We are 2 month-old and Happy New Year!

I wish you all a very Happy New Year, filled with Joy, Love, Health and Prosperity.

I would like to thank your readership. The beginning of the year marks the 2 month-old for http://www.eyedrd.org/. It has generated about 10,000 page-views and is currently ranked #1,687,242 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings. The site has attained a traffic rank of 212,245 among users in the US. Not too bad for a brand new blog. We will really celebrate when we are under 1 million at Alexa.

EyeDrD has been mainly osteopathic issue driven, but its goal is broader than the osteopathic community. We have posted more than 63 blog entries: some of them are passionate letters supporting the osteopathic profession against bias and prejudice, some about eye care and some about things I just find interesting. I hope you have found them to be well-researched and referenced. Hopefully next year you will help to make this site survive and grow by contributing your thoughts and voices to be heard. I hope to make this a premier osteopathic blog. I hope to provide a forum for discussions on any issues, even how controversial it may be.

Despite http://www.eyedrd.org/ is still in its infancy, I would like to report some of the best posts of the site based on its traffic and its contents.

Texas Medical Association House Of Delegates (TMA HOD) refused to endorse an allopathic school at UNTHSC

The following resolution submitted by the Tarrant County Medical Society to TMA HOD held in Fort Worth Summer 2009. TMA HOD disapproved this resolution calling for the support of an allopathic school in Fort  Worth or on UNTHSC campus.

Resolution 301 A-10

Subject: Support for Allopathic Medical School in Tarrant County

Introduced by:  Tarrant County Medical Society

Referred to:   Reference Committee on Science and Education

Whereas, There is a national and Texas physician shortage of most specialties; and 

Whereas, Texas lags behind nearly every state in physician supply with 157 physicians in direct patient 

care to every 100,000 population compared with the national average of 220:100,000; and  

 

Whereas, The Texas population is expected to grow to over 28 million people by the year 2020, further 

exacerbating our physician shortage, especially in the primary care, psychiatric, and geriatric specialties; and 

 

Whereas, Texas currently has nine medical schools, most of which are planning to expand their 10 enrollment size and the newest school affiliated with Texas Tech cost our state approximately $67 million in start up costs ; and

Whereas, The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) affiliated with the University of North Texas also is expanding its enrollment size to 250 per class in order to increase the numbers of medical  students who pursue primary care training; and 

Whereas, TCOM continues to produce outstanding medical school graduates who perform above the 95 percentile on COMLEX and USMLE testing; and 

Learning Medicine in France

The following is another guest post by Yveline Van Anh 

You have the power to change your future. Sure, some things are meant to be and fate does have play a role in it, but we only have so much luck. You have to go and grab those chances.

My mother left Vietnam at the age of 19, eight years after the end of the Vietnam War. Her family had attempted to escape via the sea mere days after the end of the war, but the ship's engine broke down just miles away from international seas where her family could be rescued from foreign ships. It took the next eight years for them to get a visa and be allowed to leave. She arrived in France in 1983 and was sent to Rennes where she lived in a refugee camp with the rest of her family for a year. Refugees from all over the world were there. Meanwhile, she was in a country whose language she did not know.

UNT student journal and North Texas Daily practicing censorship?

Recently, there was worldwide media coverage of China’s censorship of the award ceremony of the Nobel peace price won by Mr. Liu Xiaobo within the country. China even discouraged other countries from participating in the award ceremony by threatening repercussions if they sent representatives. Communist and dictatorial regimes try to shape public opinion by suppressing the opposing views.   They believe that by suppressing dissenting views, they can shape the public's opinion. But there are always at least two sides on any issue. For example, the debate of extending the Bush tax modifications is either considered a tax hike or as tax cut depending on who you ask. But it is important to have have the discussion so that both sides can express their views and perhaps bring more information to the debate.

The push for adding a second medical school in Fort Worth at University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) does not escape to this rule. As UNTHSC is part of  University of North Texas (UNT) system, I posted few blogs from EyeDrD.org on the Facebook of UNT system and North Texas Daily in order to present the opposing viewpoints to the necessity and the wisdom of the establishment of a second medical school.

A week later those posts were deleted and removed I was removed as a fan from the Facebook sites of UNT and North Texas Daily. I can no longer post on their walls. I wrote a letter to the editor-in-chief of North Texas Daily to inquire about the censorship on December 13, 2010 and have yet to receive a response. These actions lead to me to conclude that these sites are trying to stifle any discussion on the UNTHSC medical school.

Analysis of informal polling results of the resolution calling for degree change to MD, DO degree

A resolution calling for formal polling about changing the DO degree to MD, DO generated more than 600 page views after the first week of posting.

The resolution was submitted by a group of DO students and DOs to the Student Osteopathic Medical Association.

In response to a high level of interest about the topic, an informal survey was attempted to gauge opinion whether a formal polling about the degree change should be established. The survey was posted in the student doctor forums and the Facebook sites of the osteopathic and allopathic communities.

After 7 days of polling, only 115 votes were cast.