Finally some signs of Spring! May your blossoms be plentiful!

Healthcare Reform

It seems that history is repeating itself. Health care in America is doomed to stay the same. It will continue to rise in cost and more Americans will be without health care coverage.
The commercials touting the loss of health care "choice" are making their run. The talking heads are screaming about the cost of reform. These are the same people who had no problems allocating public money for their friends in the banking industry.
We have a chance to actually do the right thing when it comes to health care. We need to get involved and let the Congress know that we want true reform. Our voices have to rise above the nonsense that is being handed out in 30 second commercial spots. It was those spots that cost us reform in the 1990's.
The first sign of trouble is the fact that a single payer system is not even being considered. I watched in horror as the single payer system advocates were led out of the congressional hearings by police. So much for democracy and free speech. The congressional committee table was stacked with private insurers and congress is stacked with individuals who take donations from these same insurers. Yeah, we have a problem.
I can tell you that more and more Americans are making the decision whether to see a doctor or get groceries. We no longer have a safety net for those who are the working poor. Our emergency rooms are over-run because people have no other choice.
Take the time to read, listen and educate yourself about the current situation in health care. Make it a priority to get involved no matter where you stand on this issue. Don't let the industry that has created the problem continue "as usual". We simply can't afford it.

 

Another reason why I enjoy my job;  I can't make this stuff up even if I wanted....

Open Access Day - October 14th

I just wanted to bring your attention to a relatively new website that promotes open access to the scientific literature for all people. It can be found at http://openaccessday.org/

Click on the links to PLoS to learn more about the idea of Open Access. Also click on the video links to get different people's perspective on Open Access.

If you are a researcher please consider submitting your paper to an Open Access journal.

Stop the Homework Madness

I wanted to take the time to praise Alfie Kohn the author of The Homework Myth. He has taken the time to ask the question "Is homework useful?" If it is then show us the evidence. In essence is it worth the lost time and family disruption that is common when a child struggles to get it done.
Read the book. You may find yourself calling your local school board and getting involved in doing away with this nonsense we call "Homework".

Smaller is better

There are times when size makes all the difference. I think this is true when it comes to charitable organizations. When I am considering donations to organizations that do 'good' work in under served areas I like to look for small neighborhood shops. One such shop is Haiti/Marycare. Their website is http://www.haitimarycare.org/index.htm and is still under construction. Fortunately, the work they do is fully underway.

By taking small steps they have dealt with some very large problems in Haiti. I think the website does a better job of explaining exactly how things get done. So remember when shopping for charities to donate to think small.

Time to revamp all my PowerPoint slides

I just finished reading the latest installment of Presentation Zen and have decided that the time has come to kill my old PowerPoint presentations. I have tortured too many young doctors with my presentations. Time to turn a new leaf. It won't be easy and that may be the point. PowerPoint makes it too easy to fill the slides with non-essential text and graphics. I'm going cold-turkey. No slides until the talk is written and rehearsed in my own head. Then I'll sit down and decide what graphs or pictures will enhance what I am saying. No more text that just echoes what was just said.
It may be a bit late for a New Year's resolution but I'm giving it a shot.