The Prosector: May 2011

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Flight of The Conchords - You're So Beautiful

Anaesthetics Vs Orthopaedics

http://youtu.be/3rTsvb2ef5k

Unfortunately this conversation goes on every day in every hospital!

It's that time of the year again...

It's the time of the year when we start recruiting for 2012 jobs for our organisation. Sifting through the mountains of online resumes, letters & references, answering questions from prospective applicants over the phone, meeting people eager to work with us next year... and on the other side of the coin writing references for our current staff who are similarly applying for jobs. Then there is the interminable interviews both for our jobs and for other departments, and even other hospitals (we're a friendly bunch, potentially giving good candidates to our opposition!).

I am always asked, "how can I improve my chances of getting a job with you?". Always a difficult question, as the people always at the top of the recruitment pile generally don't need to ask that question as their Resume's speak for themselves - academic acheivement, research prowess, glowing references, etc. I am always left going over their Resume and deleting all the superfilous details (ie worked as a waitress at Bunny's in 1996, Salsa dancing, attended a workshop on marginalia in Brussels in 2001). And the debate rages about whether to append a picture - I personally think not (think professional studio portrait with visage directed subtly upwards and to the left). Although of course last year at another hospital we interviewed 43 candidates in one-and-a-half days and the ones that supplied a photo were certainly helpful, as one candidate blended into another.

Friday 20 May 2011

Probing research

Chemical Processes in the Deep Interior of Uranus "Chemical Processes in the Deep Interior of Uranus," Ricky Chau, Sebastien Hamel, William J. Nellis, Nature Communications, vol. 2, no. 2, epub ahead of print, February 22, 2011

The Iceman

The Moss from the Tyrolean Iceman’s Colon "The Moss from the Tyrolean Iceman’s Colon," James H. Dickson, Journal of Bryology, vol. 19, no. 3, 1997

A spin on the glass half-full vs half-empty conundrum

Half-Empty vs. Half-Full Glasses: Finger Coordination With "Prehension of Half-Full and Half-Empty Glasses: Time and History Effects on Multi-Digit Coordination" Yao Sun, Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky, and Mark L. Latash, Experimental Brain Research, vol. 209, 2011

Maybe the issue isn't whether the glass is half-empty or half-full, but how you hold it