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The Ramona Bates Interview

The Doctor Anonymous Show is proud to welcome Dr. Ramona Bates from the Suture For A Living blog on show 45 on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time. She is a surgeon working in Little Rock, Arkansas and her blog is a mix of medicine and her favorite hobby which is quilting.

Ramona has been a long time friend of the show and supporter of my blog. And, for that, I am very grateful. In her most recent blog post, you can sense some nervousness.....

And last, but not least for this week's Shout Outs is the Dr Anonymous' Blog Talk Radio show. I am this week's guest. It is Thursday night! I'm counting on all the help I can get from "my friends". The show starts at 8 pm CST (or 1 am GMT). I hope you will join us. So I'll leave you with this from Joe Cocker.

Am I that mean of a host? hehe Just kidding. I know a lot of Ramona's friends visit this blog. So, if you can, stop by for Show 45 and say hello. We're going to have a great time talking about medicine, blogging, new media, social networking, and anything else that comes to mind. Also, check out the video post above!

Patients Get Stripper Therapy

Yes, you read that right. That is the title of an article posted on a South African news site. And, the story is actually from London. Curious, but I did not see this story anywhere in BBC News. Oh well. Anyway...

The nursing staff of patients with the neurological disorder called Huntington's Disease treated four British men to lap dances at Divas Gentlemen's Club in Newquay, Cornwall, in south-west England. Quoting from the article, "Their hosts included an entertainer with pink hair and a former topless model."

"The girls were very nice - we all had a lap dance individually. I'd like to go again," one of the patients, Stephen Pitt, 54, was quoted as saying. The report also mentioned an earlier case in which a 90-year-old woman at another care home in Cornwall was served fish and chips by a waiter in a thong.

Now, I'll never, ever say this again. But, if this is what socialized medicine looks like? Well, sign me up and bring in the ladies!

Open Letter

Dear medpiano,

I know that you're out there somewhere reading this. I see that you haven't sent out a Twitter in over a week, and we're worried about you. I know that you're going through a tough time right now. And, I just wanted to let you know that your friends are out here to help in any way that we can. We miss you and hope that you come back soon.

Dr. A

Update: About an hour after this was posted, an appearance was made on Twitter. "Have decided to crawl out of my hole--wow, the lights are bright out here. I have no idea how to catch up, but here I am. 1 minute ago from web" Welcome back!

Chew Gum And Pass Gas

Yes, that's right! This is a headline at BBC News. Well, actually not. The article is entitled "Chewing Gum Aids Bowel Recovery." Here's the deal. When anyone has surgery of their bowel, the normal course is to wait until the bowel starts working again. Which can take a few hours to a few days - there is no real way to predict.

What this study showed is that those patients who chewed gum started their bowels moving sooner than those who did not chew gum. Why is that important? Well, it will decrease recovery time and potentially decrease the number of days in the hospital. And, we all want that, right?

Now, I have to admit something to all of you. When I first glanced at this story, I first thought, "How can chewing and swallowing the gum help following bowel surgery?" Didn't you have that thought as well? No? Ok, well it kind of sounded funny when I wrote it. I guess that's what happens when one doesn't edit. Did I also tell you that I'm trying to get back to writing blog posts? I know, I'll keep working on it.

Weekend Update

I know that it's Monday morning as I write/post this, but I couldn't think of another title for the post. Anyway, this was the first weekend that I had absolutely nothing scheduled. Can you believe that? Probably for the entire summer, I've had something on the calendar whether it be related to Boards, Podcamp Ohio, meetings, soccer, etc. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to do all that stuff - except maybe for Boards. It was just great not to do anything for an entire weekend.

Other than Twitter, I was completely unplugged from the internet (kind of). I was considering actually writing a blog post or two. But, that didn't happen. I've been a slacker when it comes to writing blog posts lately - especially when it comes to submitting something for Grand Rounds. I've been in a GR slump for the past few months and I really want to get back and start writing again - it's just tough.

Other than watching a bunch of olympics coverage, I really didn't do much other than catch up on things to do around the place - which I have been neglecting for a while now. And, of course, got a lot of sleep. It's really a wonder how good you feel after getting adequate sleep - I should do that more often.

Anyway, this is an attempt at trying to get back to writing blog posts again. I've said this before. It's tough when life/work gets in the way of blog writing and other new media stuff. Of course, nothing gets in the way of twitter! BTW, do you like the new twitter counter button in the sidebar? Kind of cool, huh?

Show 44 Wrap-up

Great discussion tonight about New Media Expo and Podcamp Ohio. The intersection between medicine and new media always fascinates me. And, this show was more the latter. One of the reasons for that is I'm very excited about the Podcamp Ohio project that I'm involved with. I agreed to host one show a month until Podcamp Ohio next summer. Check out Dr. A Show 44 here. You can even download the show here (don't forget to rate the show!)

It's always great re-connecting with the people that I met at Podcamp Ohio. Thanks to Brandice, Mitch (he and his wife just had a baby), Angelo (he announced on the show that he and his wife are expecting and due early next year), and Daniel for calling into the show. We even had a someone call in to ask about how to start a podcast. Great stuff!

In the last part of the show, I talk about the blog post I read this week from Emergiblog. In it she talk about a possible opportunity to have a panel of medbloggers at the BlogWorld event next month in Las Vegas. I'm so bummed that I cannot attend this event. However, I really hope this happens and that there is a medblog panel next month.

Hopefully, this will lead to a full-blown medblogger track at next year's BlogWorld and possibly medblog topics at other new media events. I've been toying with the idea of doing a medical related session at Podcamp Ohio 2009, but still undecided.

Following the show, I had a little after show party over at ustream. I even recorded part of it. Check it out over here. Thanks again for everyone who joined the show live or on the archives. Have a great weekend! (See video post above)

Dr. A Show Tonight!

Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time

Join us tonight for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 44. This will be a more tech and new media related show tonight as opposed to medicine. We will be having reports from New Media Expo in Las Vegas. Scheduled to be on the show are a couple of friends from Podcamp Ohio - Angelo and Brandice. We'll also talk about some ideas for Podcamp Ohio 2009.

If you do listen live, you can even take part in the chat room. It is truly "The show within the show." You can even call in and say hello. A great opportunity to interact with medbloggers you've only read about. And, you will be able to see me on the live webcam during the show! See you tonight!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.

*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the "Chat Available" button in the upper right hand corner of the page. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room.

*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. I'll be taking calls beginning at around the bottom of the hour. There is also a "Click To Talk" feature where you do not need a phone to call into the show - only a microphone headset. Hope these tips are helpful!

Show 44 Preview

The Doctor Anonymous Show is going tech this week with a report from the New Media Expo in Las Vegas. From my understanding, this used to be called "podcast expo," but then the name was changed to reflect the constantly changing state of new media. Man, I really wish that I could be there this weekend.

Our scheduled guests on the show this week will be calling in from Las Vegas to give us the New Media Expo report. Angelo Mandato from the Blubrry podcast network (and lead organizer from Podcamp Ohio) will be joining us. In addition, Brandice Schnabel from Viddler video posting site will also be giving us the scoop from LV. We'll also be talking about initial plans and ideas for Podcamp Ohio 2009.

So, this will be more new media focused this week as opposed to medicine focused. I hope that you will still be able to join us Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time. Hang out in the chat room, call into the show, and even see my shining face on the live web cam. Hope to see you for the show! (Also check out the video post above)

Show 43 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to Dr. Alan Dappen from Doctokr Family Medicine for joining us on Show number 43 this evening. Thanks also to Dr. Dappen for being flexible in his schedule for allowing me to push back the interview an hour. I really appreciate it. See video post above.

After we talked about his training and travel (did you know that he and his wife were in Kenya for a short period of time?), we talked about his journey through the broken health care system that we have now. During this time, he did a study which confirmed his hypothesis that talking with patients (what we call "taking a history"), basically gives you the diagnosis, without sometimes needing to examine the patient or ordering tests. However, with the physician payment system as it stands right now, patients must come into the office for the traditional office visit which includes taking a history, physical exam, and testing, if needed.

We then talked about how he put together the business model that he practices right now. So, if I want to me a new patient, I would contact Dr. Dappen for an initial traditional office visit. Following this, you would be set up for a price structure to deliver the 24/7 availability. He does accept insurances - sort of. You pay him a fee, even if you pay for a insurance card for the availability.

Thanks also to Dr. Val for calling into the show and asking some questions of her own. Following the show this evening, I had an "after show" party on my UStream channel. We had a bunch of people go from the show over to the after show and we were there for another hour. I'm always humbled by the thought that people would spend two hours of their time to hang out with me. I really appreciate it and I really appreciate the community that has been built by the show. I'm on call this weekend, but I'll be around on Twitter and may even try another ustream "party," so stay tuned. Have a great weekend!

Dr. A Show 43: Alan Dappen

Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 10pm Eastern Time

(Please note the time change)

Join us tonight for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 43. Our guest will be Dr. Alan Dappen from Doctokr Family Medicine in Virginia. He practices a model of medicine which has been called "concierge medicine" or "retainer medicine." Check out previous posts for more a description of this. Also, see the video post above.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.