Practicing Medicine and Meditation
I have been practicing medicine for about twenty years. I have always thought it a little odd that we call it "practicing." When I was a kid, that word always meant getting out my cello, rosining the bow, and playing my scales and assigned pieces. When I practiced the cello, I was aiming for a concert, or a recital. Preparing for the big event. Practice was a means to a specific end.In medicine, there is no big event for which we're preparing. We just practice every day. There are the usual jokes, like "someday maybe I'll get it right" and so forth. But for the most part, "I practice medicine" is just another way of saying "I'm a doctor." I don't know any other profession that u

Meditation Pearls
I'm taking a class called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts, it is basically a meditation class. This is the beginning of the 5th week out of 8 weeks. Over the course of the course, as it were, the teacher has offered up some good one-liners to help us. Here they are, so far.The mind can only be in one place at a time. You can only change in the present.Every thought is accompanied by a physiological response.Consciousness is contagious.Bring it back, baby! (the mind to the breath)Meditation is simple and difficult. If you've ever trie

H1N1 is here
It’s true. Swine flu is here. It is all over New Mexico including here at UNM. Have you had it yet? How about your friends and classmates? How many are out today with flu? I’ll bet there are at least a few, and there will likely be more next week.We have seen lots of H1H1 influenza or “Swine Flu” at Student Health and Counseling. Since September 1st we have had over 100 cases of “influenza-like illness.” Most of these were H1N1. All have recovered. And those are just the ones who have come to the clinic. There have been many more cases where people just stay home and take care of themselves.The virus continues to spread. It is very contagious and likes yo

Doctor's Notes for School and Work
What is it with teachers and employers requiring doctor's notes? It is a silly requirement that wastes a lot of everyone's time. This has become one of my pet peeves. I work at a university. The students are paying to come here and get an education. They are responsible for their own learning. This includes, in my mind, deciding whether and when they'll go to class. If they decide that they'll get more out of reading the book than attending the lecture, that's their choice. I had a classmate in medical school that showed up only for exams (no classes) the first two years. He is now a successful physician. If students get sick and decide they need to stay home and rest, more pow

H1N1 - article in last week's Daily Lobo
In polite company we call it Novel H1N1. It’s the Influenza Formerly Known as Swine Flu. Originally thought to come from pigs, this flu virus is actually a mix of pig, bird and human. Believe it: only a virus could pull off that combination.This rascal made a big splash last Spring, as you no doubt remember. After making its debut in the southern hemisphere it worked its way north, and by late summer there were so many cases the CDC stopped counting. The media hype is hopping about this new germ, and lots of people are afraid. Since it is a new germ, and we haven’t been through a winter with it yet, there is a fair amount we don’t know. But what we do know is