måndag 17 december 2012

Gun Control

When I was 20 years old I didn't know how or where to even begin trying to get a gun. For Adam Lanza he probably just went into the living room, opened a cabinet, took out a few guns he liked.

I still don't know where to get a gun and I'm almost 35. I think I need a hunting license or maybe a sports shooting license.

The point is, I'm not interested in guns. And no one around me are interested in guns. But Adam Lanza's mother collected them, she must have liked them. Adam must have grown up in a home where guns where normal day to day business. I wonder what his mother did with all her guns. Defend her home?

It's impossible to understand how someone can do what the shooter in Connecticut did. I cry inside and I think about the grief that must be so hard on the families of the dead children. There are no words to make it better. The world has changed to a worse place for all of the families and for all of us. I hope they get the support they need.

Guns should be banned for all other reasons than hunting. No collecting, no defending homes, no sports shooting, nothing except hunting game. And all wanting the hunters license should have to go courses, get a background check. And no one should be allowed more than one hunting rifle at home.

As you understand. Yes I blame the guns. I also blame the gun collecting mother.

I read in the comments on CNN's coverage of the shooting that if someone really wanted to kill those children he could use swords to do it. And that's why we couldn't blame guns. Pfff I still blame guns.

Someone else said that they should arm school staff. Yea right. Very Bad Idea.

The USA have to work actively and with a long perspective on lowering the perceived need of guns in the home. It's not about freedom, it's about saving innocent children's lives.

onsdag 12 december 2012

Waiting Times at Södersjukhuset

These are the waiting times at my local hospital. I think it is unacceptable. Luckily I'm feeling a-ok.
The regular ER has 4h33m, Children's ER 2:15 and Ob/Gyn 2:40.

Väntetider Södersjukhuset Akuten
To Wait Always

I haven't done any ER-clincal rotations yet and I am looking forward to it. But 4 and a half hours! Come on. I think that is the standard wait in the evenings though :(

There must be something that can be done to avoid this!

I found an american software company that has developed a platform that lets people pre-register and check which Emergency Center has the shortest line. It's called Inquicker (their website here).

The general idea is that the patient can pre-register and choose the ER with the best availability. This saves a lot of time according to themselves at least. It seems to be a really good idea. Wonder if it can be implemented in Sweden?


tisdag 11 december 2012

To Wait and Suffer - ER Waiting Room.

I read this interesting report from ACEP, American College of Emergency Physicians, about over crowding of the Emergency Rooms and what harm it does. The report has number of good ideas on how to reduce crowding in the ER.

We know we almost always have to wait in the ER, but more importantly, why do we have to wait so uncomfortably?

Why not make the wait as tolerable as possible. Put a video game or two up in the room, for the kids (and grown up kids!) to pass the time. Invite a caterer to sell healthy foods so people aren't forced to have candy from the vendor machine. Maybe some silent area and one with TV/Music. Hire someone to make sure that waiting room is clean and safe and that can answer simple questions like... how long is the line, where is the bathroom, can I get a taxi, and such. And why not a giant wooden RAT to keep the kids happy? :)

My Son at Lill-Skansen



måndag 10 december 2012

There was Much Rejoicing - My is Son Eating

My kid took a huge step yesterday in regards of being able to eat by himself. If I put a loaded fork in his hand he ate almost everything that I put on it. Meatballs were the favorite.

It should be mentioned that he has hardly eaten anything besides gruel the last six weeks. So there was much celebration: yey!

My son has always been interested in putting things in his mouth. His favorite thing being dirt. But when it comes to food, there isn't much that will pass that two-toothed gate of a mouth. But this weekend might be a turning point?! Finally he can eat...sort of. 



I guess there is an evolutionary advantage with eating with caution. Make it sweet enough though, like gruel, that caution is out the window. 





lördag 8 december 2012

Professor Cuddles and Dr Scare

In my first semester in med school we took cell biology and biochemistry. The two different courses were run by two different faculties and two very different teachers. There was Professor Cuddles during cell biology and there was Dr Scare during biochem. Needless two say they were quite different and had quite different views on how to teach their subject.

When we were getting closer to one of the exams Professor Cuddles told us that if we were feeling nervous, to just come up to the department and have some coffee. So we could talk about it. Being to nervous "was not good for your tummy" as he put it. Gotto love it :).

On the other hand we had Dr Scare who after every time someone asked a question said: "ok, lets do this ONE. MORE. TIME." Haha. quite funny, but he also said that he was concerned about the performance of this class and that we needed to shape up. And shape up fast!

It's like they were from different worlds. But they both had the responsibility of teaching first semester medical students. Guess they did the good teacher - bad teacher routine?

I definitely prefer Professor Cuddles anytime :) Who doesn't?

tisdag 4 december 2012

Hyper focused Ultra Sound!

Uterine Fibroids are quite common in women. Would be in men as well if they had an uterus... hehe. They are lumps of muscle that often grow during pregnancy. They are not bad for you unless they grow to big and/or grow in a bad place. Then they can cause infertility among other symtoms.

A very cool way of removing (or at least shrinking significantly) is the use of focused ultrasound guided by Magnet camera (MRi). No operation required! So there is no need to cut the stomach open and being operated on. Recovery time from abdominal surgery is quite long and there are operative injuries as well.

To "operate" without opening the abdomen is truly Sci-Fi :)

Here is a video with some facts and figures on uterine fibroids. It's 10 minutes of statistics basically... but interesting in the beginning.

Vimeo Video on Fibroids

Here is a promovideo from InSightec a company making one of the machines. It IS cool that there seems to be even more applications than blasting away uterine fibroids. Breast lumps, prostate cancer and even brain tumors.


And I can't help but to think of the Sonic Tanks that you could build in the awesome game I mentioned last post, Dune II! I found this nice image from the German version of the game.







måndag 3 december 2012

Dune and Dermatology

I just finished reading The Children of Dune by Frank Herbert. It's the third part of the epic Dune saga of five novels. I swear it is THE best science fiction ever written. There are also a number of prequels, sequels and interquels (new word for me!). I can definitely recommend reading the first five! Haven't got around to reading the new ones yet.





And low and behold there are aslo a few games based on the universe of which I have played Dune II. On of the first real-time strategy games similar to Command and Conquer or Warcraft I and II. 

Anywho, what does this have to do with dermatology then? In the end of Children of Dune, Leto II, lets himself be covered in a leach like type of organism. They go all symbiotic on him and he ends up protected against the harsh desert, resistant to injuries and super strong :). So he get's like an extra skin/exoskeleton. Simple and clean, well not sure about the clean part.

Scientist have had trouble replicating our cool skin. I mean it protects us against heat, cold, dehydration, bacteria and mechanical injury and can heal by itself, which is in itself pretty sci fi. And not to forget it gives us the great sense of touch. If we could make new skin, imagine the benefits for all burn and trauma victims.

So, some scientists have come up with a fake-skin/polymer that is able to heal itself in matter of seconds, like Wolverine or assorted vampires can do. But opposed to our real skin the fake also conducts electricity very well, making it possible to use it to interface with electronic devices. Pretty cool. It could also register touch, which means that it could be used in prosthetics. 

You can read more here: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/november/healing-plastic-skin-111112.html


- Thomas

lördag 1 december 2012

10 Health Benefits of Playing Video Games

A friend sent me this link and this video really makes sense. Never felt as good being into games as after I watched this :). No wonder I have such an easy time in med school... just kidding. It's kinda hard still hehe.



One interesting fact to have in mind though is that different games have different benefits. At the end of the day, playing Civilization is quite different from playing say Lego Star Wars on Nintendo DS.

fredag 30 november 2012

Isla Calma - Virtual Reality at the Dentist




I read an abstract on this virtual reality application called Isla Calma. The idea is to let patients play a 3D-game while being subject to unpleasant procedures like biopsies, dentist work and such. According to the developers it can also be used to treat anxiety and stress. They did some research which showed that people like to play the game while at the dentist. It made them think less of the pain or fear involved with the visit! I definitely like the idea!
At the moment it only seems to be available in Spain at certain dentists. SO if you want to try it you need to go to the dentist... in Spain, which in itself is also quite nice :)
http://www.islacalma.com/index.html


torsdag 29 november 2012

World of Warcaft - healing

I used to be a real WoW-head. Raided three nights a week, quested the rest of the nights. It was so fun. But, you can't have fun all the time can you? I quit playing a while back and I miss it dearly sometimes. It was such a nice world. Controllable (apart from the occasional guild drama), bright colors and nice music... the list goes on.

My main character was a paladin, Hermes. A warrior/healer. Clad in shiny armor. Really cool :). I don't know why this is the only screen shot of him I still have.



So my job during the raids was healing. Make those hands shine bright and heal away. Keep the tanks alive! Boy oh boy I remember those nights.

Healing and then starting med school. It came naturally I guess :).

In WoW you're not treating psoriasis or appendicitis, just low HP. Simple as that. I miss it, but I'm looking forward to healing in reality as well. My hands are gonna shine all over the hospital xD.

onsdag 28 november 2012

The Joys of Parenthood

Me when I manage to carry my 13- month old kid to his bed without him waking.

tisdag 27 november 2012

Star Trek - Wouldn´t You Love To Work in Sickbay?

"Prometheus Class Sickbay" 

Imagine working in this room :). It would be awesome! I have a plan to open my own Science Fiction-themed clinic later. How about that?

It's interesting how much info there is on Star Trek. There is a detailed account on what types of Sickbays there are, who was treated there and why. There are also lists of technologies used and how they work :) gotto love it.

"Constitution Class Sickbay"

"Defiant Class Sickbay!

Which of the Sickbays would you prefer to work at, or be a patient at even?!

Which of the Sickbays do you prefer?






måndag 26 november 2012

Fold It a Biochemistry Game

Fold it right!
Here is "classic" science game. It's been out a few years and it still seems to be going strong. The idea is to fold proteins. It's not as easy as it sounds. You can't do everything you like with the poor amino acids. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties need to respected for instance. So if you're into biochemistry, or even better, if you're not, here's the game for you!

It's not really a game for learning the biochemistry course in med school, but it might help you build som appreciation for what biosciences can do. I'm gonna install it again soon and try it out some more.

http://fold.it/portal


söndag 25 november 2012

Nobelprize Site has Blood Typing Game and More

After a simple search I found the Blood Typing Game on the Nobel website. Yey! Just what I needed. They have quite a few other games. Very simple. Some are way too simple, but I love that they are trying. The Blood Typing Game looks quite new and has some nice sounds to it.



You can find more games at: http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/


lördag 24 november 2012

Games for Health

Found this pretty cool journal when googling after games to help me in med school. It's called Games for Health Journal and is a scientific journal about well... games for health :). Now I'm not in to reading articles that much yet, but playing computer games is definitely fun. So maybe this is the key for combining business and pleasure for me in the future?

Classy frontpage.
What I really like are games to practice medical concepts and skills. The market seems to be very sparse on that part. I did find a game from 1988 or something called Life and Death. I found this awesome video of an appendectomy from the game! I want this game for Mac! It's only available on old dos emulators :(.


fredag 23 november 2012

Dr. Najeeb

A little tear almost ran down my cheek when I discovered this man. He was the answer to all my troubles. He could teach me all I would need to know for class. I'm talking about firm, but fair, with a lovely Indian accent, the impressive Dr. Najeeb!

www.drnajeeblectures.com
I immediately bought a 6 month subscription for a horrendous amount of money. I started watching eagerly taking notes diligently. After a while taking notes patiently. Then no notes. Then fast forward...I didn't have time for this! He was going to slow. Covering everything in too much detail. Med School isn't built that way. We are supposed to know a lot, but the emphasize is on superficial knowledge. Don't get me wrong some things really have to be understood, and for that Dr. Najeeb is an excellent help, but most of it is just about cramming in different facts. Filling a sausage as we say in Sweden... 

All in all I enjoyed my acquaintance with Dr. Najeeb. But with school moving forward in a much faster pace than him, his lectures were of limited use for me. Although I just loved his portrayal of the complement system seen here below. Thank you for that Dr. Najeeb!


torsdag 22 november 2012

1 post

School starts in two months time. My son is in kindergarten part-time. So, what to do? Start a blog of course! I've decided to write in English so more people can read it and also so that I can practice, practicing medicine in English :). So, I am starting year three and clinical rotations will start for real. I'm looking forward to it!


This is me after a pharmacology lab


Big question now... should I give myself and Ipad mini for Christmas? One part of me is trying to say that: Hey, you'll do even better in school with one. Another part of me says: Just go to class and take notes with a pen, stop trying to avoid studying by bringing a toy to class. Ha. We'll see. Today's hot link: My awesome page with medical links: Medstud - Help is out there