6th Annual Women Leaders in Medicine Awards and Reception

"Do you know a female physician who is changing the world?
Nomination Submission Deadline: October 1, 2012 (5pm ET)

The Women Leaders in Medicine (WLIM) awards were created by AMSA in 2007 to recognize women physicians and educators who are changing the face of medicine through their lives, their professions, or their teaching. These women deserve recognition for their accomplishments and dedication to fostering tomorrow’s women leaders in medicine.

We are currently accepting nominations for the 2013 WLIM awards. All medical and premedical students are encouraged to fill out the simple online form and tell us about an inspiring woman who has influenced the student's medical career. They could be professors that you’ve had or they could be women who you have never met but have impacted your careers through their amazing work.

The recipients will be invited to attend the AMSA Annual Convention in March 2013 to receive their award at a special reception. Many of our past awardees have considered their Women Leaders in Medicine award a truly meaningful honor because it comes directly from the voices of students. At AMSA, we hope to give back some recognition to these amazing women in addition to generating awareness about the importance of fostering leadership in medicine that promotes healthy change and equality in care and professional opportunity for all physicians-in-training.

This year will be an extra special reception as it will coincide with the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) 62nd General Assembly in Washington DC. In honor of this momentous gathering, special attention will be paid to nominees who have had an impact on the global stage. We hope you will join us at AMSA's Annual Convention for the Annual Women Leaders in Medicine reception as we announce this year’s recipients!"

http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/Events/Convention/WLIM.aspx

Step 2 CS

I'm taking step 2 CS this weekend.  I keep waffling between feeling completely confident in my ability to rock it, and totally scarred that I'm going to majorly f*ck up somehow and screw myself over.

I did more than fine on my school's OSCE exam.  I did well with all my 3rd year clerkship rotations.  I've had 3 years of practice with standardized patient encounters.  I know how to speak English and have a decent amount of empathy. 

Yet, I haven't touched an actual patient in 2.5 months.  I have no real motivation to study, working through First Aid for CS at a snail's pace... not sure I'm going to finish it before the exam.  Concerned I'm going to forget how to take a comprehensive history, come up with a differential, or write a note.

Ugh!  Medical school = one humbling hurdle and/or act of hazing after another.  I can do this, right?!

Right brain approach to healing

(image is a Mercedes-Benz add, taken from http://www.andrewkeir.com/right-brain-vs-left-brain/)

Science is often though of as a left brain thing.  Art is the right brain.  But what happens when you combined them?  What happens when a man with brain cancer begins to think outside the box?  What happens when the man has the ingenuity and skill set to crack code, redefine healing and cure, and appeal to a larger, global, audience?

You have Salvatore Iaconesi.  You have an OPEN SOURCE CURE.  In his poetically beautiful words, here is his plea:

"There are cures for the body, for spirit, for communication.

Grab the information about my disease, if you want, and give me a CURE: create a video, an artwork, a map, a text, a poem, a game, or try to find a solution for my health problem.

Artists, designers, hackers, scientists, doctors, photographers, videomakers, musicians, writers. Anyone can give me a CURE."

This is an absolutely beautiful reinvention of medicine.   This is the art I am proud to be learning, practicing, and bearing witness in the lives of all my patients (past, present, and future).   

There is a big purple elephant standing in the corner of the US healthcare system

In simple terms, IOM stated today that US healthcare sucks.  It is about time someone addressed the elephant in the room.

"In a lengthy report out Thursday, the IOM wrote that U.S. medicine wastes roughly $750 billion per year, permits tens of thousands of needless deaths and bungles its mission in ways foreign to other industries." -The Hill's healthwatch blog commenting on the IOM report released today