iphones

With the new iPhone4 being launched, the hordes of people queuing up to buy it is inevitable. These series of images I felt were appropriate for the occasion – how many can say hand on heart that these are applicable to them?

Apple at the Oatmeal

Crop circles

I think this looks pretty cool?

And no I don’t believe in aliens… but just to be on the safe side  ;)

Science news that caught my eye

I am all for making health service more accessible for the public, I mean that the point of the NHS – to help people and it is one of the many reasons I decided to follow a career in medicine. However I am doubtful of this service – vending machines for medicine.

Okay, so I have A LOT of things that need to be done so just a short post. These two articles caught my eye and s

Decoding Heart Disease –

The human genome project was huge breakthrough for researchers everywhere and I’m glad that all research has started being put to good use. Hopefully it will make a big difference to both the lives of patients as well as the NHS.

Vending machines for medicine –

They are currently going on trail in five UK based hospitals but their end goal is to have them on high streets and shopping centres in the future. Part of me thinks this is a great idea for those that live in rural areas where such services are limited but then again a pharmacist does play an important role in the health service. People often have the notion that doctors and pharmacists clash, however they do in fact work very well together to provide the best care possible for the patient. A pharmacist can also provide additional advice and support for a patient after they have had a consultation with the doctor as well regulating medications and double checking prescribed medications. Most chemists/ pharmacies are situated near a doctor’s surgery and so chances are that more often than not a pharmacist will be able to spot an incorrect prescription as the will be familiar with many of the patients and their needs. Even in the most rural villages, they will always be some sort of health service setup that people can go and visit without any problems.

By introducing these vending machines, many patients will miss out on the one to one service that they would normally get and personally I feel this would be a loss. Also I don’t see many pharmacists being too happy about this development as it would weaken their role within the health service. Would they have to retrain as something else or would they be made redundant? Surely with the financial uncertainty we have hanging over our heads in the not to distant future, the less unemployed we have the better?

Diabetes: Interesting developments

Many people in the UK suffer from diabetes and its various complications. On these additional complications is Glaucoma – a progressive eye disease in the eye starts to accumulate excess fluid leading to a build up of pressure. The increased pressure causes damage to the optic nerve thus leading to an irreversible loss of vision.

Until now.

An operation for Glaucoma  

Previously the traditional operation for glaucoma involved creating a channel in the eye to remove the excess fluid, but the operation did have complications such as cataracts or extreme low eye pressure. However consultant ophthalmic surgeon, Mr Colin Willougby, was allowed to perform a new surgery (Trabecular Micro-Bypass Glaucoma Stent Surgery if you’re interested) in which a stent is insert into the eye to drain to drain excess fluid and decreases the risk of any blockages or cataracts.

On the whole, the operations have been successful so far, which is great news for the patients and the operations are cost effective, which is great news for the NHS as well. So it’s win-win situation all round then?

Defending stuff

I am forever defending things, whether it’s my choice of friends, career, cars, clothes etc but I guess we all do that throughout our lives anyway. Looking at the funny side of it, one thing I regularly defend is my use of Microsoft Windows to certain family members. And sometimes I like to use Comic Sans.

I’m sorry if this disappoints anyone.

Britain’s got bhangra

Saba: Hey I found this thing online. Do you want to go?
Me: Err, yea ok. Who’s in it?

Saba: *Looks towards to computer screens*

Me: *Peering over her shoulder* Oooh that DCS* guy? He’s good! Yes let’s go!!!

Clearly DCS* was a major selling point for me, lol. I love them as a band so hopefully this will be good too. I hope.

We booked tickets for auntie Naseem, Saba and I and off we go. Prior to the show starting, we had a dance group performs some of their routines in the foyer of the Yorkshire Playhouse. It was a mix of Asian and English ladies who made a real effort and were actually pretty entertaining. However there was this one female asian dancer who kept focusing on us with very direct (and alarming) eye contact and facial expressions towards both Saba and I. Trust me, it was disturbing at the time! We filed into the theatre and the show started – unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any pictures but it was a great show and enjoyed by everyone regardless of whether you were Asian or English. The jokes translated well, it was colourful, the performers gave it their all and overall it was so much fun and such a laugh. I mean come on, an evening of bhangra – what’s not to love?! :P I could sit her all night typing out funny dialogues but it wouldn’t be the same and you would get bored. Plus you really have to be there, absorbing the atmosphere which is why I would urge you to go and watch it for yourself.

It’s had some pretty good reviews here and here, plus here's a YouTube clip so you can see what kind of things are involved in the show.

*DCS (Desi Culture Shock, the band) not DFS (the sofa making company) as someone misunderstood earlier when I was telling them about the show, lol.

Demetri Martin

Demetri Martin is another one of my favourite comedians. And this is why. 

And now we’re friends on Facebook, whereas I actually thought I was joining his fan pages.

Can I class Demetri Martin as a friend considering that we have never met each other or exchanged any type of conversation? Life is odd.

What are you... a mouse?

‘Err... well kinda!’A leopard’s dinner was rudely interrupted by a rather brazen rat. What can I say, I’m easily amused :P

These extraordinary series of images were captured by photography student Casey Gutteridge.

Photography by Jonathan Griffiths

British Photographer Jonathan Griffiths and his interesting subjects :) ...

This last picture is my favourite :)

Sinister polar bears

Am I the only one that likes the sinister polar bear currently advertising the Birds eye products?

 

Kind of funny right?

Does it make me want to go out and buy Birds eye products? - err, no.

Did it did make me laugh? - a little.

Losing your anonymity

Many of my fellow medics in amongst their busy schedules manage to keep some sort of a blog. However as we progress through our careers, some blogs may not be updated as regularly and this probably explains why there are more medical student blogs out there than blogs belonging to residents/ FY1’s. As a student, I have this need to document my adventures, mistakes and successes albeit in varying proportions, to be able to have a rant when others query my diagnosis and just to have a great means for us trauma queens out there to express ourselves! ;) It charts our journey from a ‘wanna be’ to a ‘gonna be’ and I think it’s nice to look back and see how we’ve (hopefully) progressed both professionally and personally. It’s partly the reason why I used to keep my own personal journal for many years and although this blog has partly taken the place of my journal, I still cannot bear to throw them away as it’s a little bit my history.

A fair few of my fellow medics do blog anonymously allowing them to share a lot more of their thoughts without fear of being reprimanded. Therefore when someone does lose their anonymity, it makes it all the more painful. After being discovered, a few people that I have gotten to know over the years had to either stop blogging altogether or they start blogging under another new identity. The latter – having to leave behind a blog that you’ve invested a lot of time in and instead build a new identity and new readership from scratch – can be annoying or it can be liberating, depends on your outlook I suppose.

To be honest, the issue of anonymity has never really mattered to me as I never intended to write as an anonymous entity. This was partly due to my opinion, where I didn’t think I was revealing anything confidential and partly because of all the effort it takes to remain anonymous which is a bit ironic, don’t you think? Yet when someone does make that link between you and your blog, it inevitably changes the way you write. There are days when I just want to have a huge rant but then I stop, because I remember that someone out there will make that connection and remember what I said and that is a little scary. On the other hand, I think it’s good because it allows me to censor myself (carefully planned rants Vs ‘in-the-heat-of-the-moment’ rants) and avoid saying/ typing something I regret later on. I thought I’d mention this because over this past month, a fair few people that I follow have had to go ‘off the radar’ using their last blog post as a sort of an eviction notice or suicide note – I can’t decide which! I know I should go through my blog reader and remove those now defunct blogs but then a part of me hopes they might just come back. It’s a shame really and I will miss them :(

How to get more hits on your blog

...apparently! Do you need tips on how to blog? Well, I wouldn’t worry anymore as there are plenty of helpful people out there :P I see my blog as a means of expressing my views, talking through things that are in my head and just a bit of fun really. I’m not a serious/ professional blogger – if there even is such a thing! However, recently I got a list of what I suppose are guidelines on how to err, blog successfully? I’m pretty sure it was not a spam comment as I can’t imagine all spam comments being so long! It sort of feels like having your work marked in high school, lol. So here’s the edited version of the “rules”, with my comments in brackets…

1. Don’t copy and paste content. (I didn’t, honest! I can assure you, this rubbish belongs to me!)

2. Have categories that make sense. (My categories don’t make sense? Really? I didn’t think they weren’t that bad to be honest. Fear not, I shall go back and reassess)

3. Make yourself accessible to directories and search engines (fair point)

4. Have regular posts (Um, Yes, ok, I will try harder, lol)

5. Don’t have long posts/ paragraphs. Break them up into a series. (Ok, I PLEAD GUILTY! I do do this. So sorry for the long rambling posts you’ve had to endure!)

6. Be interactive; use different widgets (Err, I’ll try harder?)

7. Allow linking. (Is that bookmarking? Also does it mean I should link to others or other people should link to me? If it’s the latter, I can’t force people to link to me, lol.)

8. Don’t delete negative comments (I don’t. Have you seen the abuse I get from some people? lol)

9. Comment on other blogs (Guilty. I do read other blogs regularly but never comment. Will try harder)

10. Don’t use generic comments like ‘Great post!’ (I don’t, please see ‘rule’ 9)

Um, thank you for your advice. I think. I have to say I also quite like these alternative ‘blogging rules’ as well.

Blog: The Other McCain

Post: How to get a million hits on your blog in less than a year

Link: http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-get-million-hits-on-your-blog-in.html