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They Work Here Too
The cardinal nest is pretty much done—no eggs yet, though. At least we think it’s a cardinal nest. It looks typical according to experts; loosely woven of twigs, leaves, stucco, and ponderosa pine accents. They’re pretty fussy about us snooping around the backyard evergreen tree they chose to build a home in. Any day now,…
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The Last White Coat I’ll Ever Wear
I’m a big fan of the Men in Black movies. I’m not going to tell you how many times I’ve watched them on TV (78 million and if that number reminds you of a scene from Men in Black, you’re just as much a fan as I am, if not worse). One of my favorite…
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Long Day; Short Post
OK, it was a long day on the general hospital psychiatry consultation service. This post is going to be short. I put 3.4 miles and 29 floors on my step counter today and I’m feeling every one of them right now. It’s almost 10:30 at night and I’m trying to find a way to end…
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A Little Too Exuberant
I think a sense of humor is a wonderful thing. I was the class clown in my youth. I remember my English teacher, Miss Piggott, wrote in my report card that I was “A little too exuberant.” Actually, I was a great deal too exuberant. My sense of humor tends to fall into the broad…
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Gauging My Readiness for Retirement
I’m noticing something about my readiness for retirement. Certain activities are starting to be at least as interesting as my work as a consultation-liaison psychiatrist at the hospital—maybe even more so. For example, my wife and I are hoping that the cardinals will come back to our backyard evergreen tree. They were building a Hoorah’s…
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Wes Ely Brings House Down
I know I’d been saying that I probably wouldn’t have time to attend Wes Ely’s Grand Rounds presentation yesterday, “A New Frontier in Critical Care: Saving the Injured Brain.” But against all odds, I actually got to go, along with some medical students and a Family Medicine resident. As I expected, Dr. Ely brought the…
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Wes Ely at University of Iowa Today
Wes Ely, MD will be giving the Internal Medicine Grand Rounds today at noon at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The title of his presentation is “A New Frontier in Critical Care: Saving the Injured Brain.” I’m on duty today in the general hospital as a psychiatric consultant. I’m pretty sure I won’t be…
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Delirium and Catatonia: Medical Emergencies
It was a very busy day on the consultation psychiatry service today. Besides that, I gave a lecture about delirium and dementia to the medical students. The talk is similar to the one below: As a reminder, Dr. Wes Ely, MD will be in Iowa City at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to…
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Patience is a Virtue Redux
This transition to retirement has me looking back at times to an earlier transition in my life—college. I wrote a blog post 8 years or so ago about a few of my experiences at Huston-Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson University, a private, historically African American school) in Austin, Texas. We called it H-T for short. The…
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Meaning and Purpose in Retirement
As you know, I’m back in the saddle at work, according to the terms of my phased retirement contract. When I’m off service, I feel less pressured. However, when I’m on service, I’m like a fireman, thriving on pressure. I’ve done Consultation-Liaison (C-L) Psychiatry for so many years that, when I stop to think about…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 