Archive for July, 2010
RotatingRoom – Find Sublets for Away Rotations
If you need a place to stay or a room to rent during your away rotations, add RotatingRoom to your tool set. RotatingRoom is exclusive to students and offers a straightforward interface. It boasts excellent searchability and is worth a look for any away rotator. RotatingRoom
Personal Statement for Medical Residency – A Comprehensive Proofreader's Checklist
An excerpt from Amy Burnham’s Essays That Will Get You Into College, this checklist serves as an excellent gauntlet for personal statement revisions… Substance 3. Have I been specific? (Go on a generalities hunt. Turn the generalities into specifics.) 4. Could anyone else have written this essay? Interest 2. Do I start with action or [...]
How to Tie a Necktie
an oldie but a goody…
The Biology of Productivity – Building a Rhythm into Your Work
Tony Schwartz of The Energy Project As every great athlete understands, the highest performance occurs when we balance work and effort with rest and renewal. The human body is hard-wired to pulse, and requires renewal at regular intervals not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. More than 50 years ago, the pioneering sleep researcher [...]
How to Answer Patients' Questions
It is very important not to give off-the-cuff answers to questions that may seem casual. The patient may pop the question that way because of fear, or may not realize how complicated the question really is. A careless, quick or off-the-cuff answer, even to a seemingly off-the-cuff question, is neither therapeutic nor safe. It also [...]
Waking up and Staying Awake Throughout Medical School
Sleep economy is an ongoing challenge for most medical students, yet its mastery pays big dividends. This two-part summary reviews successful approaches to getting out of bed… On waking up: Move your alarm clock out of reach – Getting your feet out of bed is half the battle Get an alarm buddy – If you [...]
Artificial Red Blood Cell Product Prepares for FDA Review
Artifical RBCs advance to the FDA’s review… The artificial blood is created by taking cells from umbilical cords and using a machine to imitate the way bone marrow works to produce mass quantities of usable units of red blood cells. Producing the genetically-engineered blood is known as ‘blood pharming’. The program was launched in 2008 [...]
Weekend Repose – How to Capitalize on First Impressions
First impressions are a cornerstone of clinical rotations. Life Optimizer offers a personal approach to first impressions: 1. Get to Know the Real You 2. Don’t Try to Be Something You’re Not 3. Be Honest With Yourself 4. Relax and Be Yourself whenever I find myself in new situations, I focus on relaxing and being [...]
Sildenafil (Viagra) in Pulmonary Fibrosis – RCT
Background: We tested the hypothesis that treatment with sildenafil would improve walk distance, dyspnea, and quality of life in patients with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, defined as a carbon monoxide diffusion capacity of less than 35% of the predicted value. Results: A total of 180 patients were enrolled in the study. The difference in the [...]
E-mail Etiquette – Breaking Bad Habits
Email Signatures – Does keeping an automatic “Sent from my iPhone/iPad/BlackBerry/mobile” signature on your device-typed emails provide helpful information about the context of your message, or does it just imply you’re too busy to properly address someone’s thoughts? “‘Sent from my iPhone / bb’ always makes me think I’m only worth a quick note on [...]