Every doctor makes mistakes. But, says physician Brian Goldman, medicine's culture of denial (and shame) keeps doctors from ever talking about those mistakes, or using them to learn and improve. Telling stories from his own long practice, he calls on doctors to start talking about being wrong. No related posts. ..read more »

Today, Your Life on USA Today is guest-hosting Grand Rounds, the best of the medical blogosphere. We asked medical bloggers to send us the finest posts from the past few months, and were thrilled to receive more than 100 entries. I, Dr. Val Jones, have prepared a summary of my favorites. They will publish the Grand Rounds in 4 posts - one at 10am, one at 1pm, one at 5pm and one at 8pm tomorrow. There are 4 sections (to be released throughout the day). Please check back. Related posts: The New Grand Round is Up at Dr. Deb Grand Round Vol 5 No .....read more »

Research shows you can improve your self-representation through faceboook and other social media with several techniques: spending more time with greater cognitive resources to edit the messages carefully selecting photographs highlighting your positive attributes presenting an ideal self having a deeper self-disclosure managing the styles of your language providing a set of links to other sites or associating themselves with certain people, symbols, and material objects Presenting yourself in a more positive way on Facebook is a way to manage other's impressions of you. According to a recent publication on research with undergraduates to the impact of Facebook on users’ perceptions toward others, it found a relationship with .....read more »

Interesting video with an important message, the same goes for internet addiction.... a parallel between the industrialization of food, which at once allowed for ever-greater efficiency and reined in an obesity epidemic, and the industrialization of information, arguing that blaming the abundance of information itself is as absurd as blaming the abundance of food for obesity. Thanks Brain PickingsNo related posts. ..read more »

Impressive and explanatory graphics and videos We have no ways to directly observe molecules and what they do -- Drew Berry wants to change that. At TEDxSydney he shows his scientifically accurate (and entertaining!) animations that help researchers see unseeable processes within our own cells. Related posts: Cellular Lego Animations Pharmacology in animations and video’s Medical Animations and Illustrations ..read more »

This thoughtful and enlightening ten minute programme, edited and narrated by consultant psychiatrist Dr Mark Salter, explores the causes and consequences of stigma against mental illness and challenges us to rethink our attitudes towards people with mental health problems. The style is a montage of still images with music and commentary. Powerful and thought-provoking. Stigma because we don't understand mental illness.....Related posts: Mass Media and Mental Illness Grand Rounds Blog Carnival – Vol 5.47 Invisible Illness Humor in the treatment of chronic mental illness ..read more »

The two approaches to patient safety are the person approach and the system approach. The personal approach is the most encountered and outdated kind of approach in medicine. In short, errors are seen as shortcomings of medical personnel such as forgetfulness, inattention, poor motivation negligence and recklessness. The response is mostly naming, blaming, and shaming. Errors are treated as moral issues assuming that bad things happen to bad people. Seeking as far as possible to uncouple a person's unsafe acts from any institutional responsibility is clearly in the interests of managers. It is also legally more convenient, at least in .....read more »

This was the coolest thing on display at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, from Geekologie It's a smart window from Samsung -- basically a one-way window (people on the other side can't see in) with a full-pane electronic touchscreen display where you can display info, roam the internet, watch adult films, etc., etc. It can even turn into virtual blinds!!!!!1 Just watch the video. The future, ladies and gentlemen -- it's really almost here! Related posts: Blond, Smart and Funny Another Gadget Pen Internet Cool Tools for Physicians ..read more »

What's harder than Living Biblically? Try following every bit of the latest health advice. A.J. Jacobs, author and human guinea pig, shares the results of his latest yearlong quest to become "the healthiest man alive." Funny video on healthy living, putting it in some perspective........No related posts. ..read more »

Read an interesting article about this subject. Interesting not in the sense of costs or efficacy but mostly on how they did it. It's done for an epidemiological study on a mother child cohort. They wanted to include pregnant women for their study with facebook beside other forms of recruitment such as: active collaboration with health personnel involved in pregnancy and childbirth who distribute leaflets or introduce the study to pregnant women, a website, links to the website on other websites dedicated to pregnant women and participation in online pregnancy related forums. What they did with facebook was creating a weekly .....read more »