Shadowing a family medicine doctor

Today, I got to shadow a family medicine doctor at a small hospital in a rural community in Washington.  Every single patient we got to see had different family backgrounds and different reasons for coming in, and I was amazed by how the doctor could switch so quickly from one case to the next, all the while dictating his notes, prescribing medications, conversing with his patients, and explaining things to me.  He was a very gracious doctor and teacher, especially since I was very new to the whole doctor shadowing thing, and didn't know exactly how much I could be part of his work.

A few issues came up today that really struck me about rural medicine.  The first was about health insurance.  Most of the patients they see here are on Medicare or Medicaid or receive funds for treatment through the Indian Health Council.  The others get insurance through their jobs or don't have insurance at all.  This can be very sad in cases where a person doesn't have health insurance, doesn't qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, and cannot get a job due to an injury or preexisting health condition.

The second issue that came up frequently was drug abuse.  Methamphetamine abuse is common, and people have died of it.  There are also cases where one spouse abuses meth or marijuana, and the other spouse is left to try to make ends meet and care for the kids.

Teen pregnancy and single mothers are also common.  A single mom might come in and tell us that she thinks the father of her child wants to be involved, but isn't totally sure.

We had interesting conversations with another doctor and the chief operating officer here about administration.  There is a delicate balance between profitability and patient care.  Resources are limited, and the more patients you can see and successfully treat without high-cost treatments, the more sustainable a hospital is.  Promoting wellness in the community plays a huge role in this, because if the people who come are quite healthy and just need something simple to get better, the hospital is much more cost-effective.  There can also be problems when the administration tries to achieve maximum efficiency and then forgets that doctors need time to see patients and patients need to be happy about the care they receive.  Personal relationships and trust between physician and patient can be the key to successful treatment, and these relationships require time.  A hospital needs to be well-staffed so that it is not dependent on just a few doctors, but hiring staff can be expensive.  So, it really is about finding that balance so that doctors are able to care for their patients, the hospital can run even if one of the doctors needs time off from work, and the hospital can be profitable.

Overall, I was amazed at the diversity of patients and cases a family medicine and OB doctor sees in one day.  I also found that I really enjoyed seeing geriatric patients more than I expected.  Seniors can be so sweet and fun, and they almost always have a good story to tell.  I can't wait for tomorrow, when I get to see the operating room and then go to a smaller clinic nearby and observe the different dynamic.

Pray for people in Japan and support the relief effort

This week has been a whirlwind of activities for me with several final exams and trying to coordinate work with studying and planning a doctor shadowing trip.  In the midst of all the busyness, I forgot about my prayers for the people in Japan who lost their homes, their livelihood, and their loved ones in the recent earthquake in tsunami.  It is sad and humbling how I can get so caught up in my day-to-day problems and completely forget about a huge disaster that took countless lives less than a week ago.  How much more selfish can I get?

Thank God for His grace and sovereignty in all of this.  Despite my selfishness and failing memory, God remembers the people in Japan and He loves them.  And despite my inability to understand why God would allow such a disaster to happen (along with the many natural disasters people have suffered through these past few years, like the tsunami in Southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina), I can be sure that He has this all in His control.

I recently read a sermon about God's sovereignty, and it is a real comfort in times like these, when the future seems so uncertain. Ten Aspects of God's Sovereignty Over Suffering and Satan's Hand in It.

And for those of you who are looking for a way to help the people in Japan, the Salvation Army is providing emergency relief to the people in Japan who were affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Salvation Army - Earthquake and Tsunami Relief in Japan.

Let Us Love

I entered this song into the Spirit 105.3 local music project, but it didn't make it into the final round.  It was posted on my Facebook under the name "We Are the Body of Christ" but that was confused with another song.   Even though it didn't win, I still wanted to share it, so here it is for you all to enjoy.  I hope you like it!

"Homemade" - Parody based on Iyaz's song "Replay"

Lyrics by Natasha and Tiffany Lim

Granny cooks as good as chef Bobby Flay
and I can't get enough got me singing like
m-m-m-m every day
it's like my menu's stuck on homemade, homemade

I remember the first time I ate
Y'famous curry chicken satay
I was scared to approach
But then you gave me rice bowl
Guess I had to give it a chance
Who would've ever knew
That I could fall in love at that age
And I will love your food
Until I am old and graaaaay

My gram's like a marshmallow toaster
My gram's cooking food gourmet!
My gram's like a mug to my coaster
I could eat her food all day!

If I could have ramen every day
Gran, I would choose your food anyway-oh!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Got me singing like
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Gospel for Asia

About a year ago, a friend of mine let me borrow this book, Revolution in World Missions by Dr. K.P. Yohannan. I was so moved by his desire to reach the unreached people of Asia for Christ that I bought a copy for myself. Now you can get a copy of free!

I highly recommend this book. I hope you read it and see how God is using sponsors in the U.S. to enable local missionaries in India and all of Asia to share the God's love with people who have been shunned and forgotten by the rest of the world. We get to be part of the amazing work God is doing!

Acts 20:24

Tiffany Lim

"Aspiring doctor by day, Songwriter by night, Christ-follower 24/7"

Outcompeting the Social Giant - Facebook

Ah yes, Facebook. The site that trumps all. Myspace, Friendster, Twitter, you name it. Facebook is still the biggest (and arguably the best) of all social networking sites. Facebook addicts know how amazingly time-consuming it can be. And all Facebook users look upon the select few who have resisted joining this peer pressured giant with awe and wonder.

As much as I like to use Facebook, our blog post assignment for this week is to propose ways to outcompete Facebook. So, here goes:

If I were a business competing against Facebook, I would...

...be up front about privacy with my users. Facebook is known for changing the default privacy settings on everyone's Facebook account with very little to no notice to the user. One of the funniest examples of this is when nearly 300 personal photos of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg went public when they switched privacy settings. People need to know exactly who has access to their profiles at all times. This isn't possible when the company suddenly changes their privacy settings, oftentimes without user knowledge.

...capitalize on advertisement, not market research. Sure, Facebook may give themselves permission to sell data from our profiles in some tiny black font in their Terms and Conditions. But who reads those word-for-word anyways, other than lawyers and the extremely cautious? People need to know that they can trust those who develop and manage the social networking sites they use, and that means not selling information about them to different companies unless that part of the deal has been made VERY clear to the user, and the user has given them permission.

...allow people to "Follow" their friends. Facebook has a news feed that enables users to "Hide" certain people or applications or pages, but they do not have a way to choose specifically who or what shows up in your feeds. People like to choose the news they get.

...add voice and video chat capabilities, and also easily visible privacy settings that let users choose who can call them and who cannot. This could potentially increase revenue by increasing the time people spend on the social networking site, and thus increase advertising time.

...add TV shows and movies along with the ability to see what your friends are watching, or even watch with them and chat while you're watching. This would once again increase advertising space and time, as well as help users strengthen their relationships.

Facebook has an incredible number of users, but they have done a few things that make their user unhappy and uneasy. In the Facebook competitor social networking site, I would address those privacy concerns and add features that facilitate more interaction between friends in order to increase the average amount of time they spend active on the site each day and to increase the overall number of users.