This week I traveled to a major “arrhythmia institute” in the southern US. For a specialist in a rapidly evolving field, venturing out of the protected cocoon of one’s routine, to see other’s approach, especially those at major referral centers, is immensely helpful. Although trips like this do not count for CME, they are just […]
Category: Reflection
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Happy Father’s Day…
If it was easy, it wouldn’t be as rewarding. Dads know bunches. They know that… you need to watch the ball, always, you should pay attention while driving, focus, you need to study hard, so as to procure a good job, (and it might help you be a better blogger some day,) your injuries will […]
The implantable defibrillator (ICD) is an amazing life-saving device. Â When used in the appropriate patient, the scientific data supporting its benefit is rock solid. The sudden death-averting appropriate ICD shock in the middle of the night, allows the patient to enjoy breakfast with his spouse, rather than admission to the morgue. ICD function seems simple: […]
What’s wrong with this picture? Look closely; make like “a trained observer.” It’s a helpless feeling. You are rested, fed, watered and mentally focused. The whistle blows and you are off. The legs respond, air moves through the thorax effortlessly, and here is the best part: there is separation. Yes, you are off the front. […]
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A new look…
Gosh I am scared to change the template. But things change. Mountain bikes got suspension, road bikes got shifters on the handlebars and MacBooks are replacing all other computers. So, the template is changed. Maybe a first step to a real website. JMM
At the risk of exposing my naivete, or being too much like the geeky student who sits in the front of the classroom, I can’t help but welcome the upcoming policing of cardiac device implants. As recently written by Dr Wes, government policing agencies, the DOJ and RAC folks, are planning to focus on […]
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142 seconds…
On a lighter note… Many years ago, in medical school there were a brave few who–for generous compensation–agreed to participate in various drug trials. They were mysteriously sequestered and given various potions and elixirs and then poked and prodded. Here would have been a far more interesting trial to have been a subject of study. […]
This Memorial Day makes me think of a recently deceased patient of mine. We had known each other for years. He benefited from many of our modern EP procedures and implanted cardiac devices, and I benefited from knowing him and his devoted wife. It was as he entered the final innings of his life, that […]
As a cardiologist and advocate for healthy living through exercise, the bleak news of rising childhood obesity hits me hard. But as an endurance athlete well versed in the inflammatory effects of excessive exercise, and a coach of middle school children, recent news reports on the over-training of American youth is equally troublesome. The over-training of […]
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Thanks, nurses…
It’s late at night, the pain is transcendent and worse yet, I am tangled up in tubes in a sweat-soaked hospital bed. The collapsed lung, fractured ribs and chest tube have transformed an independent doctor into a needy patient. She answered my ring right away, coming to my aid quickly and with a warm demeanor, […]
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An old girlfriend is back…
Having friends to ride with is good. I’ve missed riding with her. We rode last night, and it was nice. She is of bavarian heritage, a little over-engineered, possibly. Unfortunately, of late, she has spent a great deal of time either too sick to accompany me on rides, or even worse, she has been away […]