Blog Break

I admit that it's been a while since I've felt like this. When I first started my blog more than a year and a half ago (has it been that long already?), I was like most people - full of energy - very excited about the project - writing really great posts, etc. At some point, people really start reading what you're writing and your blogroll starts to grow and things are going great.

It's kind of funny because that is the exact moment when I remember taking my first blog break. I was feeling overwhelmed. For some reason, I was putting pressure on myself to post every day and to try to "top" the last post with something more creating and/or entertaining. So, I had to step back for a little while and get some perspective.

And, as people who read here often know, I take blog breaks every so often when I'm feeling like that. Well, Monday, something happened at work to put a huge weight on my shoulders again. I mean, it's not life shattering and some people would think that it's mundane. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say that I have found the need to take a little break from blogging while I get things sorted out.

Unfortunately, that means that I'm also going to cancel my shows for the rest of this month. My apologies to Bongi and ScanMan for doing this. To be honest, trying to get the audio to work with a new site and worrying about whether it was going to work, just added to my stress this week - something I really didn't need.

I'll be back by the first of next month as I get things sorted out. I won't be totally gone. You can keep track of what I'm doing on Twitter and I may even do a video post every once in a while in the next few weeks. Back soon....

Epocrates & iPhone

Last week, Apple finally announced the iPhone software development kit. Many, including me, have been waiting for applications to place on my iPhone so I can finally get rid of my other PDA. While the demo for the gaming apps took most of the tech headlines, the medical community (especially those with iPhones) should take notice of an important application that was also "demoed" at last week's Apple event.

I have been using Epocrates ever since I was back in residency. And, I have been waiting for this application to be written on the iPhone. In the cnet video above, they show what one epocrates engineer could do in two weeks of programming. What was impressive to me was the use of the photo of pills, which I think will be helpful in my office setting. I cannot wait to see the full product when it is released. Hopefully, other medical software developers will follow suit and write more cool stuff for the iPhone.

Show 27 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to Berci from Science Roll for being on the show. (see video post above) We had a great conversation about his life as a medical student. We also discussed his first and only trip to the United States. We was asked to do presentations in Long Beach, California and at Yale. I mean, I have never been to Yale - let alone asked to do a presentation there. Very impressive.

We also talked about his opinions regarding Web 2.0 and Medicine. An interesting perspective. He has a passion for genetics and genomics. If you don't know what exactly they are, he does a good job at trying to define these complicated terms. He graduates from medical school in about a year and a half. He either wants to pursue a PhD or residency. (I think some places offer both of these tracks.)

I certainly wish him the best of luck. We also talked about his blog carnival called Medicine 2.0. I've read this and, I have to admit, that some of that stuff is right over my head. Don't get me wrong, genetics is very important. It's just that it's pretty complicated and the research in genetics is very complicated. Nevertheless, I volunteered to be a host for Medicine 2.0 in the future. Berci told me that he would definitely help me through the process.

I have a favor to ask all of you out there in the medical blogosphere. I would really appreciate it if you could give me feedback on this week's show. In particular, I'm looking for your opinion of the sound quality of the show. Could you hear me ok? Could you hear Berci ok? For those of you who listened live, how easy or difficult was it to navigate the Talkshoe site?

I'd like this feedback to see what you think of Blog Talk Radio verses Talkshoe. I won't share my opinions yet, because I don't want to bias your feedback. But, any information and feedback is helpful to me as I decide where to do the majority of my shows. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Dr. A Show 27 on Talkshoe

Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time

Join us on Thursday night for Bertalan Mesko who is from the blog called Science Roll. This will be a unique show in that our guest will be live, but on an entirely different continent. I think that we have the technology working (hopefully). We will be broadcasting live on Talkshoe. For those interested, here is the Talkshoe FAQ.

For first time Talkshoe listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the Talkshoe site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier. To get to my show site, click here.

*Talkshoe has software called "ShoePhone" in which just by plugging in a headset, you can talk on the show without dialing a phone number. After registering your ID, I encourage you to click here and download and install the shoephone software.

*When the show goes live, make sure your headset is already connected and then log into the site. Then, click on the button below to activate the shoephone software.


*This will open a window called "Talkshoe Pro." Look for the shoephone button below and click on it.


*You will then see the Talkshoe interactive software window as below. There is a chat room in there. And, you will be able to see who else has a microphone. Who knows, I may unmute you to say hello!


*Now, of course, you don't have to download the software to listen to the show live or listen to the show later. And, if you want to dial in with your cell phone to talk on the show, you can do that as well. Click on my link above to get the phone number and ID number of the show. But, why would you want to do that when there is a free option? See you for the show!

The Bertalan Mesko Interview

For the first time ever on The Doctor Anonymous Show, we have a scheduled guest, for the entire show, who will be joining us from Europe (about 5,000 miles or 7,500 kilometers from where I'm sitting right now).

Bertalan Mesko who is the author of Science Roll will be joining the show on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time. He will be joining us live when it will be 3am his time. So, you cannot miss this show. According to his blog, he is a medical student at the University of Debrecen, Hungary (5th year of the 6). Here is other information from his blog:

I plan to become a clinical geneticist specialized in personalized genomics. I believe that the future of medicine belongs to this field. On this blog, my aim is to make medicine, genetics more readable even for those who are not too interested in them. That’s why I mostly write about genetic testing, personalized genetics, the most important news of clinical genetics and, of course, popular medicine.

I also work on the relationship between web 2.0 and medicine. I try to provide useful content; tools and services that could ease the work of physicians, medical students, nurses or medical librarians. I have already given presentations at the University of Yale, the hospital of Greenwich or the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality conference in Long Beach, but I keep giving slideshows at Hungarian clinics and departments.

I maintain two blog carnivals:
Gene Genie: the carnival of genes and gene-related diseases
Medicine 2.0: the carnival of web 2.0 and medicine

My Hungarian medical blog can be found here: mediq.blog.hu I’ll never forget the works of Stanislaw Lem, I like listening to Ray Charles and consider Isaac Newton as an idol.

Now, I have to tell you that the technical aspect of this has been really challenging this week. Right now, this is scheduled to be The Talkshoe Doctor Anonymous Show.

I don't even know if the technology is going to work at this point - we're still trying to work that out. So, this may be on of my best shows ever, one of my last shows ever, or, I might even cancel the show at the last minute. So, you'll definitely have to tune in. I'll have some instructions tomorrow on how to utilize the Talkshoe site. Let's hope this works!

Get out and vote!

It's primary election day here in Ohio. If you have been following the news at at all, you know that the US presidential race believes that Ohio is a key state not only today but in November for the general election.

I've already asked some patients this morning and they have told me that they don't vote and will never vote. The reason? Well, they do not want to be called to jury duty. What kind of lame excuse is that? (Jury duty should be from the pool of people with a driver's licence and not registered voters, anyway.) I kind of went off on someone this morning, "Then, you are not allowed to complain how high the cost of health care is. And, you are not allowed to complain about what's going on, because you did not vote."

Now, people tell me that voting doesn't matter anyway. Doesn't matter? There are countries around the world whose only goal is to have a voice in how they are governed. We here in the US are definitely spoiled and don't know how good we have it. So, get out there and vote today! I'm Dr. A, and I approved this message...