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medical writing and media journal

healthcare information tech journal

digital photography and general tech journal

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(You can contact me with this secure form and view some of my medical media projects.)

Medical Training

Before medical school, my involvement with media began with the coursework in journalism and photography during my undergrad years. Then, I gravitated towards the sciences, which led me on the path to medicine.

During medical school I became interested in medical informatics and studied the uses of a Bayesian clinical support program called Iliad created by Homer Warner of LDS Hospital. (Iliad...Homer...yes, you're right.)

I received my MD degree from SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY in 1994.

 For my clinical pathology residency I had the opportunity to receive training with Matthew Pincus, MD, Chief of Clinical Laboratories for the Manhattan and Brooklyn VA Hospitals. During this time I participated in ras oncogene research with Dr. Pincus, publishing several journal articles and co-authoring a chapter, "Oncoproteins and Early Tumor Detection" in the standard text for clinical pathology Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods, 19th ed.

Also during this residency I had the opportunity to teach the students of the Allied Health Professions School about medical statistics, clinical study design and laboratory medicine. This was under the guidance of Jacques Wallach, MD author of Interpretation of Diagnostic Tests.

My further residency training included anatomic pathology at NYU Medical Center/Bellevue Hospital/Manhattan VA Hospital, and then general surgery at Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY, which included experience in emergency medicine and critical care.

Biomedical Informatics

During my residencies I maintained an active involvement with the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) by attending their annual symposia. I enjoyed meeting the physician researchers who led in the development of the electronic health record and health information systems.

While I was a surgical resident, I discovered the possibilities of using a smart phone (Treo 300) for helping me keep connected to medical resources on the Web, along with email and phone calls. The convergence of functions made possible by the rise of the smart phone allows this very personal device to be used for other clinical purposes including managing chronic disease by the patients. This is a list of the medical computing topics including healthcare information technology (HIT), wireless communication, remote patient monitoring, telemedicine, HIPAA (security and privacy), etc. that I think are important and transformative. I follow the latest thinking and trends in my HIT, Mobiles & Telecom Journal. I believe that I was one of the first medical bloggers covering wireless technology. So if you search for my name on Google, you'll probably see links to my first WirelessDoc blog on Dave Winer's Userland service. Since then I had moved the WirelessDoc blog to TypePad (I imported that blog to this site so that you can use the search function on this site). 

Medical Writing

I've been a member of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) for a few years now. My main clinical orientation is oncology, and it's supported by my training in both pathology and general surgery.

I've also accepted freelance assignments editing written and digital media for direct-to-physician materials. This has included editing scripts for multimedia presentations and digital Web content. In my Lexicillin journal, I evaluate medical media and other resources for both the clinician and the patient.

Continuing Education

I keep abreast of the latest developments in oncology and other medical specialties by reading the medical literature with subscriptions to the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. I also attend the conferences of the New York Cancer Consortium.

The Smartest Oncologist is a Web site with daily oncology questions, and is another way check your knowledge base.

I have a special interest in promoting health literacy, which I think is an important aspect in patient advocacy. I'm developing courses intended for the students of the healthcare professions including medicine, nursing and physical therapy.

Geekiness

I can't help but look at the general tech news covering digital photography, programming, mobile gadgets and apps. My Photography, Gadgets, Apps & Media Journal covers these topics. It may also include talk about the latest movie, or book and anything that I think is worthwhile for others to consider.

If you've been clicking on these photos you'll see that I'm an avid photoperson with an account on Smugmug, where one can order a custom print.

Here's my list of Amazon.com reviews.

Most would say I'm a "city person" because of the years spent living in NYC, but this is not so. I've been active in the outdoors, mostly now with mountain biking.

In the past, I spent a lot of time in the Shawangunk Mountains (The Gunks), hiking, rock climbing, camping, skydiving. It's an easy hop from NYC, and I meant a lot of other folks coming up there for a break from city living.

I think my peak experiences include a high-altitude (23,000 ft.) jump from a Douglas DC-3 over Zephyr Hills, FL, and my first jump on a square canopy, a Jalbert Parafoil.