The End of PandaBearMD (the blog)?

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Sucks that the site's going down too. I'm thinking of just putting em all (or the greatest hits) in one big Word document and saving it. But not, of course, for purposes of redistribution.
 
Sir Buckethead said:
Sucks that the site's going down too. I'm thinking of just putting em all (or the greatest hits) in one big Word document and saving it. But not, of course, for purposes of redistribution.
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If you have the time to do so (which I so thoroughly lack), mind shooting me a PM?
 
NOOOOOOO and O and O.

You and I, PB, we were so much alike - strategic. Now who do I have? Cegar?

NOOOOOOOOOO.
 
NewmansOwn said:
Of course he can be a prick. I think we all can -- it just depends how often you're a pick and if, when you're pricking your way through life, you're throwing down straight talk or bullsh*t. I think manners are of penultimate importance, but constant altruism and perpetual optimism are signs of idiocy and disingenuity.

He's an older guy and I think some social and racial beliefs die hard. As such, I've found some of his references elitist and even foolhardy. But the fact remains, he writes with spectacular bravado and his posts make even the most mentally ossified among us question and challenge ourselves and our notions. He walks an extraordinarily fine line between sharp, critical analysis and ego-feeding *******dom, and does it with exacting prose and a good head on his shoulders.

That takes talent and class, and regardless of his personal beliefs, I'll continue to be quite grateful.
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Thanks...but look, my generally conservative philosophy is not some anachronism to which I cling but which will eventually die. You have it backwards. Generally, people become more conservative the older they get and for good reasons, primarily because when you develop a little wisdom you see that not every tradition of the human race is necessarily bad and we ignore accumulated common sense at our peril.

Now, as to whether I am an elitist or not I have rubbed elbows with people from every walk of life and I know enough to respect my plumber.

As for "racial beliefs," I don't believe I have mentioned race once on my blog.
 
nogolfinsnow said:
She'd have to have a pretty good job to cover the full living expenses of two people and hope to have any money left over at the end of the month to try to squirrel a few dollars away to cover the inevitable bad luck that is dental bills, car repairs, high electricity bills, etc. Me and my fellow med students with spouses/SOs who work still take out at least part of the living expense loans. And if he or she had any UG loans to pay down or CC debt or car payments then it's even harder. And you've gotta let your SO have a little fun with the money they earn too. You can't say "I'm putting us 200k in debt so you therefore can't buy any new clothes for 4 years."
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Look at it like this: A middle class lifestyle for responsible citizens with all the usual obligations costs around $50,000 a year in my neck of the woods. Seven years of that is around $350,000. Against this I've made $120,000 in salary for three years of residency. A little here, a little there, cashing in savings and equity and adding the $40,000 for four years of medical school and there's your $250,000 in debt.

My wife does not work because we have four young kids and daycare would eat up most of what she could make, at least enough to hardly make it worth our while to have somebody else raise the children.
 
Panda Bear said:
Look at it like this: A middle class lifestyle for responsible citizens with all the usual obligations costs around $50,000 a year in my neck of the woods.
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So you're in La, right? I can understand why someone would call you a pessimist, even without reading every single one of your posts, blogs, comments, etc. Almost all of the healthcare professionals, who I've met, that practice in this state have had a "pessimistic" view. For me, it's hard selling family-sized bags of M&Ms with Lantus, Metoprolol, and Lipitor.
 
Panda Bear said:
But true. Although I became obsessed with the application process (because you have to) I decided to apply on a whim, had no real medical experience to speak of (although I spun the usual lies), and only applied at all because there was a medical school down the road.
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Sounds a lot like me, except I'm single and was hoping that being a future doctor would make it easier for me to snag a wife. Well, first year's almost over and no action so far.

It seemd like a good idea at the time and I am, despite everything, in it almost exclusively for the money...
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Hmm, wonder why Law2Doc hasn't been along to lecture you on what a mistake that is?
 
PharmDstudent said:
So you're in La, right? I can understand why someone would call you a pessimist, even without reading every single one of your posts, blogs, comments, etc. Almost all of the healthcare professionals, who I've met, that practice in this state have had a "pessimistic" view. For me, it's hard selling family-sized bags of M&Ms with Lantus, Metoprolol, and Lipitor.
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He's in the Detroit area, I believe.
 
Trismegistus4 said:
Sounds a lot like me, except I'm single and was hoping that being a future doctor would make it easier for me to snag a wife. Well, first year's almost over and no action so far.


Hmm, wonder why Law2Doc hasn't been along to lecture you on what a mistake that is?
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No mistake. My contract is for well above the national average for EM. A lot more than I thought I would make and in every way justifying my decision to quit family medicine for Emergency Medicine even if it did mean adding an extra year to residency.
 
PharmDstudent said:
So you're in La, right? I can understand why someone would call you a pessimist, even without reading every single one of your posts, blogs, comments, etc. Almost all of the healthcare professionals, who I've met, that practice in this state have had a "pessimistic" view. For me, it's hard selling family-sized bags of M&Ms with Lantus, Metoprolol, and Lipitor.
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Whoa. Louisiana is a great place to practice. The salaries are high, the cost of living is low, the people are friendly and generally respect their doctor even if they don't really take our advice to heart and to cap it all off, we have the best malpractice reform in the country.
 
Panda Bear said:
Whoa. Louisiana is a great place to practice. The salaries are high, the cost of living is low, the people are friendly and generally respect their doctor even if they don't really take our advice to heart and to cap it all off, we have the best malpractice reform in the country.
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I think it's a wash. We've got Cancer Alley, the 2nd fattest citizens, and heart unhealthy cuisine that keeps everyone addicted to fat, salt, sugar, and alcohol.

Since there's a med school in town ("down the road"), should I go? I've been "waffling" over it for a few weeks now. If not, I'll take the GRE and work towards an MHA. I don't want to settle with just a PharmD, because I don't see myself directly people to the laxative aisle in a retail pharmacy or typing like a bad woman locked in a basement at a hospital pharmacy- for the rest of my life! I need a few options, and the pharmacy residency path doesn't look appealing or justifiable.
 
speeter said:
For some reason I thought he was in the Lansing, MI area. I'm going to miss his blog and like-minded conservative posts.
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You are correct. His residency was in Lansing, Mi. when he switched to EM residency.
 
*Also posted in the comment section of your blog*

Panda,

Ever consider uploading your blog to a free blog hosting site like blogger or wordpress.

This way, your archives will still be available and you won’t have to worry about paying monthly subscription costs.

Sounds like a win-win for all involved.
 
Panda Bear said:
No mistake. My contract is for well above the national average for EM. A lot more than I thought I would make and in every way justifying my decision to quit family medicine for Emergency Medicine even if it did mean adding an extra year to residency.
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I certainly don't expect you to lay out the terms of your contract, but since you've already posted several times that you've signed on for some big bucks, would you at least mind giving us some of the variables that go into making one EM physician salary larger than another? Location? Hours? Your charisma?
 
gujuDoc said:
You are correct. His residency was in Lansing, Mi. when he switched to EM residency.
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Johnny_one_eye said:
He's in the Detroit area, I believe.
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Ugh. And this is how internet rumors are started. 🙄

PB, it has been a treat to read your blog. You've had a tough path through all of this, and I'm glad that you've landed on your feet. Good luck, and check in at SDN every now and again. To advertise for you book, if nothing else. :laugh: 👍
 
TheProwler said:
I certainly don't expect you to lay out the terms of your contract, but since you've already posted several times that you've signed on for some big bucks, would you at least mind giving us some of the variables that go into making one EM physician salary larger than another? Location? Hours? Your charisma?
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Location. Location. Location.

I could never get a job just out of residency in one of the bigger markets, say San Diego or Indianapolis, unless I was willing to work for about half of what I signed for. Some people will not even consider living in the the rural south or the Big Wide Open but I prefer it so it is no problem.
 
RxnMan said:
Ugh. And this is how internet rumors are started. 🙄

PB, it has been a treat to read your blog. You've had a tough path through all of this, and I'm glad that you've landed on your feet. Good luck, and check in at SDN every now and again. To advertise for you book, if nothing else. :laugh: 👍
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I was just stating what he said here online. So mine were not rumor but fact based on PB's own postings.
 
Panda Bear said:
Location. Location. Location.

I could never get a job just out of residency in one of the bigger markets, say San Diego or Indianapolis, unless I was willing to work for about half of what I signed for. Some people will not even consider living in the the rural south or the Big Wide Open but I prefer it so it is no problem.
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With your background in engineering, you've probably gone job hunting in a more conventional sense. How did looking for a job in medicine compare?

Also, are you starting to feel pretty confident that you made the right choice in going into medicine? Your last post left it on the fence, but perhaps that was just for dramatic effect. In any case, if your book were a breakout success would you consider leaving medicine completely should writing prove more lucrative?
 
WellWornLad said:
With your background in engineering, you've probably gone job hunting in a more conventional sense. How did looking for a job in medicine compare?

Also, are you starting to feel pretty confident that you made the right choice in going into medicine? Your last post left it on the fence, but perhaps that was just for dramatic effect. In any case, if your book were a breakout success would you consider leaving medicine completely should writing prove more lucrative?
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It took me one phone call and a three-hour interview to get a job. At no time in the interview did I feel like either me or my employer were begging or desperate for each other. I have a valuable service, they made a good offer, we negotiated some minor points (signing bonus, moving allowance), we shook hands, and that was that (although I had the contract vetted by several people including an attorney and a couple of EM physicians).

There are plenty of jobs out there. I probably get five or six "feelers" (post-cards, calls from recruiters, brochures, and etc.) every day. The best jobs, however, are not advertised and if you want to work somewhere in particular, just give them a call.

Job hunting as an engineer is not that bad. The trick is getting an interview. Once you get the interview they generally want to hire and are looking for a reason not to.

But interviewing for medical school or residency? It's a buyer's market and The Man holds all the cards. Nothing but stylized begging and I hated every minute of it.

As for professional writing, if you've been to Barnes and Nobles you have probably noticed that they are chock full and loaded with crap. My book would just be more crap, indistinguishable from any other crap, in the Health and Wellness section. I don't imagine more than a handful of authors make good money at writing but the ones who do, ironically, write nothing but crap.
 
Panda Bear said:
As for professional writing, if you've been to Barnes and Nobles you have probably noticed that they are chock full and loaded with crap. My book would just be more crap, indistinguishable from any other crap, in the Health and Wellness section. I don't imagine more than a handful of authors make good money at writing but the ones who do, ironically, write nothing but crap.
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It is all about the cover art!
 
Panda Bear said:
No mistake. My contract is for well above the national average for EM. A lot more than I thought I would make and in every way justifying my decision to quit family medicine for Emergency Medicine even if it did mean adding an extra year to residency.
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More power to you. I wasn't saying it was a mistake for you, but rather commenting on Law2Doc's MO, which seems to be searching the boards for the word "money" and then doing his (her?) best to rain on the parade of everyone who cares about such things.

Panda Bear said:
Location. Location. Location.

I could never get a job just out of residency in one of the bigger markets, say San Diego or Indianapolis, unless I was willing to work for about half of what I signed for. Some people will not even consider living in the the rural south or the Big Wide Open but I prefer it so it is no problem.
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I love hearing this, and can only hope it's still true 7-9 years from now when I finish residency/fellowship. Hearing my uber-left-wing classmates talk about how they all MUST end up in Boston, San Francisco, or New York, and knowing they'll be leaving the better jobs in flyover country open for me, is one of the few lights in the otherwise darkness of medical school.
 
Trismegistus4 said:
I love hearing this, and can only hope it's still true 7-9 years from now when I finish residency/fellowship. Hearing my uber-left-wing classmates talk about how they all MUST end up in Boston, San Francisco, or New York, and knowing they'll be leaving the better jobs in flyover country open for me, is one of the few lights in the otherwise darkness of medical school.
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I was thinking the same thing as I read Panda's posts, and I wholeheartedly agree. I was born and raised in the South and honestly cannot fathom how anyone could possibly want to live anywhere else.

Thanks, Panda, for the great blog. I've enjoyed reading it over the past year and will miss your straight-talking wit and superb sense of prose. I can't tell you the number of times I've laughed out loud at one of your narratives or metaphors. You've been a good balance to the liberal nonsense / "medicine sold by the man" I've been force-fed throughout my education, and hopefully someday, I'll end up finding a happy, (right-leaning) medium between the two.

Best wishes for you and your family.
 
Re: politics. I'm about to move to Louisiana, so I like to think that my vote will balance out PB's. 😉
 
Panda Bear said:
Location. Location. Location.

I could never get a job just out of residency in one of the bigger markets, say San Diego or Indianapolis, unless I was willing to work for about half of what I signed for. Some people will not even consider living in the the rural south or the Big Wide Open but I prefer it so it is no problem.
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Very cool. I'm in a lesser market as it is, and I'd consider moving to a slightly smaller area, but I like being near family.
 
I have not always agreed with what often appears to be excessive cynicism from PB, but that probably has as much to do with my youthful naivety as anything. Give the more idealistic amongst us a few years, and we may be singing a similar tune. I do, however, usually agree with his politics, and his blog, (one of the first medical blogs I came across), is an enjoyable read.
I hope we can still look forward to hearing his viewpoints and words of wisdom on SDN, from time-to-time.
PandaBear, if and when your book comes out, I'll buy a copy.
 
Panda, perhaps you are ignoring it on purpose, but I'm sure there are many of us who would like to hear a response on the suggestions of at least keeping the blog online for us folks to read at our leisure. There is certainly a wealth of information and advice on it, and it seems a shame to take it down if there are no reasons to do so. By leaving it online, you will be providing me with hours and hours of good reading while I'm doing the overnight shift. 🙂
 
Panda,

You should try and sell your blog. I'm sure your blog would sell for $50,000 or more dollars. Heck, I'm sure you blog is worth $250,000.

I know of a diabetes blog that profits $50,000 a year.
 
shaggybill said:
Panda, perhaps you are ignoring it on purpose, but I'm sure there are many of us who would like to hear a response on the suggestions of at least keeping the blog online for us folks to read at our leisure. There is certainly a wealth of information and advice on it, and it seems a shame to take it down if there are no reasons to do so. By leaving it online, you will be providing me with hours and hours of good reading while I'm doing the overnight shift. 🙂
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I heard you. But I just want to get rid of it and I do not want the blog floating around out there (except on Google's cache which is unavoidable).
 
I know I'm bumping this, but for those of you who want to save Panda's blog while you still can:

If you're not using Firefox, you could probably just go snag the standalone of HTTrack, a website mirroring utility, and work from there.

Spiderzilla is based on HTTrack. You can use this to automatically download a copy of any website to a local drive. Links maintain local structure so that they direct to local pages instead of his online ones, so it's essentially one big, offline site.

I have a 20 MB folder entitled pandabearmd.com on my desktop; it goes all the way back to his 12/2005 posts in which we were advised to get cheap sneakers for gross anatomy and abstain from licking our fingers following DREs.
 
exi said:
I know I'm bumping this, but for those of you who want to save Panda's blog while you still can:

If you're not using Firefox, you could probably just go snag the standalone of HTTrack, a website mirroring utility, and work from there.

Spiderzilla is based on HTTrack. You can use this to automatically download a copy of any website to a local drive. Links maintain local structure so that they direct to local pages instead of his online ones, so it's essentially one big, offline site.

I have a 20 MB folder entitled pandabearmd.com on my desktop; it goes all the way back to his 12/2005 posts in which we were advised to get cheap sneakers for gross anatomy and abstain from licking our fingers following DREs.
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I got no objection...and that's why I'm leaving the blog up (and am still getting almost as many hits a day as before I quit)...but remember that everything on my blog is copyrighted except for "My Personal Statement" which you can use parts of or in toto when you apply for medical school.
 
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