Prepare 5 Days’ Breakfast in 5 Minutes
combine oats and water, bring them to a boil, then cover and turn off the heat. Leave overnight and in the morning simply warm them up. They’ll be perfectly cooked
Do this just once on Sunday night, and divide the oatmeal between five jars. You’re immediately set up for a week of breakfasts
Oatmeal in Jars: Make a Week of Breakfast in 5 Minutes [The Kitchen]
Ethicon Recalls Surgical Drains due to Sterility Concerns
Ethicon unit is recalling about 360,000 units of products used to drain surgical wounds because it determined following customer complaints that the sterile barrier on packaging could be compromised.
the recall affects multiple lots of Blake Silicone Drains, Blake Silicone Drain Kits, Blake Cardio Connectors, J-VAC Reservoirs and J-VAC Drain Adapters.
J&J’s Ethicon Unit Recalls Products [WSJ]
How to Read for Research Purposes During Medical School
When you’re researching, think about the following ten things before you accept what you’re reading:
1. Who wrote the piece3. The methodology
4. Any obvious bias
5. References & sources used
9. Other works by the same author(s)
10 things to check when reading for research purposes [The University Blog]
Correlate: Getting Published with the Help of your Medical Librarian
Student Guide to Medical Physiology
Medical Physiology is a unique course because it is not about memorizing facts but rather building a mind-set and framework for thinking about the function of the human body.
you should take a look at the past exams that are available. Record what topics are addressed most often in questions and hyper-focus your studies to those high-yield areas. You should review all of the material presented but be sure that you have a thorough understanding of the high-yield concepts.
After any exam, a post-mortem type of analysis must take place. What went well? What went
wrong? Stupid mistakes? Lucky guesses? Constantly evaluate performance, analyze trends, and
implement improvements.
Medical Physiology Study Tips [Scrub Notes]
Netbook Advantages in Medical School
netbooks, which we will define as laptops… under $500 and ultra-compact, do an excellent job at filling the gap between laptops and mobile devices. Here’s why:
It’s light-weight – Laptops tend to be quite bulky and heavy, with a typical 15-inch model weighing around 5 Kg. Even the relatively skinny 15-inch MacBook Pro by Apple weighs in at 2.5 Kg. Netbooks tend to be significantly smaller and noticeably lighter, with the Fujitsu Lifebook P3110 offering a screen size of 11.6 inches and a weight of just 1.6 Kg.
They do what they do, and they do it well – netbooks specialize in office tasks, such as email, word processing, powerpoint presentations, excel, and internet browsing. Pretty much everything a student needs in the classroom. By designing a computer specifically for these tasks, you get a very cheap device (usually under $500) that does it’s job exceedingly well. Netbooks also have excellent battery life, with some models having upwards of 10 hours of battery life on a single charge.
Digital note-taking without the hassle of a laptop – Digital notes are simply more versatile, offering students the ability to maniuplate their notes digitally when studying for exams, etc. Friend slept through a lecture? Email her your notes with three clicks. Netbooks let students reap the benefits of digital note-taking without the hassle of lugging around a large, clunky laptop.
The Benefits of Using a Netbook in the Classroom[GearFire]
Correlate: Optimize Netbook Note Taking with Microsoft Word
Implantable Miniature Telescope for Age-Related Macular Degeneration
The Implantable Telescope Technology platform is based on wide-angle micro-optics that, in combination with the optics of the cornea, create a telephoto system that magnifies objects in view… The telescope implant is surgically placed in the capsular bag after removal of the eye’s lens. Implantation inside the eye allows the patient to see using natural eye movements in both stationary and dynamic environments.
The magnification allows central images to be projected onto healthy perimacular areas of the retina instead of the macula alone, where breakdown of photoreceptors and loss of vision has occurred. This helps reduce the ‘blind spot’ and allows the patient to distinguish and discern images that may have been unrecognizable or difficult to see.
VisionCare Opthalmic Technologies
METHODS: In this prospective, multicenter phase I trial, 14 patients aged 60 or older with bilateral geographic atrophy or disciform scar AMD, cataract, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between 20/80 and 20/400 had an IMT implanted in one eye. Distance and near BCVA, endothelial cell density, and quality of life, measured as activities of daily life (ADL), were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively.
RESULTS: At 12 months, 10 (77%) of 13 patients gained 2 more lines of either distance or near BCVA, and eight (62%) of 13 patients gained 3 or more lines in either distance or near BCVA. Mean endothelial cell density decreased by 13%. All adverse events resolved without sequelae. ADL scores improved in the majority of patients.
CONCLUSION: The results of this phase I trial support further evaluation of the IMT in a larger study population with late-stage AMD. A phase II/III trial is in progress.
A Prospective Multicenter Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of the Implantable Miniature Telescope [American Journal of Ophthalmology; 2004;137:993–1001]
Hacking Memory: A Lesson from the World Memory Championships
I asked Ed Cooke, a competitor from England… when he first realized he was a savant.
“Oh, I’m not a savant,” he said, chuckling.
“Photographic memory?” I asked.
He chuckled again. “Photographic memory is a detestable myth. Doesn’t exist. In fact, my memory is quite average. All of us here have average memories.”
“What you have to understand is that even average memories are remarkably powerful if used properly,”
Simonides reportedly invented a technique that would form the basis of what came to be known as the art of memory. He realized that if there hadn’t been guests sitting at a banquet table but, say, every great Greek dramatist seated in order of birth — or each of the words of one of his poems or every item he needed to accomplish that day — he would have remembered that instead. He reasoned that just about anything could be imprinted upon our memories, and kept in good order, simply by constructing a building in the imagination and filling it with imagery of what needed to be recalled. This imagined edifice could then be walked through at any time in the future. Such a building would later come to be called a memory palace.
Secrets of a Mind-Gamer [NYT Magazine]
Free Tax-Filing Services for Students
There are a number of filing services that may prove useful during this year’s tax preparation…
Correlate: Guide to Student Taxes
Correlate: Medical Student Tax Strategies
Correlate: Prepare your Taxes with IRS Free File
Distinguishing Bereavement from Major Depressive Episode
Normal bereavement begins within a few months of the loss of a loved one and is accompanied by symptoms similar to those of a Major Depressive Episode (tearfulness, feelings of sadness, insomnia, poor appetite, weight loss, difficulty concentrating, irritability). Major Depressive Episodes may accompany or follow normal bereavement and can be identified by several key symptoms including:
- Guilt about things other than actions taken/not taken by the survivor at the time of death
- Suicideation or thoughts of death other than passive death wish (survivor feeling better off dead or survivor feeling that he/she should have died with the deceased)
- Morbid preoccupation with worthlessness
- Marked psychomotor retardation
- Prolonged and marked functional impairment (no attempt to resume activities)
- Hallucinations or delusions (as opposed to illusions)
Symptom-duration has often been used to distinguish normal and abnormal grief, but the duration of normal bereavement may vary widely between individuals and cultures. The diagnosis of Major Depressive Episode or complicated grief is often withheld for symptoms whose duration is less than 2 to 12 months. 6 months is a safe cutoff for USMLE.
Dr. Sidney Zisook with Medscape provides a helpful video lecture reviewing grief, when treatment is warranted, and types of treatment available.
Grief — When to Treat It [Medscape]
Google Tasks & gTask- Keep Track of What you Need to do on the Go
Keep track of what you need to do with Google Tasks and gTasks for Android…
Just click and type to add new tasks, set due dates or add notes, and (most satisfyingly) check them off as you’re done. Your task list stays up to date no matter how you access it. It’s a simple list that’s with you everywhere you go.
gTasks beta is a simple way to view your tasks on your mobile device.
