I hope you can join me tonight for Doctor Anonymous Show 176 with guest Erin Breedlove who is a Pre-Medical student in the Southeastern part of the United States. She is author of the blog Healthy, Unwealthy and Becoming Wise. She has the diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy and writes about her dream about going to medical school.
If you are new to the show, I encourage you to catch us live. There is a great chat room that also goes on. You can even see my shining face on the webcam. In addition, you can call into the show to say hello. Can't catch us live? That's ok. You can listen anytime after the show as it is saved as a podcast so you can listen anytime!
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 "Play/Chat" button. Then, of course, press the "Play/Chat" button.
In addition to the challenges of being a college student trying to get into medical school, Erin has the diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy which she clearly talks about in her blog including the post called "Cerebral Palsy: What It Isn't"
All too often, as a college and pre-medical student with cerebral palsy, I’m asked what cerebral palsy is, but no one ever seems too concerned with what it isn’t, and to me, that’s the most important part.
Too many assumptions and stereotypes plague the world of chronic health than do the positives, the abilities of patients, and the strength of their families. I’ll do you a favor. Let’s explore a few things that cerebral palsy isn’t, and I think that by doing that, you’ll find that you’ll know exactly what the diagnosis means!
They are changing the name of my med school alma mater, and I am upset about it. But, not for the reasons that you may think. I am a proud graduate of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM). This has been the name of the school since it opened its doors in 1973.
Last week, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to change the name of the school to the Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMU). In a press release from the school, the new president and dean, Dr. Jay Gershen, said this:
“The current name no longer reflects who we are as a University. In addition to a College of Medicine and a College of Pharmacy, we also added a College of Graduate Studies last year,” said Gershen. “We are a strong institution with a health sciences curriculum, and we want a strong name that reflects who we are and who we serve.”
I have talked with many alumni who are upset about this change. Vishvas Hegde, M.D. posted his opinion to this change on the comment page of the local newspaper where the medical school is located:
The name change alone will cost a large amount of time and money to be wasted. A few years ago, Medical College of Ohio in Toledo did a similar name change and it was estimated to cost over 300 thousand dollars for the entire process. Especially during tough economic times like this, I think almost everyone would agree that this is not a very wise use of funds... NEOUCOM is already cutting millions of dollars from their budget and reducing their employee count; this name change will lead to even more cuts in staff and services at the school.
While I empathize with Dr. Hegde's point of view, I do not have that much of a problem with the change in the name of the school. Post-graduate education is a competitive environment. NEOMU is a state school and anyone in Ohio knows that the budget from the state capitol is diminishing with each 2 year budget cycle. Getting research dollars, however you can, is one of the keys to survival at the post-graduate level.
Now, in my opinion, the reason why many alumni are upset with this change, is not the name change itself, but the manner that it was done. In the press stories I have read and watched, NEOMU administration is painting the picture that a lot of feedback was obtained from key stakeholders before the decision was made. Some alumni disagree with this and are really questioning the perceived lack of transparency that took place in the name change.
If this is the case, then the new president and the NEOMU administration have a huge public relations problem with NEOUCOM alumni. If alumni don't feel that they were heard, I really see this as potentially affecting alumni loyalty and willingness to assist the school - for example, with volunteering their time for teaching, or even with fund raising efforts. Because, if you do not have the alumni on your side, that's going to be a real problem. And, that's my opinion... (also check out my video post above where I still call the school "Northeastern Ohio" instead of "Northeast Ohio")
Lots of people know about twitter and what its many functions are. But, twitter as a life saver is probably something that you don't hear about a lot. Leigh Fazzina was in a triathalon race last week in Connecticut when her bike crashed. Her cell phone could not make any voice calls. However, she did figure out that she could send out text.
3 Twitter accounts, SMS and MMS messages, BlackBerry Instant Message (BBM) and voice. I knew Twitter would get me an immediate response as my messages would be sent to the 1,000 or so people in my network. I also knew that my Twitter network being comprised of mostly healthcare communications/public relations colleagues would take me seriously.... Remember, it was getting dark and I needed help immediately....
One of her many followers was @DrJonathan on twitter and he describes in the video interview above from Doctor Anonymous Show 175, what he and a lot of other of her followers did - they called the local authorities to let them know their friend was hurt and could not make a voice call. According to this article from NBC news, here is what happened next.
Within seconds, Fazzina’s Twitter friends and colleagues from all over heard her and reached out to authorities. The Farmington Police Department received a call from a woman in California, who led rescuers to Winding Trails. She tweeted directions and landmarks and stayed in tough with friends.At 7:27 p.m. [she tweeted] : "Thx! I hear sirens now. Hope they can find me. RT @DrJonathan: @LeighFazzina ok found the local police number.. calling- sit tight!"
Now this story is not without its detractors. In the comment section of the NBC story, there were more than a few comments who questioned the validity of this story. Still others, like the one below, who state that the facility where this took place is well run and an incident like this could have never happened.
Winding Trails triathalons are extremely well-run. They have a full staff on call for any emergencies equipped with radios and gas powered Gator carts to navigate the trails with. Each triathelte is accounted for and if they do not cross the finish line they begin an extensive search for them. As they were dispatched into the woods to try to locate the woman another triathlete approached the staff to inform them that the woman had fallen off of her bicycle.
She was not alone, people did hear her, and the staff (consisting of lifeguards and EMTs), the fire department, and UConn paramedics responded in a more than timely manner to come to her aid. If the trails were dangerous and the facility unsafe or not well-covered they would not be allowed to host these events that consist of hundreds of athletes every week (that successfully complete the races as well). There has never once been a complaint of loss of cell phone service on their trails...
For me, I tend to believe this story and thank those people who were on twitter that night who not only heard the call for help, but also took action to contact the local authorities to let them know about the situation. This really does speak to the power of twitter and social media. To check out the entire audio podcast, you can listen to the player below (the interview with Dr. Jonathan is about 30 minutes into the podcast). You can also download the podcast through the show's iTunes page at DoctorAnonymous.Org
What a great show last night talking about the Opening Social from the AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students. Above, you'll see a picture from the event. They have a bunch more pictures over on their Facebook page. But, thanks again to Gerry and to Kevin for calling into the show from the conference floor to give us a perspective of what was happening there.
Below, there are four video clips from my point of view during the show last night. The first clip shows the opening moments of the show when I talk with Gerry and he gives us a resident perspective of the meeting. In the second clip, Kevin calls into the show and gives us a student perspective to the meeting. The third clip shows me interviewing a brave soul who comes on to talk about the meeting, and then it shows the close of the show. The fourth clip shows the pre-show when Gerry calls in and we chat it up.
At the bottom of the post is where you can listen to the entire audio podcast. You can also download the entire audio podcast through the iTunes page for the show at DoctorAnonymous.Org. Don't forget to check out the Facebook page for the show at DoctorAnonymous.Net Finally, check out my YouTube channel where you'll see more videos. Have a great weekend everybody!
What will be very interesting about tonight's show is that I will be having live reports from the conference floor during the Opening Celebration of the meeting. Kevin, who is a 4th year medical student, and Gerry, who is a 3rd year FamMed resident - they are scheduled to call in - live - to tonight's show to report what is going on. So, that will be exciting.
I've scheduled a 2 hour show, but not sure if I will be broadcasting for that long. After our live reports from the conference floor, I plan to share some of my memories of the meeting, and also share some recent news stories from the week that I find interesting. Not that anyone cares anymore, but the video below was recorded during the meeting a few years ago. And, at the time I thought it was a big deal where I share my "real" identity. It was a big deal at the time for me, but now. - Oh well...
If you are new to the show, I encourage you to catch us live. There is a great chat room that also goes on. You can even see my shining face on the webcam. In addition, you can call into the show to say hello. Can't catch us live? That's ok. You can listen anytime after the show as it is saved as a podcast so you can listen anytime!
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 "Play/Chat" button. Then, of course, press the "Play/Chat" button.
After taking a few weeks off from the show, The Doctor Anonymous Show returns this Thursday night, July 29, 2010 at a special time - 8pm Eastern Time - for show number 174. This week, in Kansas City, is the annual resident and student meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. I went to this meeting for a number of years, and talked about that in yesterday's post.
What's special about this week's show? Well, I have a couple of friends who will be calling into the show. These friends will be live from the convention floor to give us updates on what is happening for the convention's opening party. Kevin is a medical student who is in his last year of school, and Gerry is a family medicine resident. Both are friends of the show and it'll be interesting to see if we're able to hear them on the convention floor.
I forgot to post this video blog that was recorded on Saturday, July 17, 2010 on my way to meetup with a couple of twitter peeps. In this video, I talk about taking some time off from the radio show, and just some thought with regard to social media in general. I know, kind of boring. But in case you're interested, here you go. If you like this, I encourage you to check out other videos over on the Doctor Anonymous You Tube channel....
When I was a medical student, this meeting was a great way to learn about cool medical stuff. But, more importantly, it was a great way to learn more about Family Medicine, to talk with Fam Med residents, and to hang out with my friends. When I was a resident, I started exploring more the advocacy side of the meeting. For example, if Family Docs are not their own advocates in the walls of government, then no one will.
For my last annual meeting as a resident (10 years ago), I decided that I would do something that I have never done before - that is, to run for national office which entails preparing and giving a speech in front of my peers. Let me tell ya, it was terrified at this prospect. You'll see the pictures of me in action in this post.
What was amazing to me was that I actually won that election. And, it was this point which changed my professional life forever. With this risk that I took and with this election won, this event opened so many doors for me and tremendously helped my self confidence. Something that is funny is that the other person in the picture above is the 2010 chair of the AAFP National Conference of Special Constituencies. So, for the students and residents who read this, the leadership positions and friendships that start now - will last for years to come. I will always have fond memories of this annual meeting....
Although it happened a few weeks ago, I only recently learned of the "retirement" of the blog called "Medic999" by EMS Social Media superstar Mark Glencourse who works in the United Kingdom. I only learned of Mark and his blog (which was recognized as the 2009 Fire/EMS Blog Of The Year) in the past few months in association with the hugely popular Chronicles of EMS project (the first episode is the video above)
In stating why he was stopping his blog, unfortunately, I find similar thoughts being shared by the medical colleagues I know about why people either stop blogging or don't even start in the first place:
I find it a shame that the reason for this blog ending is the general lack of understanding of blogging and social media. I feel that I have promoted best practice, shared my passion for the job that I do, and hopefully have shown all readers what it is that makes EMS and those that devote their lives to it so special.
However, there still remains this general unease about social media and blogging in the Health Service. Some of the bloggers out here may want to continue the fight, and maybe I am being a coward, but I dont want to risk getting into a position where I cannot provide for my family and can no longer do the job that I love so much.
I also encourage you to check out the comments people made to this post called "My Farewell To Blogging." It is definitely an outpouring of love and support for someone who has created a community around his blog - in only 18 months.
This situation has shown both the good and bad at where we're at in medicine and social media. Even though there has been increased awareness and some brilliant uses of Social Media in the medical sphere, we still have a long way to go in the education of the positive impact that Social Media in medicine can offer. I know that we haven't seen the last of Mark Glencourse on the internet. I just want to thank him for giving me a glimpse into his medical system and his life.
