Thank you Memorial Sloan-Kettering for referencing Prostate Pal

I'm happy to share this link from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) Library Blog.

They have referenced "Prostate Pal" as a mobile resource for patients dealing with prostate cancer.  MSKCC is one of the premier cancer hospitals in the world. I think it's great to have such a prominent instution advocate for mobile apps as a way to further empower patients and increase efficiency of care.

Their library also has a reference page for other healthcare apps for patients and their families.  The resources were selected by their staff librarians.  I encourage those who are interested in mHealth to look at the site and check out the apps.

Caricatures of men's health in the media

I just read an interesting article on KevinMD regarding men's health issues on TV.

If you read the comments after the article, I chimed in on the piece, but also wanted to drop it in my blog because I think it's quite topical with Men's Health Week coming up.

My comments:
Great article, Joel.  As a urologist who deals with the conditions you referenced, I can relate to the lack of respect for male health at times in the media.  There needs to be more constructive awareness of men's health concerns from reputable medical professionals, not just caricatures and off colored jokes.
Here is a challenge. When is Men's Health Week?  Answer - The week up to an including Father's Day (June 11 - June 17, 2012). I doubt that most in the blogosphere knew of such a celebration. 
It is up to us in medicine to get out there and increase advocacy for male health concerns!

Bladder Pal at the AUA Annual Meeting

Entrance to the AUA Meeting - Georgia World Congress Center
Photo Credit - Ronald Yap, MD

I recently returned from the American Urological Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta.

I did a few things at the meeting, but wanted to focus this post on "Bladder Pal".  If you want to read about what I was doing altogether at the meeting please check out this prior blog post.  For more background info on "Bladder Pal" check this post out.

On Sunday, May 20th, I demonstrated "Bladder Pal" to members of the AUA Foundation (AUAF) and Overactive Bladder (OAB) Expert Panel.  New guidelines for the management of OAB were released at the meeting and the AUAF is doing a patient outreach initiative to increase awareness and treatment of this condition.  To help support this effort, "Bladder Pal" will be highlighted as a tool to empower patients to track their urologic health in conjunction with their healthcare providers.  I'm honored and excited to be working with the AUAF on this and hope that "Prostate Pal" can also be helpful to the Foundation in the future.

Me demonstrating "Bladder Pal" at the AUA Foundation Booth
Photo courtesy of Alaina Willing - AUA Foundation

As you can see from the picture, my tie looks quite short.  Prior to my booth appearance, I taught a "hands on" course on laser prostate surgery and had to tuck it in my tie to keep it out of the way.  The only problem is that I forgot to untuck it and was walking around most of the day with it looking like that.  I was talking to all sorts of people with that thing tucked in and no one said a thing!  

On Tuesday, May 22nd, "Bladder Pal" was discussed during a podium presentation at the meeting.  The reception was very positive and the downloads skyrocketed after the presentation.  The abstract even made it to the highlight reel for the meeting.  Click on the Urodynamics/Female Urology link and "Bladder Pal" is profiled starting at 7:53.  

I'd also like to give some kudos to Dr. Ben Herrick, a Dartmouth Urology resident, who presented the "Bladder Pal" abstract and two other abstracts with me at the meeting.  He has been part of my research group for the past year and has been doing one heck of a job.