HIV and ID Observations

June 6th, 2022

Still More Fun with Old Medical Images

Back in the Before Times, this site would occasionally dabble in lighter fare: Cartoon caption contests Commentaries on doctor attire Thoughts on the first-name “Morgan” Penguins chasing a butterfly (Well, actually, this is a new one!) https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1533022340887486466?s=20&t=ShPbhfDhg-BwCP2bWisXfA And, the subject of today’s post — Fun with Old Medical Images. Here’s how it works: We display an old medical […]

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April 28th, 2019

Even More Fun with Old Medical Images

Loyal readers of this site might note that we periodically stray from incisive, topical coverage of our exciting field of Infectious Diseases, and venture off into subjects that may or may not be ID-related. And good news for fans of this approach, because today it’s time to release our third episode of Fun with Old Medical Images.  […]

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November 5th, 2017

More Fun With Old Medical Images!

Sometimes we clinicians, researchers, teachers, and medical administrators need a break from our grueling work schedules and responsibilities. With that in mind, I offer a second installment of Fun With Old Medical Images! — which I’ve cleverly entitled, More Fun With Old Medical Images! With an up-front thanks to the National Library of Medicine — who are truly putting […]

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January 22nd, 2017

Fun With Old Medical Images!

Welcome to Fun with Old Medical Images! Here’s how it works: You’ll see a series of images — old, strange, and perplexing — and each will have a caption that I have created for you at no extra cost. Accustomed to high-quality and clinically relevant information from your NEJM Journal Watch contributors, you will laugh happily at the contrast between […]

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September 15th, 2019

A Former Medical School Dean Invents a False Dichotomy in Curriculum Content, and Advises Physicians to Stay in Their Lane

Over on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, a piece appeared last week with the following provocative title and subtitle: Take Two Aspirin and Call Me by My Pronouns At ‘woke’ medical schools, curricula are increasingly focused on social justice rather than treating illness. Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, former associate dean of curriculum at the […]

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April 14th, 2019

Here’s One “Rule” of Medical Education That Needs Fixing — Or at Least a Little Context

Like any card-carrying ID doctor, I enjoy teaching about antibiotics. Give me a whiteboard (small group), or a PowerPoint set-up (lecture hall), and I’m off and running. Not surprisingly, an important theme of these talks revolves around avoiding antibiotic overuse. Over the years, I’ve collected a few egregious examples of how marketing distorts public perception of […]

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February 13th, 2017

How to Make Preventing Heart Disease in HIV Fun and Exciting: The REPRIEVE Trial

The people researching cardiovascular disease in HIV have quite the challenge. Because when you think about it for a second, we HIV treaters are a pretty spoiled bunch when it comes to therapeutic success. We saw the transformation of a terrifying, incurable, and rapidly progressive disease (AIDS) into something that can be managed for decades — usually with just […]

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November 16th, 2014

Electronic Medical Records and the Demise of the Useful Medical Note

Electronic medical records (EMRs) are much on my mind, as last week at Medical Grand Rounds Robert (Bob) Wachter, chief of the medical service at UCSF, gave a brilliant talk on the unanticipated consequences of our move towards what he calls the “Digital Doctor.” Bob has thought a lot about this issue, so much so that he’s about to […]

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September 2nd, 2019

New Antibiotics for CRE, Draft Lyme Guidelines, Cost of Measles Outbreaks, and More — a Labor Day ID Link-o-Rama

Labor Day! Could summer really be over? Nah, we still have a few weeks — and as I’ve noted several times, this time of year (September-October) gives us far and away Boston’s best weather season. On with the links. Data from electronic medical records can accurately identify the best candidates for PrEP. The challenge in primary care is […]

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May 6th, 2018

Looking Back on a Decade of Blogging About HIV and Infectious Diseases

Last week, Dr. Wendy Armstrong from Emory kindly invited me to spend some time with their smart, energetic ID fellows. (See if you can pick me out of the group in the photo at right — hint, I’m the old guy on the left.) Before the trip, Wendy asked them whether they’d rather hear me give a […]

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