Brandterrific!

Here's a face-shot poorly edited in microsoft paint.  Why yes, I am a wizard with that, thank you.
Floating head-shot I edited in MS paint.  I think my head looks like a giant floating face in outer-space.

I am an ER physician who truly loves his job, yet has many diverse interests and passions.

I also love writing and video as well as a multitude of nerd-tastic games, from D&D to Catan, I’ll try it all.

I won the 8th annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition in 2008.

I wrote a Chapter in The Medical Student Survival Guide.

I write Brandt’s Rants in Emergency Physician News every other month.

I make frequent observations about how the daily life in the ER is insane.

I write books and short stories to delight you 

Also, I recently started a funny Emergency Room related Blog. Check it out!

 

8 thoughts on “Brandterrific!”

  1. Hi Dr. Brandt,

    Horror fan unite! I was told this would be right up your alley. I’ll paste the press release below, should give you everything you need to know about the film premiere later this month. Hope to see you there!

    A Picture Show Film Company
    2927 Burritt St. NW
    Grand Rapids, MI 49504

    More Info:
    Aaron Herman Russman
    Producer/Director
    616-970-4667 (cell)
    ahrussman@yahoo.com

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    “FEAR THE CROOKED CORPSE” FEATURE FILM PREMIERE
    AND HALLOWEEN PARTY

    Grand Rapids, MI – October 27th 2013 – Wealthy Theatre plays host to a truly evil evening of entertainment with the world premiere of the fright-filled feature film FEAR THE CROOKED CORPSE! In honor of this special, one-time event the dastardly director of this devious motion picture will serve up Grand Rapids’ most horrific Halloween Party. Come one, come all in your most ghoulish get-ups, best costume wins a fantastic prize (!), among other classic games such as bob for (poison) apples, pin the tail on the wolf-man and a 50/50 raffle… of DREAD! Then, grab a seat and experience your nightmare realized upon the silver screen as A Picture Show Film Co. and Michigan Filmmaker Aaron Herman Russman proudly present a mind-bending odyssey through the realm of insanity: FEAR THE CROOKED CORPSE!

    WHO: Grand Rapids Filmmaker Aaron Herman Russman
    WHAT: Locally-Produced Horror Film Premiere / Halloween Party
    WHERE: Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49506
    WHEN: Sunday, October 27th 2013 – 6pm: Halloween Party, 8 – 10pm: Film Premiere

    TICKETS: $10 each at the box-office (includes party and premiere). Reserving tickets
    recommended: http://www.wealthytheatre.org/crookedcorpse or by phone: 616.459.4788 ext. 131

    In the spirit of the 70’s Hammer Films to the “slasher” films of the 80’s, Fear the Crooked Corpse relentlessly challenges the audiences’ perception of reality in its telling of a dubious revenge tale. Edgar, a meek, honest man seeks retribution for his daughter’s murder, yet the killer takes his own life. Left without means to an end, Edgar staggers through dreams and faulty memories, becoming a force of terror upon the undeserving… or are they? You will question everything, for nothing is what it seems.

    ****
    Aaron Russman has written, produced and directed projects at A Picture Show Film Company for over 15 years. His work includes narrative short films, documentaries, reality and scripted television pilots and music videos. In August of 2011 he released his debut feature film, Lost in the Future to a packed crowd at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

    Fear the Crooked Corpse is NOT RATED and not recommended for anyone under the age of 13.

    Follow Aaron Russman:
    twitter.com/ahrussman
    instagram.com/ahrussman
    facebook.com/ahrussman
    youtube.com/ahrussman
    vimeo.com/ahrussman

  2. Dear Rob,
    I am so proud of you! You have found a way to mesh your vocation and avocaton, rewarding your readers in the process. Although I do not know your parents I suspect that, in you, both of their legacies and talents are realized. Humor is a great blessing, and one that can be both a healer and instigator to better things. God bless you!!
    Love,
    Aunt Barb

  3. Dr. Brandt, I very much enjoy your writing. You have a great gift. I have always been jealous of people that have the ability to express their thoughts with descriptive prose and paint verbal pictures. I could have been a great writer and probably won a Pulitzer prize except for amateurish prose, poor command of the English language, total disregard for proper sentence structure, sloppy attention to grammar, total and complete lack of talent and creativity, but notwithstanding those minor shortcomings, I could have been great…….I just read your article on marijuana and thought it one of the better ones I have read recently. Too much misinformation out there still. As an ER doc in Colorado I thought I might share with you my observations since the passage of Amendment 64. Too long for this blog. Besides, I hate blogs. Thought you might like a first hand report of what we are seeing. In short, it has been mostly a non-event as you would imagine as there is very little in the way of a clinically significant toxidrome with pot. In so far as alcohol represents the bane of the practice of emergency medicine, if we can shift some of the alcohol use to pot, it will be a blessing. We are seeing a bit of a shift and we in the ED couldn’t be happier……Please feel free to email me and I will send you a few observations. Bud Glismann joemama@sopris.net

  4. Jennifer Larain, RNC

    When you publish a book, I MUST have it! As a long-suffering Med/Surg RN (about to go to CRNA school, and trying to transition into the ER/OR), I find your stories hysterical and relatable. Keep up the great work!!

  5. Nigel Palmer MD

    Just read your EMN article on sleep in shift workers.
    One very helpful technique I have used for the past 35 yrs is self-hypnosis for sleep induction. Not just for rapid sleep induction upon arriving in my sleep cave, but perhaps even more usefully, in taking power naps when ever the opportunity arises DURING a shift. Here the only way to “bring me up” is by the ring of the telephone at the bedside. This technique, together with the well known trick of sleeping with a firm pillow(reduction of “bed-head”) and with your head elevated 30-40′(reduction of puffy eyes/face) really keeps you on your best performance.
    One of the joys of self-hypnosis is the rapid onset of REM. So the value of the power nap is multiplied many fold.
    When I first started using this I had a Psych colleague, who used a great deal of clinical hypnosis in his practice, to train me, taking “awakening prompts” of my choice(the old fashioned telephone ringer still works) and relevant to my work/home environment. He prepared a refresher tape that I never had to resort to. He had me “expert” in just one or two sessions.
    Now there are many well trained clinical hypnotists to provide training. Incidentally, it has little to do with ultra-sexy, soft female voices! Your hypnotist will determine what content works best in your individual case and the induction phase, which is best self-paced and self-administered(mine uses a central focus on upper airway air movement and sounds with a steady breathing rate).
    It has become more difficult to use effectively as I have piled on the last 5-6 years. Before that, my nurses were very happy to get me to go back and “do your thing,Doc” as they appreciated the constant alertness and affable attitude regardless of the time of night(I worked only nights for many years).
    When I first started using the techniquethe night staff apparently thought “I was on something”. It was only after several months that one of them asked me if she could share what ever I was on- because I always seemed so awake and always answered the ‘phone consistently after the first ring that I told them what I was doing. I also passed it onto colleagues-but I do not think any of them ever tried it!
    So if you want to start a wave of healthy night workers you have the key! Maybe you will have more success than I ever had! What is so surprising is that any good clinical hypnotist knows all about the benefits of trance-induced quality sleep.
    Maybe it is a deep rooted fear of hypnosis in the American psych that has put the technique to the far back when we hunt for a remedy for a (literally) occasionally fatal side effect of our strange work world.
    It is a problem in some cultures, for sure. Many years ago I routinely used hypnosis in the management of kids(and some young adults) with painful laceration repairs etc. I stopped using the technique after a parent set, who appeared perfectly “normal” before leaving their 9 yr old for a really ugly leg laceration repair. But they went absolutely ballistic with me when he told them he had been laying in the sunshine(operating light) covered in warm sand so he didn’t want to move while I stitched his leg up! I became the “devil” incarnate and had “messed with his mind” and they would have to have him excorsized! Sadly, the hospital CEO insisted I desist from using the technique anymore-the father was a local religious leader with an enormous flock! So I quit.

  6. Dr Brandt – I just read your article in EMN. I can commiserate with your experience with patients who use Google to self diagnose. I have been an ER doc for 20 years, and find this a common issue in the internet age.

    That said, I think your bashing of alternative medicine is overly broad and short sighted.

    Are there charlatans in alternative medicine? Absolutely. Are some of our board certfied colleagues nincompoops? You bet.

    Having practiced this long, I am amazed at the lack of evidence based medicine practiced by our colleagues on a regular basis. Antibiotics for viral syndromes? All the time to CYA just in case it develops into a pneumonia/bacterial sinusitis, etc.. CT scans for just about everything? Yup – we just can’t afford to miss something. Never mind the cancer risks.

    The list goes on and on, and much of it is not benign.

    Your oversimplification of the anti-vaxers argument is typical of the main stream medical dogma that everything that physicians do must be good for you. I am not an anti-vaxer, but question why the FDA has covered up so much anti-vaccine data. . Thimerosal was in multi dose Flu vaccines as recently as a few years ago. It is essentially Mercury with 2 ligands attached to it. Is it different than the mercury in thermometers? Yes it is. Does this mean that it is not harmful? Of course not, as is evidenced by its removal from vaccines, and the litany of unknowns associated with its use.

    With regards to Autism, it seems that the jury is still out, contrary to your statement that “the scientific community has debunked this. Several times.” I would argue that there is most likely bias in these studies. I don’t believe that the evidence available to us proves the point one way or the other, and as such I am unsure about the dangers vs the efficacy.

    Even the CDC data regarding flu vaccine only puts efficacy at 50% or so, and yet it is mandatory that all health care providers be vaccinated. Stats quoting death from flu are wildly inaccurate. How many times have you put influenza as the cause of death on a death certificate? In the news today, there is a suggestion that the flu vaccine may be linked to miscarriages(from the fringe newspaper, the Washington Post)

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/09/13/researchers-find-hint-of-a-link-between-flu-vaccine-and-miscarriage/?utm_term=.dee8f5677920

    I won’t even get into the “well meaning white women” remark, which is written in very poor taste.

    I, like you, am a man of science. Unlike you, I am not fooled into thinking that all that we have been taught in medical school and residency is gospel that cannot be questioned. Just look at how many times recommendations for CPR and antibiotics for abscesses have changed over the past 10-20 years.

    You have writing talent, but should be careful about drinking too much of the mainstream kool aid.

  7. Dear Dr. Brandt,

    Just a quick word to thank you for your very moving story, “A Single Word Makes a World of Difference”.Emergency Medicine News: May 2021 – Volume 43 – Issue 5 – p 19. doi: 10.1097/01.EEM.0000751900.76326.05

    It is so true that in our big, busy ER worlds, we get separated a bit from humanity broadly sometimes. Your writing was an important reminder to all of us.

    Kind regards,
    Ray

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