Just when you thought you heard of everything… GiggleMed goes and puts a Throckmorton app out there for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

For those of you in the dark on Throckmorton’s Sign, it is a somewhat fictitious radiographic sign that clinically astute radiologists use in determining the highest yield portion of a radiology image to focus on.

Here’s how it works… You’re reading an Xray or a CT or something… so far it’s pretty unremarkable. But then you notice… the male organ (yes, the one of spam filter fame) is pointing toward one side. Logically then, if something is pointing there… well, you look over there.

Throckmorton’s Sign says that whichever side the Spam Filter Organ is pointing towards, that’s the side of the lesion.

Well, thinking that’s a little unfair, GiggleMed decided to even the playing field and make this important radiographic sign available for use in all patients… male and female… and in all studies… whether the bottom half of the body is imaged or not.

So here it is: the iThrock radiology humor application – available free on iTunes.

Also, check out the hilarious iHealth Humor gifts in GiggleMed’s Medical Humor Gift Store… and of course, there’s a Throckmorton section too.

Medical educators update their materials to mirror the familiar educational videos of childhood for the current student:

• Finding Pneumo
• Blue’s Wheezes
• Dora the Practionora
• Mickey’s Observation Unit
• Curious George and the Cirrhotic Man
• Ten Patients About to Drop – Time Management from Dr. Suess
• Beauty and the Yeast
• Conflict resolution with Bert and Ernie

Dude… not how I’d want to be remembered…

I was looking up “hemoccult stool” in Google Images for my next blog post, and this guy was on page 2.

I mean… would you be offended?

Let’s say you bring in some candy to the office… I open up the nice, beautiful tin you brought it in, only to find this (see the picture below). So, I offer some to a friend… “Ed, would you like a melena ball?”

To your credit, though… they smell just fine… uh… certainly as fine as a melena ball could smell.

If I ever tell a patient to “walk it off”, I’m very likely to be sued. However, if the Little League coach does it, it’s perfectly normal.

What’s worse… people are more compliant with the coach’s advice.

In the midst of an emergency it is important to break things down for easy understanding. Instead of analyzing each morsel of minutiae… sometimes we just need to say it like it is. No pontificating… no lengthy sit-downs with medical journals… no procrasterbating about what to do or what it all means… Say it like it is and make a decision.

Healthcare bears many similarities to the Star Wars saga… and the proof is in the pudding (see Types 6 and 7 below).

GiggleMed.com finally caught up with Admiral Ackbar and asked him to give us his thoughts on the Bristol Stool Chart. And, well… He answered immediately… There was no constipation of thought.

Nor was there any diarrhea of words. He was succinct. He said only three.

Other Star Wars Parody Sites:

• Robot Chicken Star Wars Parody Videos
• Admiral Ackbar on Twitter
• Scrubs Star Wars Parody on YouTube
• Got more? Send me your links.

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Oh… and here’s the original “It’s a Trap!” Scene (but I’m not so sure he’s not saying, “It’s a Crap!”… Listen for yourself):

The power of gloves is a curious thing
Make one doc safe, and another nurse clean
Reduces risk from things you didn’t think of
More than policy, that’s the power of gloves

You don’t want MRSA, or C.diff
Don’t want fluids or a really big whiff
Takes time to wear ‘em. It’s annoying sometimes
But it might just save your life
That’s the power of gloves
That’s the power of gloves

(full audio coming soon… tons of medical humor songs)

Ok, there aren’t many words for this one… just weird. Check it out…

Here are some possible titles for this funny ultrasound video:

• Water Breaks, Baby Hydroplanes
• NASCAR Babies Make Daddy Proud
• Who Needs Air Bags When You’ve Got Mom’s Placenta?
• World’s Youngest Mario Kart Player
• Maybe This Explains Mommy’s Gas
• Amniotic Fluid As An Alternative Fuel Source
• So, Where Does The Seat Belt Go?
• All The More Reason To Wear A Helmet
• That OB Doc Better Get Here Fast
• Gotta Go, Gotta Go, Gotta Go!
• Rare Incontinence Mechanism Caught On Video
• When Kegel Exercises Are Rendered Useless
• Thought of more? Post them in the comments below…

Imagine a FaceBook or a MySpace that centers around a theme you enjoy… You obviously find health care humor amusing or you wouldn’t be on this page, reading this post. GiggleMed.com is dedicated to relieving stress and burnout for health professionals through the use of humor. But why should you just wait for us to make something funny? You can add to the medical humor world yourself, by posting stuff you find funny or interesting. Here’s how…

It’s GiggleMed’s Medical Humor Social Network through a service called Ning. Here’s how it works. You join for free, choose a user name, and then start building you page/profile with easy-peasy built-in widgets.

You can set up a fully customizable profile with a funny photo, some basic information and everything you’ve contributed to the network. Your “friends” within the medical humor network can subscribe to your material and posts. Or they can just browse your profile and see what you found funny.

You can create groups inside of the social network around hobbies, interests, affinities, geographical locations and more. Imagine the fun you can have with old nursing school buddies, medical school friends, colleagues within your residency program, or other workers in your hospital.

You can get people talking. Start a discussion on any topic and watch other members respond with posts, photos and attachments.

Upload original footage or share videos from popular video services like YouTube, Google Video and Vimeo. You can see GiggleMed videos here before they are released to the public. And you can post your own. No complex scripts to learn, no programming languages to sift through… all easy clicks to have your friends laughing.

You can post photos and organize them into albums. You can show off your photos in galleries or slideshows.

You can use a Medical Humor “network badge” to display your stuff on your MySpace profile, blog or website. And you can share photos, videos and music from the social network on your Facebook profiles.

It’s a lot of fun… join today.

It is not often that an MRI is helpful in diagnosing or ruling out psychiatric illness, but this one sure does…

Who the heck let that other guy in the MRI machine?!

A patient comes into your office and complains of hearing voices. Before claiming it’s a hallucination, you better make sure no one is actually saying something to the patient. And if they are, for God’s sake, don’t let them follow the patient into the MRI scanner.