Thursday, August 16, 2007

Inspiration for blogs

Someone asked me today how I get my inspiration to write the material on my blog with such frequency. The answer is that life and life-in-practice serves up more than enough material to fill my pages. In fact, as you can see, the question itself became a topic. Here are some some examples of some inspiring blog topics that I'll hopefully find time to publish:
  • Last week a sales rep from a small uropathology lab in NJ came to my office. Despite the 90+ degree heat, he had on a cheap suit--jacket, tie, and all--and his forehead was covered in beads of sweat as he tried to convince me to use his lab. Unfortunately his message was lost on me, as I could not help but find myself thinking about my mom and dad, and thanking them for encouraging me to stay in school as I regrettably viewed him as a somewhat unenviable character in a very undesirable job. Maybe I'll throw him some bones, since I've always liked underdogs.
  • Yesterday, 2 avodart reps came to my office. One was a late 40's woman, and the other a mid-30's man. The woman did all the speaking, so obviously, the man was her boss, ie her territory manager. As she showed me her marketing material, several things went through my mind. The superb quality of the marketing material made me think of how I would like to mimic it, in some way. Then she showed me graph, and as I marveled over the complexity of it, I was reminded of medical school, and then I thought of calling my friend Mike, to catch-up. Finally, I found the dynamic of the woman and her boss interesting, and I found myself thinking that I would not do well in such a situation, and would not like the obvious post-encounter debrief/critique that was sure to ensue.
  • Today I had a case get canceled due to a scheduling mix-up on the part of both the hospital's and my own scheduling processes. The hospital booking agent, who was new, did not know the difference between intra-corporeal lithotripsy and extra-corporeal lithotripsy, and the patient and I were told to report to hospital A, when the correct equipment was at hospital B. It happened to another of my colleagues this AM as well. Fortunately, the mistake was caught before the patient was taken to the OR and sedated, and his case was elective, so no harm was done. But it got me thinking again about process management and six-sigma in my office, practice efficiency, and a whole other host of blog topics.
  • My COLA lab inspection has provided me with tons of material not yet published.
  • My late night baby feedings has inspired a host of posts as well on such topics as: how to type while one hand holds the infant bottle, good late-night bottle feeding movies, how to get a quick post in between calls for help from the wife, and how scheduling early morning cases can become an effective method to avoid late-night feeds.
You see, life is full of topics perfect for a blog, and all that you have to do is live, observe, listen, and write.

Thanks,

The IU.

The IU.