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Sunday Sermon

Well, not exactly. They didn’t let me get anywhere near the pulpit!

I did, however, speak at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church for its weekly Table Talk series (the title is a nod to Luther). Last week, I presented on addiction. Today, I held forth on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), which is a way to reduce emotional disturbances by thinking more clearly.

My “text” for last week was Romans 7:15. I also wandered through DSM-5 and Doug Sellman’s “Top 10” on my way to Gerald May’s brilliant conceptualization. I didn’t have a text today, however, “renew your mind” would have been apt.

Many thanks to Dr. Arland Hultgren  (see, also, Amazon) for inviting me to visit such a wonderful parish. And also Rev. Tim Nelson for connecting us.

P.S. I’m a PK (pastor’s kid) and so far have avoided seminary myself. But I wound up in the “belief business” anyway. §

Inhalant Abuse

Today, I appeared in a KARE 11 story on “huffing.” Inhalant abuse is a common but largely unrecognized problem that is particularly prevalent in older children and adolescents.

Many thanks to Joe Clubb, John Sutherland and Tim Burke at Allina Health for putting this important issue on the proverbial radar. §

Understood

I didn’t know Dr. Margaret Keenan but wished that I had. One of her eulogies said this of her:

I think that what her patients craved was not to be healed but to be understood

I pray that my own demise is far off—our kids are still young and I’m just beginning to master my craft. But when I’m gone, I hope that my patients will generally recall that I understood them. §

Lights, Camera

Treatment Basics, an excellent educational DVD, is now available from Hazelden Publishing. I was fortunate to be included in the project.

Treatment Basics, an excellent educational DVD, is now available from Hazelden Publishing. It complements Addiction Basics, which appeared in 2017.

I was fortunate to be included in both projects. Many thanks to Wes Thomsen and his team for the ongoing collaboration. What’s in the hopper for 2019? §

frenz_tb_screenshot

Think Like a Doctor

My longtime collaborator, Jim Beattie, and I will be taking our roadshow to Cleveland, Ohio, for the Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association’s Annual Conference. Our four-hour workshop (sounds long, goes fast) provides a practical introduction to evidence-based medicine (EBM). The material is adapted from courses that we teach at University of Minnesota and prior MLA conference presentations. This blog post serves as our “course website.”

PowerPoint Presentations
Think Like a Doctor: Course Introduction
Think Like a Doctor: Diagnosis
Think Like a Doctor: Therapy

Other Course Materials
Competency-Based Medical Education (resource)
Abstract Attack (resource)
PubMed Citations for Small Groups

Family Medicine Clerkship Assets
Unanswered Clinical Questions (article)
Should We Google It? (article)
Evidence Uptake by Synthesized Resources (article)
12 Step EBM Project
CAT Template
PLS Template
Clinical Bottom Line tip sheet
Strengths & Weaknesses of Evidence tip sheet

EBM Resources
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (organization)
Levels of Evidence (LOE) Taxonomy (2011) (resource)
Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) (resource)
POO, DOO and You (article)
A POEM a week for the BMJ (article)
The Rational Clinical Examination (article series)
The Rational Clinical Examination (book)
Users’ Guides to the Medical Literature (book)
Evidence-Based Physical Diagnosis, 4th ed. (book)
Evidence-Based Medicine, 5th ed. (book)
Diagnostic Calculator (resource)
Biostatistics Calculator (resource)

Predicting Suicide & Violence

I recently delivered a webinar on suicide and violence for the Minnesota Center for Chemical and Mental Health. You can view the presentation here.

I’m a huge fan of using validated scales and measures to guide clinical decisions. I described the use of the following tools in the webinar:

I also referenced an important meta-analysis by Joseph C. Franklin, Ph.D., et al., and an associated press release by the American Psychological Association.

Finally, here’s a shameless plug for some translational pieces on suicide and violence that I wrote for Today’s Hospitalist (where I’m a long-time contributing editor).

Received Wisdom — 1

Suffering

 

Mental suffering takes place when we don’t get what we want, or when we’re forced to live with and endure what we don’t want.

—Steve Hagen

 

Steve Hagen. Buddhism Plain and Simple. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1997, p. 30

Received Wisdom is the big ideas that I use with patients. This post is the first in a series of many.