Elisabeth Shim, MD » Miscellaneous possibly useless knowledge

Welcome Leila and Jasmine! Thanks, Peggy!

drshim — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:17:15 +0000

Far East Movement and Leila

Peggy, (aka “Peggilicious” bottom left) my former assistant, paid a visit to us today. She has been with us for several years, but will be starting medical school at Touro Osteopathic in No Cal in a few weeks. We are so happy for her. I am so lucky to have had such a dedicated and fun assistant. She has introduced me to the joys of Hainan Chicken (aka Chicken Rice) from Savoy and knows more about Korean culture and KPop than I do even though she is of Taiwanese decent (although that wouldn’t be hard). I am loving her new glasses.

The rest of the A-Team includes Thu, who went from being my rave-loving pharmacy school applicant to a great nurse practitioner and Verdure manager extraordinaire; Jasmine, my new assistant from UCLA who is pre-med; Leila, my new assistant from USC, who is pre-med and a former Regents Scholar at USC; Scott, my loyal Mohs technician/health executive in training and how can we forget Marty? Personal and administrative assistant by day/rocker by night. I am so lucky to work with such hard-working, fun and dedicated youngsters. As a side benefit of their youth, I get to learn about useless knowledge like who Rebecca Black is. I don’t feel sorry for them when they celebrate their birthdays-oh the horror of turning….25! I may look barely older than them, but when you realize they don’t know why I would buy tickets to a Journey concert, you know you’re in trouble.

Becca also paid us a visit a few weeks ago. She looked great and was on her way to frolicking in Thailand the first (and only) summer off from med school. Reminds me of the vacay I had that summer in Switzerland and the South of France. I have not made it past Vancouver in the past few years!

Fatherly advice

drshim — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 01:54:18 +0000

My parents like to send me letters. At times I dread opening these envelopes because my mom likes to remind me that I should get married as this is her last wish for me-no guilt there. However, I did enjoy the article my dad recently sent from US News and World Report “10 Tips for Living to 100″

Of course, we need to accept that none of us can control the inevitable and when this will happen, but hey, why not try?

1) “Don’t retire”-Check. I plan on working until my one of my daughter’s takes over, if they desire to do so, or they are out in the working world. I have a long way to go! Let’s hope I stay healthy enough to do so, so let’s read on…
2) “Floss every day”-Semi-Check. I have been better at this since getting my teeth worked on lately
3) “Move around”-Check. With 2 toddlers and a busy practice, no problem, but I do need to find time to exercise
4) “Eat a fiber-rich cereal for breakfast”-Semi-check-I can’t do oatmeal every day. I like my Peanut Butter Bumpers, toast, toaster waffles and weekend lox sandwiches from Juniors.
5) “Get at least six hours of shut eye”-Check. I am not a likeable person otherwise and this is half the reason I am a dermatologist
6) “Consume whole foods not supplements”-Check. I’m a terrible pill taker

7) “Be less neurotic”-Semi-check. Is this possible in LA and being a surgeon? At least I am conscious of my neuroses.

“Be a creature of habit” (keep a regular routine)-Check. My kids won’t let me oversleep
9) “Live like a seventh-day adventist” (no smoking, alcohol, or overindulge in sweets-what about caffeine?) Semi-check. I love my tea and coffee
10) “Stay connected”-Semi-check. Toddler class and Facebook have been great for this but I need to make more of an effort in LA compared to anywhere else I’ve lived

How are you doing on this?

Vitamins and cancer

drshim — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:53:01 +0000

Can’t remember where I read this, but folic acid may cause cancer. Also, carrots (beta-carotene) may increase lung cancer risks in smokers. I find the latter hard to believe, but there was some mechanism by which this made sense. There is also a lot of controversy about whether it is better to avoid antioxidants during chemo or radiation since their mechanism of action sometimes involves the creation of free radicals.

Of course, when you’re pregnant folic acid is a must. You can’t really avoid folic acid in multivitamins either, so what are we supposed to do with this information?

Broccoli has been shown to prevent colon cancer and skin cancer (Go Verdure Matte Moisturizing Physical Sunscreen with Antioxidants!) . We are told to keep eating more plant based foods to prevent cancer and obesity. Of course, many of these crops are laden with pesticides unless they’re organic. Even with effort, I can’t eat 100% organic.

Fish is supposed to be good for you. But with mercury, this horrible oil leak and whatever toxins/drugs are spilled into our water supply does this mean that I am permitted to eat more Happy Meals and In-and-Out burgers?