Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Dr. A Show 177 Wrap-up: InsaneMo


Thanks again to Pre-Medical student Mohammad Arfeen who was my guest on Doctor Anonymous Show 177. He is known on twitter as @InsaneMo. We discussed that he contributor to the blog called Pre-Med Hell, the current president of his college's chapter of the American Medical Student Association, and some assorted social media topics.

In the video segment above, we discuss the topic of balancing online networking with in-person networking. We also discuss his prediction about physician-patient online communication in the future.

Or, if you like, you can go to the show's iTunes site, download Doctor Anonymous Show 177, and listen at your leisure. I also invite you to check out the show's Facebook page and hit the "like" button at the top. Finally, I also invite you to check out my you tube page to see more videos of me and of the show. Thanks so much for your support of the show!

Monday, August 16, 2010

NEOUCOM to NEOMU: The Podcast


This is the third post talking about the vote that occurred about 3 weeks ago to change the name of my medical school alma mater from The Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) to Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMU). I also invite you to read my previous posts called "NEOUCOM to NEOMU: Why It Matters" and "NEOUCOM to NEOMU: The Response."

On Saturday, August 14, 2010 (which is incidentially 13 days prior to the inauguration of the new med school president), my podcast called The Doctor Anonymous Show had guest Vishvas Hegde, MD who is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pedaitrics and a proud NEOUCOM alum. He has written letters to the editor of local newspapers which are referenced on my previous post. In addition, we have received numerous comments from graduates and I mentioned a couple last week.

On the Dr. A Show 178 last weekend, our discussion covered the reasons why some alumni are frustrated not only with the name change, but also by which the process took place and lack of transparency during the name change process. Also of note, there was a current medical student in the chat room who is from another medical school who went through a name change. That person shared that their school is still struggling with the consequences from alumni from the name change of their school.

In the video above, the segment was close to the end of the show. And, our discussion shifted toward what are the next steps and how can the school and the alumni move on from this tension filled moment in time. Some potential solutions were offered. But what we wanted to emphasize in the end is that those who are upset by the decision are not out to embarrass the school. If we didn't love the school, we probably wouldn't have said anything at all. But, I think we speak for a lot of alumni who would like to continue to support the school, it's just that there are still many questions out there that continue to be unanswered by official channels.

I encourage you to listen to the entire audio podcast in the player below. Of if you like, I invite you to go to the iTunes page for the show, download Show 178, and listen at your leisure. I also encourage you to check out the Facebook page for the show and hit the "Like" button at the top of the facebook page. Finally, check out more of my blog and my you tube channel. Thanks for taking the time to listen to our point of view on this subject...

Addendum: I encourage you to check out my five part series on this topic including "Why It Matters," "The Response," "Name Change," "The Podcast", and "Show 185 Wrap-Up."

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Friday, August 13, 2010

Dr. A Show 178: NEOUCOM Name Change


BlogTalkRadio Listen Live

Saturday, August 14th, 2010 at 8pm Eastern Time

Hope you can join me live on Saturday night for Doctor Anonymous Show 178 where we will be talking about something that is controversial among some of the alumni of the school that will be formerly known as the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. My guest will be a alum who has been vocal in the local newspapers about this topic.

If you would like to know my stance on this topic, I encourage you to check out my prior posts called "NEOUCOM to NEOMU: Why It Matters" and "NEOUCOM to NEOMU: The Response." And, the way I'm thinking right now, this show may be the last that I have to say on this topic...

The blog posts and the upcoming show has elicited some comments from alumni. I cannot post all of them, since it will take up the entire page. But, I share two comments below and they asked that their name not be used:

1. My point is the credibility of the school.... [W]hen I first graduated and was interviewing around the country, most people either didn't know the school or asked if it was the one stuck in the middle of corn field in Ohio. Over recent years it has slowly gained notoriety and for those of us out there, trying to compete on a national level, it is gaining recognition. While the name is cumbersome, it is currently memorable. Changing the name, in my opinion will negatively affect the image of the school on a national level. It will never be Harvard or Hopkins, but the last thing the school wants is to perpetuate it as a "joke" school. Feel free to use any of that in your radio show...

2. As a proud graduate of Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine I would have considered attending the inauguration of the new president. However, since he has seen it his mission to abolish the existence of the school that I attended by taking the step to change the name. I will NOT support nor attend his inauguration. I will also not be making any contributions to the school, as my school apparently no longer exists. I will continue to fight this change via communication and discussion with our Ohio legislation.

Addendum: I encourage you to check out my five part series on this topic including "Why It Matters," "The Response," "Name Change," "The Podcast", and "Show 185 Wrap-Up."

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Dr. A Show 177 Tonight!


BlogTalkRadio Listen Live

Thursday, August 12th, 2010 at 9pm ET (0100 UTC)

I hope you can join me tonight for Doctor Anonymous Show 177 with guest Mohammad Arfeen who is a Pre-Medical student at Benedictine University in Illinois. He is a contributor to the Pre-Med Hell blog which gives advice to college students who aspire to go to medical school. He is also known as @InSaneMo on twitter and is chapter president at his school for the American Medical Student Association.

If you are new to the show, I encourage you to catch us live. There is a great chat room that also goes on. You can even see my shining face on the webcam. In addition, you can call into the show to say hello. Can't catch us live? That's ok. You can listen anytime after the show as it is saved as a podcast so you can listen anytime!

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 "Play/Chat" button. Then, of course, press the "Play/Chat" button.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Dr. A Show 177 Preview



Student month continues on The Doctor Anonymous Show. This week, I'm happy to welcome Mohammad Arfeen is a pre-medical student at Benedictine University in Illinois. His twitter ID is @InsaneMo and is a contributor to the PreMedHell Blog. He is also a chapter president for the American Medical Student Association. On the Pre Med Hell blog, here is an interesting excerpt from a post called "Motivation And Focus:"
I've received a decent number of requests about writing a post with study tips that I have found helpful. I’ve thought long and hard about what to write as the subject is so large, and there are various tips that help with different subjects. I’ve decided that instead of writing this post about studying tips, I’ll begin by writing a post about two things that you need to succeed in any subject. I’m sitting here in my regular coffee shop, trying to study for the MCAT, realizing that these are two things that most people forget about when complaining about how they aren’t doing well in a subject.

What are these two crucial elements you ask? They are motivation and focus, without both you are like a boat lost in the ocean without any power. You are fighting an uphill battle, if you are trying to master a subject without plenty of both. The best analogy I’ve ever heard about this is any subject is like an ocean, there are many ways you can cross it and many places you can end up at; focus gives you a target and a place to land, motivation is what keeps you going forward instead of going out a couple hundred feet and giving up.
Some thing that just happened this week is that InsaneMo announced some changes in his social media presence following his appearance in the show. The full post called "Changing Directions" is on his personal site. We'll talk about this and a lot more for Doctor Anonymous Show 177 which will be Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 9pm Eastern Time on BlogTalkRadio.com. Hope to see you for the show! (Don't forget to check out the video above talking about this week's show)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

2010 Ohio AFP Annual Meeting


Last weekend, I was very excited to be at the 2010 Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Annual Meeting. For whatever reason, this was my first state meeting in a long time. It's always great to see and to catch up with long time friends.

In the morning session, I learned more about the concept of the Patient Centered Medical Home. I admit that I have heard the concepts for a long time - and they make sense to me. But this morning session was very practical in that it showed you initial steps on how to start the process. Check out a site called TransforMed: Transforming Medical Practices for more information.

The lunch session was probably the best session of the whole day. Here in Ohio, especially if you're a physician, the state supreme court race is probably the most important race on the entire ballot. Yes, here in Ohio we elect those who will serve on the state supreme court, and, yes, the people elect who will be the chief justice of the state supreme court. Interesting, isn't it?

Anyway, in the lunch time session, we had all four candidates running for the state supreme court seats - two for chief justice, and two for associate justice. The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians are unique in that they were the only organization (thus far) to get all four candidates in the same room during this election cycle.

The moderator asked each candidate the question and it was very interesting to see how each candidate answered the question. I won't mention anyone by name - basically because I don't want anyone from their campaign coming after me (hehe). Anyway, it was a sweet combination of civil discourse with political mudslinging. I admit that this is one of the few instances in my life where I turn into a political junkie. Good stuff.

The afternoon session was the business session in which the OAFP members talked about potential policies to be passed and possibly passed on to the national organization for consideration. As I remarked on my twitter, "Love parliamentary procedure, or lack of it." At times, I thought it was going to be like a foreign parliament in which chairs are thrown (not really, but that would be funny).

To learn more about the meeting, and to see some pictures, check out the Facebook page for the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. I tried to twitter and to place out there facebook updates during the meeting. Social media is slowly coming around to the organization. But, if I have anything to say about it, the Ohio AFP will be well versed in social media - Soon.... :)