioinformatics papers and I (as well as others I know) have found their methods to [...]
Low calorie artificial sweeteners–such as saccharin (e.g. Sweet N’ Low), Aspartame (e.g. Nutrasweet and Equal), or Sucralose (e.g. Splenda)–are used in countless food items including diet sodas and essentially anything labeled as “sugar-free” targeted to consumers as a strategy for reducing calorie intake and thus losing weight.
This is despite the fact that studies have shown numerous side effects to these [...]
One of my mentors once advised me that the number one predictor of becoming a Nobel prize winner is working in the lab of a nobel prize winner. That the number one predictor of being elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is working in the lab of an NAS member. I don’t know [...]
…is how the ER resident I was working with described this patient.
So, it’s close to midnight, and I just back from a shift in the emergency room. I spent part of this evening picking out pieces of buckshot from the back of a 74-year-old lady who had the misfortune of being the target of a [...]
Congratulations to President-elect Obama!
if you missed his victory speech, like I did because I had to get up early today, here is a link to the transcript: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
I wonder what he will mean to the world of medicine and research?
For high-yield reading, here is a link to his healthcare policy: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/index.php
Here’s a quote off of his website [...]
Don’t scrimp on the analysis of your genechip / microarray experimental results!
Genechip / microarray experiments are now very important and useful tools in biomedical research. Genechips, while decreasing in price as cheaper technology is developed, are still expensive. And in a lot of cases, many samples (i.e. microarrays) must be run to have the statistical [...]
Okay, so you are an enthusiastic medical student on the wards and you want to learn. At the same time, it is 2 PM and you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday at 9 PM but your resident is too busy (with work that you cannot do so you are not busy) to keep track of [...]
I was walking through the hospital today and saw some big banners announcing “Diabetes Awareness Month,” which got me thinking about some recent and very interesting (in a head scratching kind of way) clinical trials.
Within the last year, there have been three major clinical trials reporting on the major cardiovascular benefits (prevention of heart attacks and strokes) of [...]
Looking for a way to give back or do some volunteer activity with your classmates or co-workers? Consider looking into relays sponsored by the American Cancer Society in your area:
http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/
It’s a great organization–the A.C.S. provides millions of dollars in research funding every year and participation in the relay itself is a great time!
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Are you trying to figure out what is going on with your patient?
Generating a differential diagnosis for a patient is critical for performing a directed history and physical as well as for organizing your patient presentation (if you will be presenting to an attending or resident) and ultimately generating a treatment plan. Until you are familiar with the particular [...]
Many people have sinus and allergy problems–almost 10% of the US population! These problems are often treated with medication, medication and more medication. However, one of the most useful interventions is avoided… I’m talking about nasal rinses or irrigation. Usually normal saline, nasal irrigation is extremely effective at cleaning out the allergens and your own stuck-on secretions [...]
