What Did I Learn Today 2

Thursday morning in sunny Brighton, I'm getting ready for the SJT exam tomorrow and getting a little sidetracked:

• Vegans and vegetarians have been in outrage in UK against the new five pound note as it contains tallow, an animal product. However, All the new five pound notes in circulation together contain the same amount of Tallow thats in only half a cow. 
• Paramedics in the UK are struggling with the number of calls, triple the number ten years ago, with increasing calls for things like needing a glass of water, a cold or cat bite. Check out a day with ambulance crews and BBC
• How to create simple and beautiful books using this website Blurb, my cousin recently documented his travels around Japan, the book is beautiful. 
• How to be a master when inserting chest drains
• Its WORLD AIDS DAY! a quick video summary by the NEJM of the ring study and ASPIRE studies. Here is the executive director of UNAIDS video message for today

September Round-Up (Medical Student gems)

Youtube Channel: Vsauce

It has to be the most interesting video channel on the internet. Michael Stevens the main host has become an internet personality and star as a result of his fascinating channel, in fact Vsauce now is spread over four channels on Youtube; Vsauce1 (linked above), Vsauce2 (hosted by Kevin Lieber), Vsauce3 (dedicated to virtual worlds and Wesauce. There are often videos about medical themes or ancient medical practises for those looking for most medically related content. I absolutely love this channel and it never fails to leave me in a completely pensive state about the universe or nature of things. 

Book: Doctors Dissected

Doctors dissected is an incredibly honest insight into the lives of Doctors. Jane Haynes (a psychotherapist) asks various British doctors (a few of them London based GP's) about the reasons they chose medicine and how they feel about the profession today. The answers are often incredibly heartfelt and you feel you really are experiencing a side of these doctors that very few people would get to see. I finished this book with a feeling that Medicine has changed dramatically over the last forty years both for the better and for the worse (its often mentioned the loss of continuity of care has been the worst loss to current medical practice). 

Twitter accounts: @NEJM @Qikipedia

The New England Journal of Medicine and The QI elves, the Kings/Queens of interesting facts (Not strictly medical account but very entertaining nonetheless). 

Webpage: Sporcle

This website, although its full of games, is a fantastic site for educational time killers. I found myself addicted to trying to name all the countries in Europe, Africa and eventually the world. So again not strictly medical, however, if you want something medical there are some medically related quizzes. For example try naming all the eponymous syndromes..

Film: The Doctor

Ok the choice is obvious and it may seem like a boring movie but this movie was the centre of my course on professionalism and there are some lessons to learn. The main character, an arrogant heart surgeon, gets laryngeal cancer and the movie follows his journey through the patient experience. 

For more round ups click here.