RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

The new MedReader has been providing me with some great medical blogs to post throughout the week. Despite a lot of political ranting in the medical blogosphere, I have still managed to find some really good medically oriented blogs to read over and post. We haven’t had a shortage of job postings either, so I hope you are enjoying those as well. Don’t forget to suggest a good blog site if you know of one – our ears are open!

Dr. Incognito

Our pick for this week’s BEST blog is. . .

New York Times Takes Up Pig MRSA ST398 by Maryn McKenna

Honorable Mentions

• Alzheimers, Dysphagia, And Peg Tubes – A Conversation by Odysseas Kostas, MD
• CAM On Campus: Naturopathy by Tim Kreider

Of particular interest this week among the diverse array of medical blog topics was this question posed by Prometheus, “Is the diagnosis of autism increasing and is it a real epidemic?” The blog brought to light that while the diagnosis of autism has increased over the years, the total number of children diagnosed with mental retardation had decreased over the years. Go figure. And, that is exactly what this author did, in five simple graphs; he took a look at whether we truly do have an epidemic of autism.

-Dr. Incognito

Scrubby Winner:

Five Easy Graphs by Prometheus

Honorable Mentions

• Mindsets About Physicians by Richard Reece, MD
• Analysis Shows Alarming Increase In Pediatric MRSA Infections by Kathleen, RN

For those that have been keeping up with the medical blogosphere, there have been some interesting developments this week. Surprisingly, the Pharmalot blog is no more, having said good-bye on January 5th of this year. Pharmalot has given us two years of interesting information on the pharmaceutical industry. It was quite a popular blog having received approximately 11,000 daily visitors and some 330,000 monthly page views on a 30 day rolling basis. They have even been the recipient of the Scrubby Award. So, from us to them, fond farewell.

Dr. Incognito

And, now, for this week’s Scrubby Awards. . .

Our pick for this week’s BEST blog is. . .

Work and Mental Health by Chadwick Royal, PhD,NCC,LPC,ACS

Honorable Mentions

• Splitting the Schizophrenias by CL Psych
• Predictions For Healthcare In 2009 by Tony Chen

RedScrubs has had its new facelift for a little while now and, hopefully, it’s given our readers some time to enjoy our “DAILY TOP” content, along with our blog exclusives, videos, and featured jobs. We would like to continue to hear from you (our readers) on what you think of the site and how we could improve things to best meet everyone’s needs. Over time, we have tailored our medical content layout based on suggestions we’ve received, and we will keep in line with doing what makes our readers happy! Please feel free to send us your comments and suggestions here.

Dr. Incognito

Now for the Scrubby Awards. . .

Logistical Nightmares by TK

Honorable Mentions

• Amazing Mom Performs Self C-Section by Toni Brayer, MD
• Creating An Optimal Healing Environment by Nick Jacobs

This week has passed by quickly, and with Christmas just around the corner, we thought we would put up our tree. Last year we had a real tree and our cat thought just the same – that it was a real tree to be climbed on and clawed and played with. So this year we thought we would fool Mr. Cat. We got a lovely all white artificial tree and decorated it with all the finest decorations we could locate; But, guess who got the best of us? Yes..Mr. Cat.

We awakened the other morning to a sound of crashing bulbs and tree limbs flying. What was the racket? Mr. Cat. Mr. Cat had decided to go tree climbing again this year. Oh well. Who said humans were the smartest animals on earth? Next year maybe I will try a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but with my luck Mr. Cat would use the potting soil as a litter box. What would I do without Mr. Cat and the Christmas he brings us?

So without much ado, let’s get on with the Scrubby Winners. . .

Dr. Incognito

Patients Still Rely On Word Of Mouth When Choosing A Physician by The Medical Quack

Honorable Mentions

• Haryana Woman, 70, Becomes World’s Oldest Mom by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, MD
• Need A Same Day Doctor Appointment? Can’t Make It Happen? By Trisha Torrey

This has been a long week filled with Holiday Cheer! I hope all of our readers had a good Thanksgiving Day and took some time to catch up on medical blog reading. We saw family we haven’t seen in ages and all had a good time. The turkey was great as it is every year, and what is Thanksgiving without a Health Care Reform debate? So, with interesting banter and medical blogs to catch up on, it was a fun holiday to say the least!
I ate a healthy meal, avoiding the gravy and choosing the white meat of the turkey. That is, of course, how I keep my cholesterol below 200 and my HDLs up to 65 with an LDL of only 130 mg/dl! Yup, the picture of heart health! I haven’t had a CRP done yet, but we are going to assume that is good as well. And, after the latest news on bad HDLs, we are going to assume all my good HDLs are “good” and none of them are the “bad” pro-inflammatory HDLs the media has been yapping about lately. Just another thing to put on my cardiovascular risk profile – pro-inflammatory HDLs. (I’ll have to make a note to have those checked now.)

As far as the blogs this week, we had many good selections and it took some effort to come up with the winners, but here they are. . .

I Thought I Was Bad At Reading X-Rays by Douglas Farrago, MD

Honorable Mentions

• Probiotics by Toni Brayer, M.D.
• Yummy. Undercooked Pork by White Coat

This has been an interesting week. If I didn’t have the amusement of reading some of these great medical blogs, I am sure I would have been totally distracted. After spending copious amounts of time talking to patients about snoring and sleep apnea, I finally got lucky; I got to have my own sleep study done. It appears that not only do I toss and turn all night - I snore like a bear as well. No one told me that I would have to ring a bell every time I had to use the restroom or wanted a drink of water. Of course, I didn’t sleep all night long – I was too busy ringing the buzzer. Then, the electrodes. They were everywhere! When the study ended and the technician removed the electrodes there was absolutely nothing that could be done with my hair - it was totally standing up everywhere. When they graciously offered me a shower, I rushed out of there like I was being chased by the devil. So much for being in the shoes of a patient. And, it takes two weeks for the study results to be back – what’s up with that???

So, back to reality and the winner of the medical blog for the week is. . .

When Pharmacists Sample Their Wares by Nurse Ratched

Honorable Mentions

• GoogleFlu? By GruntDoc
• ICD-10 Coding, Is This A Reality Or A Myth At Present? By the Medical Quack/li>

It’s been beautiful weather here in Dr. Incognito’s neck of the woods, the November elections are over, and I am having quite a good time reviewing the blogs of the week. Personally, I am glad election season has all come to an end, so the good weather I’m experiencing can be enjoyed without the campaign ruckus! So, shall we get to it? Here is the best medical blog of the week. . .
-Dr. Incognito

You Really Can Report Safety Data by CL Psych

Honorable Mentions

• Evidence Based Wound Care by Toni Brayer, MD
• How Well Do Psychiatrists Involve Patients? by John Grohol, Psy.D

Drum Roll. . . . . It is time for the Scrubby Award again for the best medical blog of the week! We certainly hope you are enjoying our new added content with the additions of the top news, blogs and jobs daily. As always, we strive to please. Keep your comments and suggestions coming because we listen to each and every one.

If you have any comments about the changes, or have a post you would like to submit, please do so here. Now…onto this week’s awards…

-Dr. Incognito