Archive | March 2011
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An NEJM Perspective for Every Medical Student
This perspectives article in the NEJM is a wonderful read. Describing the eternal struggle of the Third Year medical student, it is a wonderful narrative look into the rather sensitive issue by two people on two sides of the table: Katharine Treadway, a long time teacher, and Neal Chatterjee, a third year medical student, both […]
IMGs in the USMLE, 2011 Match
Given the growing number of medical students from India who are taking the USMLE, terms like steps, match, scramble, have become more common on the medical school turfs in the sense pertaining to the USMLE. This year, three people I know personally applied for the match. Two of them got through. So, when I got […]
The Open Reviews Debate
The point-counter-point articles by Karim Khan and Trish Groves published on November 2010 caught my attention when the latter tweeted a link to her side of the story a couple of days ago: http://twitter.com/#!/trished/status/53044806108188672 At the outset of this post, let me make one thing clear: I know that open peer review is a good […]
My New Keys
I have been using the Toshiba Portege 3490CT for well nigh a decade now. I used her with the crappy Windows ME, then went back to using Windows98, and finally a friend loaded me up with XP and that’s been driving her for most of the time. She has been with me in some real […]
Enter FB Fan Page
Just a small reminder that I recently created a fan page on Facebook for the blog. It is at this rather ugly URL here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scepticemia/178571822155337 But you can change all of that by helping me get a custom URL on FB simply by liking the page. I can change the URL once I get 25 […]
The War of the Words: David vs Good
When it comes to science bloggers, one common nature I have noted is the obsession with numbers. Given the analytical nature of the work, it hardly seems a stretch to imagine that it would spill over onto their blogs as well. I used to think that this obsession was merely with the ones like me, […]
Bring BQC Back
How many of you have been fans of the Bournvita Quiz Contest growing up? I know I have been. And so, when Rahul contacted with me with the news that they were planning to resurrect the BQC, not only did it bring back fond memories, but also spurred me to do something about it. So […]
The Most Authoritative Description of the Brain
What could be more infotaining than Pinky and the Brain describing the, well, brain! Check out this amazing video!
Thank You Eva, For Reminding Me…
… what studying Medicine was all about. I came across this talk by Alzheimer’s and Cancer researcher, Microbiology prodigy, Eva Vertes. She delivered this TEDTalk when she was just 19, but by then she had already made a niche of her own in the world of medicine. At a juncture when I am personally going […]
Life, Facebook Ishtyle!
Came across this cool video on Dr. Shock’s Blog. He had found it on the New Scientist TV Blog. Given the fact that we spend a sizeable number of hours of our lives on FB, I guess, it would not be too far off the mark. Enjoyable video of this guy cheating and recheating on […]
When My Mom’s Words Came True!
Kambiz is a Medical Student and a prolific blogger. Although his posts are often short and pithy, they bring out stuff that is truly epic. This is a reblog of his from ImmunoBLOGulin. Check it out ma, your words came true! Pathology risk of modern scientists. « Guidelines « immunoBLOGulin. … Read More via Kambiz […]
Brain, Meet Proton Beam
Well, of all the weird science things I have been reading of late, this has to rate right up at the top of the pile. I am not going to waste it by posting too many spoilers, because Ben Good has written about it quite extensively on his post, but this I am going to […]
What’s My Blogging Style?
Fizzzy, over at A Cartoon Guide, has an excellent guide on the different types of medical bloggers. Take a look see: Click on image to get a larger size. So if you have been reading my blog for some time now, would it be prudent to ask you what you thought was my blogging style […]
Buck-teria!
First up, a disclaimer. I know one of the researchers who conducted this short study personally and professionally. I admire their work and what they have done to further the cause of promoting research by medical students in India. So, this post may be a little biased, but anyways, I decided to go ahead with […]
The Seven Ages of Life in Medical School
I know this sounds extremely corny but today marks the end of a 7 year long association with my medical school. I got done with my housejob yesterday and did not apply for an extension because I wanted to take a year off and try to steer my career in a different direction. At this […]
Small Pox: Rumors, Superstitions and A Massive Scare
When I read this article, a sudden chill ran down my spine: The health secretary A K Sarkar told IANS he had heard the news that smallpox had resurfaced and the health department was in the process of authenticating reports. But he said he was not in a position to either confirm or deny the […]
Death by Youtube: First Bieber Fever, and now the Black Plague!
OK. Maybe its not that bad, but the puns that can be made are just mind numbingly numerous! I must say I am no great fan of music lyrics (be it Bollywood, Hollywood, Indie artists, whatever) going round nowadays but even by my low standards of expectations, the lyrics of the following song has shocked […]
JetPack your BigRock!
It seems like the good folks at the helm of wordpress.com are trying to welcome into their folds the numerous people who use wordpress.org and are hosting their blogs elsehwere! With the launch of JetPack which was closely followed by their extraordinarily expensive offer to shift your wordpress.com blog to wordpress.org (at 99$ it is […]
Sex and the Senile
Geriatric sexuality is a very sparsely explored domain in the medical arena. With the developing world getting top heavy on the age pyramid, this has become a rather timely question to ask. This study conducted in Australia takes a look at the prevalence of sexual activities in people ages 75 years and above (upto 95 […]
inSPOT: Innovative Health Communication Technology
To be honest, you have to be in a spot of bother before you choose to use inSPOT but in our generation, it is a rather common issue to be addressed. Sexually transmitted disease. There now I am sure I got you attention… didn’t I? No? Then take a look at this: Ah. How’s that […]
BMJ Open: New Open Access Journal
This journal has been in the piping for quite some time as it had already been declared in the BMJ Blogs. It went live quite some time ago (February 24th) but I just managed to procrastinate posting this till now! http://twitter.com/#!/BMJ_Open/status/40541838293078016 The new journal works on the principle of the author paying system, much like […]
A Common Test?
This post was written on an old blog of mine when the common entrance test for the medical under and post graduation levels were being mulled. Now it seems the big shots have reached a final decision and there seems to be a consensus on making a united, single exam in the form of the […]
Volkswagen ads (via An Irishman Abroad)
I usually do not reblog the posts that get freshly pressed (God knows they get enough attention as it is with the whole wp.com community checking out their sites: makes me so jealous!), but this one was very close to my heart. So much so, that I went on to reblog it. Whilst I enjoyed […]
The Private Bits of Gregarious Carnivores (via terrible puny rightness)
This is an incredible science blog that I stumbled across while roaming the vast expanses of Research Blogging. Loved this post. Especially the detailed explanations which makes reading the post a pleasure, even for someone like me who has little interest in exotic zoology! Go, give this blog a read! Female spotted hyenas give birth […]
Tears = Turn Off
How many of us have been reduced to blubbering idiots by the tears of a distressed damsel? I am sure the casualties are too many to put a number. Almost all of us have come across a time when we were moved by the tears of a lady. Often the center of male chauvinism, the […]
When David Felled Goliath!
Well, the pre-match heat was turned on when the Irish skipper appeared at a Press conference in purple hair claiming that his team was raring to go against the old enemies, the English. After the bashing the minnows have received in general, and especially after the Irish choked while chasing a paltry 205 against Bangladesh, […]
