Richard Rathe's Reading Room

Backed by grants in 2003 and 2005 from the RSNA R&E Foundation and support from our departments, we constructed a web-based program consisting of tutorial modules that will provide instruction and guidelines for reporting and for certain types of interpersonal communication skills. The program is designed to help provide assessment of resident/user in these skills. The curriculum is targeted to radiology residents. It is available free of charge to training programs and individuals.

"Slideware may help speakers outline their talks, but convenience for the speaker can be punishing to both content and audience."

An excerpt, PowerPoint Does Rocket Science, is available online. His Cognitive Style of PowerPoint essay costs $7 and is essential reading for anyone who wishes to avoid the mind numbing effects of this invasive tool. Also visit Ask ET and his weblog .

I've always enjoyed yodeling, both alpine and the more bluesy American variety. So this public radio piece was a pleasant surprise. In spite of my interest I had never heard of this duo from Minnesota; they recorded only a handful of songs. Their performance of the lullaby Go To Sleep My Darling is a true gem, one of the most beautiful bits of old-time county music that I know of! The harmony is so evocative it brings tears to my eyes. [Note: To listen to the preceding link you will need the free RealPlayer.] For many examples of contemporary yodeling, check out Riders in the Sky.

A very important book for me when I first read it back in college. I presented it for the Narrative Medicine Series in 2005.

"Since what we know of the future is made up of purely abstract and logical elements—inferences, guesses, deductions—it cannot be eaten, felt, smelled, seen, heard, or otherwise enjoyed. To pursue it is to pursue a constantly retreating phantom, and the faster you chase it, the faster it runs ahead. This is why all the affairs of civilization are rushed, why hardly anyone enjoys what he has, and is forever seeking more and more."

For more than ten years the U.S. Department of Agriculture has promoted its "food pyramid" as a guide to proper nutrition. The only problem is that isn't very good advice. Two researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have suggested a new pyramid to help us make better choices about food. Here is a summary of their recommendations: 1) Whole grain foods and plant oils form the foundation and are eaten at most meals; 2) "Vegetables in abundance" at every meal (but no potatoes!); 3) Two or three servings of fruit every day; 4) Protein from nuts, beans, fish, poultry, and eggs; 5) Limit dairy products to one or two servings of per day; 6) Red meat, butter, white rice, white bread, potatoes, and sweets "used sparingly"; 7) No trans fats at all if you can avoid them. See my review for more detail.

Update: The new USDA food pyramid is pretty much a bust, "the nutritional equivalent of the Homeland Security advisory system, and about as useful" wrote one reviewer. The vertical strips are meaningless, and having twelve different versions only adds to the confusion. The Willett/Stampfer pyramid is much better (I keep a copy on my refrigerator door!). Unfortunately Scientific American has removed the article from the public web, but I found this alternative version with different illustrations that is still available without a subscription.

Photography was my first creative outlet. I started in my father's darkroom around age 15. I grew up admiring the work of Steichen, Adams, Bourke-White, Weston, and most of all Cartier-Bresson (2). I was very active for about ten years and then drifted away. But with the advent of digital photography I've experienced a bit of a renaissance.

My Online Gallery...

One of my favorite movies. Stars Toshirô Mifune as Red Beard. An intense and complex tale of the human condition, told through the eyes of a young intern as he discovers the kind of doctor he wants to become. Also includes an amazing "samurai doctor" scene.

Movie Favorites...

Magicians tend to be good debunkers and skeptics. I happened to be listening in November 2005 when this piece was aired on NPR as part of their This I Believe series. It was refreshing to hear an articulate atheist point of view in a public forum.

Absolutely amazing mission to the red planet. Both Spirit and Opportunity are still running more than a year after they made their airbag landings. If I had a second career, I would work on robotic space exploration. Here are a few selected images: Jammerbugt, Dust Devils, Spirit Videos, Virtual Panoramas, and Winter Roost.

"The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations." - Benjamin Disraeli

Wisdom is a major revision of my first web application, written in 1995, to provide an easy and aesthetically pleasing interface for my collection of quotes.