Grand Rounds Vol. 4 No. 50: Getting Some Education

Welcome to this week’s Grand Rounds. As I revised syllabi and edited assignments for the upcoming semester, I couldn’t help but think that an Education theme was appropriate for a post-Labor Day edition. Whether you’re heading back to a classroom, an office, or a hospital today, hopefully this selection of posts will resonate with you.

(An asterisk* denotes posts that are especially well-written, especially in line with the theme, or both. Consider them at the head of the class.)

I. I’m overly interested in language, writing, and semantics, so I was excited to read this first group of posts, Language: Learning What’s in a Word:

*To ask, or to pimp? Doc Gurley exposes the truth about pimping medical students, a particularly pervasive (and destructive) form of “teaching” in medical education that can have a lasting impact on doctor-patient relationships – sometimes without either party realizing it. Commit her definition to memory—while there won’t be a quiz, you just may need it sometime.

At the Dragonfly Initiative, we learn about the difference between what doctors write and what they mean in their letters and charts. Here’s to fluency in a foreign language!

Doctors spend a large portion of their training figuring out what to call themselves. But as Signout learned from a family who calls their favorite doctor by his first name, the title that comes with medical education isn’t as important as the education itself.

David Williams at Health Business Blog knows good writing (and reporting) when he sees it. Read his critique of a recent Wall Street Journal article on stents.

II. A lot of what we learn comes from on-the-job-experience, as we see in this next group of posts, Patient Education: Insights from the Inside Track:

Reasonably Well enrolled in the “school of whatever works” to find strategies and some measure of success in dealing with chronic illness. Struggling to adjust to life with illness? This school has an open enrollment policy, people.

Waiting room woes? Pieces of Me shares some lessons learned about pacing and patience.

*How do you stay together when things start to fall apart? Over at In Sickness and In Health, couples dealing with chronic pain can learn to find each other when the shadows begin to gather. An essential read for anyone navigating a chronic illness in a relationship.

Multiple allergies making you anxious? Poked & Prodded offers a post on how to parent a child with severe food allergies: prepare, educate, and pray. A great read for families getting ready for school.

Can you recognize the signs of anaphylaxis? Luckily, Captain Atopic at Degranulated could when it was happening to him. Read Tales of Anaphylaxis, Part 1: My story to see what happens when a medical student is the one with the symptoms.

Fight for your site! Kerri at Six Until Me learns that when it comes to her diabetes blood sugar trends, it’s worth it to shove her stubbornness aside and try something new.

At Diabetes Mine, Amy Tenderich has some thoughts on conflicts of interest. Required reading for diabetics, and just as important for everyone else.

III. In this next grouping, Medical Education: Learning from the Experts, we learn a lot about physical and emotional health, and we also see that in many situations with doctors and patients, learning and teaching extend both ways:

*How do you know if medical school is the right choice? In another great submission this week, Signout ponders this question, and offers valuable insights for all of us wondering what we’re doing, and why. (This blog wins the overachiever award for the week!)

*Teen Health 411 tells us not just why education is so important, but what we can all do to encourage it. A must-read as teens head back to school.

With Hurricane Gustav leaving a weary Gulf Coast behind it, there’s no more pressing time to look at lessons learned from the debacle of Hurricane Katrina. EverythingHealth offers insights from the front line.

At InsureBlog, Henry Stern looks beyond the hype about government-run health care systems and learns that cancer and cardiac patients actually do better here.

Does he really eat that much? The Fitness Fixer separates truth from fiction in a post about Olympic calories for Michael Phelps and everyone else.

Inspired by Olympic greatness? Healthline Connects was, and compiled some great Olympic tips everyone can use for better physical fitness.

New school year, new lessons. Vitum Medicinus is a medical student who learns by doing—and by making some mistakes along the way.

Has the summer season been tough on your feet? Start autumn off right by visiting Medicine for the Outdoors, where management of foot blisters is discussed.

Dean Moyer of The Back Pain Blog shares a post entitled Neck Pain Goes Back to Class. In it, he reviews the latest news coming out of University College London where researchers have discovered proof that heat blocks pain on the molecular level.

Who’s behind that mask? At Medical Jokes, Cartoons, Videos, a case of mistaken identity in the delivery room has a lighter side.

Time to retire the chainsaw? At Reflections in a Head Mirror, we find a humorous review of rules for a pacemaker.

IV. Education doesn’t exist in the vacuum of a classroom, hospital, or doctor’s office, as we see in this last grouping of posts, The School of Life: Musings and Miscellany:

Jazzing up your lectures: As any student can attest to, information is only as good as the presentation that delivers it. Not Totally Rad uses tips from jazz legends to explore how to give more effective talks.

Think you know how your doctor lives? The Happy Hospitalist looks at doctors and their cars, and reminds us of the value of appreciating what we have.

A lot has been written about the supposed “math gap” between males and females. But is there more to it? At Neuroanthropology, another take on what some pundits have called “fundamental differences” is proposed: differences in stress responses.

As The Cockroach Catcher learns, sometimes it’s hard to separate religion and medicine.

Don’t lose your knowledge! Your computer holds so much information, which is why Tech Medicine offers some bulletproof backup strategies so you don’t lose everything you’ve collected.

And with that, this week’s exploration of education in its many forms comes to an end. Hope you’ve learned something!

Many thanks to Colin Son and Dr. Val Jones for their ongoing stewardship, and of course, thanks to all of you who submitted posts. Be sure to stop by Apple Quack, host of next week’s Grand Rounds.