The Color of Atmosphere: One Doctor's Journey In and Out of Medicine

Here's an interesting book that you may want to read this summer: The Color of Atmosphere: One Doctor's Journey In and Out of Medicine


If the medical profession you'd devoted your life to was completely taken over by liability concerns and insurance regulations, would you stay a physician?

Join QuantiaMD and earn Q Points that become Amazon gift cards

I would also like to invite you to join QuantiaMD. For a limited time, you will receive $10 for joining and confirming your clinician status on QuantiaMD.

I would encourage you to join the "Leading Physicians" group where QuantiaMD has worked with the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) to develop content and white papers. You'll find this group by clicking on "Practice Management," then going to "Leading Physicians."

QuantiaMD is an online physician-to-physician learning collaborative where 1 in 6 U.S. physicians engage, share, and learn from experts and each other, free of charge. Q-Points is a system of rewards available to all QuantiaMD members. Q-Points can be redeemed for electronic Amazon.com™ Gift Cards.

QuantiaMD is donating $50 to the Disaster Relief Fund for every clinician practicing in Japan who joins and validates before August 31, 2011.

Informed Consent: The U.S. Medical Education System Explained

Author: Riley Alexander, MD, MBA

I saw an article talking about this book, Informed Consent: The U.S. Medical Education System Explained, over on FreelanceMD and it looks like something that should interest many of our readers--especially our readers still considering that jump into medical school.

The author is Dr. Benjamin Brown. This is his first book and, while the synopsis of this book sounds very interesting, what impressed me even more is that he's currently a plastic surgery resident. I didn't think they had much time to sleep, let alone write what appears to be a very informative look at medical education.

He also has a very thorough and interesting analysis of the costs incurred in medical education and the effect these have on life-long salary and how they compare to other professions. You can find that here. I haven't done the financial calculations on his math to see if it adds up, but just reading through it shows he's put a great deal of thought into the subject--one that very few outside of medicine seem to understand.

You can find his book on Amazon here.

Book giveaway: Reengineering Health Care: A Manifesto for Radically Rethinking Health Care Delivery (Kindle Version)

You won't want to miss this! Reengineering Health Care: A Manifesto for Radically Rethinking Health Care Delivery
by Jim Champy and Dr. Harry Greenspun

The Kindle version is being given away for free (for a limited time). Here's a brief description of this outstanding book:

In their legendary book, Reengineering the Corporation, Jim Champy and Michael Hammer introduced businesspeople to the enormous power of a revolutionary methodology called reengineering. Using reengineering, businesses around the world have systematically retooled their processes--achieving dramatic cost savings, greater customer satisfaction, and more value.

Now, Jim Champy and Dr. Harry Greenspun show how to apply the proven reengineering methodology in health care: throughout physician practices, hospitals, and even entire health systems. You’ll meet innovative and visionary leaders who’ve been successfully reengineering organizations across the entire delivery spectrum and learn powerful lessons for improving quality, reducing costs, and expanding access.

This book doesn’t just demonstrate the immense potential of health care reengineering to revolutionize health care delivery: it offers a clear roadmap for realizing that potential in your own organization.

Get it using the link below:

TV interview with Dr. Harry Greenspun, co-author of Reengineering Health Care

Here's a video showing a recent TV interview (TBD) with Dr. Harry Greenspun, co-author of the book: Reengineering Health Care: A Manifesto for Radically Rethinking Health Care Delivery.

You can watch Dr. Greenspun address the following questions:

• What is the biggest confusion around health care reform?
• How will the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) impact patient care?
• What will happen to the quality of care?
• How will EHR adoption get implemented?
• What rights do patients have?

You can get his book on Amazon (Hardcover) or on your Kindle. 

Apple iPads for every medical student?

This is being republished from MobileHealthComputing.com

We've heard of several medical schools requiring students to use either an Apple iPhone or iPod touch, but what about the iPad? Some schools have been experimenting with digital e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle. Medical textbooks are frequently filled with photos and other color-rich images, so the grayscale Kindle isn't the ideal e-book reader for medical students who wish to carry their textbooks electronically. This is where the Apple iPad could revolutionize the way medical students learn. Will some medical schools try to educate their students using digital technology? I'm sure it's bound to happen. What I don't know is whether the iPad will improve the way students learn medicine. Since I'm a technology advocate, I could make several compelling arguments to say that interactive learning is much more effective than traditional lectures and didactic education. I could also say that retention could be enhanced with the use of digital quizzes that occur at the point-of-learning. You can't do that with a text book, but you could do that with a digital version. I could argue that multimedia enhances the educational experience compared to static color images. But all these arguments could fail if students are not ready and willing to embrace technology to enhance their education. The average pre-med college student is probably tech-savvy and digitally connected via a smartphone, several social media accounts, and a laptop computer. If you hand that student an iPad filled with medical textbooks and multimedia resources, will that student learn effectively? I would think so.

Tips on managing online passwords

My wife and I have had had several discussions about Internet security and online passwords. Why? Because my Facebook account got hacked over the weekend. We probably all know that accounts can get hacked, but can you imagine the headache if your accounts shared the same passwords? What if you couldn't get into your e-mail account anymore? What if you couldn't access your online banking accounts? (that wasn't the case in my situation, so I didn't lose control of my e-mail, blogging, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, PayPal, or any of my bank accounts. I was able to send a Tweet to all my followers to warn them about my Facebook situation).

If you have a common password that protects your personal health record (PHR), then you could be exposing yourself to potential hackers. Do you consider your health record more important than your banking accounts?

Many of us have a variety of online accounts. Do you use the same password on several accounts? You're putting yourself at grave risk if you do that. I admit that there was a time when I used a few passwords among different accounts. However, I now have unique passwords for every account and I use a systematic approach so that I can easily remember every one.

Allow me to share a few Internet security tips:

• Never use the same password on multiple accounts. This may lead to someone hacking your Facebook account and then eventually getting access into other things (like your bank account, PayPal, credit card accounts, etc.)
• Never use a dictionary word as your password. Using "wojljsdflkwe" is better than that any word that would appear in a dictionary.
  
• Never use numbers that reflect your personal profile. Don't use numbers that may reflect your birthday, your address, your phone #, etc.

How can you systematically create a unique password for each website so that you can remember your password easily?

Suppose you really like the word "Amazon" as your password. It's 6 characters, so it works as a password on many websites. Let's see how we can use this word to create unique passwords for 3 different websites. We'll use the unique letter(s), common number(s), common word technique. This is a very basic technique that works quite well if you're a newbie at this.

1. The unique letter(s) is based on the name of the website. Choose the 3rd and last letters of the website title as your unique letters and this becomes the first few letters of your password.
2. Choose a common number. Let's choose 16 (legal driving age). This is the second component of your password.
   
3. Choose a common word. Let's choose "zamazon" (I love to shop on Amazon, but we don't want to use a word that can be found in the dictionary, so we'll add a "z" to amazon). This becomes the end of your password.
   

When you combine these elements, we end up with 3 unique passwords for the following 3 websites:

1. Paypal: the password would be "yl16zamazon" (y = 3rd letter; l = last letter)
   
2. Chase: the password would be "ae16zamazon" (a = 3rd letter; e = last letter)
   
3. Google: the password would be "oe16zamazon" (o = 3rd letter; e = last letter)
   

You can get really creative using this technique and you can develop unique password patterns for every website that you visit. You could end with your unique letters. You could flank your common numbers/letters around your unique letters. You could also choose different patterns for different types of websites. For instance, for banking sites, you may choose to start with the common number and end with the unique letters. For social networking sites, you may want to use the method in reverse (or change your common # or letter). You may want to have one common word for websites that start with a vowel and a different common word for websites that start in a consonant. Once you have a series of consistent patterns, you only need to remember your common number(s) and common word(s). This can reduce your risk for password theft which could lead to identity theft and a series of other major headaches. If you're married, you don't have to share your actual passwords with your spouse. You simply have to explain your method and share your common words/numbers. Let your spouse go through the exercise of coming up with a method. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Books on Non-Clinical Careers

I'm compiling a list of books that are relevant for physicians interested in transitioning into the non-clinical world of medicine. You can buy all of these titles on Amazon, so I hope you'll find this list to be a useful resource. I'm listing 4 books below and I plan to continually expand this reading list:

• A Career Guide for Physician Executives
• Career Opportunities in Biotechnology and Drug Development
• Leaving the Bedside: The Search for a Nonclinical Medical Career
• Leading Physicians through Change : How to Achieve and Sustain Results

I'm also working on my own book and hope to get that out sometime next year. The summer's a great time to catch up on some reading, so I hope you'll enjoy some of these titles.

If You're a Physician, Have You Joined Sermo?

If you're a U.S. physician, have you joined Sermo?

Sermo is a FREE online community where physicians can earn $ by completing short surveys. Click here to join for FREE.

It's a great place for social networking, ranting, and raving (who needs a blog when you have Sermo?). After you join, you can refer your colleagues and even get Amazon gift certificates for each referral.

Rethinking the Kindle DX

I've been thinking about the rationale behind the Kindle DX. Why would Amazon want to release something so large and expensive? You could purchase a mobile computer (like a laptop or netbook) for the same amount. Does it really make sense to release an e-book reader that's so expensive?

The folks over at Amazon must really think that people are willing to replace textbooks with e-books. I'm a big fan of being paperless, but that's why I use my convertible Lenovo Thinkpad X200 tablet PC. I have a large color screen (12") and I can read all the PDFs I want to without panning, scrolling, etc.

How will the Apple iPad (I call it that right now, but it could end up being called the MacPad, MacTablet or iTablet) change the way people view these portable digital devices? Many people read on their iPhone. Will a larger tablet-sized gadget be preferred? How will doctors react to this surge of slate tablet-type gadgets? Will physicians become more inclined to embrace pen-based input and move away from the keyboard? Will Microsoft Surface reinforce the fact that you can be so much more efficient if you're using natural touch and finger gestures?

The Kindle DX is HUGE!

The Amazon Kindle DX is huge! Sometimes it's hard to imagine how big something will be until you compare it side-by-side. Wow! Maybe students will be able to read textbooks on the Kindle DX. I wonder how many of these we'll see at the beach this summer.

Medical Textbooks on the Amazon Kindle DX?

Will we see medical textbooks on the Amazon Kindle DX? Not until we see one that has a color screen (I think that's called a slate tablet PC).

How many medical students use tablet PCs during medical school? I think if I were to go back to medical school today, I would definitely use a tablet PC during my basic science courses and also during my clinical clerkships. I still remember using the Apple Newton during medical school. The Newton was killed by Apple in 1998 and that was a very sad moment for me.

Are You Excited about the Kindle DX?

I'm a big fan of being "green" and paperless whenever possible. We should be thinking about our environment. I read all my documents electronically. I take notes by "inking" on my tablet PC.

So, am I excited about the new Amazon Kindle DX? This thing is going to have a much larger screen. 9.7" to be exact. However, I'm willing to bet that it's also going to be priced quite high.

I love the concept of an e-book reader, but I think that the ones made by Amazon, Sony, and others are simply too expensive. If the price could come down significantly, then I think we would see a huge uptake (especially when you have celebrities like Oprah giving their endorsements).

Jumbo Amazon Kindle?

Rumors and floating around. Will we see a jumbo version of the Amazon Kindle? I'm still waiting for the color version.

Ordered Some N95 Masks Today

Yes, I ordered some N95 face masks from Amazon.com for my relatives who live in Houston, Texas. They're all worried about swine flu and I can understand their concern. They should probably also stock up on hand soap and antibacterial wipes and gels.

Swine flu is getting very serious and even Obama is urging schools to close their doors if they suspect any illness (what type of school never has a sick child in attendance?). What will happen to summer travel? The US economy is struggling as it is and if travel is restricted or limited, then some business will not be able to survive.

I Want the Amazon Kindle 2

I love gadgets. The Amazon Kindle 2 looks like a really nice gadget for those who enjoy reading. It's so nice to have an illuminated screen so that you don't have to deal with shadows on the page. Also, it's so thin and light. No pages flapping around in the wind. It just seems like a great e-book. Now if only the price could be reduced...

I think healthcare providers will eventually rely on e-books and tablets more and more. As health information gets published online, paper textbooks will become so obsolete that they will end up in museums and archive rooms. As e-book readers and other formats gain popularity, we will see a huge increase in demand and a significant reduction in price. Sony's Digital Book and Amazon's Kindle 2 are both really nice, but they are still niche devices for those who can afford to spend a few hundred dollars on a luxury gadget.

Amazon Kindle 2 or Sony Reader Digital Book

There have been some tremendous advances in these digital books. Although they still have grayscale screens, they are becoming increasingly popular. Built-in Wi-Fi, 3G, touch screen, illuminated screen, MP3 player, photo book. All these features remind me of my old Apple Newton Messagepad. That thing was a great little device.

The biggest advantage of a grayscale screen is that you save considerably on battery life. However, everyone is predicting that these e-book readers will eventually get color screens. Then, the line between a tablet, a MID, and an e-book reader will get seroiously blurred.