Medicine and Man

“A national survey conducted by Whole Foods asked participants: if they could choose one new years resolution, what would it be.

Survey results revealed:

–> 33 percent of respondents chose making the world a better place;

–> 32 percent said they would like to spend more time with their family;

–> 20 percent said they would like to lose weight and adopt healthy habits; and

–> 12 percent chose budget management as their new years resolution.

More than 75 percent of all respondents said they would prefer to never make another new years resolution and would rather adopt long-term healthy lifestyle solutions.

Technorati Tags: New Year, Resolution, Survey, Whole Foods, Health

“Shift Happens” is the winner of the World’s Best Presentation Contest organised by Slideshare.

This is a stylization of a slideshow originally created by Karl Fisch, examining globalization and America’s future in the 21st century. It is designed to stand alone, without having to be presented in person

Enjoy this excellent slideshow.

Technorati Tags: Globalization, Presentation, Slideshare, Slideshow

In continuation with my previous article, I often add this joke to explain the difference between internal medicine doctors and surgeons to people who ask me “What is Internal Medicine?”.

Four friends decide to go duck hunting. An internal medicine doctor (IMD), psychiatrist, surgeon and a pathologist. They wake up very early and reach the marshes waiting for dawn and the birds to fly.

IMD says “I will take the first shot” and everyone agrees.

Soon the sun starts to rise. The IMD notices a bird flying towards the sunlight. He takes out his gun and aims at the bird but before he shoots he stops to think – “Is this a duck? Is this really a duck?” By the time he decides the species of the bird, the duck disappears in the horizon.

The psychiatrist says “Next shot is mine.” Everyone agrees. Soon another bird is seen but before the psychiatrist can shoot he also sits down to think “I know that this is a duck. But does the bird know that it is a duck.” By the time he finishes his contemplation the bird is nowhere to be seen.

Surgeon – “You people are good for nothing. Watch me.” He pulled out his gun and shoots.

Turning to the Pathologist, the surgeon says “Could check if that bird is a duck.”

(I read this joke long ago and have no idea of its origins. If someone has any idea please do leave a comment)

Technorati Tags: Doctor, Duck, Internal Medicne, Joke, Pathologist, Psychiatrist, Hunting, Surgery

Most people do not understand what Internal Medicine is. I learned this fact while I was on vacation, where on multiple occasions I met people who asked me what my profession was.

This was the usual sequence of communication that followed:-

Me: “I am a doctor”

They: “Cool, so what do you do”

Me: “I am a resident in Internal Medicine”

They: “What is that”

Me: “I am a doctor in training”

They: “Oh! You are still training. So you are not a doctor”

Me: “Well, I am a doctor. I am doing my residency in Internal medicine, which is done after passing out of medical school. I work and learn at the same time” (I elaborated thinking that hopefully this was the last question)

They: “Oh! Ok! So what kind of work do you do”

Me: (Thinking – Oh my God, not again) “I am training in Internal Medicine”

They: “Cool, so do you cut open people. I mean you do surgeries, right”

Me: “No. That is done by surgeons”

They: “Then you are not a doctor. You don’t do surgery”

Me: (Getting a little frustrated and irritated at the same time. Thinking – I have worked so hard to reach this point and now all the credit is taken by surgeons. I will not let this happen) “Well, I diagnose diseases and prescribe medicines”

They: “But the surgeons do that too, right. Then what do you do that they do not do”

Me: (Now really irritated and frustrated. Summoning all my accumulated medical knowledge to this point, I answer his question quite elaborately) “Well, for an example, let’s say you get pneumonia. If you come to me I will give you medicines and cure you. I specialize in non-surgical treatment of diseases. You also have the option to go to the surgeon but he may cut your lungs out. You would not want that, would you!” (I exaggerated)

They: “Naaah!”

End of discussion.

Technorati Tags: Doctor, Internal Medicne, Resident, Surgery