Strange is our situation here on earth. Each of us comes for a short time, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of others. Albert Einstein Lives Now Gone: A Nursing Home Diary by Dr. Robert Norman Over the last 25 years I have treated patients at dozens of nursing homes throughout Florida and taken down notes and kept a diary. Over the last few months, the urgency of my diary has been heightened due to the rampage of Covid 19. I have talked to many … Continue reading
She Did Not Know
Lymphoma could live in his skin like a creature crawling in sacred places, she thought it should be forbidden she searches online “types of lymphoma” pictures appear resembling dark mountains she asks him each morning how are you? he keeps saying he is “fine.” she’s awake until 4 am— she comes up with a plan 1. how to nurse him back to health, 2. how to save his skin. Bio: Palmer Smith is a current MFA student at Columbia University and an MA student at Middlebury College in Vermont. Her writing has been featured in Harness Magazine, Literary Yard and Thought Catalog. As a Scottish girl, she wears 55 SPF. … Continue reading
The Surgeon’s Cap Bias
The Surgeon’s Cap Bias: Intelligence, Respect and the Enemy of Feminism By Emily Haque, BSA* Tags: feminism, gender bias, implicit bias, surgery, women in medicine On the first day of my surgical clerkship, I briskly followed my attending, a vascular surgeon, around the pre-op bay while ruminating about whether or not I was too close to him, if I should stand, if I should sit, if I should put my hair up or leave it down, or even if I should ask him a question. As he towered over me, I decided to keep quiet and avoid bothering him at all costs. I didn’t know why I was so intimidated … Continue reading
Music and Medicine: Bach Partitas on the Covid Ward
by David Elpern For almost a decade, I have used music when performing biopsies and excisions in my office. I got the idea from my friend Tim Lee, an ophthalmologist on Kauai. That led to a study published in 2014.1 Music is a simple, inexpensive aid that we use every day in my office. So, I read the article, Bedside Concerts Comforting Virus Patients by Benjamin Weiser in the May 4th, 2020 New York Times with particular interest. It features Rachel Easterwood, whose idea it was to stage concerts for Covid 19 ICU patients. Easterwood is a professionally trained musician-turned-ER physician from Columbia P&S (the same medical school that my … Continue reading
Ditching the Razor: Armpit Hair is Back!
Tayler D. Parker, BA1; Ashley E. Brown, MD1 McGovern Medical School, UTHealth Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX Corresponding author: Tayler D. Parker, BA, 6431 Fannin St, Houston, TX 77030, email Tayler.D.Parker@uth.tmc.edu, phone: 806-445-4949 Tags: beauty, behavior, shaving, medical sociology, health anxiety “Keep your man faithful and ensure home security- Shave your underarms!”. This slogan may sound comical, but it is an actual message found in underarm shaving advertisements for women as early as 1915.1 Whether shaving was driven by the emergence of sleeveless tops or by a male-driven culture, most women in the United States were shaving their armpits consistently by the 1950s for both social normativity and perceived … Continue reading
Anatomy of a Paper: Adalimumab and the Medical-Industrial-Academic Complex
by David J. Elpern, M.D. The Skin Clinic 12 Meadow Street Williamstown, Massachusetts djelpern@gmail.com Something is rotten in the State of Phrma Abstract: Pharmaceutical companies, clinical researchers, key opinion leaders and respected medical journals often work in concert to promote and sell new medications. The biologics are the most profitable and competitive pharmaceutical market today. Herein, I analyze the background of a publication on the biologic, adalimumab in a prominent medical periodical. This cautionary tale may guide readers when they encounter similar ghost-driven PhRMA-sponsored research. Keywords: adalimumab, key opinion leaders, hidradinitis supprativa, medical publications, ghost writing, risankizumab, disclosures, conflict of interest For some years, I had been struggling to treat … Continue reading
The Melanoma Epidemic: Reflections on a Creature We Have Made
In the end, we are dependent on the creatures we have made. Goethe By David J. Elpern This is a Preprint. Abstract: I believe that the current melanoma epidemic is mostly an artifact of aggressive promotion by dermatologists, dermatopathologists and oncologists. For decades the death rate from melanoma has stayed constant, while the rate of diagnosis has soared. Promoted screenings, diagnostic drift, and the dermatoscope are causing physicians to pick up indolent lesions that are unlikely to kill. These, in turn, cause unwarranted, anxiety in the public and providers. When the dermatological establishment started the war on melanoma in the 1980s it had no idea where it would lead and … Continue reading
Preprint Opportunities: Dermatology and Medical Humanities
Preprints and Post-Publication Peer Review by David J. Elpern We are creating two Preprint Repositories that will help some authors. dermatolRxiv.com and medhumRxiv are free online archives for finished but unpublished manuscripts (preprints) in dermatology and the medical humanities. Preprints are preliminary reports of works that have not been certified by peer review.1 The so-called major dermatology journals are the domain of academic dermatologists, some of who are bedfellows of pharmaceutical companies (PhRMA). These major American dermatology journals, in particular, are heavily dependent on lucrative PhRMA ads. We envision dermatolRxiv.com and medhumRxiv as resources for clinical dermatologists and others who are not vassals of PhRMA or academic medicine to publish … Continue reading
Dr. Arrieta’s Lesson: Have We Lost Something in the Gain?
by Ariana Shaari* A global pandemic transformed the way medical care is delivered nearly overnight. Telemedicine, generally defined as healthcare delivery without face to face contact, has crucial applications in the fight against Coronavirus – facilitating social distancing, easing the burden on physicians, and increasing accessibility to care, especially for providers and patients without adequate personal protective equipment (Luz, 2019). Telemedicine had a robust foundation before the pandemic and was quickly adopted to preserve crucial aspects of healthcare delivery. It’s roots are in the 19th century, when a physician first conveyed electrocardiographs over the telephone (Ryu, 2010). In the 1920s, radio consultations were used to provide medical care to patients … Continue reading
Skin, Social Media, and the Psyche of Kids
Emily Burns, BA1* Pauline Berens, BA, BS1 1Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas *Corresponding author: Emily.burns@bcm.edu Keywords: skin harm, pediatrics, social media, psychosocial, adolescence, skin disease, acne Conflict of Interest: None Informed consent: Not applicable Abstract: Most U.S. teenagers use at least one form of social media. Social media usage in children has been associated with both positive and negative psychological effects. One contributor to the negative psychological impact of social media is cyberbullying. Children with skin conditions are more likely to be bullied by their peers. Consequently, children with skin conditions could be disproportionately impacted by increased social media use and the potential psychosocial sequelae. Further research is needed … Continue reading
