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. 

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April round-up (Medical student gems)

Youtube Channel: theedexitvideo
TheEDexitvideo channel run by Dr Carlo Oller gives great insight into life as an emergency department physician. It's a wonderful educational resource with the personal touch of a real down to earth honest doc.

Book: How Not to Die
Dr Michael Gregers book has been a long time in the works. Finally released last autumn, how not to die is a must read for anybody with an interest in nutrition. It even got me munching on plants more often.

Twitter accounts: @HansRosling @ShaunLintern 
Professor of global health at the Karolinska institute, creator of Gapminder.org and the Gapminder foundation, Hans Rosling. Sign up for his entirely free online introduction to global health course at eDX. Shaun Lintern a patient safety correspondent and a good one to follow to keep in touch with various issues with the UK health system.

Webpage: Global burden of disease
This interactive website run by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, is just fantastic. You can play around with the various graph styles, regions and income groups to have a really clear world view on the impact of diseases in the different groups. 

Film: Sicko
This famous Michael Moore documentary looks gives insight into the drawbacks and horrors of the American health system, although slow to start it is quite shocking. His latest documentary ‘where to invade next’ flopped, however Sicko is iconic Michael Moore at his best.

February round-up (Medical student gems)

Youtube Channel: DocMikeEvans

Dr Mike Evans whiteboard videos are incredibly simple and informative. They are incredibly good at explaining the key points of disease in a way that patients can understand easily. Already posted my favorite video of his. 

Book: Why Zebras Dont Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky

This guy is a world expert on the matter of stress. In his book he explains clearly the different mechanisms of stress and their various manifestations. The detailed content means its not a light read but its super interesting and well worth the effort.

Twitter accounts: @StudentBMJ @CaulfieldTim

There are so many twitter accounts to choose from, I am following so many these days. The student BMJ is a great resource for medical students especially those in the UK.Tim caulfield posts some really interesting studies quite regularly

Webpage: Which textbook to use, Cambridge recommends

The Cambridge University medical school reading list, I refer to this whenever I'm not sure which textbook to use for a certain subject. 

Film: A Beautiful Mind (2001)

This film is about famous mathematician, nobel prize winner and schizophrenia sufferer John Nash. Gives great insight into the condition of schizophrenia, also a bloody great film.