Digi-Journal

You would think that everyone who has a medical degree has been an intern before wouldn’t you? The truth of the matter is though that there are a lot of different types of medical degrees that people can get and not all of those degrees require an internship to be completed prior to graduation. Even students who aren’t required to intern should do so before completing their degrees.

Ideally all students (in any field) should do an internship before graduating. However it’s particularly important for medical students because the work that they do for others is such important work. You need to get hands-on experience to know if you are going to be cut out for the job.

Many students of certificate and associates programs don’t have to get online degrees. For example, students of transitional dpt programs or physician assistant programs may or may not have to complete an internship before being awarded their graduate certificates. If you find yourself in one of these programs then definitely ask the teachers there about the internship opportunities that are available to you. Either you’ll discover that you enjoy the work and are good at it or you’ll realize that you need to do something else with your life. Either way, you and your future patients both benefit.

Technorati Tags: physician assistant programs, transitional dpt programs

The committee that oversees the Olympics in Italy has just banned a former Olympic cyclist from participating in their events for at least twenty years. (Of course this is effectively a permanent ban since it is unlikely that he would be in a competitive position after that much time has passed.) The reason that he has been banned is because he was caught selling hgh supplements to two amateur cyclists.

The Olympics committee takes the use and sale of performance enhancing drugs very seriously. This is not because of any problems or side effects of hgh. Instead it is because these drugs are very effective at boosting your athletic talent and the Olympics are supposed to be all about the athletic prowess that you exhibit without any help except your own hard work.

The cyclist, Giannia de Ros, was not the only person charged in this incident. There were ten other cyclists that were also punished for various amounts of time due to their involvement in the trafficking of hgh. It is easy to see why it’s so tempting to use this type of product in a setting like this since it can so successfully improve your speed and strength but since it’s not allowed at the Olympics it’s not worth it for people who are competing at this level.

Technorati Tags: hgh supplements, side effects of hgh

There once was a time when the most popular type of lighting was fluorescent light bulbs. Although these are still popular we’re now seeing a lot of people switch and take a stronger interest in sodium vapor lamps. What exactly is a sodium vapor lamp?

A sodium vapor lamp actually uses sodium to produce light. The main reason that these lamps are appealing is because they have a low level of light pollution. In regions where there is a big emphasis on astronomy and the study of the skies from observatories you will find that a lot of businesses have switched over to sodium vapor lamps.

There are actually two types of sodium vapor lamps. One type uses low pressure sodium and the other uses high pressure sodium. High pressure sodium is a smaller lamp that uses other elements in it like mercury. Low pressure sodium is the type that is preferred in the areas that are concerned about light pollution for reasons relating to astronomy.

Both types of sodium vapor lamps are becoming popular. They are not replacing fluorescent lights. They are merely adding on to the spectrum of lighting options that we have at our disposal. It will be interesting to see what new lights emerge as technology continues to advance.

Technorati Tags: fluorescent light bulbs, high pressure sodium

…is the quality of pictures the blogger has.  Pictures add a visual aspect that makes it easier for readers to get something out of your blog.  Online readers are notorious for skimming rather than reading something in detail, and pictures often make this easier to do.

There are a lot of different ways to get good pictures for you blog.  If you just need standards photos to illustrate a point, stock photos are often a good way to go.  You can usually find stock photos for fairly inexpensive (blogger-affordable) prices, or you can use photos that are in the public domain.

Despite what many people think, not everything that appears online is in the public domain.  The public domain is essentially everything that is not restricted by copyright — either because it’s too old, or because the copyright holder (usually the photographer or artist) has voluntarily given up their rights to the work.  There are plenty of websites where you can get copyright free images, but if you are not sure, it is always safer to ask the artist or photographer.

Sometimes the better and safer way to get images is to take them yourself.  If you blog about something such as your pets or your current craft projects, this will be fairly easy to do — and make more sense than using someone  else’s images, anyway.  But you can also take this approach if you plan your blog posts out ahead of time.

You don’t need a fancy camera — just a little point and shoot will do.  Speaking from experience, do be sure that you have a good protective camera case.  Good camera bags offer padding as protection from the camera getting dropped or bumped when you carry it around.  Since you will get the best pictures if you keep your camera with you at all times, to always have it if you happen to spot a good shot, it is important to ensure your camera is protected.

Taking pictures for your blog can be a lot of work, but you’ll find that it’s rewarding and the pictures make your blog more interesting.  Good luck!

Technorati Tags: camera bags, camera case, copyright free, public domain

I recently started spending a lot of time on Meetup.com. This is a social networking site designed to actually allow you to meet people in real life. It is not a dating site. It’s just a site for people who want to get together with other adults to do activities that interest them.

I joined several groups that are related to travel. A few of them are actually supposed to be for people who want to travel together. However most of them are just for people who love to travel and who love to talk about travel. My favorite one is a group called Food and Travel Chats. We get together at a variety of great San Francisco restaurants and talk about our favorite places to travel.

I’ve gained a lot of great information from this group. I’ve learned about the cheapest things to do in Chicago, the best trails to hike throughout California and the top destinations to consider when planning a trip to Central America. More importantly, though, I’ve gained new friends. I’ve found a community of people who have interests that are similar to mine. I don’t know if we’ll become life long buddies but I do know that I’m happy to have found this group for now.

Technorati Tags: San Francisco restaurants, things to do in Chicago

This video shows you how to keep your dog under control while walking next to you using the 4 Ps of dog training: patience, practice, persistence and praise.

Technorati Tags: dog training

Since my anniversary is coming up, I thought that I would spring something special on my wife: a romantic getaway.  It has been awhile since we have done anything like that, but since it will be five years of marriage together in a couple of weeks, we need to celebrate in style, right?

I have booked a romantic coastal location for our weekend away that is just a few hours from our home.  We will drive there after work on Friday (we happen to both be done at four), and stay through until Monday since neither of us works until Tuesday.  It should be a great weekend of rest and relaxation.

But I know that my wife sure doesn’t like sitting around a hotel room for any length of time, so I have made sure to find some good tourist attractions that we can visit.  If the weather is nice enough, we might even have the chance to go scuba diving at a shipwreck an hour from where we are staying.

Irrespective of what we do on the trip, it will just be nice to reconnect with her and remind ourselves why we fell in love in the first place.

Technorati Tags: coastal, tourist attractions

There are moments all throughout our lives when we suddenly feel as grown up as we are. It’s funny that this can keep happening again and again but it’s true.

Some examples of this feeling cropping up in my own life include:

• The first time I walked home from school alone. I was only about eight but I felt so grown up because I didn’t need my mom to walk me those few blocks home.
• Driving my first car. What teenager doesn’t feel the freedom of being grown up when getting that first car and driver’s license?!
• Ordering properly at a French restaurant. I was on a date in my mid-Twenties and I felt totally comfortable ordering my food (including the wine). I felt like such an adult!
• Discussing decorative sconces with my friends. I remember pouring over catalogs with some friends debating whether we liked Murray Feiss or Schonbek better. Suddenly I realized that this was a really grown-up thing to talk about!
• Dating the first guy that I didn’t really fight with. I had done many years of dating but when I finally met a guy that I could disagree with and it wouldn’t turn into a drama-filled argument I knew I was finally in a grown-up relationship.

When have you felt the most grown up?

Technorati Tags: Murray Feiss, Schonbek

I have been thinking about buying a shuffleboard table for my boyfriend for Christmas. I’ve never bought one of these tables before though so I’ve been doing a lot of research into what to look for in a shuffleboard table. While doing this research I discovered a new type of game that you can buy. It’s called Sholf.

Sholf is a mixture between shuffleboard and golf. It is a set that comes with a long carpet and a bunch of golf balls. The carpet has three different scoring zones laid out on to it. Like with shuffleboard, your goal is to put your ball as close to the edge of the carpet as possible without it falling off because only the team that is closest to the edge gets to count the points. Like with golf, you use a putter to hit the ball across the green carpet.

The game looks like it could be fun. You can hit your ball into other people’s balls in order to knock them off the carpet and get your ball closest to the edge where you want it. I think we’d get a kick out of playing that. Still, it’s not the same as a real shuffleboard table so I don’t think that this is what I’ll be getting.

Technorati Tags: shuffleboard, what to look for in a shuffleboard table

A friend of mine recently relocated to Florida. She got a new job and is getting settled in. However she’s having a tough time finding new health insurance. Her new business doesn’t offer health insurance coverage to her so she has to get individual health insurance. The problem isn’t that it’s tough to find affordable health insurance in Florida. The problem is that there are too many good options to choose from!

Of course, the most affordable health insurance in the state is Florida Medicare. However you have to meet certain qualifications in order to be able to use this common type of health insurance. My friend doesn’t meet those qualifications. At least she can rule out this particular type of Florida insurance!

She’s sure that she’ll eventually figure out which health insurance to go with. It’s just tough because she’s never had to get her own insurance coverage before. She’s always just taken whatever was offered through her employment. This is the first time that nothing was offered. She’s a trooper though so I’m sure she’ll use this as an opportunity to learn as much as she can about choosing a health insurance plan. Then maybe she can help me review mine!

Technorati Tags: affordable health insurance Florida, Florida medicare