Residents in Salem, Oregon, are designing an ideal medical clinic. Slated to open by April 2013, the clinic may feature a dinosaur exam table, a cool gecko that greets patients at the front desk, and maybe even a pet goat. But the final design will be determined by citizens gathering at town hall meetings over the next few months.
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Change your name. Don’t friend patients. Delete your Facebook account. This is official social media advice for today’s medical students and physicians.
What fuels physician Facebook phobia?
Patients may make romantic advances or request appointments on Facebook. Patients might view a physician’s personal posts or vacation photos.
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I pick up a Glock semiautomatic, the model used in the Virginia Tech massacre. I need to hold it, to feel it, to rub my finger across the trigger.
I don’t fear death. Raised in a morgue, I worked with my dad, the city medical examiner.
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We have a constitutional right to bear arms.
We have no constitutional right to health care.
America is the most heavily armed nation in the world.
America also leads the world in mental illness.
Half of all Americans develop at least one mental illness.
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Dr. Pamela Wible spends the afternoon with Tamara and Marlo on 7th & Washington in Eugene, Oregon. A photoessay by Pamela Wible, M.D.
Pamela Wible,
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How does a Jewish doctor prepare for the holidays? By decorating her house with festive medical specimens, of course! All have been retrieved from human bodies, many during autopsies. I’m a hoarder with a medical art fetish. It started with my turquoise and heart valve necklace. Now my IUD Christmas tree.
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On birthdays and holidays, many girls get chocolates or flowers from their fathers, but my dad is a little different.
One day I receive a package of Godiva gallstones. Wow! I imagine glistening gallbladder sacs sliced open, oozing with coconut cream, cherry chunks, or nutty nougat, and then I lift the cover off the gorgeous gold box to discover seventeen clear containers with tight-fitting lids.
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I often wonder: why am I a doctor?
The truth is, I want to live in the real world, a world without pretense, a world where people can’t hide behind money or status.
Illness uncovers our authenticity. Doctoring satiates my need to be witnessed and to witness the raw,
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People stare. They gather around. “You can touch it, but guess what it’s made out of,” I say.
One woman whispers, “It’s not part of an egg carton, is it?” Then a man behind her shouts, “It’s a condom, blown out and rolled up, ya know,” just as another lady interrupts,
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Want a starched, white coat or a faded pair of Levis?
Want a serious face or a warm, welcoming smile?
Want a quick visit or a long discussion?
Guess what? You CAN have exactly what you want from your doctor IF you tell your doctor what you want!
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Some call it Obamacare. Others abbreviate it PPACA. Is the Affordable Care Act the same as health care reform? Most would say yes. I disagree.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is primarily health insurance reform. The law attempts to protect patients from for-profit insurance companies through increased regulation of and expanded access to for-profit health insurance.
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Patients expect prescriptions, and doctors deliver. The problem is, what most patients need can’t be delivered in a little pink pill. During the past twenty years, I’ve written a lot of prescriptions. Here are my favorites:
Have great sex three times per week!
Take a vacation to the coast.
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The cover of my forthcoming book, Pet Goats & Pap Smears, has generated controversy on the proper display of women’s bodies for public consumption. During the last few days, I’ve heard from over one hundred people who have shared their joy (and their rage) over my book cover.
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I am happy to announce my forthcoming book, Pet Goats & Pap Smears: 101 Medical Adventures to Open Your Heart & Mind.
Many people have commented (both positive and negative) on the cover. Unlike advertisements that objectify women or dominate animals, this book cover celebrates and honors both women and animals.
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Doctor revived after suicide. Here's what he says.
