Be like the river

Sometimes all  you can do, is not to
dream, expect or obsess.
All you can do, is go with the flow,
And hope for the best.

Going with the flow....

Finding work-life balance is like juggling responsibilities. As long as you keep doing it, nobody cares. Once you stop, it all comes crashing down. And you are the only one to be blamed. You chose to live life that way!

  I often wonder, is there such a thing as the perfect balance, the perfect woman, the perfect family, the perfect food,or the perfect relationship?

Maybe in some fairytale.  But real life is not a bed of roses but a soap opera. Everything changes. The key to survival is 'going with the flow'.

Priorities change daily and as full time working mothers, you have to flow through the demands and challenges as best we can. It won't ever be perfect. And it won't ever be balanced. However, if you are flexible and let things flow as they need to, you won't be worked up over ensuring everything is perfect.

'There are times when my kids or husband take full priority and I have to take care of them while work has to wait. Then there are other times that work is priority - whether it's a big project, meetings or travel, that's what comes first. And there are times that friends or extended family need my help. Balance really doesn't fit any of these scenarios....

 At times, I think I have nailed it and I'm doing really well in all areas. However, there are other times that I feel I haven't spent enough meaningful time with my kids or my husband and I'm falling behind at work. There have also been times that I have felt I haven't been there for my extended family or friends the way that I should be. The constant stress of balancing all of the above can certainly take a toll..' 

Be like the river.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, wrote in her book Lean In:

“Trying to do it all and expecting that it all can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy.”

Discussions or documentations? The way forward.

Discussions or documentations
Surveys suggest that time constraints push doctors to spend less time with the patient and more time documenting records. Important as documentation may be, it ends up with a waste of unnecessary investigations that could have been avoided had the doctor spent more time with the patient; taking a detailed history and doing a thorough examination. Many times we have been forced to look for Malarial parasites in smears from afebrile patients, or do bone marrow aspirations of thrombocytopenic patients (with low platelet counts) only to find platelet clumps on peripheral smears.
Have you ever done an investigation that you thought was unnecessary?

The doctor-in-law phobia

GOOD READS: Feeling depressed?? Take a break!!

There’s a reason most people don’t go into medicine. They can’t handle this stuff. We can IF we have a way to process our feelings in real time before we start plotting our suicides.

Read full story about the secrets, lies and solutions to the increasing rate of Physician suicides.http://adf.ly/uQ1D5

"Why do we do what we do? To save lives. Why did you go to medical school? Seriously. Why spend your 20s studying while all your friends are at parties? To make a difference — to save lives. What is your calling?

GOOD READS is a series of articles intended for sharing pleasure. Feel free to comment and share your views.

Medical Laboratory and Biomedical Science: Parasite in Blood

Medical Laboratory and Biomedical Science: Parasite in Blood:
Blood Parasites.
They come in all forms!
View link at: http://adf.ly/te9Ad ‎
There are many kinds of parasites.

Life in the Dreamhouse.... as Doctor Barbie

Life in the Dreamhouse.......

A pathologist's perspective.

I have never been a barbie fan. Partly because of my conservative upbringing and mainly due to the unacceptable, under-dressed barbie fashion image. Barbie dolls were for rich spoiled girls who had nothing better to do except fuss over boys, clothes, hair and makeup. So my reaction to 'Doctor barbie' at a toy store was overwhelming and I couldn't suppress my amusement when my daughter pointed to the doll with the stethoscope and white coat and exclaimed..'Mama!'

Researchers argue that Barbie dolls conveys iconic messages helping to shape the idea in little girls’ minds that looking attractive is all-important. They point to studies supporting the notion that girls who play with barbie dolls are more fashion-centered and less professionally oriented. certain professions are suitable only for men. This notion is subsequently reinforced by movies, television shows, advertisements, and the like, as well as old fashioned friends and relatives.

Barbie has gone from a fashion doll to a real-life barbie this year; she used to be just a toy, but now has gone from a hunk of plastic to a controversial iconic figure.

Here is a selection of  quotes from the internet about the world’s favourite fashion doll as a doctor.

 

 

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 Doctor Barbie Research

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  Blog

Could playing with fashion dolls limit a girl’s sense of possibility?  

A recent study out of Oregon State University has concluded that Barbie may have the potential to do just that.

In the study, an experiment to see how Barbie might influence career choices,  girls aged 4 through 7 were randomly assigned  to play with one of three toys: fashion Barbie, Dr. Barbie–with lab coat and stethoscope, or the more ambiguously-gendered, handbag-carrying Mrs. Potato Head.
After just a few minutes of play time, the girls were asked if they thought they could do any of a list of five traditionally -male- dominated, and five traditionally-female-dominated jobs when they grew up. They were also asked if boys could do those jobs.
The girls who played with Mrs. Potato Head believed they could do any of the jobs the boys could do. The girls who played with Barbie– it didn’t matter if it was fashion Barbie or  career Barbie– reported that they could do fewer jobs than boys could do.

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New Study: Is Barbie's Dream House Keeping Girls From Their Dream Jobs?

by Lexi Novak, Associate Editor, March 7, 2014, 11:02:31 AM

• 
  

I know what you may be thinking: “But Dr. Barbie has a lab coat and a stethoscope and everything!” And as a Barbie addict who grew up aspiring to be a surgeon, I share your confusion. But the study’s authors suggest that it’s the doll’s sexualized body—not her accessories—that is affecting young girls and giving them restrictive cues. Does this mean all females should wear burlap sacks if they want to be doctors or engineers? I certainly hope not. But if your little one favors tiny-waisted, full-busted toys, it might not hurt to throw a shapeless, plastic spud into the collection.

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Barbie May Be Hazardous to Your Daughter’s Career Aspirations

By Tom Jacobs • March 05, 2014 

it was a different story for those who played with either Barbie. They “reported fewer careers as future possibilities for themselves than they reported were possible for boys.” In other words, those who played with a Barbie doll “saw fewer future opportunities for themselves.”
“This was true whether the Barbie was dressed as either a fashion model or as a doctor,” Sherman and Zurbriggen add. “It appears that the doll itself trumps the role suggested by the costuming.”
While noting they were surprised by the Doctor Barbie findings, they point out that “adding a doctor coat and a stethoscope” may not have been sufficient “to override the sexualized clues embedded in the outfit.” A Doctor Barbie in plain medical scrubs may have had a different effect. So, presumably, might the realistically proportioned Barbie-like doll which, coincidentally, has just been unveiled by its inventor.

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TIMES : Living Barbie

Doctor Barbie Doesn’t Make Girls Want to Be Doctors

 

• Charlotte Alter @charlottealter

March 6, 2014

Researchers have determined that playing with a Doctor Barbie doesn’t make girls want to be a doctor, but no word yet on whether playing with Mrs. Potato Head makes girls want to be potatoes. 


 
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The 10 Most Depressing Barbie Dolls Ever Made

Psychological disorders. Failed attempts at greatness. Unplanned pregnancies. This chick has issues.

 Leonora Epstein  BuzzFeed Staf

7. Nip/Tuck Barbie

Back story:Things start looking up for Barbie when she’s miraculously accepted to med school (apparently University of Phoenix online college has one of those) and becomes Plastic Surgeon Barbie in 1973.
Worse yet: Deep in her heart, Barbie knows that fixing others’ imperfections won’t heal her own. 

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Doctor barbie mobile apps

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Barbie's Plastic Surgery and Beyond: The Worst iPhone Apps for Kids

by Liz Gumbinner

This week, parents–and anyone else with an iota of common sense–expressed outrage over the discovery of the Barbie Plastic Surgery App, whose name was soon changed to Barbara for legal reasons. As for ethical changes? Not so much. The app, rated for kids 9+ (just the age they should be fretting about their thighs) describes "Barbara" as an unfortunate girl with so much extra weight that no diet can help her. Kids are then instructed to go to clinic for liposuction to "make her slim and beautiful" after which they get to slice up her face graphically.

I only wish I were kidding.

While there's a ton of buzz about this app which has since been pulled, we looked into the developer, Corina Rodriguez, and it seems she (it?) has a whole bunch of soulless, ethically-devoid, WTF-is-she-thinking children's apps on the app store. They are all free, and not surprisingly, packed with pop-up ads with every click.

(Update - Jan. 13, 2014: The game has been renamed “Plastic Surgery Barbara” and is available in the iTunes store).

• Babe Dentist & Babe Dress Up & Babe Makeover

This girl is very beautiful, but she has big problems with her teeth! Let's eliminate this problem which prevents her from living a normal life! Age rating: 4+

 Leg & Foot Surgery & Doctor & Hospital Office for Barbie
Barbie got hit by a car this morning and according to her doctor's x-rays she has a broken leg…help Barbie's doctor take the best decision in her case, choosing from the three possible cures the one which seems more appropriate.
Age rating: 9+

 

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BARBIE AND TV SHOWS

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Dr. Perry Cox (Scrubs Character)

from "Scrubs" (2001)   

• And Barbie... say, if it's cold in there, you can just borrow my lab coat; it's super warm because I lined it with these... ta-daaa! [opens his coat...] 
• Barbie, are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr Pepper is a doctor? 

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pumpkin-spice flavored | by maryann johanson

Doctor Who blogging: “Cold War”

Mon Apr 15 2013 Random thoughts on “Cold War”:
Why does the Doctor carry a Barbie doll around with him?

And why is he this happy to get it back? Is this one of those things that no one else is supposed to be able to handle knowing about the Doctor?

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 BARBIE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

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TWITTER

Doctor Barbie ‏@PreMedBarbie
 

Doctor Barbie ‏@PreMedBarbie 10 Apr 2012
The only reason I go through this awful torture every semester is because I know I'll be insanely wealthy when I'm done #PreMedBarbie

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facebook covers


 

Keep Calm and Love Science

Life Sciences & Awesome Phenomena of Nature

Donate Blood With Barbie

Medical humor


Source: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/5453072219_11e10b2058.jpg