Mar

31

Just a Few Quick Things

March 31, 2007 | 9 Comments

Baby Jail
Remember how I told you that residents are underpaid for the work they do and how we are worth a lot more to the hospital than the monthly reimbursement the hospital gets from Medicare?
Well, like most things there are exceptions and I am living that exception this month as I lollygag my way through [...]

Mar

30

Single Payer Dreaming

March 30, 2007 | 42 Comments

(The third time’s a charm as they say. Again, from the tone of many of my emails, not all of them as polite as you would imagine coming as they do from people who make it their business to be compassionate, I can see that many of you are still not getting it. [...]

Mar

29

Single Payer Monte

March 29, 2007 | 45 Comments

(Judging from my email, the previous article was poorly understood even though I tried to break things down to the most fundamental level possible. I used little, easy-to-read words and I even made mention of dogs biting scrotums for crying out loud. Let me take another crack at it for the sake of [...]

Mar

28

Single Payer Shell Game

March 28, 2007 | 43 Comments

The Bureaucracy That Dare Not Speak Its Name
To hear its proponents describe it, under a Single Payer system of national health care the government wouldn’t even be involved. Apparently, even though such a system designates the government as the eponymous Single Payer who would pay everybody’s health care costs from tax revenues, the private sector [...]

Mar

25

Panda’s Quick n’ Dirty Guide to Third Year Rotations: Part 7

March 25, 2007 | 12 Comments

Family Medicine
(Some medical schools have a formal Family Medicine rotation while others have a regular continuity clinic that runs concurrently with your other rotations in third and fourth year. Osteopathic medical schools hit Family Medicine and primary care like a pimp with his biaches, that is, hard and often.-PB)
Your Real Responsibilities:
Nothing.  You’re a medical student  [...]

Mar

23

Ask Dr. Bear

March 23, 2007 | 20 Comments

(Just some recent questions that showed up in the mail bag.-PB)
What Exactly is Wrong With “Patient Care?” You use the phrase like it were some kind of swear word but isn’t this our purpose as residents?
Of course it is. But “Patient care” is one of those nebulous phrases which encompasses so much in [...]

Mar

20

Obels for Charon

March 20, 2007 | 15 Comments

Futility
On the last day of her life, your mother went on a spending spree. I intubated her at around 9AM and for the rest of the day we threw money at her, successfully keeping her alive until about dinner-time when her liver cancer finally had enough, gave us the finger, and showed us who was [...]

Mar

19

Stand By and Go to the Active Site!

March 19, 2007 | 1 Comment

This blog is under construction.  Visit the old site at:
www.pandabearmd.blogspot.com
Where all of your questions about medical school, residency, and life will be answered.

Mar

18

Plantation Tales

March 18, 2007 | 6 Comments

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Old Toby wiped the sweat from his eyes, looked into the fluorescent lights, wiped his eyes again, and turned back to his work. At his side his fellow Resident Duke hummed a quiet spiritual in time to the rhythm of his pen.
“Sho’ is warm in dis’ heah ward, ain’t it Duke? [...]

Mar

17

A Patient’s Guide to the Hospital: Part 1

March 17, 2007 | 4 Comments

(The first in a series of public service articles for our many non-medical readers.-PB)
In the Emergency Department Waiting Room
Welcome to our Emergency Department. I hope we can take care of your problem. The fact that you are here at 3AM predisposes us to take you seriously. Nobody who wasn’t really sick would drag [...]

Mar

16

Your Patience is Appreciated

March 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I’m dumping the new site and will be starting again from scratch due to technical difficulties.
In the meantime, this site works just fine.

Mar

15

Uh, The Pandaverse is Not Foolproof…

March 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment

And doesn’t format correctly in Internet Explorer 6 or 7. (But but it works fine in Netscape and Firefox.) I’m going to continue to cross-post here until I get it squared away. I think I’m going to have to find a theme (template) that works in IE7.
Until then, take your pick of [...]

Mar

14

Welcome to the Pandaverse

March 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment

As part of my drive to become the most popular medical blog on the internet without resorting to midget porn like Gruntdoc, I have moved to my own domain. Please update your links to:
www.pandabearmd.com

I’ll get the automatic re-direct going as soon as Brother Hoover (from Medschoolhell) tells me how.

Mar

13

Blackwhite

March 13, 2007 | 16 Comments

(After two years, I am almost done with call and most of the abusive practices associated with it so you’ll forgive me if I revisit these topics. I have a certain warmth for them and now that I am drawing to the end, I can give you a well-informed opinion. If these topics bothers you [...]

Mar

12

Random and Random-er

March 12, 2007 | 4 Comments

Not Even a Reach-Around
Residency programs should protect their residents. I’ll grant you that the long hours and low pay hard-wired into the system are not likely to be modified in my lifetime but a good program, one that is resident friendly, operates under the well-known prison rule that while I may be a bitch, [...]

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