Prompt 6: Evaluating Sources

By: Toby K.

            In the article written by Bennet Omalu, the doctor looked at a case study of a football player that had suffered multiple concussions in order to determine if he had a terminal brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy(CTE). In the recent years there has been a multitude of discussions on whether or not concussions can lead to CTE. The national football league has been denying the link for years. Recently there have been many retired athletes come out and say that the concussions they sustained during their football career have led to CTE.

            Recently there have been multiple reports that are similar to the one written by Omalu. Personally, I agree with all of these reports. I cannot see how sustaining concussions would not be connected to terminal brain damage. If you are constantly getting nailed in the head by another person, I don’t see how you wouldn’t have permanent brain damage. It just has to be so likely to mess your brain up for the rest of your life. Just imagine another giant human being running full speed and hitting you in the head. Now imagine that happening a couple hundred, possibly even thousand times and tell me that wouldn’t lead to long term cerebral damage.

Source URL:   http://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/Abstract/2005/07000/Chronic_Traumatic_Encephalopathy_in_a_National.21.aspx

Image URL: http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/art/progs/concussions-cte/h.png

Prompt 4: Considering Delivery and Style

By: Megan Aldworth

The purpose of this post is to compare the delivery and style of two sources from the medical field; one a blog post, the other; a scholarly article. I chose to explore two sources that talk about empathy in bettering patient care. The blog, called Empathy and Shame, discusses the importance of responding to the shame that some patients feel and how it should be responded to by physicians with empathy for the sake of a therapeutic relationship. The scholarly article, titled “A relational-cultural model: Healing through mutual empathy,” is about the Relational-cultural theory and how “healing occurs in growth-fostering connection.”

A screenshot of the scholarly article

The information in each source is presented very differently. In the blog, while the information is successfully presented, it is far less professional than the scholarly article. The vocabulary used in the scholarly article consists of words like “instrumentality, Newtonian physics, and conceptualized which are more advanced than words like “fundamentally,” “despondent,” and “indifferent,” which are used in the blog.

The scholarly article is also much longer than the blog article, likely because it contains much more in depth information and a wider range of information. After reading the scholarly article I can tell that much more time and energy was likely put into the publication of it than if it were a less professional piece. In the research done for the scholarly article, the information must be factual and reliable, but the information presented in the blog is more opinion based.

The video shown in the blogpost 

As a reader, I would rather read the blog post because it is general and easier to follow, but as a student the information presented in the scholarly work is likely more reliable and would be better to read for an assignment or project. The blog also includes things like fun videos to go along with the information, but if the same video were in the scholarly article it would be considered less professional. However, in my opinion the video made the reading interactive and more interesting.






Tomlinson, Johnathon, MD. "Empathy and Shame." The Health Blog. Matthew Holt, 7 Mar. 2016. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. <http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2016/03/07/empathy-and-shame/>.

Jordan, Judith V. "A Relational-cultural Model: Healing through Mutual Empathy." Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic 65.1 (2001): 92-103. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.