for temporary relief of stress caused by onset of day in advertising

You'll think I am obsessed by blogs written by doctors, and maybe I am. In our business, if you have a bad day, an ad dies. But what docs have on the line is an actual person. I have to admire the cojones it takes to assume a job with that kind of responsibility.

Just as people make false assumptions about our work ("it's so creative"), I tend to imbue doctors with the unceasing reverence for the human body, the awe I imagine I'd feel in their shoes, if charged with reviving people instead of brand images. But docs who blog have disavowed me of this-- of course they joke on the job like everyone else does, albeit usually to other docs, not to their distressed patients. Their (sometimes sophomoric) humor in the face of medical emergency has the tonic effect of making my bad day seem a bit less horrific.

Like this post about a woman who came in with her arm rotated all the way around at the elbow which will make you feel better about whatever twisted brief you're working on today. (For xrays and complete writeup, see ER Stories.)

Here was a disturbing case we saw today. A middle aged lady made a diving save on the tennis court to make her point but fell hard on her elbow. Her arm was COMPLETELY twisted around at the elbow 180 degrees. It looked like is should have belonged to Plastic Man! YEOWCH!!! Luckily she had a good pulse and good range of motion of her hand.

She was amazingly in not that much pain considering how awful her arm looked. However the fracture was open (ie compound) and was going to need to go to the OR soon. Of course the ortho guy was over an hour away so we had to try to reduce it a bit. It took a BIG haematoma block (injecting lidocaine directly into the fracture) and a twisting of the arm that made sounds disturbing enough to make the strongest stomach turn. Good thing we rotated it back the normal way and not around accidentally for another twist! LOL

1 out of 10 doctors recommend against breastfeeding

Why make time to go to a doctor when without leaving your keyboard, you can get cantankerous advice from an actual physician on a range of medical topics:

The medical literature abounds with evidence of the beneficial effects of breastfeeding: maternal-infant bonding, enhanced response to immunizations and higher intelligence in breastfed infants, to name just a few. I don't dispute any of this, but I would like to point out an unintended consequence that I have not seen addressed previously.

Breastfeeding is too damn expensive.

Using my family as an N of 3, we observe that the first two children, each breastfed for about a week, ended up graduating from high school in the middle of the class and went on to in-state public colleges; a highly economical way to obtain a higher education. The third child on the other hand, breastfed for two years, wound up fourth in his high school class and now attends an outrageously expensive out-of-state private university, where expenses run five times higher than those of his siblings.

Clearly the effect of enhanced intelligence from prolonged breastfeeding led directly to these ridiculous tuition bills. Even if you banked all the money saved on formula via breastfeeding, there's no way to accumulate $40,000 per year; no baby eats that much!

is your doc a secret blogger? examine this site to find out

You know how hard it is to find a good doctor. Well, statcounter shows that, for some reason, docs are finally coming to me. Which is how I discovered this hilarious site:

Random thoughts from a few cantankerous American physicians. All contributors board certified. Trust us, we're doctors.

See, unlike clients who secretly want to be creatives, many docs, imho, could have been damn good writers if they hadn't been sidetracked by the thrill of serial graduations, the selfish need for socially responsible employment, and, oh yes, the prospect of stratospheric hourly rates. 

You tend to hear more about lawyer-turned-writers because (being results-oriented) JDs tend to write stuff that sells. But docs have been known to pen actual literary achievements. I'm not saying you're going to find Checkhov on MDOD. But you will obtain extremely well-written and entertaining advice from people in the profession your life might depend on someday. You'll learn how not to talk to a pediatrician. And (next brand brief for Gilette?) why it's best to avoid those lower-shelf off-brand shaving creams.

another inappropriate greeting from someecards