Chukwuma on May 13th, 2010
A new study has found that minimum-wage employees are more likely to be obese than those who earn higher wages. Traditionally when we thought of “poor people” we envisioned starving rail-thin malnourished children. Malnutrition is still prevalent in poor communities, the appearance of these individuals however is radically different. It would seem to be a counter-intuitive point but it is clear from anecdotal experience as well as recent research that obese people are actually malnourished. Dietary analysis shows that people with less money to spend on food tend to purchase inexpensive nutrient poor foods. In an attempt to obtain a satisfactory amount of nutrients they will consume more calories. The situation is compounded by insufficient exercise and lack of access to healthy foods in many neighborhoods. Obesity is a complex problem with multiple causative factors and I fear that we are only seeing the tip of an enormous iceberg with regard to long term prevalence of serious chronic disease. http://amplify.com/u/5zag

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Dr. Ashraf Aziz is (without a doubt) the most passionate educator I have ever had the opportunity to learn from.
I was very pleased to see a story in the Washington Post about a collaboration between the Howard University College of Medicine and the Art Institute of Washington on an exhibit entitled “Anatomical Art: Dissection to Illustration” that features Dr. Aziz.
I clearly remember listening to his lecture on the anatomy of the hand as a first year medical student at Howard University and thinking, “Wow. This guy really loves what he does.” His excitement and enthusiasm for anatomy was absolutely infectious and I still use him as an object lesson and model for what it means to be truly passionate about education.
The article from the Washington Post is a beautiful tribute to a great man.
Thank you, Dr. Aziz. http://amplify.com/u/5wzz
Chukwuma on May 6th, 2010
Great post.

"hjluks: Is Health Care Technology Enough—Improving the Health Care experience – http://amplify.com/u/5uu6 Posted… http://tumblr.com/x9h9ixjb6"
http://www.twitter.com/hjluks/status/13482726403

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Chukwuma on April 22nd, 2010
More insurance company CRIMES. Systematic cancellation of insurance after a patient is diagnosed with breast cancer. Apparently good for profits but, IMHO bad for the souls of the executives who perpetuated such a scheme. http://amplify.com/u/4×1z

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Chukwuma on April 18th, 2010
.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }Medical Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage on Prezi

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Chukwuma on January 11th, 2010

By Nicholas Fogelson, M.D. and Chukwuma Onyeije, M.D.

Early reports described the story of Tracy Hermanstorfer as a “Christmas Miracle”. It has also been described as  inspiring, heartwarming, and “wonderfully appropriate for the season.” Others have referred to her saga as a nightmare with a happy ending.

On Christmas Eve 2009, Ms. Hermanstorfer was admitted to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Spring, Colorado after her water broke.  Ms. Hermanstorfer suffered a cardiac arrest during labor with her child Colton.  After immediate resuscitative efforts failed, nearby Maternal Fetal Medicine physician (Dr Stephanie Martin) performed an emergency cesarean section.  In the minutes following the delivery, Ms Hermanstorfer regained circulation and breathing, and is now doing well. Her infant also went on to survive and is apparently well…

The case of Tracy and Colton Hermanstorfer continues to baffle and amaze those who learn about it.

Over at the academicobgyn.com website, Dr. Fogelson and I review the case and provide our ideas regarding the possible causes for this miracle.  Do you agree with our assessment?  Is there anything we forgot?

You can read the full article at : http://academicobgyn.com/2010/01/10/an-obstetrical-analysis-of-the-christmas-miracle/

Thanks!

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Chukwuma on January 6th, 2010

I’m continuing to read about technology and its relationship to the propagation of ideas. An excellent source in this regard is “Content” by Cory Doctorow. I originally thought the following quote was written by Mr. Doctorow regarding digital rights management and contemporary intellectual property concerns. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the actual author. QUOTE:

“If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of everyone, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property.” — Thomas Jefferson
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Chukwuma on January 5th, 2010

It’s official. I’m in love with Prezi!

Prezi is something like PowerPoint except simpler, fancier and based on Flash.  Embedding video into my presentations was quantum leaps easier than with PowerPoint.  Prezi also represents a completely different way of looking at presentation software, since Prezi is a service delivered entirely online.

You can learn more about Prezi here. And you can see my other Prezi presentations here:

These lectures can also be found at http://preeclampsiaonline.net in a post which I’ve placed here:

The presentations below are for medical students at the Morehouse School of Medicine.  Any lecture of this nature is always a work in progress.  These unfortunate students will be my guinea pigs.  I’m sure the lecture it self as well as the audio/visual presentation will improve, since a new set of students will be getting this lecture every 6 months or so.

I’m also glad to finally spruce up my old preeclampsia lecture which is (gasp) about 5 years old.

Please enjoy and feel free to comment.

 

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Chukwuma on December 28th, 2009

I found this image while reading “What Matters Now” by Seth Godin.

Seth Godin writes about marketing, the spread of ideas and managing both customers and employees with respect. “What Matters Now” is a collaborative effort by a number of social media and marketing experts. The e-book and the above image represent a fascinating perspective on marketing but I think it is an even more appropriate metaphor for how to view medical communication in the information age. I also recently had the opportunity to review an article in the British Medical Journal in which C.O. Hawthorne takes issue with a plea by another physician ( Dr. Hempson) to conform to accepted practices. In his correspondence to the journal, Dr. Hawthorne states:

The suggestion implied in these warnings (by Dr. Hempson) plainly is that somewhere within the province of medicine there exists a recognized and authoritative standard of ” orthodoxy ” – that is, a body of doctrine and practice presented by authority and received and adopted as true and valid on the word of authority, with, as a corollary, and for the contumacious, the penialty of exclusion from the ranks and communion of the faithful. Possibly there are professions to which these propositions apply. But most certainly they do not apply to the profession of medicine.

This was written in 1926; but I completely agree with Dr. Hawthorne as we enter 2010. Many of the discussions on this blog have detailed the dangers that can result when we in the medical field accept things “as they are” and do not question how we can improve them or make them work better for patients.

This is true for reform efforts, specific procedures live VBAC, communication technology and the participation of patients in their own care. Given the drastic changes in technology and the ability these provide us to radically change what we do for the best; we owe it to ourselves to question everything and seek to optimize patient care rather than do what we have done in the past.

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