Another New Video MedBlogger!

Everyone knows how excited I am that more and more medbloggers are video posting. I wanted to welcome Katie from the blog "Dr. Katie Goes to Med School." She's from Detroit, Michigan, and her blog profile describes herself as, "A 20-something girl trying to balance medical school and real-life."

In this video post, Katie said that she worked in Thailand for a year (how cool is that?). She also talks about an upcoming test about blood disorders. Definitely check out all the cool highlighting in her book. Finally, she has some random thoughts on bobby pins. Why not show Katie some love and check out her blog and her 2nd video post. Great job Katie! Looking forward to more video posts!

Change of Shift

Just want to give a little shout out to our buddy Emergiblog who is hosting Change of Shift Volume 3, Number 15. In case you don't know CoS is a blog carnival about nurses and nursing. I hosted it once (and probably should again one of these days) and it gives great insight into this field.

At the end of this week's edition, Kim states that Change of Shift is having a type of "identity crisis" in stating that even though anyone can submit posts, the blog carnival needs to keep nursing focused. So, she's looking for some brainstorming. If you're a nurse or having an interest in nursing, I encourage you to check out this week's CoS and also leave some comments on the future of CoS.

Show 69 Preview

This week, The Doctor Anonymous Show welcomes our good friend Kim as a special co-host. You remember Kim from Dr. A Show 57 where she talked about life as a dialysis tech and a nursing student. Well, for our show this week, the topic is "Chronic Kidney Disease" and we'll talk about issues like dialysis with two special guests.

Stacy is from the blog "Stacy Without An E." His blog profile states, "I am a tortured soul who can twist between the most interesting, entertaining and engaging individual you've ever met to the most foul, grouchy, twisted and sarcastic schmuck ever. Both sides usually battle for complete control of my soul." We'll be talking about his life as a dialysis patient going to an outpatient clinic.

Tracy has the blog "Kaply, Inc." By contrast, she does dialysis at home. Kim also wanted me to link to an article from Medscape called, "Survival Better With Short, Daily Dialysis Than With Conventional Hemodialysis." (Of note, you do need a medscape id and password to log into and read the article.)

So, join us on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time on BlogTalkRadio for the next episode of The Doctor Anonymous Show. Finally, I still need your vote in the Twitter Shorty Award finals. The polls close on Friday night, and I have fallen into 2nd place in the health category. Thanks so much if you have voted already! But, I will need your help to try to find more votes in these last days of the race. Thanks in advance for anything you can do to help. Well, don't pay people like these people were doing. Sheesh!

Grand Rounds

If you haven't checked it out already, Grand Rounds Vol 5 Number 18 is now up and running at MedPage Today. The host is the one and only Dr. Val Jones from Getting Better with Dr. Val. With today's inauguration and the country having high hopes in the changes occurring in Washington, D.C., Dr. Val has chosen to highlight posts talking about healthcare reform.

Thanks to Dr. Val for including my post this week:

"Twitter may be a proving ground of how we overcome our fears, satisfy our cautions and extend the reach of our health care system with web-based technologies and communities."
Doctor Anonymous

As I have said in the past, I admit that I haven't mentioned GR in a while. I have to admit that I've been a lazy medical blogger in that I haven't written anything for this fabulous blog carnival in a while. If you don't know what Grand Rounds is, it is a weekly compilation of the best posts from the medical blogosphere that moves to different sites each week. And, who doesn't like reading about medicine and science? Next week, Grand Rounds moves to our friends over at Chronic Babe.

MedCity News Premieres Today

Before all the inauguration news floods the internet tomorrow, I did want to send some congratulations to my friend Chris Seper, co-founder Mary Vanac, and the rest of the team over at MedCity News. They went live at around noon today, from what I could gather, things have been going ok over there today. According to the site, here is how they describe themselves.

MedCity News is a news service focusing on business, innovation and influence in health care. We don’t write about consumer health or the research in medical journals. Instead, MedCity News covers health care as the economic engine of major American cities. Our current focus is Northeast Ohio, followed by the rest of Ohio and sections of the Midwest.

I also encourage you to check out a profile of the MedCity News founders in the online magazine Cool Cleveland (the blurb is about halfway down the page). Chris introduced himself to me when he was working at the Cleveland Plain Dealer online site. He graciously put a link to my blog and The Doctor Anonymous Show on the PD site, which introduced some local readers/listeners to the blog/show, and for that I'm grateful. So, especially if you're where I'm at (northern and NE Ohio), definitely check out MedCity News.

Props to Annie & Burl

In my opinion, justice was served today with the news of President Bush, in his last full day in office, commuting the sentences of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos (left in the picture above) and Jose Alonso Compean (right). According to this story from FoxNews, their sentences will expire on March 20, 2009 and then they will be able to go home to be with their families.

I did want to recognize my good friends Annie and Burl for having the courage not only to talk about this topic on their show, but also to have the wives of these individuals, other family members, and a staff member from a US Congressman's office on their show on January 14, 2009. They didn't have to do that. I mean, they are a comedy show for crying out loud.

I know that they brought more awareness to the BlogTalkRadio audience and their show, I believe, touched a lot of lives and - I think - made people proactive to take action to make their voices be heard for these two American heros. So, thanks again Annie & Burl! I think that you made a difference in this case and for these families!

Twitter Shorty Awards & Trash Talking

Thanks to everyone who has already voted for me in the Health Category of the Twitter Shorty Finals. In case you didn't know, these are awards for the best "twitterers" out there. There are 26 categories and about 5 people made the finals in each category. The polls close Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at midnight pacific time. Don't forget to vote for Dr. A!

I usually don't engage in the "gamesmanship" that occurs during these voting cycles for awards. However, I have to point out what my competition is doing, because it is not altogether nice. Just today, I saw the person in 2nd place in the health category has been typing out twitters like the following this morning.

@shortyawards I vote for @TraderAlamo in the Shorty Awards Finals for #finance because they're in second and can win with my vote. 5 minutes ago from web in reply to shortyawards

@TraderAlamo I voted for you. :) Do you think it's right for me to be beat by a NO-NAME? http://budurl.com/Vote4Unde... Just wonderin 5 minutes ago from web in reply to TraderAlamo

ADHDParenting: RT @venuswithin @adhdparenting I'm saying we can't let a NO-NAME beat the Respect Effect Mom in Texas :) http://budurl.com/Vote4Family about 10 hours ago

NO-NAME? Wow, that's kind of mean, don't you think? In using the great tool called, "Twitter Search," check out how many times this person has used the phrase, "NO-NAME" in trying to get votes. Yeesh. Plus, stating things like they're voting for someone just because they're in 2nd?

On her website, she calls herself the "Respect Effect Mom." I'd like to ask her how she would deal with a kid who is name calling. That's not very respectful, don't you think? Another thing I found interesting is that on her twitter profile she says that "I can help improve your child's behavior." Well, how about your adult behavior. That's kind of questionable, don't you think?

Anyway, if she passes me and wins this category, my heart is not going to be broken. I very much appreciate the 60+ people who have voted for me (don't forget to tell your friends!), because I know that they feel I'm the best "twitterer" in this category. And, I didn't have to resort to "trash talking" to get people to vote for me. Best of luck to everyone in my category and to those who have made the Shorty Finals!

Addendum (5:15pmET): Apparently this post has gotten someone's attention. I'd like to welcome ADHD Parenting to following me on twitter about an hour ago which probably led her to this post and the following twitter response below.

@doctoranonymous=lack of name assoc=NO-NAME. Stating facts. In health, transparency rules. You post name. I retract tweets. Sound fair? :) 9 minutes ago from web in reply to doctoranonymous

My response to this is that my real name has been out there on the interwebs for months. I have my reasons for not making it front and center on this blog and on my internet radio show. If people don't like that I do that, then don't vote for me. 

But, I thought that this award was for the best tweets and the best twitterer - and not for how transparent someone appears to be. This award is about looking at my twitter feed and look at the other finalists twitter feeds. Make your own decision and vote for the best twitterer.

(Oh, by the way, here is the link that you're looking for. You can retract the tweets, but the votes have already been cast and your intention with this was obvious. So, we'll let the people decide.)

Twitter & Health Care

I'm fascinated by new an innovative uses of social new media tools in medicine and health care. The use of e-mail and tools like secure, password protected websites have been talked about (but not really implemented that much for a variety of reasons) for a long time. But, what about social media solutions like twitter, facebook, and other tools.

I came across this post from Phil Baumann who is a tech guy with some health care credentials. He shows this point of view by bringing up the commonly held concerns of those in health care in using technological solutions - namely issues of patient privacy, HIPPA, and fear of litigation. However, using his tech point of view, he challenges the health care industry to look "outside the box" and see innovative uses of social media.

In the health care industry there is often a fine line between caution and fear. It is the fear of change so common in health care that I hope we can overcome. Twitter may be a proving ground of how we overcome our fears, satisfy our cautions and extend the reach of our health care system with web-based technologies and communities.

His post is called, "140 Health Care Uses for Twitter." Some of these suggestions are really off the wall, but others I see as possible good uses of this medium. Take a look at some of these suggestions and let me know what you think. How would you use Twitter to take care of patients?

Finally, I'd like to welcome those of you who have checked this post out from Grand Rounds. So glad you're here! I invite you to check out the blog, my internet radio show, and my Twitter feed. If you like, then I encourage you to subscribe. If you like my twitter feed, please consider voting for me in the Twitter Shorty Finals! The polls close this week and your vote can help me reach the goal of winning my category. Thanks for your consideration!

Medgadget Polls Are Open!

If you didn't already know, the polls are open voting for the 2008 Medgadget Medical Weblog Awards. This year, there are 31 fabulous blogs nominated in seven different categories. The categories are as follows:

• Best Medical Weblog
  
• Best New Medical Weblog (established in 2008)
  
• Best Literary Medical Weblog
  
• Best Clinical Sciences Weblog
  
• Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog
  
• Best Medical Technologies/Informatics Weblog
  
• Best Patient's Blog
  

This year's awards are sponsored by Epocrates (BTW, love epocrates. Use it everyday in patient care.) According to the website, the polls will close on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 at midnight eastern time. Winners will be announced on Friday, January 23, 2009. I definitely support these awards and this post will remain at the top of the blog as long as the polls are open. Haven't voted yet? Why not? Click here and cast your vote today! Good luck to all the finalists!

Show 67 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to my guest Jamie Davis from the ProMed Network which is a new network of medical/health podcasts. (You can also download the show here.) In our conversation, he stated that there will be a big launch of this site later this month with a sponsor. We talked a little bit about how to monetize new media. He has a premium site and he has recorded educational CDs and DVDs which are teaching tools for students. (Also check out the video post above)

We also talked about the podcasts that he produces including The MedicCast and The Nursing Show. What I like about these podcasts are the teaching tidbits that they have. It really makes me think about adding clinical teaching topics to my shows. Just like trying to do a little more patient education during the office visit, maybe I can incorporate that into the show.

The second half of the show had a very different feel than my shows usually do. However, I felt that this story needed to be told. My guest for the 2nd part of the show was Burl from the BlogTalkRadio show Annie and Burl Live. Their most recent show told the story of Border Patrol Agents Jose Compeon and Ignacio Ramos. In my opinion, these American heros are wrongly imprisoned and I hope that President Bush does the right thing and let these gentlemen go home to their families.

Burl and I talked about how he and Annie got involved with this story. He talked about how Facebook got him connected to one of the family members. And, then the family graciously agreed to be on their show. The show also had a staff member from a Congressman's office call into the show to discuss the case. Thanks Annie and Burl for sharing this story and I have faith that the right thing will be done and these families will be reunited soon.

Finally, I wanted to extend an invitation to check out the "Night Shift with Dr. A" which is my new BlogTalkRadio show. The next episode will be this Saturday, January 17th, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time. My co-host is Kat from the BTR show, the "Llanview Lowdown." We talk a little medicine, a little news, a little entertainment, a little pop culture, and whatever else comes up. Hope you're able to join us!