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.