The more and more I try to think of ways to share my story, my perspective on the field of medicine and health care, I get discouraged because I’m never satisfied with where I am currently. I want my online and offline philosophies to match up. I want to be conscious of how what I do here will effect today, tomorrow, and the next day. Just as a person shops and refrains from buying certain brands because of health or company practices, I want to only promote, use, and create with software, people, and companies who take a conscious approach to how they are using the internet and all the other amazing tools being created daily. I want to work with people who truly care about what they are doing, not how many people they can get to follow them. Does this make sense to anyone?

I find myself always thinking/creating/stealing ideas from other bloggers. Yeah, I said it stealing. Truly is there really anything that is ever brand new or original these days? It definitely doesn’t seem like it. I am in no way encouraging you to directly rip off another persons idea. As you’ve probably heard before, imitation is the best form of flattery, right? I encourage anyone, if you like how I use the web, want to know how I built my site, what to know my perspective on anything web related or with social media, or even want to steal a concept from my blog, go right ahead be my guest. (just don’t pretend to be me, or blatantly rip off/copy my site and repost it’s contents)

With that said, I’ve stopped trying to figure out how to keep tabs on the latest information simply for the sake of keeping tabs. I’ve made it a personal goal of mine to keep pushing myself and my pursuits in medicine and in the field of health care to make things better. To not get discouraged when I see people doing things I’d never do. I’ve created my own personal standards for how I want to use the web, Twitter, Facebook, or any other program for that matter. I want to be better for the sake of being better. I want to invoke and pursue quality and pay attention to the smallest of details, because details matter. Obviously, I won’t be perfect, I will make mistakes, but I will do my best to repair things when they break.

As I continued to read more about the recent press release by the WHO, I have noted several others pointing out just how impacting these statements really should be. The bottom line to note is that it is possible and thats the key word “possible”. As Phil Plait points out in his recent post, “Why I’m (still) not worried about my cell phone hurting my brain”, there just is nothing which shows cell phones are cancerous. The WHO categorized cell phones into the Group 2B category, meaning they are “possibly” carcinogenic. Ed Yong’s take on the WHO’s verdict should be given some thought as well and he uses some nice data to support his perspective.

The obvious response to the WHO press release shouldn’t be one of panic or worry, the bottom line is we really don’t know yet. Most studies out just don’t have enough data to draw any definite conclusions. As you would expect there are plenty of people concerned with this potential issue that given some time, there will be a outpouring of information when conclusive results are discovered.

I am definitely late to the party since Dr. Lustig posted this video back in 2009, but was made aware after his video was referenced in a recent NYT article. This is definitely a conversation worth having as I see it. Kids and adults alike are growing ever more addicted to soft drinks and foods stuffed full of preservatives and sugar. Take a look at the video and article and tell me your thoughts.

I imagine there are thousands of doctors & medical students who’ve had these exact thoughts run through their minds. I know I’ve had moments when I felt powerless and dumb. This being the season of the match, I have seen fellow students tweeting and posting the outcomes, some with excitement and some with despair. To you I say congrats and keep your head up. Your hard work will eventually pay off. Among students and seasoned physicians alike, conversations over a bite to eat or coffee occur with one leaning to the other saying, “I can’t believe I am allowed to do this for a living”.

I am reminded everyday of the journey I embarked on beginning all the way back in high school. The dream of one day being able to say I am a doctor and now finding myself evermore closer as each day passes. What a wild roller coaster! This video reminds me of the times when I would sit in on lectures and begin day dreaming while looking around the class. Sure, I was surrounded by really smart and bright individuals, at the same time I caught myself thinking, there is no way I would take my child to see that soon to be doctor if and when he or she graduates.

I think the key to being a great doctor is to have a careful and intentional passion and to be sociably geared toward forward thinking treatments, procedures, and conversation. Finding common ground with your patients and a professional respect amongst your colleagues must be balanced. Being approachable yet revered is hard to balance and many doctors find themselves alienated to one extreme or the other. Some having worked so hard to get to their current position they’d rather compromise the relationship with their patients to maintain their prestige amongst their colleagues. Dave Foley, in this video, points out the obvious, in that, anyone can become a doctor and many times there are those who get past all of the arbitrary exams and hurdles but ultimately seem incompetent to really do the job well. Do you feel this way towards of any of your colleagues? You don’t have to confess one way or the other. I would guess we all have someone in our heads who doesn’t meet our own standards or doesn’t fit into the ideal physician criteria we’ve created for ourselves.

My hope is, as I continue along this road, I keep that careful passion and intention which fueled my pursuit of medicine in the beginning. Looking for better ways to handle situations such as telling a family there was nothing I could do to save their loved one. In that same moment, I hope I can see the beauty of my profession, that we can’t fix everyone and more work is left to be done. This is why I find the web and technology so fascinating. It is giving all of us in the industry a new perspective on how we can approach, treat, and continue to grow as professionals. Bringing people and patients evermore closer to the people they call their doctor.

As we all work to get to the end of the day, see all our patients, or pass our next exam. Let us be reminded, there is more to our profession then just how many charts we get through, what score we got on our exam, or the amount of money we can make with our practice. There are people who count on us, who want to know how to better themselves. As physicians lets see how best we can empower and educate one another along the way. Could it be that some of the greatest physicians never even end up practicing medicine? Sometimes it takes a short video full or creative and honest satire to remind us where we came from.

For those of you who made a resolution or are looking to start fresh here are a few devices which can sync with your iPhone or iPad and track your progress in 2011.

Withings WIFI Scale = $159.00

Although not currently in market, AliveCor‘s new application has huge potential. The empowerment it gives the patient and the added tracking for physicians can aid both in better overall management of several heart conditions.

Both companies, iHealth and Withings announced iOS compatible blood pressure cuffs.

via tuaw

Click the pictures for more product information