Subaqua Sternal Rubs

Subaqua Sternal Rubs Archives

Gotta love island politics: Inquiry into General Hospital turned down - “A Motion put forward by Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas calling for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the shortage of oxygen and other critical supplies including manpower at the St. George’s General Hospital was defeated in Parliament Monday during a sitting of the House of Representatives.” Post a Comment

Maybe this is why it took my ambulance corps years to get a license to carry controlled substances (and only after triple locking them in state-of-the-art computer controlled safes): “Clearwater Fire Rescue apparently kept its controlled substances in Tupperware.” 3 Comments

A security camera catches a moose entering an Alaskan Emergency Department. 3 Comments

New Theme Activated

Wednesday, June 29th, 2005 Print Email

As I was getting tired of the old one (it's been a few months), I have activated a new theme. Let me know what you think, if I forgot to add any features, or if you have any other probems… (I can only test on 1 OS and 2 browsers.)

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ER visits at all time high; number of departments shrinking - “Visits to the nation’s emergency departments (EDs) reached a record high of nearly 114 million in 2003, but the number of EDs decreased by 12 percent from 1993 to 2003, according to a new report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).” Post a Comment

Woo hoo, I just made the age cut: Recruiting physicians from Generation X - “Physicians from Generation X-commonly defined as those born between 1965 and 1980-are using different criteria for choosing their employers than their workaholic baby boomer predecessors. Gone are the days when young doctors put dollars and prestige on top of the list. Newly minted Generation X physicians are more likely to put lifestyle issues ahead of all others in their search for that first job.” 1 Comment

The Goodbye Letter

Monday, June 27th, 2005 Print Email

In honor of today's "Integrated Exam:"

The Goodbye Letter

A father passing by his son's bedroom, was astonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up. Then, he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, "Dad." With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands.

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Dog Days of Summer - “There is a popular myth, even echoed by patients, that being admitted to the hospital in July is equivalent to flying with a student pilot. The reason behind the concern is that every training hospital across the country receives a bolus of rookie doctors.” (via Future of Medicine) Post a Comment

Freud = Genius??

Sunday, June 26th, 2005 Print Email

So I am in the final stages of my studying for tomorrow's "Term 3 Exam #2," which is half Behavioral Sciences (Psych), and one half Epidemiology/Health Systems. Of course they had to mention Freud and his theories in the Behavioral section. I found some of the dream symbols he came up with interesting: (May not be appropriate for children.)

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Heartless Capitalist Pigs

Saturday, June 25th, 2005 Print Email

Not only am I currently applying for new health insurance, I will soon be applying for a new credit card as well. On my statement this month I noticed a charge entitled: "PURCHASES*FINANCE CHARGE*FOREIGN TRA." When I asked Citibank about the mysterious charge, they said:

For each purchase made in a foreign currency, we add an additional Finance Charge of 3% of the purchase amount after its conversion into U.S. dollars.

Since I am in a foreign country 11 months out of the year, this obviously is not going to work if I am going to be charged an extra 3% for every purchase I make. What irks me most though, is that they just instituted this charge without ever telling me… (They claim they sent something snail mail…) Anyways, this was my response to them:

Well, unfortunately, I never received it. I feel that this new charge is ridiculous, as you are already making money by giving a poorer exchange rate than the official. Just so you know, I plan to discontinue using the services of your company and seek an alternate provider of credit that doesn't see the need to gouge their customers which such ridiculous fees as soon as I am back in the United States.

And their final response:

We apologize for the problems you have encountered. We strive to be the best in the business and feedback like yours helps us to improve our service. We will make every effort to serve your future needs in a manner more consistent with your expectations and our standards.

They don't seem to be trying too hard to keep my business, do they? I am actually a very good customer, paying my bills usually the day of or the day after the statement comes out. I am so credit worthy that Citibank saw fit to raise my credit limit 480% in the past year. Though I am probably too good of a customer… Since I never carry a balance, Citibank can't make money off me by charging interest. Actually they don't make any money off me, that's probably why they don't care if I cancel my card with them.

On that note, anyone have any recommendations for a good credit card that doesn't have a "Foreign Transaction Fee," or an annual fee?