The Weekly Wrap: July 11th-18th, 2008

All bloggers stand on the shoulders of giants. Here are some of the shoulders I've been climbing up lately:

A number of bloggers captured the heart of medicine, which is so often lost in the business and politics of the profession. For example:

• Dr. Val's story of a follow-up conversation with her childhood pediatrician.
• Dr. David writing about living with the physical transformations of cancer.

I've been enjoying the ongoing debate about long-tail diagnoses in medicine. Here's a few choice contributions:

• Medrants: The Long Tail: Implications for Quality
• Medrants: The Long Tail Zone--When Do I Enter It?
• Medrants: More Thoughts on the Long Tail
• Dr. Happy: Every Patient is a Long Tail, You Just Have to Look For It
• Medrants: Is Every Patient a Long Tail Patient?

A number of doctors remind us that life is not easy on the front lines of medicine. To whit:

• Bongi's story of a captive patient's break for freedom.
• Some good advice about motorcycle safety from Shadowfax.
• Another pain scoring protocol, this one from Scalpel or Sword?

Then there are the latest frustrations from America's hospitals, including

• Buckeye Surgeon's self-terminating antibiotic orders
• ER Stories' discussion of the impact of clinics closing to new patients on ER care everywhere.
• Process improvement from BIDMC after wrong-side surgery. Let us all learn from never events.
• Dr. Wes discussing the pitfalls of promoting unproven technologies to patients.

Thank goodness for bloggers who write clinical reviews for the ignorant among us:

• Ramona at Suture for a Living is up to her usual scholarship this week, and we all benefit. She has written about tissue transfer and complications of liposuction.

Patients who do things that actively damage their health frustrate all physicians. Dr. Happy and Dr. Rob address this problem in their own unique ways. Shadowfax gives us another case of the phenomenon to consider.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Comments

[rlbates]

You are so kind. Thanks

[Dr. Val]

Thanks for the link. Great round up! :)