Are you down with S-T-I?

Well, another interesting day. First off, kudos to Karen for finding the site ;-) Secondly, I spent the day at the teen sexual health clinic, and what an enlightening experience. The amount of knowledge and comfort around our bodies and our sexual health there is unbelievable, and makes me realize that I'm stuck in the past when it comes to current trends.

More importantly though, I've learned more about the emotional impact of STI's and the depression/shame/anger/frustration that surrounds them. The importance of being non-judgemental, of giving the info out in acceptable doses, and the need for follow-up counselling or referral to an excellent service such as this. Currently working on a project for my Family Medicine block, because I think it's important to not just treat the disease, but all the issues that surround it.

Finally, to add a link, I just googled "Herpes", and lo and behold, here's the number one site. Enjoy!

www.herpes.com

Cheerio,

Nicholas

Family Medicine Forum

After a fabulous time at the Family Medicine Forum 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, there were a few very useful websites:

www.rxfiles.ca for objective comparisons for optimal drug therapy

www.healthknowledgecentral.org for all the best resources for busy clinicians in one place - lots of great one pagers - all the info you need!

www.healthontario.com a consumer focused website with lots of good health info for both patients and med students who want the facts but not all the bloody details

www.effectivepractice.org a site developed to address the gap between best evidence and current primary care practice.

Enjoy!

Nicholas

Phase 3 of Medical School

Quick update: Phase 3 of medical school involves unleashing hordes of medical students on unsuspecting patients, people who have no idea that when they say it's their first time getting this test done, it's also our first time doing the test. That it's not them shaking from the epinephrine, it's us shaking from having to give the epinephrine. That when we say "oops" and laugh nervously, we're not trying to make small talk, but rather distract ourselves from an untimely urinary output. And in doing all this, our regular 40 hour week, plus call, plus emerg shifts, plus readings, meetings, rounds, and generally doing extra scut work, we are well compensated for our 12,000+ tuition with a real salary, a working man/woman's salary, a salary that has stood the test of time, not to be bothered with silly ideations like inflation, or adjusted cost of living, or human dignity. That's right, 47 cents an hour baby!! (note: salary payable only for the first 40 hours worked per week. Any hours worked above the aforementioned number is considered grounds for mental insanity and therefor cannot be compensated for under the charter of it sucks to be you)

Newa, life in the fast lane of Med 3 is fabulous. Just finished psych, where I promptly went crazy, and am now on the island doing family medicine, which is pulling me in more directions than a schizophrenic person who's hearing voices and has delusions of grandeur. Hope all your lives are just as sunshiny, and that the last sounds before the anaesthetic kicks in for your surgery are not my voice, and the word "oops..."


Beauty is simply Reality seen with the eyes of love. — Evelyn Underhill

How to Claybar your car

Looking to learn how to claybar a car? look no further:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-clay.html

Comment for "The National"

Hey all,

I've been hooked on the news and specials from CBC's "The National" lately, and actually felt inclined to send them a message. Since I'm sure it was really for my own edificaiton, I thought I'd post it here for all the "world" to see ;-)

Nicholas
Thank you especially for two of your recent stories. Your first, on new and emerging research on happiness as a skill, as something that can be practiced and improved upon, is so simple, yet so mind-boggling in todays society. It is also something that is very important to hear - that we can all learn to be happy, if we would only give it a little time and effort. It is funny though, that we cannot help ourselves and our newfound culture to save time, to make things better, faster and stronger, and so we even try to reduce meditation down to the essentials - we want to get the most "bang for our buck."

As well, thank you for your invigorating story regarding innovations in education. With all the focus on health care, education has fallen by the wayside. This is unfortunate, as education is essential in ensuring that the next generation benefits as much as possible from what we have learned, and it both directly and indirectly links to the level of health of a country. I especially love that todays innovators in education are trying to modify teaching to fit the different learning styles of children, rather than the traditional method of teaching children the way we want them to learn. this idea, again, seems so simple, and yet it is still not widely accepted. I love the idea of teachers who are looking for feedback, who are constently evaluating what they do, how effective they are, and trying to improve upon it. After all, isn't the goal of education to help students learn, rather than to impart knowledge? In medicine, we have finally learned that mere facts and regurgitation is not enough - that we must learn how to be lifelong learners. It is great to see that these educators are doing just that - taking ordinary situations such as shopping, comparing prices, and cooking, and using them as educational tools. Students cannot help but take home this message - that every experience is an opportunity to grow, to develop knew skills, and to challenge oneself.

Again, thank you for your wonderful, insightful, and inspirational stories. I may once again have to get cable, as watching the National with only an old, old antenna is giving me too many headaches ;-)

Sincerely,

Nicholas Wong

$10 Dollars at Chapters

Here's a link for 10 bucks off 40 dollars at chapters

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/promotions/cineplex/default.asp

Enjoy! Oh, and I'm looking into waxing/paint protecting my new car soon. Anyone out there with suggestions, feel free to post.

Nicholas

Blue Steel Has Arrived

Woot Woot!! Blue Steel, my legendary Mazda 3s in Winning Blue Mica, with A/C, Moonroof, and leather, has arrived in all it's glory. Will be posting pics soon. Just purchased, and already put in 300 kms on the first day. But hey, it's got great zoom zoom, great cornering, great stereo, cool toys, and oh it's just soooo loverly. can't wait to start pickin' up the ladies ;-)

Ikea Coupon

20$ off 150$ purchase at IKEA!!

http://www.ikea.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/IkeaNearYouView?storeId=3&langId=-15&catalogId=10101&StoreName=coupon0804

Enjoy!

Nicholas

Free Jays Tickets August 13-15

Hey all,

If you're interested in free Jays tickets on August 13-15, sign up for their newsletter and you get two decent tickets free:

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/tor/ticketing/connect_form.jsp

Enjoy!

Wishin' I was in Toronto then...

Nicholas

Thanks Paul!

Hey all out there,

Just pasting for fun, since writing emails and researching info can help everyone. Helped out my friend Marty with the Canon A75, and was just price shopping for him, so I thought I'd post the results here. Remember, we're on the east coast, so the selection is a little slimmer. Oh, and the interesting note was that Futureshop has a black version of the A75. That's all for now folks - well, except that I was poking tubes down peoples throats and up people's bums today, and the view wasn't half bad ;-)

Nicholas

Thanks for calling - it's always nice to "talk shop" for a bit, and always good to be able to help out. Just remember, you don't have to take any of my suggestions at all - that's all they are, suggestions, and I won't be offended if I see you with another camera.

That said, I took a quick look around at prices for your memory card. Unfortunately, with your time frame, you won't be able to get a really really good deal on the card. The best I could find was at futureshop, the Sandisk 256 mb card, for 79.99
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&dept=2&WLBS=fsweb9&sku_id=0665000FS10013481&catid=&newdeptid=2
That's the link for it. Now if you really want to save money, and are willing to put a little effort in, Staples has a pricematch policy. What that means is that they have to beat the price of any competitor. They sell the same Sandisk 256 mb card for 99.95.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=,&webid=497976&affixedcode=WW

What this means is that if you tell them that futureshop sells it for 79.99, they sell it for 99.95, they have to match and beat the price by 150%, so they sell it to you for 70 bucks plus tax. That's probably the cheapest you can get right now, unless Carsand mosher or any other store has a better deal in store.

As for the Canon A75, the best price you'll probably find is Staples, at 384.52

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=,&webid=562526&affixedcode=WW

However, there is an interesting note - futureshop is somehow selling the Canon A75 in black - if that's your color, check it out. It may be more interesting for you. I don't think Carsand mosher carries it in that color.

That's all for now. Just remember, these prices are only here for comparison. If you want to ask, there's always a chance they can throw in another little discount. For example, if you buy the camera, card, and a case from Carsand mosher, and they match this price, you can mention that you're a student, and if you can get any little deal at all. They may throw in some rechargeable batteries if you're lucky.

more on cameras

Heya,
 
This one is for my friend Paul, but hey, anyone who's looking for a camera can use it!
 
For compact digital camera's, which seems to be what you're looking for, the number one thing to do is figure out what it is you want.  What's the most important - cost, features, form, function, manual control, movies, picture quality, brand name?  There's something for everyone out there.
 
The next step would be to go to a nice camera store - around Ottawa, not sure where they'd be, where you can pick some up and play with them.  That's the only way you'll know how compact a camera you want.  The Canon A70, 75, and 80 actually fit quite nicely in the hand, although they sound much bigger.  The Elph's look much sleeker, though some people actually find them too small.  Then, for those with a fatter wallet, the Canon S60 is coming out, a successor to the very popular S50.
 
As for objective reviews, you can usually trust Camera shops, or there are a few good review websites.  For professional camera's
 
www.dpreview.com
 
for most everything else
 
www.steves-digicams.com
www.dcresource.com
 
both are fairly good, although their reviews aren't as objective, so may not be as helpful in deciding what you want.
 
Personally?  I'm a big fan of the Canon A75.  Relatively cheap (under 400), compact, big LCD, full complement of manual controls, and yet an easy point and shoot.  An overall performer.  Those looking for fun and some control.  I also really like Nikon's and Olympus's, the former having excellent macro (close up) abilities and the latter having their stylish water resistant ultra compact camera's.
 
The Minolta G400 sounds quite nice, having not looked at it before.  In Steve's conclusion, from www.steves-digicams.com, it reads

With its small, stylish body, 4-megapixel imager, impressive shooting performance, high-quality outdoor images, and street price of under $300, the Minolta DiMAGE G400 has a lot to recommend it. If you don't do a lot of indoor flash photography, the G400 would be a fine choice as a travel and outdoor camera. However if your family is like most, a camera will see most of its use for portraits indoors using flash; the limited flash range and poor auto focusing in dim light make the G400 a poor choice for this purpose.
 

With that in mind, only a little playtime will give you a better idea.

One last note - when buying a camera, you'll also need memory, batteries and a case.  For memory, compact flash is the cheapest, and you can get 256 mgs for 50 or less, for SD, slightly more expensive with 256 coming under 65, and memory stick being comparable to SD cards now.

Enjoy Paul, and looking forward to comments.

Nicholas

 

Wisdom from doctors

Last post of the day:

Dr. Declan Fox, family physician from Ireland "Remember that the weight of the medical community does not rest on your shoulders. Be sure that things will continue despite your absence, so take as many breaks as you need to be happy with life."

Dr. Laukannen "always have an approach when you see a patient. Try to develop and stick to a systematic approach, always improving on it to be more complete. The biggest mistakes in medicine occur when people don't have an approach, jump around, and inevitably miss things. Even the best of us forget some things sometimes, but we can minimize this risk by using a standard approach."

Health Canada and Population Health

Here's a ite from Health Canada on what's new in population health. Hoping that it's mighty interesting...will be looking into it, and will report on it soon!

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/new_e.html

Here is the article on the new public health agency

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/pha/releases/2004_26.html

And for you keeners out there, here's the link to the STD self-learning module...I just tried it out, and it was quite good!

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/slm-maa/index.html

Enjoy,

Nicholas

3 mp cameras and portable storage

Hmmm...an interesting comparison of 3 cameras that should be very popular with consumers. They compare the Canon A75, Coolpix 3200 and the Olympus Stylus 300. They're not very conclusive, but they do give a nice table comparing the three.

http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/3MPCameras.shtml

Looking at portable storage devices for pictures for my dad, so I thought I'd share the info with all...

Taking a look at the reviews on hand, it looks like the market for portable digital storage is quite vast, and unfortunately, quite unregulated. There are reports of good, bad, and indifferent, and it is difficult to find any reputable reviews. The most interesting upcoming product for you would be the Nikon Coolwalker, but it doesn't come out until possibly September, and it looks like it will cost between 700-800 canadian.

Aside from this, the best two products I have run across are the flashtrax portable storage,

http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/Smartdisk.shtml

This however, is quite expensive, and having only found it on american sites sofar, looks to cost about 520 american including shipping for the 40 gig model. The company website, which has reviews and awards can be found at

http://www.smartdisk.com/Products/DigitalMultimedia/FlashTrax.asp

The other one, the APACER disk steno, can be bought at Henrys

http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PageDisplay?dest=frames.jsp¤cy=CAD&storeId=10001

This is a cd burning unit, quite portable, with good reviews. It may or may not be what you are looking for. The price of 399 is much more reasonable (canadian), but again, I'm not sure if it fits your needs.

Buying books? Save money!

Hey all,

My dad was just asking me about ways to save money buying books online, so I thought I'd share the secrets with all. There's a great site out there to help promote book buying and literacy, and publishes coupon codes, etc.

http://www.bylo.org/literacy.html

Check it out...it even has some links to help you comparison shop.

As well, Amazon has a refer a friend program on now, where if you refer a friend, you get a 10 dollar gift certificate, and they get a 10 dollar gift certificate. Woohoo!

http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/subst/partners/friends/access.html/ref%3Damb%5Fright-2%5F81035%5F1/702-8089317-5928841

Enjoy - and if anyone needs to be referred to Amazon, let me know ;-)

Nicholas

Word of the day

ob·lo·quy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (bl-kw)
n. pl. ob·lo·quies
Abusively detractive language or utterance; calumny: “I have had enough obloquy for one lifetime” (Anthony Eden).
The condition of disgrace suffered as a result of abuse or vilification; ill repute.

Funner way of thinking

Here's nicer fun quote to sum things up possibly:

"Your freedom to swing your arm ends where my nose begins."

Pushing the envelope even further

Want to think even more. Take a look at these two diverging points of view, and then think where you lie in this spectrum of responsibility.

"The idea of individual responsibility has been submerged in individual rights or demands to be guaranteed by government and delivered by public and private institutions. The cost of sloth, gluttony, alcoholic intemperance, reckless driving, sexual frenzy and smoking is now a national and not an individual responsibility. This is justified as individual freedom--[but] freedom in health is another man's shackle in taxes and insurance premiums. I believe the idea of a "right" to health [ought to be replaced by an] obligation to preserve one's health--a public duty if you will."

-John Knowles, physician and Rockefeller Foundation President, from his essay "the Responsibility of the Individual"

vs.

"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of the civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because in the opinion of others to do so would be wise or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him or reasoning with him or persuading him or entreating him [but not for] compelling or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise. To justify that, the conduct from which it is desired to deter him must be calculated to produce evil to someone else. The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over its own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."

-John Stuart Mill's essay "On Liberty"

Ethics of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

yo all,

Relating to my work in population health ethics, I thought I'd share a fun quotation with everyone. It's from Howard M. Leichter, Free to be Foolish:

"There is now widespread agreement among both the general population and health professionals that a good deal of disease is self-inflicted, the product of our own imprudent behavior. The premise that individuals contribute significantly to their own ill health or premature death appears unassailable in view of the mounting evidence relating various personal habits and lifestyle choices, such as poor nutrition, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, failure to wear seat belts, and unsafe sexual practices, to major causes of morbidity and mortality.

While it is generally accepted that each of us is, to a certain extent, "dangerous to our own health," there is far less agreement on what can or should be done about making people less foolish. In particular, there is the question of how far government should go in fashioning lifestyles to minimize the physical and mental harm we inflict upon ourselves and others in society through risky personal choices. Where does personal choice and collective responsibility begin? How we reconcile two of our most prized social values, personal freedom and good health?"

Fun thought for today - enjoy!

Nicholas

How Cell Phones Work

Here's a great site for checking out how things work

www.howstuffworks.com

Here's the link for the cell phone article

http://www.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone.htm

First Post

A new blog, named after my soon to be built car, the Mazda 3s, in Winning Blue Mica. Booyah!