The refrigerator is a great place to extend shelf life of products, whether edible or not. Batteries or film will stay fresh for years in the fridge if kept in proper humidity. Storing preservative-free eyedrops or Forteo (for osteoporosis) in the fridge will also help maintain their efficacy.

I keep chocolate in my fridge. Large amounts of it. Right in the left crisper drawer. Ever since I started counting down the weeks before my move, I’ve been frantically trying to clear out my food items. I’ve amassed a formidable stash of European delicassies in my fridge and cabinet over the last year, and it’s been difficult whittling down my stores. The photo above shows about a fourth of what I had 2 months ago. I simply am unable to consume this stuff in large quantities because the chocolate is overpoweringly rich and it seems like a waste not to savor it. In NYC, the Leibniz cookies sell at $5 for 3.3oz. The Swiss waffle chocolates? $6 for 3oz. I bought 5 boxes of each earlier in the year. (The gold standard for cookie comparison is the Oreo, which usually sells for $3 for 16oz)

I’ve started distributing some of my goodies in the hospital, and they go like hotcakes. A box of Ferrero’s lasted 3 hours. I wonder how long a box of French schoolboy cookies (Le Petit Ecolier) will last…

misc food, humor, life

From what I’ve seen, the most lucrative hospitals are those that you don’t typically consider to be academic powerhouses. On the contrary, many of them appear to provide care that is far from excellent. Based on personal observation and unfounded stereotype, I’ve created an action plot of the ultimate medical provider framework (outside hospital):

Update 5/5/09 18:30: I’ve realized that cardiac cath reimbursements aren’t what they used to be. The big revenue generators these days are the imaging modalities, like MUGA scans, and even ABI’s. Having a nuclear medicine lab would help pull in the big bucks.

medicine humor, medicine

You’ve probably heard about the outbreak of swine flu in various parts of the U.S. and Mexico recently. We even received a page via the UrgiCare service that one mother believed that her daughter had swine flu today! Talk about mass panic.  Interestingly enough, the swine flu is of a similar in subtype to the flu that caused the 1918 Spanish influenza outbreak (H1N1).  Google has set up a tracker to follow all of the suspected swine cases in North America:

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

medicine humor, medicine

I laughed the first time I read this question on my risk management training exam, which I am hoping to finish in between the 90hrs I anticipate being in the hospital this week:

The blunt end of the healthcare system can be described as:

a) action by clinicians

b) latent errors

c) inaction by clinicians

Oh boy, I have quite a bit to learn…

medicine humor

I have been cycling through paperwork for my new residency over the past few days. The packet contains a mix of poorly photocopied forms, some of which is either illegible or completely cut off. The hospital also graciously included a photocopied Chase Bank flyer dated 2004, which offered $200 for opening a checking account. I called the graduate admissions office (GME) later to clarify some issues:

Me: Hi, I’m starting residency at XXX next month, and I’ve got some questions about some of the forms I received from your office.

GME guy: You need to call YYY.

Me: The forms came from your office, one of them is a verification of medical school training. I’m not…

GME guy: (cuts me off) And?

Me: I’m not in town, and I was going to fax in the form to the Registrar’s office to be stamped. Do you accept faxed signatures?

GME guy: It depends if you sign it. Up to you.

Me: It goes to your office! Ok, I’ll fax it over. I’ve another question: what time and where do I show up for the orientation in June? The forms don’t say.

GME guy: We don’t do orientation.

Me: The form says “Please show up to Occupational Health on time”, but it doesn’t say when and where.

GME guy: This is OHS. You said orientation, confusing me.

Me: (I was getting really pissed off at this point) Yea, OHS. Where do I show up?

GME guy: <paused for 10 secs> You got the green sheet? Read the top.

Me: <looking at the green sheet> It says ..ving Pavilion, and no address.

GME guy: Yup, call the number at the top for info. Irving Pavilion.

<click>

Apparently the address for Irving Pavilion was completely cut off the top of the page. If I didn’t already know where the buildings on campus were, I’d have no idea where to find it.

Ah yes. And now I am reminded why I left NYC…

medicine humor, rant