RWL Newsletter #84
Greetings from the still sleepy town of Durham. I had a great trip to Chicago, but now I'm back and the countdown has begun - classes begin in 10 days! Where did the summer go? I swear I was just grading finals for the spring semester... A few more days and the streets will explode with young people and our town will be transformed. I find myself in the usual position of having procrastinated on putting together my syllabi, which I always swear I won't do, but always wind up working on right up until the last minute. I'm revamping my management class completely this year, ditching the textbook and going with material that the students can either get off the web or download from the library. This is called "open educational resources" or OER. It's a lot of work to get set up, but it's so much more interesting. I have tried but cannot find a textbook that works well for how I envision this class needs to be taught, so I am just starting from scratch. We'll see how it goes.
Read
What: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic
https://www.cdc.gov/phpr/documents/zombie_gn_final.pdf
Why: This is short, fun graphic novella put out by the CDC to educate on the importance of personal emergency preparedness. It might be a useful educational tool for some of you who play a role in emergency preparedness in your organization. You can read through it in about 10 minutes.
Watch
What: Diana Nyad, Never, Ever Give Up, TED Talk
https://www.ted.com/talks/diana_nyad_never_ever_give_up
Why: I forget where I first heard the saying that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Someone explained that it isn't just people who are physically present with you, but the media you consume as well. If you spend a lot of time watching The Bachelor or The Kardashians, you are letting those people become part of who you are. Instead, I would suggest it's worth spending some time with people whom you admire and would like to be like. I would like to have more grit. I am pretty good at sticking with things, but I'm not Diana Nyad good. I would suggest we could all use a little more Diana Nyad grit.
Listen
What: Econtalk, Vincent Rajkumar on the High Price of Cancer Drugs
http://www.econtalk.org/vincent-rajkumar-on-the-high-price-of-cancer-drugs/
Why: Interesting discussion of drug pricing. "Except for early-stage cancers, testicular cancer, and certain blood cancers, such as large cell lymphoma and childhood leukemia, most cancers are incurable. There are many things patients are willing to do without; however, medication for a fatal disease is not and should not be one of them. The seriousness of a cancer diagnosis plays a role in how much cost patients and physicians are willing to bear for modest incremental benefits. However, high prices for incremental benefits are a recipe for a system with unsustainable costs." His proposed solutions are a bit more interventionist than my taste, but he does a nice job of highlighting some of the challenges.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
Have a great weekend and do amazing things!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau