The “Best of Medical Blogs - weekly review, blog carnival” is a weekly summary of the best posts from medical blogs. Feel free to send your suggestions to my email at clinicalcases@gmail.com. Best of Medical Blogs is published every Tuesday, just like the old Grand Rounds.Social Networks for Doctors: Are We There, Yet?
Twitter can be as inane, or as useful, as the accounts you follow. Sure, doctors use Facebook like everyone else, but – by and large – they haven’t tapped into the educational potential that online social networks offer. Once viewed as a trivial hobby by more eminent researchers and writers, blogs now serve as the elder statesmen of social media - and they can act as a base of operations for social networking. An excellent summary by Shiv Gaglani & Nicholas Genes: http://goo.gl/9DVbI
A Twitter Primer for Physicians (aka Twitter 101 for Docs)
Here are Dr. Ryan Madanick's suggestions: http://goo.gl/gNS5d. Dr. Madanick is a gastroenterologist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, as well as the Program Director for the GI & Hepatology Fellowship Program.
1. Consider starting with a private account.
2. Start following some accounts: Specialty societies and journals, let Twitter suggest some accounts, search for accounts with similar interests.
3. Listen to what others are saying.
4. Decide what to tweet.
5. Find a hashtag.
The incredible frailty of life
Realizing the incredible frailty of life and the battle to avoid irrational exuberance: a journey into the NICU as a Med-Peds uncle. This is a heartfelt article by Dr. Moises Auron from Cleveland Clinic: http://goo.gl/KvUbN
The NYTimes gets it wrong on ECG screening of young athletes
Dr. John Mandrola, a cardiac electrophysiologist, comments on a NYTimes article that included numerous inaccuracies and failed to tell important facts about the complexities of widespread screening of athletes. http://goo.gl/siEEp
How one patient uses Social Media
"Personally.. I don’t want to be a patient.. It’s totally the last thing I want to be…Before my diagnosis I shamefully has no idea what Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was or what the consequences were of having a Chronic Illness. Patients and Doctors will find a solution together." A guest post at Dr. Ronan Kavanagh's blog. Dr. Kavanagh is rheumatologist from Ireland: http://goo.gl/daRfd
Krokodil is a devastating homemade opiate
Krokodil (or crocodile) refers to homemade batches of the opiate desomorphine (currently available without a prescription in Russia), and ingredients such as gasoline, paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, iodine, and red phosphorous. When injected, this highly impure mixture often causes skin to turn greenish grey and scaly, which may explain the drug’s name. Another explanation is that subsequent ischemia, gangrene and amputation has the same effect as a crocodile biting off a victim’s limb. From The Poison Review: http://goo.gl/VAq28
How to straighten a guidewire with one hand
The Australian blog Life in the Fast Lane is one of the best blogs focused on emergency medicine. Here is one of their shorter posts: How to straighten a guidewire with one hand http://goo.gl/mC9zY
GruntDoc: It’s my 10th Blogging Anniversary http://goo.gl/TkBc7 - Congratulations! A great reflection on a long journey.
10 Bad Assumptions Patients Make - a post by Dr. Rob http://goo.gl/EpmUO
All papers at PLoS Medicine now reflect the public Twitter debate | Medical Museion http://goo.gl/Xmu5Y
Caffeine and Sleep In Kids: It is a good rule of thumb to avoid soda entirely | Craig Canapari, MD http://goo.gl/W5HGS
Using fruit to improving anaphylaxis care - use your expired injectable epinephrine on an orange, an allergists suggest http://goo.gl/AQIxw
Are we too concerned with confidentiality? Former BMJ editor provides a personal example: http://goo.gl/0J3dp
Comments from Twitter:
John Mandrola, MD @drjohnm: Thx 4 shout out. Wow, lots of other great posts.
Mike Cadogan @sandnsurf: Concise, pithy and diverse - great read
Craig Canapari @DrCanapari: Honored to be included
Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles related to healthcare social media in the past 2 weeks:
Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine in May 2012 so far:
Los Angeles Fire Department's Fire Chief Brian L. Cummings, returns today after attending the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (also known as Harvard Kennedy School). The Harvard Kennedy School is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools. 
While your parents may have paralleled cleanliness as telltale to other things, your Neighborhood Firefighters can say that getting your household clean will often - but not always - makes things safer. 
Today, April 12, 2012 is "National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day", a great time to review cooking safety tips from your friends at the Los Angeles Fire Department and the U.S Fire Administration.
"Ciclovias" first started in Bogota, Columbia over 30 years ago, in response to their heavily congested streets. These events promote street safety for pedestrians, skaters, riders, runners and anyone else you can think of that takes to the roadways. Similar events soon found their way into other parts of Latin America and ultimately, the United States. 
So whether you ride, run or walk, we are pleased to share this great 
The Los Angeles Fire Department along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, we said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency.
Firefighters quickly arrived to 1025 Maple Avenue to find a large 50' x 100' commercial building attaching four units, with black smoke pouring from the roof.
On April 23-25, 2012, the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department will participate in a Fill-The-Boot fundraising campaign to support the fight against Muscular Dystrophy.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) is honored to once again team-up with the March of Dimes in its annual fund raising campaign. Thousands of participants are expected to trek the identified route to help raise funds to support research and programs that improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature births and infant mortality.
When traveling in Southern California, we encourage you to drive safely and listen to local radio stations - especially AM news stations with frequent traffic reports. Public agencies work with broadcasters to help you make the best travel choices.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) is overseen by a five-person civilian board appointed by the Mayor and affirmed by the City Council. Pursuant of the City Charter, this diverse and qualified group establishes goals and provides direction to the Department through Fire Chief Brian L. Cummings.
The Los Angeles Fire Department would like to welcome him and looks forward to him joining President Genethia Hudley-Hayes, Vice President Casimiro Tolentino, Commissioners Andrew Friedman and Jill Furillo. His unique perspective will only enhance and benefit the existing talent that already comprises the outstanding Los Angeles Board of Fire Commissioners.
Just after 1:30 p.m. Firefighters arrived at 1221 Hope Street to find heavy smoke pouring out of a 150' x 75' pre-1933 structure.
On Saturday, May 12, 2012