Favorite Travel Accessory: Nomad Scarf

If you are like me, then you always carry a jacket in case of cold temperatures, anywhere you go. In the heat of summer, all restaurants and office buildings and subways crank up the air conditioning to offset the elevated outdoor temperatures. I was recently given a FLUXUS. Nomad scarf as a gift (Thanks Aunt Mary) and am proclaiming it my favorite travel accessory.

Jude Law and his Nomad Scarf

Fluxux's tag line is There is life, there is art, and in between is fashion. Well I couldn't agree more. This fashionable scarf to be paired with any shirt/blazer, can be wrapped as a skirt and can even double as a picnic blanket. I love to use it for flights in defense of the cold air or as a soft pillow once on board. It is perfect for any season. Pair it with your scrubs on the way into the hospital for an added bit of style to your daily commute.

Nomad scarf
Price: 48.00
http://fluxusbrand.com/

It is a HOSPITALstyle approved accessory that is a must have for your wardrobe. Even Jude would agree.

Guide to Summer in New York City

Summer is here and that means lots time in the sun getting that perfectly sun kissed skin that has been missing all winter. Days out of the HOSPITAL should be cherished and well spent. Summer in New York City is one of my favorite things ever! People are out, Central Park is full of picnics, and Rooftop bars are the place to be. Take a look at some of my personal favorites...

A couple of my favorite spots that are MUST visits for Summer 2011:

The Peninsula Hotel Salon de Ning (700 5th avenue)
http://www.peninsula.com/New_York/en/Dining/Salon_de_Ning/default.aspx

The Standard Biergarten (848 Washington Street)
http://www.standardhotels.com/new-york-city/bars/biergarten/

The Frying Pan (W. 26th street @ Hudson River)
http://www.fryingpan.com/

La Birreria (200 5th Avenue) Mario Batali rooftop beer garden atop EATALY.
http://eatalyny.com/eat/birreria

Habana Outpost (757 Fulton Street Brooklyn, NY)
http://www.cafehabana.com/

** FEATURED SUMMER SPOT 2011

Willie Wall's

The “Honorable William Wall” is the floating clubhouse of Manhattan Sailing Club.  

 -Anchored in New York Harbor just and north of Ellis Island.  

 -Great views of the sailboat races and skyline.  

-Open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from 5:30 p.m. until close (usually around 10 p.m.) and on Saturdays from 1 to 9 p.m

-Transportation is provided by Admiral’s Launch.  The launch departs from North Cove -Dock F every 1/2 hour.  The departure times are: 5:30 p.m., 6:00, 6:30. 7:00, 7:30, etc.   There is a $10 launch fee for guests (round trip).

For more Summer Fun check out:

www.bookreportnewyork.com

and download their PDF Summer Guide 2011. 

This summer bring your HOSPITALstyle outside to play...See you in the SUN!

International Medical Elective In Thailand

My good friend and Chief Resident just did an elective in Bangkok, Thailand. She is someone who very much embodies what HOSPITALstyle is all about; class, professionalism, healthcare lifestyle, and all around good doctoring. She shares her amazing experiences with us. A bit longer than the usual post, but well worth the read! This is what she writes...

ENTER DR. JULIA SUN LEE-
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Buddha at Ayyuthaya

Being in a four year emergency medicine residency program has its benefits, despite what naysayers might have to offer. One of those benefits is being able to schedule electives into your curriculum that are catered to your interests. Luckily, for me, I was able to set up an international emergency medicine rotation in Bangkok, Thailand at Mahidol University, Ramathibodi Hospital during my PGY-IV year. This came as a follow-up to my PGY-III year elective rotation at Nahr-Bita Hospital in Ghana, West Africa.  

Having a background in Public Health with a focus on Global Environmental Health, I felt that taking the opportunity to schedule a few international electives during my residency training would afford me an invaluable resource in allowing me to connect clinical pathology with what I had learned in my textbooks.  Not only that, but I was able to travel halfway around the world to practice medicine, interact with the locals and cultivate my experiences with the cultures I had previously only read about.  

It was truly a life-changing experience, and one that I would recommend to all who have the chance to do so. 

Ramathibodi Hospital

  This past April, I spent a month working in the Accident and Emergency Center at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. The purpose of my elective was to witness the development and advances of the Thai emergency medicine residency program, which is only 5 years old, and to learn about the patient population & pathology that fills their ED.  

After a very long flight with very little sleep, I ventured into the wards of the unfamiliar hospital, confused by the writing and the dialect that awaited me. 

I was surprised to find out that most of the Thai residents and attendings spoke English of varying aptitude, and every single one of them were willing to translate or explain the Thai charting/documentation and presentations to me.  Lectures were often presented in Thai, but written in English allowing me to follow the topics easily. 

Ramathibodi Hospital

The hospitality of the residents and staff was almost overwhelming: from taking me to pray at the Buddhist Temples in the city of Ayyuthaya, to a night time venture in Yaowarat (the Bangkok China Town), to the numerous medical procedures done in the ED – everyone was always helping me to understand their approach and keep me a part of the team. 

I was able to attend their Simulation Labs, perform bedside procedures, run microscopy tests, visit the Thailand Red Cross Center and Queen Saowapha Memorial Institute, (formerly the Pasteur Institute) Snake Farm where anti-venin is harvested.  

Dr. Julia Sun Lee (third from left)

I experienced the Thai culture, not as a tourist, but from a Thai native’s perspective and in this setting, it was quite easy to form friendships quickly in such an environment. After only 2 weeks, a first year resident invited me to her moonlighting job on the weekend where she worked as a single coverage physician at a beach hospital in Koh Larn, an island off the coast of Pattaya. I was also able to visit another hospital in the southern region of Thailand on the island of Koh Phi Phi off the coast of Phuket right after the major flooding in South Thailand. 

I met residents and medical students from all over Thailand as well as Japan. I learned about their medical system and pathway of medical education and was invited to share with them a presentation on the US structure of emergency medicine residency and delve a bit into fellowships offered in our specialty.


The experience I had during my overseas travel was absolutely incredible. It allowed me to see how emergency medicine is practiced in different settings around the world, often in areas of diminished resources and funding as compared to the US. 

It also allowed to me to appreciate the quick availability of our resources that we have here, but causes me to step back a bit when approaching my patients. “Is that CT scan really necessary?”, or “What will that blood test tell me that I can’t already determine from the physical exam and history?”, I’ll find myself thinking. Of course, ours is a different setting and the dynamics of our approach to each patient is subject for another article. 

Ramathibodi Hospital. Bangkok, Thailand

What I got from Thailand was for greater than what I gave. I travelled across the world to help people, but I believe I was the one who received the most. 

I had an invaluable experience that enables me to catch a glimpse into lives that are so different than mine, but share in the same basic needs and emotions, which define the human condition. It gave me the chance to reconnect with the reasons why I went into medicine in the first place…something that often seemed remote back in Brooklyn when I was seeing the patient brought in for alcohol intoxication the third time that month complaining of leg pain and demanding a sandwich.

Having done my overseas electives, I now know that travelling abroad and providing medical care to those in need outside of the US will be a integrated part of my stateside medical practice in the future.  Being able to incorporate international settings into your medical education broadens your mindset and allows you to cater your residency experience to what you are most interested in.   

You’ll be able to form life-long friendships and expand your global network. Not to mention, the food, travel and stories you collect along the way are major bonuses – something you keep with you for life!
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EXIT DR. JULIA SUN LEE

Julia- Thank you so much for sharing your amazing experience on HOSPITALstyle.
If you would like more information about setting up a Thailand elective, send and email to HOSPITALstyle@gmail.com.

Redefine your coffee break with.... The Mocha Club

In keeping with this week's theme on the BEST WAYS TO GIVE IN 2011, today HOSPITALstyle is highlighting The Mocha Club.

Give up 2 drinks a week at your coffee shop of choice to promote clean water, disease prevention, education and care for orphans.

We drink so much coffee in the HOSPITAL to probably support an entire village.

Find out more @ www.themochaclub.org

Great Ways to Give in 2011: Heart to Heart International

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world". -Gandhi

This is one of my favorite quotes, and this week HOSPITALstyle is highlighting some ways in which we can do just that. On a daily basis we help our patients within the hospital, but what about those we do not come in contact with? They need our help too! Get your altruistic nature into gear and check out these ways you can be a part of something great.


Here are some great ways you can give in 2011. Take some of that Tax return and make a difference for someone else. I dare you!

A Great Way to Give #1:
HEART TO HEART INTERNATIONAL     www.hearttoheart.org 

Named as one of FORBES top non-profits. http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/17/charity-10-personal-finance-philanthropy-10-most-efficient-charities_slide_11.html

An exclusive agreement with FED EX helps them to get medical supplies to the most remote and disaster stricken areas.

Heart to Heart annually promotes health and responds to crises in nearly 60 countries, including the United States. On average, HHI can transform every $1 donation into $25 worth of aid—mainly through utilization of thousands of volunteers and high-profile relationships with industry-leading pharmaceutical and transportation companies.

Historically, they operate on less than a 2% overhead—meaning that more than 98% of contributions go straight to global humanitarian operations.

I have been involved with HHI since medical school. They hail from my home state of Kansas.  Visit their website for more information on volunteer opportunities and ways to give.

www.hearttoheart.org

When you aren't a Chef

Our daily lives are full of books, patients, and eating in hospital cafeterias. If you are like me, unless you have a huge passion for cooking, it does not happen that often. I buy groceries and then find them weeks later when I emerge from a string of night shifts in the Emergency Dept. The milk is usually past expiration date and the fruit beginning to go bad. A lot of times it makes more sense to just order take out.

This past week I had some extra time and decided that I was going to cook a great meal one night. I perused cookbooks and recipes to no avail. Until I came upon Jessica Seinfeld's website www.doitdelicious.com . It is comprised of simple recipes and videos giving step by step instructions for easy meals.

Check out this video on HOW TO MAKE HALIBUT:

 One of the reasons I went into medicine is because I love procedures. Preparing a meal is just like a procedure. However, I found that the thing that is missing in most cookbooks is visual stimuli. I found the videos made by Jessica Seinfeld to be just what I needed to bring the fun into cooking.

My Meal: Chilean Sea Bass (they were out of Halibut), Sweet Potato Coins, Green Beans with Toasted Almonds
Cost: 45 dollars
Time: 1 hour

I was so shocked at how well it came out! Give it a try...

A Caribbean Adventure

A few short weeks ago I was in desperate need of a vacation and I posted an article about how to escape the HOSPITAL by planning a week aboard a yacht in the Caribbean. I am back this week, refreshed, and well-tanned.

British Virgin Islands

A special Thanks goes out to Bruce and Laura (The owners of Amaryllis) for making it a week to remember!! And to Kevin at Mainsail Yacht Charters for helping me organize amidst a very busy schedule in the hospital.

Our Itinerary:

Friday Feb 25: Flight to San Juan
Saturday Feb 26: Jeep rental, drive through rainforest, surfing in Rincon (on the west coast), salsa dancing
Sunday Feb 27: Flight to Saint Thomas, lounge by pool, nap, fancy dinner @ Havana Blue
Monday Feb 28: Board Amaryllis @ noon. Meet friends on board. Unpack. Sail to St. John
Tuesday March 1: Run on St. John. Sail to Tortola and then to Norman Island.
Wednesday March 2: Scuba dive in Norman Island. ( Saw a shark!). Boat to Cooper's Island with Dinner ashore.
Thursday March 3:Run/ Explore Virgin Gorda.
Friday March 4:Virgin Gorda. Dock in Tortola. Dinner & Live Music ashore.
Saturday March 5:  Morning Yoga on the boat (Thanks Steph!). Jost Van Dyke. Snorkel with sea turtles. Dinner and live music @ FOXY's.
Sunday March 6: Morning swim. Clear customs in St. John. Sail to St. Thomas. Bid farewell to Amaryllis. Fly back to NYC.

This was a vacation that surpassed expectations. Having lived and traveled extensively in the Caribbean, this is by far the best way to see and explore the islands. There are many options to consider when planning such an adventure. To see my earlier post about how to plan your own click the following link:

 http://hospitalstyle.blogspot.com/2011/02/sail-away-with-hospitalstyle.html

Neil, Eric, Me, Steph, Courtney, Matt

Virgin Gorda

Aboard Amaryllis

As Healthcare professionals we are always taking care of everyone else and their needs are before our own. Take time to travel, to explore, and to marvel in the beauty of something outside of the operating room. It makes us better for our patients, our families, and our friends. Take your HOSPITALstyle outside to play!

Email me HOSPITALstyle@gmail.com for more information on setting up your own Caribbean adventure.

When "the patient" is a member of your family

Every day we step into the hospital and we experience the realities of life. The rawness of human emotion, of pain, of joy, of family, of living, of dying. We have endured years of training in able to cope with these complexities of the human condition. With more experience we learn what to say and how to act. This is how we daily participate in the lives of others, our patients.

My goal as a physician is treat each one of my patient's as if they were someone in my family. This ensures that for each new person that I greet I do so at my very best. The bottom line though is that my patients are not really members of my family. What happens when the patient is? When someone of utmost significance in your life is the one in the gown?

I have seen it in medical school and in residency where colleagues of mine have had to very impressively push through the academic rigor while going through personal devastation with a sick/dying relative. This has happened to me as well. We, as doctors (along with our families), are NOT immune to the very thing that we spend our careers chasing after (PERFECT HEALTH).  Where in all of our training are we prepared to deal with that?

This past week I lost my grandmother to COPD. She was such an example of strength and all that is good in this world. She was an accomplished nurse (trained during world war II) and one of the reasons that I went into medicine in the first place. My mother is also an AMAZING nurse practitioner and human being. These two women have taught me more in my life than most.  It is through watching them, that I have become who I am.

My mother really deserves all of the credit of what I am about to say, because she has lived it these past few months/weeks. As she demonstrated, we as healthcare practitioners, have an advantage for ourselves and our families in that we TRULY understand what is going on. We are realistic and accustomed to facing grave issues of life and death and prognosis and hospitalizations.

However, what I have learned in the past few weeks is that first and foremost you must be there for your loved one as FAMILY. You must remove your MD/RN title and way of being. Listen. Care. Laugh. Cry. Help. Contribute. Ask questions. Be a part of the healthcare decisions, but know when to step back. 

When the patient was my grandmother, all she really needed was for me to put ICY HOT on her legs, and I did just that.

My dear Grandma,
Thank you for your kindness, love, patience, and all the things that you have taught me. You will be missed! XO

I will forever greet each new patient as if they were you...

Style in Medicine?

Style

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For the Wikipedia style guide, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style.

Look up style in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Contents [hide] 1 Music 2 Film and television 3 Literature, linguistics, and rhetoric 4 Other uses 5 See also

Style may refer to:

• Design, the process of creating something
• Fashion, a prevailing mode of expression, e.g., clothing
• Style (fiction), an aspect of literary composition
• Format, various terms that refer to the style of different things
• Genre, a loose set of criteria for a category or composition
• Human physical appearance
• Typeface, style is one of the three traditional design features along with size and weight: either regular, italic or condensed

Style, in specific fields, may also refer to:

• Style (visual arts), in art and painting style can refer either to the aesthetic values followed in choosing what to paint (and how) or to the physical techniques employed
• Style (botany), a stalk structure in female flower parts
• Style (manner of address), titles or honorifics, including Chinese courtesy names

This is the multi-faceted definition of style according to Wikipedia. Where does style fit into medicine? We begin the road of training at various stages, but at some point we are taught about the art of medicine. It is through teachers, parents, friends, and books that we first come to realize and appreciate the complexities of the human body and more importantly the human spirit. Medicine is a unique field that mixes science and standards of practice with ethics, communication, and people skills. We are at the forefront of the extremes of life on a daily basis. One moment we are delivering a new baby and the next we are speaking to a patient about a new diagnosis of cancer, or possibly to a family of a patient that has recently died. This environment calls for stability and strength of character, but it also calls for style. How do you introduce yourself to a patient? How do you dress? What facial expression do you put on? How do you ask the most intimate of questions to someone you just met? How do you handle their trust? How do you interact with your colleagues? How do you take your coffee? How do you manage stress? The answer to all of these is with style (or so we hope).

Style is the format by which you live your life and how you make your decisions. Style in Medicine incorporates your professional persona, how you speak and act, how you embrace each new situation and how you deal with the collision of science, art and the human heart that we deal with every day. What is your style?