Observation From A VA Doc

Walking into the front entrance of the VA hospital, you see an awful lot of former soldiers getting about in wheelchairs and with canes because they’re missing toes, feet, or entire legs.

That is not a new thing. The cliche depiction of a veteran is a man in a wheelchair, missing one of his legs up to the knee after having stepped on a landmine or something while defending the freedom of his country.

What’s new is that these days, it’s far, FAR more likely that these vets lost their limbs to uncontrolled diabetes.

Now, I trend toward (practical) pacifism…but I have to say, this just horrifies me. Surviving a war intact just to be dismembered by a preventable/controllable disease?!

Awful. Just awful.

“Docere” Means “To Teach”.

I just wrote a six-page Review-Of-Antibiotics lecture for my students. It’s a great topic; it’s hard to memorize all that crap, so people can use the review at pretty much any time in their education. It’s incredibly applicable to day-to-day practice, which students tend to prefer over theoretical topics (at least, in my experience). Plus, it ties in some basic science and some microbiology and some Quick-Tips-That-Will-Make-You-Look-Super-Smart-On-Rounds.

I feel really, really productive!

But there’s no way I’ll be able to squeeze this whole thing in at once over the course of a workday.

So maybe I’ll do the review a small chunk at a time.

That means I probably won’t need to prepare anything else formal-lecture-wise over the course of this month.

Hmmmmmm.

I get a new batch of students later this month, too. I can give them the same lectures, without having to do any more prep work.

I get a new batch of students every month, come to think of it.

And if I continue to teach, I’ll get new batches of students every month for the rest of my career.

This leads to a completely unavoidable conclusion:

Technically, I never have to put together another formal lecture again!

WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!! WOO….

…………………………..

Okay, now I feel really, really lazy.

How To Talk Doctor! Lesson Q

The Doctor Term Of The Day is….

Q!!!!!!

“Q”, when it pops out of the mouth of a doctor, means “every”.

Q 6 hours = every six hours

Q day = every day

Q other week = every other week

Q where you look
Q where you go
There’s a face
Of somebody who needs you = Probably the first time in human history that the lyrics to the Full House theme song have been bastardized in quite that way…..

It’s from the Latin, “Quaque”, in case you suddenly developed a burning desire to know such a thing.

Today’s lesson was brought to you by the letter H.

(What? WHAT?)

Taft 2012

From the absurdly creative mind which has been hiding behind thick Buddy Holly glasses since BEFORE it was cool….

Pre-order it! You know you want to! (If you don’t, Jason Heller will withhold his awesome from your life. Best not to risk it.)

Seriously, This Is A Good Thing

A kind nurse just fed me a turkey sandwich. This means I get an extra two hours of sleep tonight.

Why?

I’m crashing in the call room instead of commuting home and back, like I was planning to do. At midnight. The only thing that had me considering that is that I hadn’t had anything to eat in a while, there’s no food in the hospital, and there is food at home.

Problem. Solved.

Yay for at-least-quasi-reasonable amounts of sleep!

(Don’t tell anyone.)