No apprecitation for students' time at M.U.S.T. !

I had a parasitology midterm today. The exam was supposed to start at 12 pm. As you can see above it was 12:15 and the exam had not started yet.

A week ago I had a pathology practical exam which was supposed to start at 9 am. Guess when we actually started? 10:40 am! And what are we poor students supposed to do until the teachers and professors decide to start? We walk around in the hallways inhaling the pleasant aroma of burning cigarettes!


What is it like at your school?

How many blogs does the world need?

"Way back in 2004, when we last held an election, no one was complaining that there wasn't enough to see or read on the Internet. And that was before YouTube, Politico, Huffington Post, Twitter and Facebook became daily or hourly necessities for millions. In 2004 newspaper websites were still mostly "shovelware"--the paper edition reproduced. They weren't bloated with blogs and video and interviews with the reporters who wrote the story. But now everyone has a blog. The opportunity for us all to express an opinion is wonderful. Having to read all those opinions isn't." --- Read more - TIME

Photo credit: Annie Mole - Creative commons.

US Global Dominance

"US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends." --- more on BBC


"A CIA report predicts that American global dominance could end in 15 years...

In this new world, a mere 15 years away, the United States will remain "an important shaper of the international order"—probably the single most powerful country—but its "relative power position" will have "eroded." The new "arriviste powers"—not only China and India, but also Brazil, Indonesia, and perhaps others—will accelerate this erosion by pursuing "strategies designed to exclude or isolate the United States" in order to "force or cajole" us into playing by their rules." --- more on Slate



I do not like what I am hearing and reading.



Photo credit: BlankBlankBlank --- Creative Commons

New tool from Google Search - Google Searchwiki (a video)

New tool from Google Search - Google Searchwiki

According to Google:

"SearchWiki lets you customize your Google Web Search results. You can rank, remove and add notes to any result page and see those tailored results anytime you do that search while you're logged in to your Google Account."

What do you think? How helpful is this? or are they just trying to collect even more info about us?

Have a look at how this TV show dealt with copyrights and youtube videos

What do you think?

D'Zhana Simmons Goes 4 Months without a Heart - video

"D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest. "But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."" - Yahoo

Read more:
Teen lives 4 months with no heart, leaves hospital - Yahoo
D'Zhana Simmons survives four months without a heart - Heraldsun

M.U.S.T. Pathology 302 Midterm Exam Nov. 2008

My exam today went something like this:

15 MCQs including 1 case on diseases of the breast

6 Questions:

1. Enumerate the characteristics and causes of nephrotic syndrome.
2. Write short notes on pathological types of lung abscess. Mention the complications of lung abscess.
3. Enumerate the effects and complications of benign nodular hyperplasia of the prostate.
4. Write short notes on invasive carcinoma of the cervix (emphasize on: Gross appearance, Microscopical appearance, and spread)
5. Write short assay on fibrocystic disease of the breast
6. Give an account on the predisposing factors and complications of peptic ulcers.

Time allowed 90 minutes.

18-11-2008
Pathology 302

Public Library in Holland --- Photo

Audio meets Visual
Originally uploaded by Jack Brodus

I found this photo on Flickr and couldn't resist sharing it with you. According to the up loader, the photo was taken in a public library in Holland. Beautiful!

M.U.S.T. Pathology 302 Midterm Topics

Most important topics for pathology 302 midterm at M.U.S.T.

1. Characteristics of Nephrotic Syndrome
2. Immune mechanism of glomerular disease
3. Acute diffuse glomerulonephritis
4. Pylonephritis
5. Renal calculi
6. Renal cell carcinoma
7. Hydronephrosis
8. Malignant tumors of urinary bladder
9. Causes of Hematuria
10. Seminoma
11. Benign hyperplasia of the prostate
12. Carcinoma of the prostate
13. Chronic cervicitis
14. Carcinoma of the cervix
15. Endometriosis
16. Teratoma of the ovary
17. Non neoplastic cyst of the ovary
18. Benign proliferative breast disease
19. Fibrocystic disease of the breast
20. In situ carcinom of the breast
21. Acute tonsillitis
22. Bronchial asthma
23. Broncho and lobular pneumonia
24. Bronchiectasis
25. Lung abscess
26. Bronchogenic carcinoma
27. Inflammatory pleural effusion
28. Gastritis
29. Peptic ulcer

Photo credit: Jack Brodus - creative commons.

A new health podcast

Ask the Podcast Doctor:

"David R. Stutz, M.D., is The Podcast Doctor. He brings more than 30 years of primary care experience to provide you with high quality health and wellness information that you can use every day. Ask The Podcast Doctor is your website. You determine what questions you want the Podcast Doctor to answer. This site can only provide general information. It is not and cannot be a substitute for advice and treatment from your own health care providers. If you have a problem that needs attention, please address it with your personal physician or other health care professional."

I listened to a couple of the podcasts. They are interesting and informative but directed towards laymen. Visit the site here or read the about page.

That adds one more podcast to my subscription list!

Thanks to Berci Mesko for sharing the site on Twitter.

Do you follow any other medical podcasts? Please share them with us.

Image credit: derrickkwa - creative commons .

Medically important Parasites + Images (mosquitoes)

Medical entomology deals with the study of arthropods which cause or transmit disease to man.


We will focus on Family Culicidae here:

Culicidae include:

• Culex
• Aedes
• Anopheles

Members of this subfamily are characterized by:

1. Long proboscis
2. Presence of scales on body
3. Female feeds on blood while the male feeds on plant juices.
   

Anopheles
Transmits the following diseases:

• Human malaria (Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 515 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people.)
• Wuchereria bancrofti (Wuchereria bancrofti is a parasitic filarial nematode worm spread by a mosquito vector. It is one of the three parasites that cause lymphatic filariasis. It affects over 120 million people, primarily in Africa, South America, and other tropical and sub-tropical countries. Elephantiasis can result if the infection is left untreated. Limited treatment modalities exist and no vaccines have been developed.)

Culex
Transmits the following diseases:

• Wuchereria bancrofti
• Viral encephalitis (Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain.)
• Rift valley fever (Rift Valley Fever is a viral zoonosis (affects primarily domestic livestock, but can be passed to humans) causing fever. The disease is caused by the RVF virus, a member of the genus Phlebovirus (family Bunyaviridae).)

Aedes
Transmits the following diseases:

• Yellow fever (Yellow fever (also called yellow jack, black vomit or sometimes American Plague) is an acute viral disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhagic illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine. The yellow refers to the jaundice symptoms that affect some patients.)
• Dengue fever (Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics and Africa, and caused by four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae.)
• Wucherecia bancrofti

-------------------------------------------

-Image credits: CDC.gov --- All images are in the public domain.
-For more free medical images, please visit: Medical Images Public Domain (a group on Flickr)

Related posts:

1. Medically Important Parasites (trematoda-flukes) + free good quality images
2. Medically Important Parasites (cestoda-tapeworm) + free good quality images
3. Medically Important Parasites (nematoda-roundworms) + free good quality images
4. Medically Important Bacteria + free good quality images (Part I)
   
5. Medically Important Bacteria + free good quality images (Part II)
   
6. Medically Important Viruses + free good quality images (Part I)
   
7. Medically Important Viruses + free good quality images (Part II)

Medically Important Parasites + FREE Images (Protozoa)

According to wikipedia: Protozoa are unicellular eukaryotes, (singular protozoan). While there is no exact definition of the term, most scientists use protozoan to refer to a unicellular heterotrophic protist, like amoebas and ciliates.

Some protozoa have life stages alternating between proliferative stages (eg trophozoites) and dormant cysts. As cysts, protozoa can survive harsh conditions, such as exposure to extreme temperatures and harmful chemicals, or long periods without access to nutrients, water, or oxygen for a period of time. Being a cyst enables parasitic species to survive outside of the host, and allows their transmission from one host to another.

When protozoa are in the form of trophozoites (Greek, tropho=to nourish), they actively feed and grow. The process by which the protozoa takes its cyst form is called encystation, while the process of transforming back into trophozoite is called excystation. Protozoa can reproduce by binary fission or multiple fission. Some protozoa reproduce sexually, some asexually, while some use a combination, (eg. Coccidia). An individual protozoan is hermaphroditic.

Images of some medically important protozoa:



Entamoeba hitolytica trophozoite




Entamoeba Histolytica cyst




Entamoeba Coli trophozoite




Entamoeba coli cyst




Balantidium Coli cyst




Giardia Lamblia trophozoite




Trichomona Vaginalis trophozoite




Naeglaria Fowleri in brain tissue




Acanthamoeba cyst in brain tissue




Dientamoeba Fragilis



-Image credits: CDC.gov --- All images are in the public domain.
-For more free medical images: Medical Images Public Domain (a group on Flickr)
-Related posts:

1. Medically Important Parasites (trematoda-flukes) + free good quality images
2. Medically Important Parasites (cestoda-tapeworm) + free good quality images
3. Medically Important Parasites (nematoda-roundworms) + free good quality images
4. Medically Important Bacteria + free good quality images (Part I)
   
5. Medically Important Bacteria + free good quality images (Part II)
   
6. Medically Important Viruses + free good quality images (Part I)
   
7. Medically Important Viruses + free good quality images (Part II)
   

How do you pronounce that? -link-

Ever wondered how to pronounce a new word and felt a little embarrassed to ask? No more worries. You can look up how to pronounce any word in so many languages over at frovo dot com.


http://forvo.com/

"Forvo is the place where you´ll find millions of words pronounced in their original languages. Cool, isn´t it?"

Do you know of any other sites that provide similar services?

Photo credit: affinity1 - creative commons

Is Aspartame Really Bad For You?

The Truth About Aspartame (from Skeptoid dot com) - Read Transcript - Listen to Podcast

Photo credit: blmurch - Creative commons

Networking with regular readers of this blog

Dear virtual friends, other than over here, you can find me on YouTube, Prep4usmle, FriendFeed, Facebook, Flickr, Google Reader, Skype, and Google Talk. If you would like to be my friend on any of those, let me know.

Oh, and if by any chance I did not exchange links with you till now, let me know. I will be happy to.





Image Credit: christophercarfi , creative commons.

New web 2.0 tools/sites you might find useful

http://www.tungle.com/Home/

Tungle is your solution for easy meeting scheduling with one or many people, inside and outside your business. Tungle doesn't replace your calendar, it transforms it into the ultimate scheduling service. Tungle allows you to: Dynamically propose meeting times to anyone with an email address, and allows them to choose a time that is convenient for them – without any download or forced registration. Share your calendar across company boundaries with any other Tungle user, independent of which calendar application they are using. Tungle can be used on its own, or with Outlook (with or without Exchange), Google Calendar, Apple iCal and Entourage for Mac.

http://songza.com/

Songza is the single best place to search for and listen to music on the Web. Find a song and listen immediately, in one place. Unlike KaZaa or Bit Torrent, Songza users can only listen to songs, not download them. And unlike Last.fm or Rhapsody, Songza permits users to choose exactly the song or artist they want to hear, and does not require them to subscribe or pay for its services.

http://fotoflexer.com/

FotoFlexer is the world's most advanced online digital photo editor. It performs advanced effects previously only available to professionals using expensive software.

http://www.tubemogul.com/

TubeMogul is the first online video analytics and distribution company serving publishers large and small who need independent information about video performance on the Internet and automated upload to the Web's top video sharing sites.

TubeMogul's analytic technology aggregates video-viewing data from multiple sources to give publishers improved understanding of when, where and how often videos are watched, track and compare what's hot and what's not, measure the impact of marketing campaigns, gather competitive intelligence, and share the data with colleagues or friends.

For sites that host their own video, TubeMogul offers tracking far beyond the traditional metric of video "views." TubeMogul InPlay, which can be set up in any Flash video player within minutes, tracks rich viewership metrics such as audience engagement, attention span and site performance -- all in real-time.

http://notifu.com/

Our vision is to become the easist way to send a message to an individual or group, know that the message was received, and gather responses to make simple decisions.

75 Items in prep4md's Public Domain Medical Photos pool

Medical Public Domain Photos on Flickr



Who would like to join? Who would like to share?

Obama Campaign in Photos

The Obama Campaign in Photos: Callie Shell - Obama (The Digital Journalist)

Thanks to Berci Mesko from scienceroll.com for sharing the link on FriendFeed.

Experimenting with Flickr :)

Dublin Center Interior
Originally uploaded by Ed Bierman

I am trying out this feature where I can blog and publish photos from flickr without having to open my blog and without the hassle of copy-pasting and finding URLs and stuff.

Anyhow, I hope you like this photo. It is part of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

Photo credit: Ed Bierman. Licensed under a creative commons.

Everyone should have a flickr account. The best photo hosting site, hands down! Millions of photos. Extremely easy to use. Very flexible. And they provide so many ways for you to sort out your photos.

The only thing worth mentioning that I do not like about the site is that every once in a while they beg you to upgrade your account for $25 or something :p


:)

Binocular Proptosis in Orbital Lymphoma - NEJM image of the week

Binocular Proptosis in Orbital Lymphoma - NEJM

"An 81-year-old man presented with a 7-month history of gradual, painless swelling and redness of both eyes. He reported blurred vision and weight loss of 10 kg (22 lb). The physical examination revealed binocular proptosis with conjunctival injection, chemosis, and signs of exposure conjunctivitis (Panel A), along with multiple enlarged cervical and inguinal lymph nodes. Computed tomography of the head showed orbital masses that followed the contour of the orbit and did not cause bony erosion (Panel B) ... "

Source: Binocular Proptosis in Orbital Lymphoma - NEJM

How many people enrolled into US medical schools in 2008

Record enrollment into US medical schools in 2008.

"The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported yesterday that, “First-year enrollment at the nation’s medical schools this year increased nearly 2 percent over 2007, to more than 18,000 students.” This represents the highest allopathic medical school enrollment in U.S. history."

Read full story on SDN

Is this good or bad for IMGs and FMGs?

New ... only on prep4md (atleast for now, lol)

I used xtranormal to make this video.

"Xtranormal’s mission is to bring movie-making to the people. Everyone watches movies and we believe everyone can make movies. Movie-making, short and long, online and on-screen, private and public, will be the most important communications process of the 21st century and its democratization is a massive business opportunity.

Our revolutionary approach to movie-making builds on an almost universally held skill—typing. You type something; we turn it into a movie. On the web and on the desktop."

What do you think? Cool, isn't it?!

So what happened to "The Half Ton Man"?

Not long ago I shared a documentary film with you titled "The Half Ton Man". I just checked on wikipedia to see what happened to the guy and this is what I found:

"Patrick D. Deuel (born 28 March 1962), of Nebraska, was one of the heaviest people in the world. He was the subject of the documentary “Half Ton Man”. Deuel is a former restaurant manager.

At one point, he had not left his house, or even his bed, in 7 years. He stands at 5'9" (175 centimeters). At his peak he weighed 1,072 pounds (486 kg); at the time, the only scale that could be used to weigh him was a livestock scale. He was so enormous that his bedroom wall had to be cut out to extract him from his home. Then, he was rushed to a South Dakota hospital in an ambulance with extra-wide doors and a ramp-and-winch system that had to be dispatched from Denver.

Gastric bypass surgery was thought to be his best chance for permanent weight loss. A second operation removed a mass of fat and skin hanging from his midsection. After 12 months, Patrick lost 573 pounds. After leaving the hospital, Patrick lost even more weight, reaching 370 pounds, a notable 702-pound loss.

Since then, Patrick had a setback and his guess is that he now weighs 425 pounds."

Good luck to him :)

In case you missed it last time, you can watch the documentary here:

A Half Ton Man

What is orthorexia nervosa?

I am tired of hearing pseudoscience, false claims, hoax, scams, and of people making money on the back of laymen that do not know any better.

One of the latest pseudo scientific claims I have heard of may lead some people to something that is called Orthorexia nervosa. I will not dwell on the false claims of "rawfoodism" and the such here. I just want to share with you what orthorexia nervosa is:

"Orthorexia, or orthorexia nervosa is a term coined by Steven Bratman, a Colorado MD, to denote an eating disorder characterized by excessive focus on eating healthy foods. In rare cases, this focus may turn into a fixation so extreme that it can lead to severe malnutrition or even death.

Bratman coined the term in 1997 from the Greek orthos, "correct or right", and orexis for "appetite". Literally "correct appetite", the word is modeled on anorexia, "without appetite", as used in definition of the condition anorexia nervosa. Bratman describes orthorexia as an unhealthy obsession (as in obsessive-compulsive disorder) with what the sufferer considers to be healthy eating. The subject may avoid certain foods, such as those containing fats, preservatives, animal products, or other ingredients considered by the subject to be unhealthy; if the dietary restrictions are too severe or improperly managed, malnutrition can result.

Bratman asserts that "emaciation is common among followers of certain health food diets, such as rawfoodism, and this can at times reach the extremes seen in anorexia nervosa."

He goes on to claim that such "anorexic orthorexia" can be as dangerous as anorexia. However, he states, "the underlying motivation is quite different. While an anorexic wants to lose weight, an orthorexic wants to feel pure, healthy and natural. Eating disorder specialists may fail to understand this distinction, leading to a disconnect between orthorexic and physician."

According to the Macmillan English Dictionary, the word is entering the English lexicon. It is not an official medical diagnosis, and it is not listed in the DSM-IV. However, it is used as a diagnosis by some practitioners who have documented the damaging results of the condition, as they have seen in their practices.



For further reading:

Orthorexia - too healthy? (Psychology Today)

Orthorexia - Good Diet Gone Bad! (Web MD)

Orthorexia nervosa - Symptoms (Web MD)

What ever happened to Jeffrey Wigand (from the movie The insider)?

Did you watch the movie "The Insider"? No? Well you should! If not for the interesting story, you should watch it for the outstanding acting of Al pacino and Russel Crowe.

About "The Insider":


The Insider is a 1999 film that tells the true story of a 60 Minutes television series exposé of the tobacco industry, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand.

The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because CBS' then-owner, Laurence Tisch, objected. The story was later aired on February 4, 1996. The film stars Al Pacino (as Lowell Bergman), Russell Crowe (as Jeffrey Wigand), Christopher Plummer (as Mike Wallace) and Bruce McGill (as attorney Ron Motley).

The movie was adapted by Eric Roth and Michael Mann from the Vanity Fair magazine article "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Marie Brenner. It was directed by Mann. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.


Reactions to the movie:

After The Insider was released, Brown and Williamson accused the Walt Disney Company of distorting the truth. They took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to counter promotional appearances Wigand and those associated with the film were doing. The tobacco company also had representatives at screenings in eight cities handing out cards asking patrons to call a toll-free number that would answer questions about the film.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and half out of four stars and praised "its power to absorb, entertain and anger."

Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised Russell Crowe as "a subtle powerhouse in his wrenching evocation of Wigand, takes on the thick, stolid look of the man he portrays," and felt that it was "by far Mann's most fully realized and enthralling work."

Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine wrote, "With its dynamite performances, strafing wit and dramatic provocation, The Insider offers Mann at his best - blood up, unsanitized and unbowed."

Critic Andrew O'Hehir in his review for Salon felt that the film "isn't just beautiful to watch on an epic scale, it expertly builds tension by integrating an electronic score by Pieter Bourke and Lisa Gerrard and the terrific editing work of William Goldenberg, David Rosenbloom and Paul Rubell."

The Insider holds an 96 percent "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes.


About Jeffrey Wigand:



Dr. Jeffrey S. Wigand (born December 17, 1942) is a former Vice President of Research and Development at Brown & Williamson in Louisville, Kentucky working on the development of safer cigarettes by eliminating the use of the adulterant coumarin.
He currently resides in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan where he spends his time and efforts on lectures around the world as an expert witness and consultant for various tobacco issues and on his non-profit organization Smoke-Free Kids Inc where he concentrates his energy on helping kids of all ages make better decisions and healthy choices regarding tobacco use.
He became known as a whistleblower when on the CBS news program 60 Minutes he exposed his company's practice of 'impact boosting': intentionally manipulating the effect of nicotine in cigarettes. Wigand claims that he was subsequently harassed and received anonymous death threats.

Related Links:

Jeffrey Wigand's website
Jeffrey Wigand on Wikipedia
The Insider on Wikipedia
Watch "The Insider" streaming on line at Watch Movies
Watch the Insider on YouTube


The Insider Trailer:

Have you watch the movie? Did you like it?

prep4md.com is one year old :)

Facts and figures for the past year:

• 282 posts
• Made a $171 through Google Adsense
• Most visited posts: Smoking and Lung Cancer - Medically Important Viruses and Images - Medically Important Bacteria and Images - Medically Important Parasites and Images - How To Get a 99 on USMLE Step 1
• 44.9 of visitors are from the US - 6% from India - 5% from Canada
• 50% of blog traffic comes from Search Engines
• Number of views and visits has been increasing every single month:
  

• The blogs most referring Keywords from Google Search are: Bacteria Images - Patch Adams Wiki - What Happened to Patch Adams - Where can I find free medical books pdf - 99 Step 1 - Antibiotics lecture
• Top referring sites by number of visits: Google Images - USMLEMD - Islandmedstudent - Prep4USMLE
  
• Prep4md's blog rank according to Technorati: 315,404
• Prepmd's authority according to Technorati: 21
• 13 subscribers through Feedburner
• 15 subscribers through Google Reader

What is your feedback on prep4md.com? What would you like to read more of (or less of!) on prep4md.com next year?

Lastly, I would like to thank all readers, commentators, visitors, and blogrollers for their support.