This fetid bottom-feeder is an important part of the natural ecosystem, but can become malevolent if given the opportunity, displaying various resistances to apothecary attacks of late. If this agent is killed by metronidazole combined with cefotaxime, aztreonam OR ceftriaxone, then the pestilence player suffer 1 extra point of damage from this attack.

My wife and I did a film recommendation tradeoff last weekend. With two kids (a two year old and a 6 month old), opportunities to watch films together are rather scarce. The ‘Watch Instantly’ feature on Netflix has been a bit of a godsend, however, as she watches films after the baby has gone to sleep (8-10pm) and I watch in the mornings before everyone wakes up (5-7am). Back to our film tradeoff – I asked her to watch the documentary ‘Dear Zachary’, which is about one of the most tragic films I’ve seen in the last two years. I had little idea that it would move me in the way that it did, and would recommend it without reservation. My wifes choice was the Masterpiece Theatre’s envisioning of ‘Anne Frank: A Diary of a Young Girl’. While skeptical at first, it became easy to lose myself in the phenomenal acting, character development, and gentle arc of the plot to its inexorable tragic end. For anyone who hasn’t experienced the ‘Anne Frank’ mythos, this film provided a wonderful entry point. The reason for this ramble? Well, one of the themes that pervades in both works involves the concept of writing and documenting to keep a record of the past.

As physicians, we are bombarded by narrative, and in many ways, rounding is like working through a book of short stories each day, only that we contribute to the narrative, page by page, in the form of progress notes.  Documentation, or the ‘D’ word as some would have it – is a reality of medical practice.  And given how much we take down, one would imagine that we as physicians would be excellent tellers of stories, sharing captivating yarns of woe and intrigue, with works ranging from tragedy to hope and victory through the tales of our patients.  Sadly, this seems more the exception that the rule.  Physician documentation is often workman-like, placing emphasis on objectivity, assessment and planning, which I suppose is not a bad thing.  Scientific documentation should be heavy on details and analysis.  Still, one can’t help but wonder if narrative exposition helps add important nuance that may provide clues to the physician upon re-reading.

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The real-time strategy game, World of Warcraft III (not to be confused with the MMORPG WoW) – same company, different game, introduced the world to the concept of the Hero Unit.  Essentially these where characters in the game that you controlled like regular units, but would have special powers and typically be more effective on the battlefield.  We are of the opinion that there are similar Heroes walking amongst us in the world of medicine. We’re compiling a list of both modern day and heroes of yesteyear that we would like to use as the basis of a special line of cards called the Champions of Soma.  Physicians, nurses, scientists, biologists, whose contributions to medicine have created a lasting legacy of change and progress.  Innovation is key here – and keep in mind that we’re not limiting accomplishments to just this century. We sincerely feel that we are standing on the shoulders of giants, and that the irrefutable accomplishments of our forbears needs celebrating.  That said, the expansion pack will consist of twenty cards – 10 Champions of Yesteyear, and 10 Champions of The Now. The cards will be playable in The Healing Blade game, which each Champion having been imparted a special power relating to their real-world accomplishments.  Feel free to make suggestions in the comments section.

Here are a few suggestions for  individuals that we included in our current list:

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One of the great joys I derive from practicing medicine is the ability to be creative in terms of figuring out solutions for my patients. There are myriad different ways of approaching the multiple issues affecting hospitalized patients. And while we have evidence based standards of care which should be held with the highest regard, unfortunately, we simply don’t have the benefit of randomized controlled trials for each and every issue in medicine. Antiplatelet agents for patients with myocardial infarction – easy! Antiplatelet agents in a patient with a history of GI bleed that because of the bleed, developed myocardial ischemia? Uhhh, less clear. Agreed, this is where specialists and the like come in, bringing a wealth of experiential knowledge to the table, however unless they happen to be RO1 researchers, they’re often looking at the same data that generalists are for particular conundrums in medicine.

The physicians that I have looked up to have consistently been the ones to demonstrate intellectual adaptation, flexibility and improvisation when tackling problems, while adhering to sound clinical evidence and maintaining a good knowledgebase. There’s the rub. Creativity and smarts are traits that can sometimes be seen as mutually exclusive – but combining the two is something that Col. Quaritch from the film Avatar would describe as ‘A Potent Mix’. And yet, in the same way clinical decision-making, and keeping one’s self up to date with current standards of care requires dedication and commitment, I would like to contend that being creative, or being creative in an *effective* way, requires similar commitment. From plastic surgeons that happen to be amazing at playing donkey kong, to scientists that happen to be creative writers – examples abound of individuals that regularly access both hemispheres of their brain and enjoy success as a result. The Healing Blade begun as a began as a napkin idea and rapidly evolved into an exciting little project, but little did I realize that it would also turn into my Unofficial Research Fellowship in Infectious Disease and Game Design. A fellowship that I’m pretty sure didn’t exist before the Blade.

A few days ago, we woke up to the sound of concern.  It seemed to be permeating from our comments board.  In particular, this one:

You folks are businessfolks, right? You’re interested in selling as much stuff as possible, right? I read about Healingblade in The Scientist, immediately thought of how much fun it would be to play this game with my kids, but one look at the artwork snuffed that ambition right out. Any chance of making an edition without the T and A, or maybe just cranking it down a degree? Seriously, why flip the bird to an entire market? I’m sure there are many others out there who’d buy it for kids except that all the breasts and buttucks make them uncomfortable.

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On the very same day that the AMA story about The Healing Blade hit, a second less than flattering story was also making its way around the intertubes – one that went a little bit like this:

Dan Barrett, or @dangerawesome on twitter, brought it to our attention. A new gaming product ‘Healing Blade’ has a piece of art that has some interesting similarities to a well known Magic card. While the art is obviously heavily inspired by Radha, Heir of Keld, it cannot be called plagiarism as it is clearly a different drawing.

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This feline creature has a propensity for clawing attacks, going directly for its victims eyes (cunjunctivitis) and viscera (endocarditis and hepatitis). Rarely, the creatures bite can induce a feverish delerium (encephalitis).   Which Apothecary heroes seem to be able to overcome this fearsome creature?  Azithromycin, Doxycycline, Erythromycin and Ciprofloxacin.  

We’ve made a ripple on the gentle wave of counter-culture that is Nerdcore HipHop. A few days ago we got a shoutout from BlakLotus, the bassist for one particular MCFrontalot, seen by many as the group of individuals that pioneered the Nerdcore movement. How epic is that?  Here’s a little bit of NCL trivia for you.  Back when we were putting together our little startup, and had to deal with the onerous task of putting a name onto this project, our original thought was to go with the moniker ‘NerdcoreReviews’.  Shortly thereafter I peeped a documentary on the all-so-awesome Nerdcore movement called ‘NerdcoreRising’, and literally had a Eureka moment.  We were like: Nerdcore+prenominal adjective = WIN!  Hence, NerdcoreLearning was born.  Thank you BlakLotus and the rest of the Frontalot crew for helping to shape our history here at NCL.  Schwag bag dispatched!

It’s been a roller-coaster few weeks here at NCL. Between inquires from the media, bug squashing with the game, organizing the next print run and dealing with art issues (see an upcoming post) it has been a veritable grab-bag of Vulcans experiencing Pon-Farr.  Still, these, we believe, are good problems to have.  We also realize that really none of it would matter if it weren’t for you folks emailing, posting and tweeting about your interest in the Healing Blade.  We just wanted to say how grateful we are for the interest and that the wait won’t be long.  You folks are the reason we love what we do.

Dan Alpers, over at CCGamers, brought to our attention the solid work that is going on over there. Yet another example of folks getting together, gaming together and supporting a worthy cause. This is the kindof stuff that makes our little nerdcore hearts flutter. We’ll be sending a few copies of ‘The Healing Blade’ their way, when the next print run comes out, as a way of showing our support!