Labor Day Weekend

Not having to work on the weekend. What a concept! I fully took advantage by being a slacker and started by day by sleeping in (Ah, yes!). When I finally rolled out of bed, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was opening day for the Ohio State Buckeyes (Go Bucks!) and caught the first part of the football game.

Then, actually went out of the place for a little while. For those of you who follow me on twitter, you know the places that I went today, because like a good little social networker, I checked in where I was at. It was kind of funny, too, because I was getting requests for some "personal shopping" at each of the stores I visited. Gotta love the power of interactive twitter.

After picking up some take out (Wings from my favorite place, yum!), I went home and turned on the webcam and went live on my ustream channel for what seemed like a few minutes. But, it was actually ended up being a few hours. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat. I played some music and talked with people. Great time! And, now, I'm settling in and getting ready for The Annie & Burl show - one of my fave blogtalkradio shows. Hope you're having a great weekend so far! (Don't forget to check out the video above as well)

Six Until Me on Video

On this holiday weekend, I've been catching up on my blog posts. I was happy to learn that another medblogger out there is trying video posting. Above, you'll find Kerri Morrone Sparling from the blog Six Until Me. In her post above, she talks about what it's like to have a low blood sugar. You can check out her other video posts here.

What I enjoy about video is that it brings an entirely new dimension to the blogger who you only knew in the past with the written word. Plus, usually with video, it's usually a "one take" situation where you see less editing verses a blog post - which I think is a good thing because you see a little more into the personality of the person as opposed to an edited blog post. (That was a really long rambling on sentence, wasn't it).

Great job Kerri! I'm looking forward to more video posts (Aren't they fun? And, BTW, thanks again for listening live to my one year anniversary show this week!). And, I want to encourage all of my friends out there in new media medicine to check out and try out video posting in addition to your text blogging. Of course, I prefer Viddler as the video posting platform I use, but there are other choices out there as well to try out. Happy Vlogging!

Show 46 Wrap-up

The one year anniversary show, otherwise known as Doctor Anonymous Show 46 (don't forget to rate the show), was a huge success. (See video post above) Even before the show, I had a little pre show over on my ustream site. Thanks to the dozen or show people who showed up for that. We had a great discussion even before the show started.

As far as the show itself, a good time was had by all. Thanks to all those who called into the show including RockDog, MarQ, Carrie, MJ RN, Annie & Burl, and finally Enrico called into save me from myself. The show went a little too long. Maybe I should shift back to a 60 minute show in the future.

During the show I shared a little about the origins of The Doctor Anonymous franchise including the blog, the show, the video blogs, and other stuff. I also tried a bit called "Ask Doctor Anonymous," which didn't work out how I thought and that idea will be tossed away. Finally, I covered some news stories and the closed up the show.

But, the evening was not done. I even had a post show back over on the ustream site. And, we had a good crowd over there as well. As I ended the show, a certain presidential nominee was taking the stage, so that was good timing to close up the show because I know a lot of people wanted to see that speech live.

So, thanks again for all of you out there who listen to the show live or on the archive, those of you who stop by and read the blog, and to those of you who I consider my blog friends out there. Without you, this blog and this show would not be around. As far as me, I plan to continue this as long as it is fun for me. And, that could be a long while. Have a great weekend everybody!

Dr. A Show Tonight!

Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time

Join us tonight for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 46. We are celebrating one year of the show! Can you believe it? I know that I can't. We'll be looking back at the past 12 months and looking forward to the future.

I'm also going to try two new things on the show tonight. First, I've been trying to find a way to share some of the news stories I read during the week and talk about on the show. I've seen other show utilize the delicious site for social bookmarking. So, there's a Dr. A Show Delicious Site where I have gathered some new stories. So, check that out. Secondly, I'm going to try a segment called "Ask Doctor Anonymous." What is that going to be about? Well, you'll just have to tune in to find out.

If you do listen live, you can even take part in the chat room. It is truly "The show within the show." You can even call in and say hello. A great opportunity to interact with medbloggers you've only read about. And, you will be able to see me on the live webcam during the show! See you tonight!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.

*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the "Chat Available" button in the upper right hand corner of the page. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room.

*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. For this show, I'll be taking calls for the entire hour! There is also a "Click To Talk" feature where you do not need a phone to call into the show - only a microphone headset. Hope these tips are helpful!

The One Year Anniversary Show

I cannot believe that a year has gone by since Show number one. Listening back to that show, the technical difficulties plagued those early shows. But, soon after, I really started to find my way as far as being a show host. Now, it's just a great time.

I'd like to invite all of you to The Doctor Anonymous Show number 46 which will be Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time. It will be the One Year Anniversary Show (see video post above). There are no scheduled guests, so I will be taking your phone calls for the entire show. Stop by and say hello!

As always, we'll have our live/interactive chat room and we'll have the web cam going so all of you can see my shining face. I'm also going to be starting a new segment called "Ask Doctor Anonymous." That should be interesting. What are the rules of that? Well, you'll just have to tune into the show to find out. Hope to see you Thursday night!

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds 4.49 is now up and running over at Rural Doctoring. (If you haven't already, catch RD's appearance on Doctor Anonymous Show 42). She has a Shakespearean Grand Rounds this week. And, if you can believe it, I actually wrote something for GR this week and it was actually accepted. Thanks for including my post this week!

Even if the body is beginning to feel the wear and tear of the fifth age, our Shakespearean justice has nothing to fear. Doctor Anonymous shares news of innovative health care interventions currently in trials in South Africa.

If you don't know what Grand Rounds is, it is a weekly compilation of the best posts from the medical blogosphere that moves to different sites each week. And, who doesn't like reading about medicine and science? Next week, Grand Rounds moves to the blog of Laurie Edwards called A Chronic Dose.

Show 45 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to Ramona for being on the Show 45 tonight! (Don't forget to rate the show on the BlogTalkRadio site) I really appreciate it! I encourage everyone to check out her blog Suture For A Living. You could tell from her voice in the beginning that she was very nervous. But, as the interview progressed, she really hit her stride talking about how she chose medicine as a career, and surgery and a specialty, and plastic surgery as a sub-specialty. (See video post above)

Her blog not only talks about surgery and medicine, it talks about her favorite hobby which is quilting. I admit that I know nothing about quilting, but I know that Ramona would be happy to teach me and anyone else who is interested - she's great like that! She had a great post on Thursday talking about Women in Surgery. I encourage you to check that out as well.

Thanks also to those who called in to say hello including Dr Val, Rural Doctoring, Enrico, and Mary. The last 20 minutes of the show was really cool in that we had six people on the call at the same time - two of which were outside the United States. Thanks to Vijay for calling in live from India and thanks to Bongi for calling in at 4am his time in South Africa. This is truly an international show and tonight we proved that!

After tonight's show, I did a short post show session on my Ustream channel. We had a great time over there as well. I even recorded part of that session. You can check it out here. You can also check out the video below.

Finally, I just checked out the numbers and tonight we had the highest number of live listeners in a while for the blogtalkradio show. And, even a good number of people for the post show. And, that's thanks to all of you. Next week, that's right, it's the one year anniversary of The Doctor Anonymous Show. Who knows what will happen and who will call in? Sheesh!

Live video chat by Ustream

Kevin MD: USA Today Op-Ed

Kevin Pho from the Kevin MD blog is one of the leading voices in new media medicine. He's also a friend of the blog and of the show. (Check out Kevin's appearances on Dr A Show 20 and Dr A Show 32). On a more regular basis now, Kevin writes op-ed pieces for newspapers.

His latest op-ed piece is in today's USA Today website and is entitled, "Doctors' pay cuts save little in health costs."

"Why should I care if doctors get a pay cut?" my patient recently asked me. Therein lies the delicate dilemma physicians face today. While the common perception is that the medical profession is well-compensated, there are serious implications in targeting physician pay to control medical spending.

The piece goes on to explain why targeting physician payment costs are a fallacy in trying to decrease health care spending in the United States. And, of course, going after the physician is a popular notion when you have entities like popular culture, the malpractice attorneys, the insurance companies, and anyone else going after physicians. But, here is the key statistic.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, there are more significant drivers of health costs, including new prescription drugs, technology and administrative needs. Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt estimates that physicians' take-home pay represents roughly 10% of national health care spending. Cutting physician pay by 20% would only reduce spending by 2%.

Great job Kevin with this op-ed. I'm not gifted enough nor do I have the talent or the patience to write strong opinion pieces like this one on policy and financial issues like this one. I know that I will be referencing this piece when talking to some of my patients today. Thanks Kevin for being one of the voices out there for us bloggers out here!

Dr. A Show 45: Ramona Bates

Thursday, August 21th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time

Join us tonight for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 45. Our guest will be Dr. Ramona Bates from the blog Suture For A Living.

If you do listen live, you can even take part in the chat room. It is truly "The show within the show." You can even call in and say hello. A great opportunity to interact with medbloggers you've only read about. And, you will be able to see me on the live webcam during the show! See you tonight!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.

*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the "Chat Available" button in the upper right hand corner of the page. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room.

*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. I'll be taking calls beginning at around the bottom of the hour. There is also a "Click To Talk" feature where you do not need a phone to call into the show - only a microphone headset. Hope these tips are helpful!

The Ramona Bates Interview

The Doctor Anonymous Show is proud to welcome Dr. Ramona Bates from the Suture For A Living blog on show 45 on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time. She is a surgeon working in Little Rock, Arkansas and her blog is a mix of medicine and her favorite hobby which is quilting.

Ramona has been a long time friend of the show and supporter of my blog. And, for that, I am very grateful. In her most recent blog post, you can sense some nervousness.....

And last, but not least for this week's Shout Outs is the Dr Anonymous' Blog Talk Radio show. I am this week's guest. It is Thursday night! I'm counting on all the help I can get from "my friends". The show starts at 8 pm CST (or 1 am GMT). I hope you will join us. So I'll leave you with this from Joe Cocker.

Am I that mean of a host? hehe Just kidding. I know a lot of Ramona's friends visit this blog. So, if you can, stop by for Show 45 and say hello. We're going to have a great time talking about medicine, blogging, new media, social networking, and anything else that comes to mind. Also, check out the video post above!

Patients Get Stripper Therapy

Yes, you read that right. That is the title of an article posted on a South African news site. And, the story is actually from London. Curious, but I did not see this story anywhere in BBC News. Oh well. Anyway...

The nursing staff of patients with the neurological disorder called Huntington's Disease treated four British men to lap dances at Divas Gentlemen's Club in Newquay, Cornwall, in south-west England. Quoting from the article, "Their hosts included an entertainer with pink hair and a former topless model."

"The girls were very nice - we all had a lap dance individually. I'd like to go again," one of the patients, Stephen Pitt, 54, was quoted as saying. The report also mentioned an earlier case in which a 90-year-old woman at another care home in Cornwall was served fish and chips by a waiter in a thong.

Now, I'll never, ever say this again. But, if this is what socialized medicine looks like? Well, sign me up and bring in the ladies!

Open Letter

Dear medpiano,

I know that you're out there somewhere reading this. I see that you haven't sent out a Twitter in over a week, and we're worried about you. I know that you're going through a tough time right now. And, I just wanted to let you know that your friends are out here to help in any way that we can. We miss you and hope that you come back soon.

Dr. A

Update: About an hour after this was posted, an appearance was made on Twitter. "Have decided to crawl out of my hole--wow, the lights are bright out here. I have no idea how to catch up, but here I am. 1 minute ago from web" Welcome back!

Chew Gum And Pass Gas

Yes, that's right! This is a headline at BBC News. Well, actually not. The article is entitled "Chewing Gum Aids Bowel Recovery." Here's the deal. When anyone has surgery of their bowel, the normal course is to wait until the bowel starts working again. Which can take a few hours to a few days - there is no real way to predict.

What this study showed is that those patients who chewed gum started their bowels moving sooner than those who did not chew gum. Why is that important? Well, it will decrease recovery time and potentially decrease the number of days in the hospital. And, we all want that, right?

Now, I have to admit something to all of you. When I first glanced at this story, I first thought, "How can chewing and swallowing the gum help following bowel surgery?" Didn't you have that thought as well? No? Ok, well it kind of sounded funny when I wrote it. I guess that's what happens when one doesn't edit. Did I also tell you that I'm trying to get back to writing blog posts? I know, I'll keep working on it.

Weekend Update

I know that it's Monday morning as I write/post this, but I couldn't think of another title for the post. Anyway, this was the first weekend that I had absolutely nothing scheduled. Can you believe that? Probably for the entire summer, I've had something on the calendar whether it be related to Boards, Podcamp Ohio, meetings, soccer, etc. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to do all that stuff - except maybe for Boards. It was just great not to do anything for an entire weekend.

Other than Twitter, I was completely unplugged from the internet (kind of). I was considering actually writing a blog post or two. But, that didn't happen. I've been a slacker when it comes to writing blog posts lately - especially when it comes to submitting something for Grand Rounds. I've been in a GR slump for the past few months and I really want to get back and start writing again - it's just tough.

Other than watching a bunch of olympics coverage, I really didn't do much other than catch up on things to do around the place - which I have been neglecting for a while now. And, of course, got a lot of sleep. It's really a wonder how good you feel after getting adequate sleep - I should do that more often.

Anyway, this is an attempt at trying to get back to writing blog posts again. I've said this before. It's tough when life/work gets in the way of blog writing and other new media stuff. Of course, nothing gets in the way of twitter! BTW, do you like the new twitter counter button in the sidebar? Kind of cool, huh?

Show 44 Wrap-up

Great discussion tonight about New Media Expo and Podcamp Ohio. The intersection between medicine and new media always fascinates me. And, this show was more the latter. One of the reasons for that is I'm very excited about the Podcamp Ohio project that I'm involved with. I agreed to host one show a month until Podcamp Ohio next summer. Check out Dr. A Show 44 here. You can even download the show here (don't forget to rate the show!)

It's always great re-connecting with the people that I met at Podcamp Ohio. Thanks to Brandice, Mitch (he and his wife just had a baby), Angelo (he announced on the show that he and his wife are expecting and due early next year), and Daniel for calling into the show. We even had a someone call in to ask about how to start a podcast. Great stuff!

In the last part of the show, I talk about the blog post I read this week from Emergiblog. In it she talk about a possible opportunity to have a panel of medbloggers at the BlogWorld event next month in Las Vegas. I'm so bummed that I cannot attend this event. However, I really hope this happens and that there is a medblog panel next month.

Hopefully, this will lead to a full-blown medblogger track at next year's BlogWorld and possibly medblog topics at other new media events. I've been toying with the idea of doing a medical related session at Podcamp Ohio 2009, but still undecided.

Following the show, I had a little after show party over at ustream. I even recorded part of it. Check it out over here. Thanks again for everyone who joined the show live or on the archives. Have a great weekend! (See video post above)

Dr. A Show Tonight!

Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time

Join us tonight for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 44. This will be a more tech and new media related show tonight as opposed to medicine. We will be having reports from New Media Expo in Las Vegas. Scheduled to be on the show are a couple of friends from Podcamp Ohio - Angelo and Brandice. We'll also talk about some ideas for Podcamp Ohio 2009.

If you do listen live, you can even take part in the chat room. It is truly "The show within the show." You can even call in and say hello. A great opportunity to interact with medbloggers you've only read about. And, you will be able to see me on the live webcam during the show! See you tonight!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.

*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the "Chat Available" button in the upper right hand corner of the page. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room.

*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. I'll be taking calls beginning at around the bottom of the hour. There is also a "Click To Talk" feature where you do not need a phone to call into the show - only a microphone headset. Hope these tips are helpful!

Show 44 Preview

The Doctor Anonymous Show is going tech this week with a report from the New Media Expo in Las Vegas. From my understanding, this used to be called "podcast expo," but then the name was changed to reflect the constantly changing state of new media. Man, I really wish that I could be there this weekend.

Our scheduled guests on the show this week will be calling in from Las Vegas to give us the New Media Expo report. Angelo Mandato from the Blubrry podcast network (and lead organizer from Podcamp Ohio) will be joining us. In addition, Brandice Schnabel from Viddler video posting site will also be giving us the scoop from LV. We'll also be talking about initial plans and ideas for Podcamp Ohio 2009.

So, this will be more new media focused this week as opposed to medicine focused. I hope that you will still be able to join us Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time. Hang out in the chat room, call into the show, and even see my shining face on the live web cam. Hope to see you for the show! (Also check out the video post above)

Show 43 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to Dr. Alan Dappen from Doctokr Family Medicine for joining us on Show number 43 this evening. Thanks also to Dr. Dappen for being flexible in his schedule for allowing me to push back the interview an hour. I really appreciate it. See video post above.

After we talked about his training and travel (did you know that he and his wife were in Kenya for a short period of time?), we talked about his journey through the broken health care system that we have now. During this time, he did a study which confirmed his hypothesis that talking with patients (what we call "taking a history"), basically gives you the diagnosis, without sometimes needing to examine the patient or ordering tests. However, with the physician payment system as it stands right now, patients must come into the office for the traditional office visit which includes taking a history, physical exam, and testing, if needed.

We then talked about how he put together the business model that he practices right now. So, if I want to me a new patient, I would contact Dr. Dappen for an initial traditional office visit. Following this, you would be set up for a price structure to deliver the 24/7 availability. He does accept insurances - sort of. You pay him a fee, even if you pay for a insurance card for the availability.

Thanks also to Dr. Val for calling into the show and asking some questions of her own. Following the show this evening, I had an "after show" party on my UStream channel. We had a bunch of people go from the show over to the after show and we were there for another hour. I'm always humbled by the thought that people would spend two hours of their time to hang out with me. I really appreciate it and I really appreciate the community that has been built by the show. I'm on call this weekend, but I'll be around on Twitter and may even try another ustream "party," so stay tuned. Have a great weekend!

Dr. A Show 43: Alan Dappen

Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 10pm Eastern Time 

(Please note the time change)

Join us tonight for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 43. Our guest will be Dr. Alan Dappen from Doctokr Family Medicine in Virginia. He practices a model of medicine which has been called "concierge medicine" or "retainer medicine." Check out previous posts for more a description of this. Also, see the video post above.

If you do listen live, you can even take part in the chat room. It is truly "The show within the show." You can even call in and say hello. A great opportunity to interact with medbloggers you've only read about. And, you will be able to see me on the live webcam during the show! See you tonight!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.

*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the "Chat Available" button in the upper right hand corner of the page. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room.

*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. I'll be taking calls beginning at around the bottom of the hour. There is also a "Click To Talk" feature where you do not need a phone to call into the show - only a microphone headset. Hope these tips are helpful!

Time Change for Show 43

Dontcha hate when real life gets in the way of new media life? Sheesh! Anyway, just this morning, I was informed of an "urgent" meeting that I have to be at tomorrow night. Don't worry, I'm not going to have to cancel the show. Dr. Dappen graciously agreed to move the interview back from the original time.

So, Show 43 will now be at 10pm Eastern Time on August 7, 2008 on Blog Talk Radio. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause, and I hope that you're still able to join the show!

Beijing Olympic Smog

Ok, so I admit that I didn't know that the olympics were opening this weekend. I'm not a big olympic fan, and it really doesn't interest me that much. However, I saw this picture which is apparently a US Olympic cyclist who showed up at the airport with a mask - with concern about the city smog.

When I did further research on this, I found the picture below, which, if accurate, really shows the air pollution problem at the olympic site. If this is really the case, then the health part of this story got a little more interesting for me, and may warrant more reading and exploration....

Concierge Medicine on Dr. A Show

These are not my words, but part of the title of a post by Dr. Val Jones from Revolution Health from October 2007. The actual title of the post is called Concierge Medicine For The Masses in which she talks about our guest for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 43 on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time.

Our guest will be Dr. Alan Dappen from Doctokr Family Medicine in Virginia. It's no secret that the American health care system is broken - Duh! This fact has challenged the medicine establishment to become innovative in coming up with ideas to better deliver health care in this country. Among his credentials include being awarded the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year by his chamber of commerce.

In this model, Dr. Dappen is available to his patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via phone, e-mail and in person. You can schedule an office visit or he can make a house call and come to you. He utilizes technology like electronic medical records and internet access to deliver care. He was even interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America.

What's the catch, people ask? Well, the cost of this model of health care mostly comes out of the patient's pocket. Insurance? Dr. Dappen's practice does not submit claims to insurance companies. On the website, patients are given the details on how to submit claims to their own insurance company, thereby decreasing office overhead.

Critics of this model call it concierge medicine elitist and country club medicine. Something that everyone knows is that the current American Health Care Delivery System is on it's way to total collapse - the question is just when. This should be a thought provoking show, so you can't miss it!

More Podcamp Ohio Outtakes

Shout out to Brandice for posting these vids! This is great because you see more of little ol me in these vids rather than the ones that I shot. In the video below, this is the night before Podcamp Ohio when we were a the local Damon's Restaurant. This was kind of weird for me because the night before, I had the Pre-Podcamp Ohio Show. People were coming up to me clearly knowing who I am because I run a live webcam during the show, so at least they knew what I looked like.

In the video, I got to check out Brandice's Flip Ultra - which I had never seen before. And, actually, that really influenced me into eventually getting my Flip Mino cam. And, she made fun of my beer - What's wrong with Mic Ultra? It's great stuff! As far as Brandice, she sampled the strawberry mint lemonade (watch closely the initial facial grimace) and the enormous chocolate dessert. Finally, I think Kirk/Shatner rocks and she does not. That inside joke kept going through Podcamp Ohio.



Not only is there one Brandice Podcamp Ohio video for today, there is another. In this one, I talk about the key to Podcamp Ohio - the front desk registration - Shout out to the front desk! And, I'm a slacker. Plus, another interview with the camera guys. Brandice totally crashed my interview with Kate. So, I gave her my best/worst Kirk impression. Finally a short clip with Mike Genovese.

Conference letdown

Does this happen to you? Almost every time I go to a conference, I have a great time! I experience the great content of the meeting, along with hanging out with friends, and all around - good times. Usually very little sleep during these meetings.

I got up early on Sunday (like 4am) for my flight home. And, you know how tough it is on a travel day - going through airports - and waiting in line - and the overall travel schedule. Not many people can, but I can usually take a nap anywhere - like airplanes. The flight was only a couple of hours long, but with the nap, the flight seemed to go by quickly.

After landing, my travel day is not over yet. I have another hour and a half drive home from the airport. It's kind of funny because the driving time from the airport to home is almost the same time sitting on the plane. Yeesh. And, after getting home, I took a very long nap. And, now, I have to try to prepare for a full work week.

In fact, as I look back across the summer, starting with Podcamp Ohio at the end of June, I've had something to do every weekend - whether it be work or non-work related. I had a couple of soccer weekends, a weekend on call, this past KC weekend, and then I'll be on call this coming weekend again. No wonder why I'm tired. So, sorry for all the whining. I'm just glad to have my home internet connection back - at least for now.

KC Meeting Update

Greetings from Kansas City! I'm at the American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students - Boy, is that a long name! This meeting definitely has a special place in my heart. I've been coming to this meeting off and on for the past 15 years or so - ever since I was a 2nd year medical student.

I know that I have mentioned this on the blog before, but every time I attend a meeting like this - I get re-energized. And, it re-emphasizes to me about the specialty choice that I made. I love explaining what I do to medical students and I love sharing what I do in my day-to-day job with family medicine residents.

I guess that's why I was tapped to be on the panel this morning. There were three others on this panel as well. And, let me tell you, I definitely felt outclassed by these people. These people all has international experience practicing family medicine all across the world. It was fascinating hearing these docs share their stories.

When I first walked into the room, I saw spotlights and I saw a camera in the back of the room. Apparently, they were going to record this session for posterity and probably place it on the Academy website. Right away, my anxiety level went up a little bit. After the panel introduced themselves is where the real fun began.

There were a great variety of questions for the panel which included the following: What do you think of the hospitalist movement that is occurring now, What medical references do you use when taking care of patients, How can students/residents become more involved in health policy development, What would do you differently in your training (if anything), What leadership roles are you involved with?

Then, this question, "What rewarding activities do you find yourself involved in that you hadn't planned?" And, of course, I think that I was selected first to answer. I mentioned on the show this week that I might have an inkling to "come out" as it were and reveal my name. So, to start my answer, I talked in generalities about social networking and medicine new media.

The moment was then upon me. Do I say it, or don't I say it? Even up to the last second, I was going back and forth and analyzing all of the pros and cons of the situation. I asked myself of the the potential ramifications if I went public. And, the possibility of having to stop the blog depending on what happens. What happened? Well, check out the video post below to find out. (I'm bad, aren't I?) I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments below after you watch it.

Show 42 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to Rural Doctoring for being a guest on Show 42 (don't forget to rate the show if you would like). I tried a little bit different intro that I usually do. I learned some stuff from Podcamp Ohio and I'm happy with the opening 5 minutes of the show. I think that I'll continue to say the show number and show title right at the front of the show. And, I'm trying to do the show notes a little different as well.

As I shared during the show, my internet at home went out and I had to do the show from the office. So, from the start of the show, I was kind of thrown off. Theresa came on the show at around the 6 minute mark. And, right out of the gate, I made an iPhone comment - HA!

We talked about our mutual interest and love of Family Medicine and how we chose this field (9:15). In addition, RD talks about her love for maternity care and how she had a love for delivering babies (11:34) Then, an unusual thing happened. Since I was at the office, I had a question and actually had to stop the show for a few minutes to kind of sort out things - that was interesting.

After returning from a musical break at 14:45, she talked about her job at a clinic that had loan repayment - because as we know, those med school debts really accumulate and you have to find some way to pay them down. Following this job, this is when became a hospitalist physician.

What is a hospitalist physician, RD describes at 17:35. It can be confusing for people who never have had this experience before, because, generally, people expect to see their own physician in the hospital. In addition to her role to seeing patients in the hospital, she talks about how she balances her OB on call schedule with her hospitalist on call schedule.

Shifting gears at 21:27, we start talking about her blogging life. I had no idea that before her current blog, she started a blog in 2002 when she was a Family Medicine resident and she had it for about 2 years - talked about medicine, knitting, and other interests. The Rural Doctoring blog started in May 2008.

At 30:34, RD talks about how she comes up with ideas for blog posts. She talks about how she writes a series of posts on one topic to try to keep the reader interested and coming back. This is a great idea for any new bloggers out there.

The first call of the night (40:47) was from Adam who has the blog called "Day of the Doc." Adam is a psychiatrist and new blogger, and he said that he has never called into a show before. Thanks so much Adam. I encourage everyone to check out his blog and say hello!

The famous Dr. Rob calls in at 51:30 and talked about his New York Times experience. Then, Enrico called in at 55:35 and talked about his experience with Hurricane Dolly. I forgot that Dr. Rob had a question about rural medicine verses urban medicine. And, then Enrico asked questions (1:01:42) about med-level providers and what she does for fun.

We also talked about Zippy (1:05:46). The interview is completed at 1:13:00. After the quick musical break, I talk about why I wasn't at home doing the show. I also shared about what I've been doing for July including Podcamp Ohio and preparing for my board exam. Finally, I talk about the upcoming Kansas City conference and thank all of you readers and listeners for supporting my blog and the show.