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MAY 2019
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‘EAR, NEWS, AND THROAT’
MORE TO LEARN
TheTruth About Being a Good Doctor
This month, I want to pull back the curtain and talk about an aspect of becoming a doctor most people don’t know about. You probably know about the four additional years of schooling doctors need to take in order to graduate frommedical school. But the strange thing about medical training is that doctors are not ready to start practicing independently the moment they graduate frommedical school. In fact, new doctors don’t have much practical knowledge when they graduate frommedical school! Dentists, chiropractors, and other health care professionals are ready to go as soon as they graduate, but doctors have multiple years of residency training after finishing school before they’re even remotely ready to see patients on their own. The shortest residencies last three years, while doctors in more specialized fields, like pediatric neurosurgeons, might be residents for up to 10 years. My ENT residency was five years, and I can still remember what those first few weeks were like. In medical school, the first two years were spent in a classroom learning science and medicine; the third year is when you finally spend your time in the hospital and clinics. But during the fourth year, you take a lot to time off to interview for residency programs and do research. By graduation, you’re a bit rusty on the clinical skills you learned during the third year! This is why it felt pretty overwhelming when I started my residency. I suddenly had much more responsibility without having a lot of practical knowledge about how to be a doctor.
Dr. Evans in his residency days
doctor. No amount of time in the classroomwill ever prepare you for talking with patients or performing surgery with your own two hands. Residents put in 60–80-hour weeks, so even though we start out not knowing anything, we learn a lot very quickly. There’s a saying in residency: “See one, do one, teach one.” The idea is that in order to learn a certain skill, you need to see a procedure, do it yourself, and then teach it to someone else. In reality, it’s more like “See five, do 20, teach one” before you know how to do something on your own. There’s no perfect training in the world, but this kind of medical training has been going on for over 100 years. It works pretty well. After going through the intense residency training, it feels great to get out into the world on your own. You know you’re capable of taking care of patients on your own, without having an attending doctor looking over your shoulder. At the end of their residency, whether it’s three years, five years, or 10 years, most people are pretty competent physicians — at least I was. May is graduation season, which means on July 1 there’s going to be a lot of new doctors starting their residency. Don’t worry if you need to see the doctor or if you have a loved one going in for surgery with a resident doctor helping
I know hearing this might make some people really nervous to be seen by a brand-new doctor who is just starting their residency, but you don’t have to worry. All residents are watched very closely by the attending doctor and more senior residents. The attending will never leave a junior doctor alone with a patient unless they know the resident has shown they are competent enough to care for the patient.
“It’s during the residency program that you actually learn how to be a good doctor.“
on the case — they might not remember everything frommedical school, but I can assure you, they are working hard to take care of their patients and are being supervised very closely. You’re still in good hands. –Dr. Seth Evans
It’s during the residency program that you actually learn how to be a good
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GROWING FRESH AIR
A LOOK AT THE HEALTHIEST BUILDING IN NEW DELHI
Imagine you are told you must leave the city you work and live in because it’s killing you. Hard to fathom, isn’t it? But this actually happened to Kamal Meattle, a researcher, activist, and New Delhi native, who was told by doctors that the city’s air quality was a threat to his health. His lung capacity had gone down 70 percent, and doctors suggested he leave New Delhi. Instead, Meattle chose to stay and find an innovative solution to his health problems and the city’s air quality crisis. New Delhi is no stranger to poor air quality. Sometimes pollution gets so bad, it warrants a city-wide warning for kids to stay inside. Meattle, who studied engineering at MIT, turned to research by NASA and other organizations to address the issue. During his research, Meattle found that there are three common house plants that excel at removing dangerous chemical compounds, like formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, from the air: the areca palm, the snake plant (or mother-in-law’s tongue), and the money plant. Using these plants, Meattle created an indoor plant-based air filtering system that allows his building, the Paharpur Business Center (PBC), to cultivate all the fresh air it needs. Air entering the building is cleaned by a scrubber then is filtered through the building’s extensive greenhouse to remove chemicals and bacteria. The greenhouse, and the rest of the building, is filled with areca palms, snake plants, and money plants. Today, the PBC is the healthiest building in New Delhi. Twenty years after Meattle rolled out his plant-based filter system, the results speak for themselves. Employee productivity has gone up 20 percent. Respiratory problems have gone down by 34 percent, headaches by 24 percent, and lung impairment by 12 percent, among other health benefits. Just stepping into Paharpur boosts your health: Blood oxygen levels go up by 1 percent after 10 hours in the PBC. Meattle has remained in New Delhi and is set on helping other Indian businesses replicate his plant-based system so they can grow their own fresh air. As he says of his decision to stay, “Either you are overwhelmed by the fact that there are so many problems and so many people, or you find solutions to help in any way you can.”
Not all exercises are created equal. In fact, there is one form of exercise that is better than many others: walking. Harvard Medical School took a look at various exercises and concluded that walking is up there with swimming and tai chi in terms of health benefits. Regular walking can help maintain good cholesterol and blood pressure levels and keep your bones strong and healthy. One study showed that 40 minutes of walking every day helped people reduce blood pressure from hypertension to prehypertension, and then eventually to normal over several months. Walking can even keep many different kinds of diseases at bay, such as diabetes and heart disease. In addition to these physical benefits, walking daily can improve your mood and overall mental health. As simple and straightforward as walking is, it can be difficult for many people to find the time. Most experts agree that you need 30–60 minutes of physical activity per day, but the good news is that you can split those minutes up throughout your day. For example, you can take a brisk 20-minute walk in the morning before work, followed by another one at lunch and one more after dinner. Those 60 minutes also don’t have to be strenuous; they just need to happen. However, the more time you invest in walking, the more you will get out of it. If you slowly increase your distance and speed, you’ll end up burning more calories and strengthening your legs over time. The great thing about walking is that it’s not particularly taxing on the knees, and you can move at your own pace. It doesn’t get any better than that! To get the most out of walking, schedule your walks for after mealtimes, especially the ones that come later in the day, like lunch and dinner. It’s a great way to aid digestion and burn calories —which can’t hurt your waistline!
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Nasal Steroid Spray Steroids help lower the congestion, inflammation, and drainage that are causing your sinuses to remain blocked. Two over-the-counter options are Flonase and Nasacort, which can help get you through a sinus infection at home before it gets too bad. If you go with this option, be sure to read and follow the safety instructions on the label. Decongestant Spray The most common decongestant spray is called Afrin, though most stores carry a generic brand that works just as well. Decongestant sprays work similar to steroid sprays, meaning they case your nose to decongest so your nasal passages open up, but decongestant sprays work a lot faster. They’re great for cleaning out your nose before the sinus infection becomes a big problem. Unfortunately, if you use the decongestant spray for seven days in a row or longer, your risk your nose becoming addicted to the spray. These are some doctor-approved at-home remedies for saving money and treating your sinus infection. If these remedies are not helping, your sinus infection lingers, or you suffer from several sinus infections a year, don’t give up hope just yet. Give Texan ENT a call at 512.550.0321 and ask about getting long-term relief from your sinus infections.
At Texan ENT, we help a lot of patients who are suffering from sinus infections. We offer a variety of resources to help patients find relief from the pain of sinus infections, but there are a lot of times when patients don’t need to see a doctor in order to cure their sinus infection. Here are a few of the best strategies for curing your sinus infection right at home. Sinus Rinse A sinus rinse is when you gently flush out your sinuses with diluted salt water called saline solution. There are a few resources available for you to use when rinsing out your sinuses. The most common are the Neti Pot, which looks like a small tea kettle, and the NeilMed, which is like a squeeze bottle. Both are readily available at your nearest drug store, and neither one is “better,” so feel free to use whichever you prefer. A sinus rinse is very helpful for dealing with sinus infections, as well as allergies and cold. It opens your sinuses so you can breathe easier and cleans out any allergens that might be making you feel sick.
BEFORE YOU CALL THE DOCTOR
3 Best At-Home Remedies for a Sinus Infection
HAVE A
Strawberry Mango Paletas
LAUGH!
Inspired by Food & Wine magazine
Ingredients
• •
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• • •
1 1/4 cups strawberries, chopped 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 medium ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and chopped
Directions
a medium bowl and clean the blender. Then, purée strawberry mixture until smooth. 5. Into 8 3-ounce ice pop molds, spoon 2 tablespoons mango purée. Add 2 tablespoons strawberry purée to each mold, then top with remaining mango purée, leaving 1/2 inch between filling and top of mold. 6. Using a small knife, gently swirl layers together. 7. Insert ice pop sticks and freeze until solid. 8. Dip molds in hot water for a few seconds, then unmold paletas and serve immediately.
1. In a saucepan, toss strawberries with 1/4 cup sugar and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. 2. Add 1/4 cup water and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Cook strawberries until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. 3. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let cool completely, about 45 minutes. 4. Meanwhile, in a blender, purée mangoes with 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons lime juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth. Scrape into
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Page 1 More to Learn
Page 2 What Is the World’s Best Exercise?
Page 2 The Healthiest Building in New Delhi
Page 3 Best Ways to Treat a Sinus Infection at Home
Page 3 Strawberry Mango Paletas
Page 4 AWord From the Westies
Hours: Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
PREVENTING TRAGEDY
The Dangers of a Hot Car
3. If the authorities don’t show up in a timely manner, and you see
Hello, everybody!
The official start of summer is only a few weeks away. While there are a lot of fun things to look forward to, this month we wanted to talk about something really serious. More children and pets die in hot cars in Texas than anywhere else in the country. Most of the time, these are really tragic accidents that occur after a moment of forgetfulness or ignorance to how dangerous a hot car can be. Even if it’s only 70 degrees outside, the inside of a car can reach 104 degrees in just 30 minutes — and it only takes 10 minutes for a hot car to become deadly. Leaving your car windows cracked open won’t prevent a deadly situation.
the pet or child is exhibiting the signs of heat stroke — such as panting, redness, vomiting, lethargy, or lack of coordination — take action to safely remove the child or pet from the vehicle. 4. Take the child or pet to an air-conditioned building, give them water, or have them taken to the hospital or vet. Keep in mind that while there are laws that protect good Samaritans from repercussions should they have to break into a car to rescue a child, no such laws cover pet rescues. But it only takes a few minutes for a dog or child to die from heat stroke. If you do come across a pet or a young child in a hot car, look for help immediately because every second counts. And never leave your child or dog alone in a hot car. It only takes “just a minute” for tragedy to strike. Izzy & Emma
What should I do if I see a child or a dog alone in a hot car?
1. Write down the vehicle type and license plate number and page the car owner at the closest businesses. 2. If the parent or pet owner doesn’t appear quickly, call 911 or the local human authority.
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