Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Don't Fear the Future of Medicine - source medscpae.com




Dr Harrington: Hi. This is Bob Harrington from Stanford University. Over the course of the past year I have had the pleasure and the opportunity to interview several authors in the medical space, largely physicians who have something interesting to say about the contemporary state of medicine, healthcare, and research. Today we are going to try to wrap all of that into one discussion.
I have the pleasure today of interviewing my friend and colleague, Eric Topol. We are going to talk about Eric's new book, The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine Is in Your Hands.
What struck me, as I read this book, is the possibility of delivering not just a different type of healthcare but a better type of healthcare, largely facilitated through two strategies, one of which is smartphone technology, which we will talk about with Eric; the second is the use of analytic tools to turn the data, collected through a variety of mechanisms, into useful information...........

The source to the full interview
Link

Is there a difference between "street medicine" and "book medicine"? By EMS1.com


EMS stands for Emergency Medical System

Holding up the BVM, I launched into my instruction about good BVM technique.  “Nobody in medicine should be able to hold a candle to an EMT on proper BVM technique! Since we have fewer tools than anyone else, we should be the masters of these tools.”

And with that I began to demonstrate perfect BVM technique.
After watching my E-C hand technique, a student from the third row raised a confident hand. He was a volunteer for a local fire department and had seen the BVM used in the field a few times. He wanted to set the record straight on my insistence on good head position and a tight mask seal. I could see he was trying to reconcile the difference between the technique I was demonstrating and what he had witnessed in the field......................

Source to the full  story
Link 

Acronyms :

BVM: Blood Volume Monitor  
EMT: Emergency Medical Technician

For a Therapist in Afghanistan, Empathy Is Good Medicine story in the New Work Times

KHAMZARGAR, Afghanistan — As one of only five female therapists in the northeastern Afghan province of Kapisa, Farkhunda Shahab struggles to soothe the anguished.
With her baby daughter perched on her lap, Ms. Shahab listened to the problems of women facing abusive husbands and economic hardship, or of young girls mourning a father long after his death.

With little formal training, women like Ms. Shahab have nonetheless become the front line in trying to improve mental health care in this part of Kapisa, a rural area marked by war, first between Afghan insurgents and Soviet occupiers, and later between the Taliban and the government they toppled.
Ms. Shahab cares for dozens of patients, many of whom must endure long journeys to see her. She does not dispense medication; instead, she listens to their complaints, asks questions, leads them in meditation exercises and offers advice on ways to change their habits in life to feel better...............

 Source The New Work Times
Link to full story