Genes may influence friendships

What really influences you - Genetics or Environment? This is a question that researchers have been asking for a long time. And, they have been applying this question to all aspects of the human condition. (image credit)

What about the friends that you pick? Is it the outside environment that influences you more, or your genetic make up? A study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry tries to answer this question. The researchers interviewed about 1,800 male twins aged 24-62 born in Virginia and listed in the Virginia Twin Registry. (WebMD)

In Kendler's study, identical twins were more likely than fraternal twins to make similar choices in their friends. So the researchers reason that genetics may play a role in choosing friends.

That doesn't mean that identical twins always chose the same type of friends. The findings aren't quite that iron-clad.

But Kendler's team estimates that when kids are 8-11 years old, genes explain 30% of their choice in friends, wiih that percentage rising to about 50% from age 15-25, as people mature into independent adults.

As always happens when this question is asked, the answer is somewhere in the middle. Yes, genetics play a role somewhat. And, yes, the environment plays a role somewhat.

For me, it's just interesting to think back to the friends that I had in childhood and compare them to the personalities and people who I am friends with today. I guess I do see some trends. I will be interesting to see as the rest of my life plays out to see if this trend continues.

Take cover!

Days and days of hot and humid weather around here culminated with big storms this afternoon - even with some tornados. It's still very windy and lots and lots or rain - as the above radar picture shows. Don't worry. I'm hiding under my desk - and blogging! I'm just a blogaholic, I guess....

Vasectomy for iPhone?

No, this is not a personal anecdote. But, this does beg the question, what would you do for an iPhone?

There's a story in today's Denver Post about one Sean Johnson (Yes, Mr. Johnson - How can I make this up?). Apparently, he was vacationing in Colorado Springs for a family reunion. He purchased an iPhone, but, according to the story, did not seek the permission of his wife first. Here's the rest of the story...

"We have five kids combined - sort of like our very own Brady Bunch ... and we have two children together," Johnson explains. "And she had made me promise that I would get a vasectomy at some point. I love having children, so I always thought in the back of my mind that there would be a chance that she would change her mind. But she didn't seem like she was going to be convinced. She didn't really want to go through another labor."

Who could blame iWife?

When the family met up at Denver International Airport to complete the trip, however, Johnson was "pouting" and carrying on as children often do without their toys.

That's when the wheels were set in motion for one of the most infamous deals in the history of nerds.

The deal stipulated that Johnson obtain a vasectomy, putting an end to the idea of more Johnson children. In turn, Johnson would be allowed to splurge on his iPhone.

Now, who would ever do this? I can just picture what this guy looks like and what his computer room at home looks like. There is no way that I (a post-modern and metrosexual man) would give into a deal like this - HA! So, did Mr. Johnson do through with this? This final quote sums it up...

"It's far from perfect, but it's by far the most perfect phone I've used."

(thanks to the Today in iPhone podcast for the story) (image credit)

Pinoy Prisoner Thriller

Judging by the almost 4 million views already on YouTube, I'm probably the last person to hear about this video. But what do you get when you put the above three words together? Courtesy of Wikipedia, here's what I found.

Pinoy: Pinoy is a demonym used by Filipinos for their compatriots in the Philippines and around the world.

Prisoner: A person incarcerated in a prison or jail or similar facility.

Thriller: Thriller is a 1984 hit single recorded by Michael Jackson.

Being a Filipino-American myself, I'm not sure whether to take pride in this video, or be really embarrassed. I mean, this is prison! I'm trying to think about how all of this was organized. And, in doing more YouTube searches, this is not the only song that this group does. Oh well, what did you think the first time you saw this?

Fechr.com

This is Doctor Anonymous for Fechr.com. I apologize if this post sounds like a commercial, but this is an interesting website that is worth checking out - especially for new blogs. (Disclaimer: I have not and will not receive any financial compensation for this post.)

Bobby Griffin and his former blogger site, The Bestest Blog of All Time, have definitely driven more traffic my way, and I very much appreciated that. His new project is described below, in his own words...

Fechr.com (pronounced feature) is a new site with a simple idea. 1 site, 1 day, 100+ visitors! Every day, at around midnight EST, a new site is “fechr-ed” on the home page. Get featured is FREE for a limited time! I specialize in bringing traffic to those who deserve it! So if you think you deserve it, just stick with me and we’ll get you some.

How can your site be featured? It's FREE! Eventually, once the site grows a little more in popularity, I plan charging in the neighborhood of 1-4 cents average per visitor to be featured (ex. if site is averaging 1000 visitors per day, would charge in the $10-$40 range, depending on demand). But until we get to at least 500-1000 average visitors per day, getting featured is FREE!

All you need to do is write up a short blog post about Fechr.com (ex. what we do, what you think of the idea, explain to readers how to get their site featured, etc.) and submit it at our site.

Since the free features idea is brand new, if you submit your site today, you have a good chance of being featured (and receiving 100+ visitors) as early as tomorrow! Even if the line does get a little long and you aren't featured immediately you'll still have a link in our buzz directory in the mean time.

If you have any other questions about the site, you can check out the FAQ or email me BobbyGriffin@gmail.com! Thanks!

Dr. A & iPhone: Episode deux

Welcome back to the adventures of Dr. A & iPhone. (Cue theme music) Let me get iPhone out of my trusty utility belt (Insert cool sound effect here). Here we go! (image credit)

Even though I'm still pretty much a novice at this, I've already received a couple of questions. The first is from Rahul.

Hi Doctor, I'm a medical student preparing to begin MSIII. Would you recommend usage of iphone as a PDA w/ medical software? Thanks -R

The second is from Mary Lu:

Yo Doc A! Welcome back from the boonie's of iPhone-land. You've been missed. The PharmD Husband is looking at one of those things to enhance his work as well.. (he's a hospital director of pharmacy,)

He asked me... to ask you... if you get any good ideas or finds on applications that can make his time/life more productive let us in on the info, please? Between us, I know he's looking for any excuse to get a new iPhone!

Let me tell you, I am very much flattered by these questions. In combing the medical blogosphere, I'm not really seeing much as far as resources for those of us with the iPhone. I have no idea how helpful this post will be, but I'm happy to share some thoughts.

First of all, Rahul, good luck as you begin your third year of medical school. I very much remember those days, and, to he honest, I'm glad that I'm done with them (hehe). At least for me, third year was tough. But, if I got through, I know that you can.

Getting back to your question (and this kind of relates to Mary Lu's questions as well), as far as I know, there is no medical software specifically written for use on the iPhone (yet). The stuff that I've seen out there makes use of the iPhone's wireless internet connection.

For example, I've read some things on medgadget that promote themselves as software for the iPhone. What I've seen them do is have the iPhone log into their medical website - and that's what they're calling medical uses of the iPhone. I don't really buy that.

I used to have a palm product as my PDA. At least for me, the most useful medical software I was using was epocrates. I was using this both in the office and in the hospital. ("Mandatory" conflict of interest statement: In no way am I compensated by the company mentioned above. I'm just a happy consumer of their product).

As of this point, there is no epocrates software specifically written for iPhone (yet). That being said, my hospital does have wireless internet, and what I do instead is that I log into the epocrates website via iPhone to find out the medication information that I need. This workaround is doing ok for now. But, if there are any epocrates employees out there - Please write software for iPhone - Pretty please.....

Mary Lu asked about "applications that can make life more productive." In reading the blogs, there's a bunch of stuff that people are writing, but it seems like all of them involve entering programming code into the iPhone - meaning there is not really an easy user interface (yet) to do these things.

I'm always weary of breaking into the software code of iPhone. I call myself tech "educated" but not necessairly tech "savvy." Call me chicken, but I'm afraid of crashing my iPhone and then missing an important call or text or whatever. So, I'm eagerly awaiting easier ways to get cool applications on my iPhone.

Thanks so much for your questions. I have no idea if this was helpful, or not. At least it was fun for me. Keep those questions coming and I'll do what I can to answer them. Well, that's it for now. (Cue theme music). Join us next time for the Adventures of Dr. A & iPhone.....

Blogging Persona

This week, I've been catching up on reading blog posts and listening to various podcasts. I just cannot help but be fascinated by the wide range of topics and ideas that people are passionate about. I mentioned earlier this week that I'm trying to find perhaps a fresh approach to my blog and to blogging. (image credit)

I've never been a person who likes to get into a rut. I like to try to keep things fresh and not get bored. I've never been one that likes to be stereotyped - either in real life or in my blog life. What the heck am I talking about? Who knows sometimes?

Reflecting on some of the conversations that I've had on blogs and e-mails, I keep thinking about how blogging people are in real life. Sure, a person's personality is reflected somewhat in her/his style of writing. But, in thinking about a person's blogging persona - Do people come to expect a certain tone or a certain type of post after reading someone for a while?

Just a bunch of abstract thoughts, I know. I'm in one of those kind of reflective-type mood tonight as I write this. As I place the mirror up to my blogging face, I ask myself what I see? Do I like what I see? I know I have portrayed myself as a certain type of blogging personality - or sorts.

As I'm trying to find my blogging voice again, sometimes I have nights like this when my mind wanders. Is it possible to re-invent your blogging self? Do I want to try to change something about my style - just for the sake of change - just to satisfy my need to not be stereotyped as a certain style? I dunno. Sorry for the randomness, just my thoughts for tonight....

Tadd Fujikawa

On Thursday, in the great gambling state of Nevada, Tadd Fujikawa will be starting his journey as a pro golfer. This is not your typical "amateur turning pro" story. Here's the kicker - this kid is only 16 years old. (image credit)

Tadd has made a couple of media splashes in the past 12 months. About a year ago, he qualified for the US Open tournament, which is arguably the most difficult tournament in the world to qualify for. Then, this past January, he made history as the youngest player in half a century to make the cut at a PGA tour event (professional golf tournament). Here are some quotes from a July 12 AP article.

"I'm really ready for this," he said. "It's something that I want to do."

"It showed me I can compete with the best players in the world and I can handle myself in front of the cameras. But sometimes I get a little nervous," he said.

Finances weren't really a factor in the decision.

"I'm not in it for the money at all. I just want to play with the best players in the world," he said.

Call me skeptical, but I don't think he was really the one making the final decision on this one. Can a 16 year old really make a decision like this? I mean, there is no going back. It's not like he can bomb out of this tournament or a second tournament and then decide to go back and be an amateur. This following quote from a July 31 AP article sums it up for me.

For a high school junior missing his first week of the new school year back home in Honolulu to make a run at a $3 million purse, he offers a remarkably mature take on what's most important in his life.

"I think it's more about me. I think that is more important than golf," Fujikawa said.

I think this kid (and his parents and his other close advisors) are seeing the potential dollar signs in the short term and not the big picture. I think they're trying to take the "American Idol" shortcut to success, fame, and fortune. I certainly wish the best for this kid, but I don't think it's going to work out as all of them have planned.

The sad part is that there really is no backup plan for this kid. If this little stint doesn't work, then it's not like he can accept a college scholarship to play golf - he's now declared himself a pro golfer. If he doesn't make it on the US tour, then his only other options are to play golf tours around the globe until his skills mature enough to return to be a regular on the US golf tour. Oh well, we'll have to see how this story plays out.....

Surprise

When I got to work this morning, my nurse surprised me with the cake above, a thoughtful card, and a "congratulations" balloon. How sweet of her. Of course, the cake was gone before the end of the morning. I guess I need another 30-45 minutes on the treadmill tonight - oh well. BTW, the above photo was taken by my iPhone and tweeked a little bit by iPhoto and then posted here. How neat is that?

Work-iversary

Is your anniversary at work something that should be celebrated? Well, for me it is. I see it as kind of a landmark or a benchmark. I've been working at the same place for six years now. (image credit) For those Family Medicine docs out there, you've probably already done the math and see that I need to take my Boards next year to remain Board certified. That will be a fun process next year.

Big shout out to those newly graduated Family Medicine residents and other newly minted residents who may be starting new jobs today. For the great majority of people (in the US), residency ended June 30th. and the new graduates usually take July off to take their Boards and/or vacation, and then join the real world on August 1st with their new jobs. At least that's how I started.

Of course, the practice I'm at right now placed me on call overnight on August 1st. That was quite a joy. I remember that night on call. It's not like it was that busy, but it was like I was a first year resident all over again. I couldn't find my way around the hospital. I didn't know how to work the computers or the dictation machine. Looking back it was quite comical.

But, I got through it and not it's six years later. Every so often I get the "business" talk from the senior partners about how well or not well I'm doing from a business standpoint for the practice. "The numbers" as they call them always could be better. Industry in the part of the state is not exactly growing, even maybe getting more economically challenging.

With decreasing jobs around here means decreasing people with health insurance. Of course it's not great for patients, but from a business standpoint, that makes things challenging for me as well in trying to improve my business standpoint. Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining. It's just when I reach a work anniversary like this, it doesn't hurt to re-evaluate things.

When I look at my peers whom I graduated residency with a few years ago, some of them have had six different jobs in these six years - some even more than that. The medicine industry is not immune to the turbulent business cycle that's taking place in this part of the state and region.

So, all in all, I'm happy where I'm working. Yes, it's an economically deprived area of the state. Yes, young people and young families are leaving the area for success elsewhere in the country. And, yes, I myself could probably move down south or out west somewhere to make more money and have a better lifestyle with less on-call hours.

But, this is home for me. I was born in this area. I grew up in this area. My family is still in this area. I could not see myself living or working anywhere else. This post is probably one huge rationalization of why I'm still here. But, I don't care. I still love what I do and I have no regrets on my career choice. How many docs can say that these days?