The Schedule for the Year 2008

The meeting date is the second Tuesday of the month and the time is 7:00 pm for food and cases. Noah has observed that we either have to start the Journal (ie, end cases) by 8:30 pm or change the name to Cases Club. Late-comers will be requested to save their cases to after Journal Club. If you are the host, bring a view box. If you do not have one, let David know at least one day in advance and he will bring the Jay Hann-VA Viewbox. If you cannot attend, please email the host at least a day in advance, as this helps them to plan the food. If less than 24 hrs, please call.

December was hosted by Bob, even though Jane was in the hospital with a comminuted inter-troch from a disagreement with her horse and gravity. Present were Kendrick, Relton, Doug, Lisa, Charolotte, Noah, and David. Dinner was a scruptious set of veggie pizzas (Bob's attentions being directed elsewhere), plus a chocolate cake and coffee that made my head swim will all the caffeine. We covered several articles without much depth and called it a night.

November was hosted on late notice by Monty.  Bill, Kendrick, Charlotte, Noah and Bob were present.  The surprise of the night was a visit by Becky and her daughter Juno.   Following appetizers and a salad, this was another pizza night for Journal Club. The wines included a Valle Reale Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which was uniformly admired, but unfortunately for the host, was purchased elsewhere at more than double than the price available at the Wine Mine in Oakland. After discussion of complications of a PRC, another severe Dupuytren’s, a couple of wrist fractures including another EPL late rupture, Bob took charge and led us through the July-August Journal, which is now history.  Bob is up next.

October Journal Club was hosted by Charlotte.  Present were Relton, Monty, Matt, and Doug.  This was a small & cozy gathering with plenty of food.  The evening began with various cheeses, crackers, salami, vegetables, white bean hummus and of course wine.  Topics of discussion included a few cases as well as treatment of Dupuytren's disease (an extension of our email conversation regarding Noah's case).  Dinner followed with salad and Indian fare - 3 different types of curry (all mild & gentle on the stomachs), naan, and samosas.  The international flavors led to interesting conversation with remembrance of times past, as Matt, Monty, and Relton shared their varied experiences traveling/living in Asia.  Finally, a complete review of the May-June '08 JHS was accompanied with coffee and a delicious key lime tart.  The evening finished by 10 pm with everyone leaving well-fed, well-read, and ready for bed (ha ha).

September was hosted by Nancy & Mat, along with Heidi and Josh. Present were Monty, Rebecca, Lisa (we are very happy you were able to make it), Bob, Relton, Kendrick, Charlotte, Noah, Mat, and David. Fragrant flowers and Mat greeted everyone as they entered. We congregated in the kitchen and caught up on the news from both Monty and Becky. Good luck! Nancy served shrimp, cheeses, and wine, followed by a delightful pasta, then we moved to the dining room and feasted on roast beef, salad, and pasta. Following mandatory tradition, an evily rich chocolate cake and coffee (with Heidi helping to serve) accompanied case presentations. The Journal Nazi was particularly in form tonight (he is willing to be replaced at any time) and tried to keep the wild crowd under control. The Journal was difficult, with three articles by David Ring to cope with, but character assasination was the norm for the evening and all went well. The ASSH meeting is next week, there will be no formal Journal Club meeting, as all are too busy. (Note is made not to give Josh both chocolate and coke after 10 pm! The tyke would put a Rolles Royce turbine engine to shame, and will be exhausted tomorrow.) Charlotte is up next, and Becky might have to miss a meeting or two.

August was hosted by Bill, who went all out to match Relton's evening, and he did a great job of it. Present were Kendrick, Relton, Mat, Becky, Doug, David, Charlotte, Noah, and Bill. Dinner was fabulous (I am waiting for Bill to send me the report of the dishes), but dessert was a chocolate cake and a cheesecake. When we could get Noah to turn off the Olympics, we did cases and completed the Journal (OK, only sort-of, but decided to move on next month to April.)

July was hosted by Relton, and it can truly be said that he has set a new standard for food, such that even the Great Bill Billings was wondering how he was going to top it next month. In attendance and in fine fettle: Mat, Kendrick, Doug, Bob, Charlotte, Bill, Noah, and yours truly; MIA were Becky, Lisa (stuck with an anatomy lab she had to chair), Shelly (has an engagement every second Tuesday), and Monty (has late clinic every second Tuesday). The dinner knocked our collective socks off: four racks of lamb, marinated in orange juice and fresh rosemary from the garden; polenta so scruptious many went back for seconds and more; and a garden salad. But the pièce de résistance was the Napa Valley Heintz Cellars cabernet sauvignon 1974 magnum (number 413 of 1200, to be exact). So mellow, so refined, no hint of sharpness, good to the last drop of the dregs (as attested to by Bob). The dessert, by divine decree, was chocolate cake, with coffee. Cases were shown (including the usual boring distal radius disasteromas by Nelson), Kendrick surprised us all with more than 24 hour followup, and we were still late to the Journal. The lead article, Show Me the Evidence by Bob Szabo, was acclaimed by all as thought-provoking and well worth reading. The ultimate answer between the objective data vs patient-centric data is not in, but we are more aware of their problems and the need to be practicing as much as possible on evidence-based medicine. There were two issues moved, seconded, and passed: (1) The JNzi (I just can't say it) needs to enforce discipline and move from conversation from 7-8 to cases from 8-9 and then, without fail, start the Journal. (2) There was a change from the third Tues to the second Tues to accomodate one person, who has only been able to attend about two times in the last two years; the night change has resulted in problems for both Monty and Shelly to attend. Mat is going to discuss the issue, no change will be made at least until after September, but there is a strong possibility of moving back to the third Tuesday.

April was hosted by Becky, with a great turnout (they must have heard about the food): Mat, Doug, Kendrick, Monty, Relton, Charlotte, Bob, David, and Becky. She served dumplings (special: made by her mom!), chicken in spicy black bean sauce, eggplant with minced pork, pork chops and onions, baby bok choy, and cupcakes from Teacake bake shop. We did a few cases then trampled the journal.

March was hosted by Monty (I need a report).

February This report is by Noah, as I was unable to attend: Journal Club report, for February 12, 2008.  An assembly of  9, I think (RH, DC,WB, MC, KL, MM, RM, CS, NW- is this correct?) met at Bob's house, for outrageous stew, wine, dessert, cases, arguments, and, oh yeah, a little Journal.  After repeated prodding, Monty attempted to be the Journal Nazi; thirty minutes and one article later he was deposed, and replaced by Dr. Billings, who got us all the way through the October Journal, and home at a decent hour. Dr. Nelson was sorely missed, unable to attend due to the death of his father.

Doug offered this, alternative, report: February's Journal Club was held at Chateau Hoffman in the foothills above Chez Panisse.  Present were Bob, Charlotte, Monty, Relton, Noah, Bill, Kendrick, Matt, and Doug.  A distinct void was palpable due to the regrettable absence of David, Becky, and Lisa.  The evening began an unusually bibulous affair, its tone and level of mentation set by a multifarious spread of fine wines, including a distinctly provocative red from the Napa Valley carpologist and vintner, Noah Weiss.   Bob, the Titanium Chef himself, proved as masterful in the kitchen as in the O.R., presenting a  succulent and nectareous stew of lamb and persimmon.   Owing perhaps to the effects of the sommelier, the case discussions were particularly lively (digressing briefly to a discussion of the City of Berkeley's Iraq policy).  Journal article quality engendered a bit of ennui but provided the occasion for an excellent choice of desserts by Chef Bob.

January This evening marked the debut of Lisa as our host and she pulled it off with style. The attendance was good: Relton, Rebecca, Mat, Bill, Charlotte, Monty, David, Kendrick, and Lisa were present. Noah sent late regrets and went to the OR with an emergency case. Absent were Bob, Doug, and Shelley. Lisa tempted us with some fine wine, cheese, and smoked meats; then a dinner of roasted chicken and gourmet pasta, with a winter Italian salad (fennel and onion) that Lisa learned on a recent trip to her home area in Italy. She earned high marks from this food critic for the cholocate cake, but I noted that Rebecca was partial to the carrot cake. To each his/her own! Coffee rounded out the meal. Cases were discussed, with better than average respect for the person who had the floor; we will continue to work on that. No viewbox was requested; we need to remember that. Luckily, only one xray was presented. Hosts: please, obtain a viewbox or bribe someone to bring theirs. We did get to the Journal. With five articles on the distal radius, you would have thought that it would be a good issue; bad thought. Turkeys (The authors of one paper miffed their main idea: FPL ruptures are common, but the cause is not the plate, it is inadequate reduction. Anatomic plates only fit if the reduction is anatomic. Is this a DUH! or what?) The one memorable article was the lunate morphology paper, and its effect on the directon of carpal collapse (pg 1009). Jim Dobyns: you finally get the answer to your 1972 paper on DISI & VISI!

Bob: you are on deck.

Other Meetings of Note

History of Journal Club .