Cardiac Assessment – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

I’ve been struggling a little with time of late, and so my attention to reviewing has not been what it was. However, this week I have come across a reasonable Calm track. Although I have to caution people that it contains music, and as you know I do not find music as actually being that effective in pushing me off to sleep.

The track is this:

https://www.calm.com/app/player/7JQNaQVDM

Afternoon Nap

Refresh your mind & recharge your body with a special nap story. After a brief intro and soothing music, you’ll wake up to gentle birdsong.

NARRATOR

Erik Braa

AUTHOR

Calm

As I say, it is not for me. However, given it is dedicated to sleep I thought I should at least give you the chance to try it. However, be aware that most advice is that when you are sleep deprived, try to stick to your normal sleep routine rather than topping up with additional naps as this track would seem to suggest.

Personally, if I get an opportunity for sleep (and I can make use of it) I fill my boots. Who knows when the next such opportunity will present itself.

This week I came across a post which shows that I am certainly not alone in having problems getting off to sleep. I certainly hope that some of the people who are responding to the person posting got the opportunity to read the Procrastination Pen.

This week the professional ASMR artist is PollyTingle ASMR the channel has sixty two videos, seven playlists, 86.2K subscribers so not quite as popular as some we’ve heard of late. The video is this one:

ASMR Cranial Nerve Examination by a Neurologist 🌙 Quiet Voice / ASMR Cranial Nerve Examination

It is a little over twenty-four and a half minutes in length. Of course, it has notes (I’ve truncated them a bit) “1,773,407 views 7 Feb 2022 #asmr #asmrneurologist

This video features pleasant, relaxing music, a quiet voice, and a variety of neurological manipulations.

Unfortunately, I was ill while filming this video, so my voice is a bit sore and I have a slight fever (because of this, I cut out almost half the video 😰). But everything is fine now, and I plan to gradually return to the channel. The next video will be a continuation of the Hobbit book reading, and then I’d like to film some light but interesting trigger video (if you have any ideas, please write in the comments, I’d be very happy!)

Have a good rest, see you soon ❤”

The video is in Russian, and you need to turn off the English US option or you will have a lot of very loud interjections (presumably made by some automated process). The first “so” on the track made me jump off my chair, for example. These will really mess up any restful feelings that you might otherwise have had. Once I discovered that, I realised that the voice is actually very good.

I am not sure why the voice on the English US option is so loud but it really ruins the video in terms of ASMR. I notice that (rather uniquely for a professional ASMR artist), the comments are turned off. It is potentially possible there were any number of negative comments from English-speaking listeners that encountered this problem.

With the Russian speaking version, I have zero idea what is being said (I speak no Russian). However, it sounds very restful. There are, as expected, other noises; paper turning, brushing noises, clicking noises, rustling noises, liquid noises, writing noises. There is also a quiet musical back track (if this was an inadvertent ASMR video this would discount it from the Procrastination Pen playlist).

As you know I would prefer it was just the voice, which, assuming you only listen to the Russian version, is calming without straying into whispery. Quite a feat, given that most professional ASMR videos seem to very much focus on the whispery end of the spectrum.

The drive for the perfect playlist for ASMR sensations (or alternatively just to cause you to drift off to sleep) means that I am concerned that sometimes I have not been sufficiently critical of videos and that some “dead wood” still hangs around in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

I think that as the list continues to grow in size some of the older videos might get a severe pruning. I am thinking particularly of those with perky music at some point during the video, those with air conditioning noises or those which incorporate the odd clang or thud from the movement of medical equipment. Regular readers might be a bit surprised at the videos that get removed in this purge.

If you are not a regular reader, well hey, welcome. This is the Procrastination Pen which for over a year now has been reviewing medical videos (and occasionally videos on other subjects too) with a view to finding any that might produce ASMR effects. Sometimes we have a great day and sometimes it is more “challenging”.

Today I have a URL, and on that URL a whole gamut of videos on medical subjects. It’s odd for me to stray far from YouTube but given someone else has gone to all the effort of collating these videos into one place let’s give it a try at least.

The URL is this one:

Medical Training Videos

It has thirty-two videos (discounting the introductory one) so this might be a very long day in review terms. I suspect if the history of reviewing videos is accurate, we will be fortunate to find one in all of those thirty-two that is of much value but I’m game if anyone else is.

The first video is this one:

Advanced Life Support / Code Blue – How to lead a cardiac arrest (ALS/ACLS simulation)

On the face of it, not the most inspiring ASMR title. Comments are permitted but there are not obviously any ASMR-related ones.

It is a professionally produced video and therefore as we have come to expect there are notes, which are these:

“368,741 views 3 Feb 2017 Most Popular

How to lead a cardiac arrest /code blue using the advanced cardiac life support (ALS/ACLS) algorithms. This 360-degree medical simulation video shows a well-led ALS scenario, unscripted and in real time.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

The video is just shy of eight minutes and it begins in a bit of a hurry, and it is quite loud. Thankfully no startup music but sadly for us that is really all there is going for it ASMR-wise. It has shouting, loud equipment noises and the kind of frenetic activity almost designed to maximise sleeplessness.

Further videos are as follows:

Cardiac Arrest and ALS (Code Blue) Simulation – Training Video with Questions

It is slightly less than seven minutes the notes are:

“168,813 views 8 Mar 2017

This interactive 360-degree training video demonstrates a cardiac arrest (code blue) as if the doctor is leading an arrest for the first time. The doctor will ask questions in the arrest. PAUSE THE VIDEO WHEN YOU SEE THE INFORMATION BAR APPEARING and try to answer them – there are a number of options each time.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

It starts without startup music again, which is great for us. However, it is frenetic and loud (just like the last one). This is not going to be suitable for us.

Cardiac Arrest Experience – Patient point of view in advanced life support / code blue

The notes are:

“182,696 views 8 Mar 2017

This 360-degree video is filmed from a patient’s point of view and demonstrates what happens if you have a cardiac arrest in hospital. You (the patient) would be unconscious throughout.

If you have been a patient or relative involved in cardiac arrest please comment below – we’d love to hear from you.

This is a well-led cardiac arrest and results in a successful outcome (return of spontaneous circulation). In practice most arrests are unfortunately not successful.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Just less than seven and a quarter minutes, no startup music, however it is far too loud for us.

Cardiac Arrest (Code Blue) Advanced Life Support – Mental Health Training

The notes are: “51,203 views 8 Mar 2017

This 360-degree training video demonstrates how to manage a cardiac arrest (code blue) using an automated defibrillator. It was filmed as part of a series to train mental health staff how to manage medical emergencies in mental health facilities.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Just over seven and a quarter minutes, there is no startup music but as before it is loud and frenetic and so not much use to us either.

Cardiac Arrest and Advanced Life Support (ALS) in 360 Degrees – TRAILER

For which the notes are: “35,322 views 12 Dec 2016 Most Popular

Trailer for our Cardiac Arrest and Advanced Life Support (ALS)/ Code Blue simulation videos. These are clips of three 360-degree medical simulation videos we’re producing at Oxford Medical Education to train doctors in running cardiac arrest situations.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Only a little over one and a half minutes but it is excessively loud in any case.

Choking and Cardiac Arrest (Code Blue) Advanced Life Support

A little less than two- and three-quarter minutes the notes are: “38,966 views 12 Feb 2017

This 360-degree training video demonstrates how to manage a cardiac arrest (code blue) due to choking. It was filmed as part of a series to train mental health staff how to manage medical emergencies in mental health facilities.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Again, it starts loud, it continues loud and so it is not useful for us.

Respiratory Examination – Clinical Skills

A little less than eleven minutes. The notes are: “376,646 views 27 Feb 2015 Clinical Examinations

This video – produced by students at Oxford University Medical School – demonstrates how to perform an examination of the respiratory system. It also indicates common pathologies encountered. It is part of a series of videos covering basic clinical examinations and is linked to Oxford Medical Education (www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com).”

The start is with an introduction, the person has a good voice for us and it is not excessively loud. The actual examination though is a little on the echoey side as if filmed in a large corridor. The examination is also dogged by background noise (likely air conditioning). However, the medical professional has a good voice for our purposes.

This is a good video for the procrastination pen playlist.

I think that I will conclude the blog post at this one and continue in a second post, failing that this blog post would become really large indeed. To the point of boredom, I imagine.

That’s it on this occasion, more next time.

The University College London Hospitals playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article, why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by DeepAI

Sleeping With ASMR

Exploring YouTube, as I do now several times a week, leads to many random dead ends. Let’s face it, when faced with a screen full of prospective videos, I am looking at a thumbnail of each video and making a guess as to what the video will sound like for any ASMR fans out there that are reading this blog. Which of the many videos might be relaxing for a person, like myself, seeking more sleep than they currently achieve.

I am not that successful. For every video you have seen, there are many dozens with off-putting noises, strange sequences or that my suspicious senses kick off – thinking that, in fact, they were generated by a professional ASMR artist.

Of those I have evaluated, a subset get into the Procrastination Pen playlist. Sadly after a period of listening, quite a few of those subsequently get archived because they just don’t turn out to be that appealing in the long run.

It is therefore no surprise that once a good video is located by ASMR fans on YouTube a loyal following develops. In some cases, once videos are taken down, ASMR fans recover the video and repost it on their own channel.

(Much as I applaud this from the viewpoint of video availability, it is fraught with risk – out there are some hungry copyright solicitors and they, I am certain, would love to spot infringements of copyright and gain any fees due as a consequence).

Today’s video does not permit comments. From the perspective of defraying the Internet trolls this is jolly good news. However, it does not assist me in determining if ASMR afficionados have found this one already. In most cases, I assume they have. ASMR fans are substantially faster than I am at discovering new content.

The video is this one:

Neuro exam 2

It is just shy of ten minutes, so not terrible in length in terms of a medical examination video. There are no notes, so I suspect an amateur, rather than a professionally, produced video. It starts a bit loud, and straight away we get the impression this is another of those videos produced on a course required as part of a student’s assessment.

That said, background noise is negligible, the volume is not terrible (other than the occasional clang of equipment which is normal in terms of such videos.

Sadly, it is in portrait mode. I assume because it is filmed on a mobile phone but this will not be a problem because you’ll be listening rather than watching.

My viewing was constantly interposed by adverts at an inappropriate level of volume (which seems to be YouTube’s latest thing). I have no hatred of the adverts as such, but if I’m watching a video for ASMR content, an advert some levels of volume louder than the video seems a very bad idea.

But I digress. The pace of the video is slow and the level of speaking is (mostly) quiet. The scene is in a medical room but there are no clues as to where. At intervals there are other people talking in the background which is quite common in this type of video as well.

As we have seen before participants find it hard to take the process seriously and this is also the case here with laughter on occasion (on other occasions obvious boredom).

Someone interrupts the video at one stage (also a hazard in these videos) by knocking on the door. The BBC doesn’t seem to be challenged in this way…

The channel is Anna Cason.

I’ll assume that Anna was the medical professional and given it was posted earlier this year, may well still be on the course that it is a requirement for.

The channel has fourteen videos and no playlists. That is a fair few for one blog item and it looks like the current participant is the favourite “patient” as she appears in the majority of them. So I can’t go for my much used method of only reviewing videos with the same medical professional or same “patient”.

So I’ll go through all of the videos in the channel (as at today’s date anyway). If you haven’t the time for such a lengthy post, scroll to the end and the playlist will be waiting there for you. Hop over to YouTube – click the shuffle function – lie back and drift off to sleep (well in theory at least). Please let me have any feedback (such as favourite videos you’d like including).

The next video is this one:

Peripheral vascular exam 2

I think the patient introduces herself as “Emma Hilt” but it could probably be anything as it passes in a real rush. April 16^th 2002 is her DoB, not that it is relevant in checking if this is a genuine medical video.

This video is short at just under three and a half minutes. Again, there is a comforting lack of background noise. No notes, Emma (I’ll assume that is her name) yawns frequently throughout so it obviously isn’t the most compelling thing she has on that day.

There are more equipment noises – I guess quiet equipment just isn’t a priority. Either that or medical professionals are more interested in moving equipment around quickly rather than doing so quietly, which seems a sensible choice.

The next video is this one:

Bedside assessment

This is just over six and a half minutes

I think that Emma tells us that she is at nursing school (although I have no idea which one). She seems either very bored or she’s getting even less sleep than I habitually do. There are conversation noises from adjacent rooms (although it isn’t excessively loud).

There are more equipment noises but mostly a very measured examination.

Nose mouth throat exam

These videos are remarkably consistent given they are produced as part of a student assessment. This, has more laughter and, to me, a more obvious set of air conditioning noises. But at least it lacks the conversation from adjacent rooms. Emma still seems utterly bored. Perhaps she has in mind her own set of videos, yet to be filmed, for the same course.

Hearing exam

The same two participants in what is quite a short video at just over three and a half minutes. No notes and no comments. Background noise, now seems to be a companion – which is something that we are used to of course.

Eye exam

This is almost identical with the previous ones apart from noises relating to what I assume are messages arriving on a mobile phone (perhaps the one being used to do the filming). It is just over four and a half minutes in length. There are air conditioning noises, general amusement in places and utter boredom for the “patient”. It is feasible that these were all filmed at one time and that the process was just a tad wearing.

At one stage Anna forgets her medical terminology and one gets the feeling it’s all getting a bit tiresome for them.

Skin, hair, nails exam

Anna forgets which video she is supposed to be filming. Emma announces she has “KP” which I had to look up.

KP: Keratosis Pilaris painless bumps on the skins – a long term condition.

Anna again forgets where she is going and then gets very loud, perhaps to block out the conversation from an adjacent room. There is a thudding sound at one stage almost as if someone were tapping the phone that is doing the filming.

Abdominal exam

The same participants this video is just under four and three quarter minutes. Background conversation noises are there from the outset and air conditioning is really getting into its stride. Anna sounds fed up with the process already.

Emma states that she has IBS.

IBS Irritable Bowel Syndrome a lifelong condition affecting the gut which can be controlled but not cured.

Anna is again amused at intervals.

The phone is relocated part way through with associated clanging noises. Presumably equipment was kicked at the same time. Anna forgets what she is supposed to say but the approach to the examination is quiet.

It’s quite unusual to see one of these videos in which the person participating seems quite stuck. However, I don’t think this impacts the ASMR-i-ness as such.

There seems to be equipment missing (perhaps a hammer) which is reminiscent of the student who used canteen equipment to film one of these videos. Anna just uses her finger.

Peripheral vascular exam

The same participants feature again, the video is five minutes ten seconds long. If all of these videos were filmed in one session, I assume it took the two of them a very long time. Anna has problems getting through the door initially so there is a loud bang at the start. There is background conversation from an adjacent room and at stages it continues quite loudly. Air conditioning has now fully established itself and is working on becoming a session musician.

Anna forgets what she intends to say (but at least we are fully aware that she is not following notes off screen).

More message noises are heard from the phone being used to film this. There are more equipment noises and Anna is again amused by the parts that are going wrong (mainly where she forgets terminology).

Cardiac assessment

We’re in the swing of this now and all the same symptoms are in this one that were in all the previous ones. The level of background noise merely differs.

Just over five and a quarter minutes so not long. It follows the exact same theme as those we have seen previously. The start is quite stumbly as if Anna is finding her way through it. It remains quiet though apart from overheard nearby conversations and the low roar of air conditioning, which is constant.

I think Anna’s voice is actually improving as we go on and if some of those niggling additional noises were dispatched this could have been a really great video. In any case I’m intending to trial these in the Procrastination Pen playlist with the understanding that some or all may ultimately get dispatched to the archive.

Lungs and thorax assessment

This is approaching six minutes which feels long in comparison to some of the others but for the videos we commonly see is still a short video.

We’re used to the intro now as it runs through exactly the same set of sentences each time. The examination itself though differs (fortunately for us).

Anna appears to be struggling to remember some specific terminology (unclear what). There are noises of doors opening in adjacent rooms so it is feasible that other students are filming vastly similar videos for their courses in the rooms next door to this one.

Overall, though, a good video for the Procrastination Pen playlist I think.

Head, Face, Neck Assessment

Here, Emma is wearing some kind of identity badge which one would hope would give us the institution involved. Sadly, it is too tiny for me to read so it remains a mystery. Just under four and a half minutes, so a short one in terms of this set and the last one in which Anna and Emma appear together.

It seems to start a bit louder than previously and the air conditioning is ever present (or I’m getting tired by now).

However, to have produced this number of videos in such a short period is quite a piece of work.

Definition:

Crepitus – noise when moving a joint

Does anyone not have this?

Neurological exam at home assessment

Anna now has a new “patient”. Michael Atkis (I think) DoB. 02-12-03 (December in case there are any US readers). This, as expected, changes the sound profile markedly as Michael has a much deeper voice than Emma.

However, he does not get to talk a great deal.

The background air conditioning now sounds like it is aiming for some kind of award and the extraneous background talking noises are now quite pronounced.

Michael tells us that we are at “college of nursing” I think – it’s hard to discern. But I cannot make out where that would be.

This is over seven minutes in length. Again, Anna is a bit tentative, apparently as she forgets some terminology.

Having seen this examination done professionally by Vicki Scott we have been a bit spoiled; I think. This one is a bit more filled with humour – especially as Anna forgets the content she needs to perform.

Musculoskeletal home assessment video

the last one in this set and this has been a rather long post for which I apologise. Anna returns with Michael. Almost identical to the previous one in terms of sound – maybe more noise from the next-door room than previously.

Just under seven minutes so only slightly different in length to the previous one. Anna laughs quite a bit in this one too.

Very loud equipment noises in this, I jumped at one stage because I was listening rather than watching the screen.

The Anna Cason playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article, why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Christian Krebel on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Sometimes it is hard to remember that there might be someone who happens across this blog who has not been here before. If this is you, I hope that you enjoy it and go on to tell everyone you know about how great it is.

The blog exists purely as a review of ASMR videos. Habitually, it reviews videos that were created with a purpose other than ASMR and quite a few of those have turned out to be medical videos. For some reason a number of medical professionals turn out to have relaxing voices.

Each week there are more videos and each week those videos get added into the Procrastination Pen playlist which, by this time, is getting quite long.

However, I keep listening to the playlist and sometimes find a loud noise I hadn’t noticed before, or that the background noise, I had noticed, now appears a heck of a lot more irritating than I remember. In such cases, the videos are banished to the archive list.

In this way, I hope to drive up the quality of the Procrastination Pen playlist and to continually review videos for their excellence.

This week another medical video, the key voice here is that of the medical professional rather than the narrator. Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava is the medical professional. The video was posted 28 June 2018 and it is part of a professional channel, of which more in a minute.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Cranial Nerve Exam

Like previous professional videos we have seen this one comes with a healthy chunk of notes:

“28 Jun 2018 The cranial nerve exam consists of a series of tests and observations designed to assess the function of the twelve cranial nerves.

This video will showcase how to exam these nerves.

Filmed, written, and directed by:

Chris Calvin

Kashi (Siyoung) Lee

Kero (Yue) Yuen

Ge Shi

Supervised by:

Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Zac Rothman (PRISM)

Edited by:

Stephen Gillis”

Phew, and I have truncated the notes quite a bit. One of the original comments states that very few people have seen the video. However, it has 2,664,040 views as at the time I’m looking at it. It must have taken off a great deal since then. There are no ASMR-connected comments so this might be a discovery for this blog. (Although ASMR fans have ferret noses when it comes to a good ASMR video so that seems distinctly unlikely).

Dr Henri-Bhargava has a great voice from our perspective. It is very relaxing. The narrator is not quite as good, but not as bad as in many of the videos I have watched of late.

The examination is very relaxed and methodical.

The channel is UBC Medicine – Educational Media, this has one hundred and forty-five videos and 194K subscribers which as I’m sure you’ll agree is more than a few.

There are nineteen playlists and as luck would have it our first video is part of a playlist:

UBC Medicine: Learner driven and learner made

This consists of ten videos including the one that we started with.

Cardiology: Re-entry Circuits

This one is designed as a learning experience. As with the previous video there are a healthy set of notes, I’ve truncated them a bit (and I’ll do this from now on):

“14 Feb 2017 A UBC medical student explains his own unique take on Re-Entry Circuits.

Animation and Editing- Paul Milaire

Produced by MedIT at UBC Faculty of Medicine

Executive Producer – Zachary Rothman

Faculty Lead – Dr. Carol Ann Courneya

Produced in 2014, released for 2017 Valentine’s Day.”

Judging by the comments, this is great for a learning experience. Sadly, for us this is not relaxing enough to lull you off to sleep so it will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Cardiology: Wall Stress

The notes state “14 Feb 2017 A UBC medical student gives his unique take on wall stress in the heart.

Animation and Editing by Paul Milaire.

Produced in 2014, released for 2017 Valentine’s Day”

This follows the format of the last one and, like that video, will not be in the playlist.

Cardiology: Action Potential In The Heart

Notes again “14 Feb 2017 Two UBC medical students explain their take on electrical conductivity and action potential within the heart.

Animation and Editing by Paul Milaire.”

This is equally unsuitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Gait & Coordination Exam

The notes state: “28 Jun 2018 Full Gait & Coordination examination video.

Supervised by:

Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Zac Rothman (MedIT)

Doctor – Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava

Filmed, written, and directed by:

John Liu

Chris Calvin

Kashi (Siyoung) Lee

Vincent Soh

Kero (Yue) Yuen

Ge Shi

Special thanks to:

Stephen Gillis and Paul Milaire (MedIT – Educational Technology) Faculty of Medicine, UBC”

Here we discover that the “patient “is Paulina. Again the medical professional is Dr Henri-Bhargava. We discover that his voice is consistent, it is also calming in this video.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Cranial Nerve Exam

This video is the one we started with.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Motor, Sensory, & Reflex Neurological Exam

The notes state: “28 Jun 2018 This video will cover, in detail, the motor, sensory, reflect components of a neurological examination.

Filmed, written, and directed by:

John Liu

Vincent Soh

Chris Calvin

Kashi (Siyoung) Lee

Kero (Yue) Yuen

Ge Shi

Doctor – Dr. Jason Valerio (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Supervised by:

Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Zac Rothman (UBC FOM Digital Solutions: Ed Tech)

Edited by:

Stephen Gillis”

Dr Valerio does not have as great a voice as Dr Henri-Bhargava but this is still properly relaxing. This one belongs in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Anatomy: Introduction to your first lab

The notes state: “29 Aug 2019 New to anatomy? Not sure how to start your first lab?

One of our med students wanted to provide a simple, step-by-step guide to prep you for your first lab experience. Perfect for anyone studying anatomy!

Animations, Script, Narration by Maryam Garabedian

With Filming and Technical Support by Zachary Rothman

Subject Matter Expertise by Dr Claudia Krebs”

This is quite off-putting; I can’t imagine getting much sleep after watching this. Others may find it ok for them (the voice is certainly good enough in terms of relaxation) but dissection of a human cadaver is not really the kind of thing I want to sleep to. This will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Introduction to Refugee and Canadian Health Care

The notes state: “22 Mar 2017 Meant for refugees and new arrivals to Canada – an introduction to the Canadian Health Care System.

Written, Animated and Narrated by Maryam Garabedian

Additional Technical Support and Supervision – Zachary Rothman

Subject Matter Expertise

Dr. Mei-Ling Weidmeyer

Barbara Harvey, RN

Stacy Barry, RN

Dr. Videsh Kapoor

Project Support by Jirair Garabedian

Special Thanks to

Refugee Health Initiative

The Bridge Clinic”

This is very helpful in terms of information but is not that great in terms of slipping off to na-na-land. Therefore, it too, will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Heart Functions: Preload, Afterload, and Heart Failure (Part 1)

The notes state: “13 Feb 2014 What do dogs & frogs, rowing and rubber band sound effects have in common?

A fun and informative look deep into the human heart.

‘From Filaments’ is a basic science explanation of how the heart functions, and why it can fail. A perfect overview for first year medical students!

This podcast was supported by UBC Faculty of Medicine, MedIT Educational Technology with pedagogical support from Dr.Carol Ann Courneya and the participation of Dr. Edwin Moore.

Narration by Tahara Bhate, Carol Ann Courneya, Edwin Moore, Zachary Rothman

Edit, Audio Edit and Visuals by Zachary Rothman”

Sadly, this has a number of distracting sounds which make it unsuitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist. It’s a shame because the person narrating has a great voice. But some of the additional noises would cause a listener to wake up, rather than to start drowsing.

Heart Functions: Preload, Afterload, and Heart Failure (Part 2)

The notes state: “13 Feb 2014 What do dogs & frogs, rowing and rubber band sound effects have in common?

A fun look deep into the human heart.

‘From Filaments’ is a basic science explanation of how the heart functions, and why it can fail. A perfect overview for first year medical students!

This podcast was supported by UBC Faculty of Medicine, MedIT Educational Technology with pedagogical support from Dr.Carol Ann Courneya and the participation of Dr. Edwin Moore.

Narration by Tahara Bhate, Carol Ann Courneya, Edwin Moore, Zachary Rothman

Unfortunately, this is very like the last one and so is also unsuitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The UBC Medicine playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been listening to this playlist most nights and some of the videos that were members have now been removed. If any of your favourites are missing from that main playlist, you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than occasional intrusive noises.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

If you liked this blog item, why not subscribe to this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

For those of you who have been following the blog the subject matter will not come as any surprise or the purpose of this writing. For everyone else welcome to the blog. It exists purely to review unintentional ASMR videos, to locate the best ones and to create a playlist of those videos.

The aim is to find the most relaxing videos on YouTube (or occasionally from elsewhere) which can be used to help you drift off to sleep, get back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night, and to completely fail to disrupt your sleep due to loud music, loud equipment noises or strange contributions from the air conditioning.

This week, a video which seems to fit into the range of student assessment videos, of which, we have seen more than a few already.

The entire Channel contains fifteen videos which is way more than I usually review at one sitting. However, as you can see the longest of these is less than seven minutes, such that I may make an exception in this case.

The video is this one:

Head, Face, and Neck

It is barely longer than three minutes so it isn’t going to take long to listen to. The medical professional is Leah and it is safe to assume that it is she who owns the channel (as we shall see).

The volume track is muted and sounds distant as if being recorded under water. There is the ever-present sound of air conditioning (which we’ve heard often before).

The approach is gentle and methodical. However, there is the noise of people apparently talking in the background. This is heavily muted though and so in this specific case, is none too intrusive.

The video has no comments and it looks like it is unlikely that we will find out where it was filmed. Although posted in 2023, of course, it could have been filmed at any time.

The channel is Leah Barlow and has eighty five subscribers – which isn’t a huge number in comparison to some we have seen.

There are fifteen videos which is a large number for any single blog post. However, in overview it appears that Leah appears with a different “patient” in several of these videos. Therefore, if we stick with Leah and the patient featured in this video, we have a much more restrictive list (we can return to Leah in a future blog post).

Musculoskeletal Exam Practice

This is slightly longer at five- and three-quarter minutes but still not particularly taxing in terms of attention. It is almost identical in terms of sound with the last one. I think the patient states her name as Mackenzie and d.o.b. 2/15/01 which for those of us in the UK is 15/02/2001. However, I had a hard time making that out and the spelling is probably incorrect in any case.

Again, the presentation is muted in comparison to the background noise which includes a healthy amount of chatter coming through from adjacent rooms.

There are loud noises as footwear drops to the floor, which may cause this one to ultimately be dropped from the Procrastination Pen playlist. (Off-putting noises are the commonest reason for dropping videos into the archive list). It is not the first time I have wished that I could alter a video in order to eliminate such noises, given that a number of videos are excellent in part, and dire in another part.

At intervals there are raised (even excited) voices from an adjacent room and this proves to be quite distracting.

There are also noises from the equipment as the “patient” moves around.

Neuro Exam Practice

Just over six and a half minutes and if anything, the background noise is trying for a starring role. The video proceeds as for the two we have already reviewed. It is gentle, methodical and, background noise allowing, relatively quiet. If there was a God of air conditioning then a few sacrifices need to be made to appease him or her. There are loud equipment noises and some hilarity about the loud equipment noises. (This will probably see it dropped into the archive list). Mackenzie seems to have developed a cold as there is much snivelling and coughing.

This one is really too loud, including some quite energised chatter from an adjacent room.

There is also entertainment due to the fact that Mackenzie proves to be ticklish.

Cardiac Exam

A bit over four and a quarter minutes. There is loud knocking to start with. Mackenzie seems to say that her surname is Delavaso, but it probably isn’t that at all. The air conditioning has started playing drums for Motorhead but thankfully the background chatter has settled to the level of irritating that can be safely ignored (I think).

Thorax and Lungs Exam

Four minutes long. Loud knocking to start, as before. More loud equipment noises more air conditioning noises, but the conversationalists have decided all the loud discussions of previous videos were dreadfully rude and so a background murmur is all that can be heard.

It would be truly quite a good video if the clunks and clangs of the equipment didn’t attend every movement of Mackenzie. Not the first time equipment noises have proved to be a deal breaker for this blog though.

Cardiac Practice

A little under five minutes and the microphone is now officially inside the air conditioning outlet. The voices in this are heavily masked by the sound of forced air.

This really isn’t suitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Ear exam

Less than two and a half minutes, in other respects similar to previous videos. Leah has a good voice but the extraneous noises are at intervals off-putting or irritating.

I’m inclined to include this one, if only because it is so short.

Nose, mouth, throat exam

A bit more than four and a quarter minutes. The knocking at the start seems a little more muted but the background conversation has reasserted itself, somewhat irritatingly.

Mackenzie has an identity badge which could have told us where this is being filmed but sadly it is out of focus so I can’t make it out.

Leah seems much more hesitant in this one than the others we have seen here. There seems to be much hilarity again, so presumably both participants are uncomfortable with the process.

That’s it for this item, but I think we will be revisiting Leah in the future.

The Leah Barlow playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been working through that playlist repeatedly and some of the videos that were members have now fallen from favour. If any of your favourites are in there you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than excessive background noise.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

If you liked this blog item why not subscribe to this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Tatyana Eremina on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Having a bad day at work? Just want it to be over? Despair that you’ll ever chill enough to actually get any real sleep tonight? Welcome to The Procrastination Pen. Here the finest in inadvertent ASMR material is reviewed at intervals. Even better there is an ever-growing playlist of curated items for your delectation. And if after all that you’re still plotting ways to murder the boss in an undetectable fashion, at least you’ll get to listen to a relaxing video whilst you are doing it.

Today we have a video from a channel dedicated to health. Nothing could be more medical than that I am thinking and therefore any ASMR effects must be purely down to chance. So far so much the aim of this sequence of blog posts.

The Lung and Thorax Exam

The notes are helpful, which we often do not find: “Jessica Nishikawa demonstrates some of the techniques of the Lung and Thorax assessment.”.

We know who the professional is before we start. Comments are turned off which is a breath of fresh air after some of the nasty stuff that you sometimes see.

We start with Jessica Nishikawa DNP, FNP-BC. DNP appears to be Doctor of Nursing Practice. FNP-BC is Family Nurse Practitioner – Board Certification

Unless you follow nursing, you, like I, may not have been aware these qualifications existed.

Suffice to say a highly qualified person then, but this is not why we are here.

The background hiss which we have heard often before is present here as well. Initially I thought I was going to exclude this video from the Procrastination Pen playlist, but it soon settles down to be less obtrusive than in some of the videos I have reviewed of late.

The “patient” is McConnaugh (probably nothing like the spelling). A quick search of YouTube determines that McConnaugh appears elsewhere such that he might crop up in a future blog post.

At intervals Jessica looks off video to her right. I’m not sure if there is a person there or if she has notes about what she wishes to cover. However, you’re likely to be listening rather than watching, so it is unlikely to affect you.

This is moderately good – no Hollie Berry but still worthy of a place in the playlist I think.

The channel BilderbackHealth surprisingly has only eight videos (including the above one), so we can comfortably cover this off in one blog post.

The majority of the videos feature Jessica – there’s a couple that look like they are not going to be on theme including one on Log Cabins so it might be that six is the total we’re going to be looking at today.

The HEENT Exam Video.mov

The “patient” is Miley (the spelling may well be incorrect).

HEENT head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat.

Sclera the white of the eye.

It is great to have a medical video from a medical facility (not someone’s front room) and for the noise of air conditioning to be absent. Having got used to background noises of late, it is fantastic what a difference silence makes. I may be weeding some of the more air condition-y (new technical term) videos from the playlist going forwards.

The presentation is lovely and quiet. Positively gentle at intervals.

Definitely a Procrastination Pen playlist member I think

The Cardio Vascular / Peripheral Vascular Exam Video.mov

McConnaugh is the “patient” again

JVP – Jugular venous pressure – used to diagnose types of heart and lung disease.

Thrill – a vibration felt whilst palpating a blood vessel.

This remains consistent with the first video we looked at.

The Abdominal Exam Video.mov

Miley returns as the “patient”.

I’m not sure if this is bias but the videos featuring Miley sound to me moderately more-gentle than those featuring McConnaugh. In any case this one is consistent with the HEENT video featured previously.

The Neurological Exam

Connie is the “patient” here – somebody new. Interesting that cranial nerve one is generally not tested and yet how many of these videos have we seen in which people test coffee or even alcohol to verify that this nerve is functional (its function is for smell perception).

This is a bit more of an instructive tone than the ones that have gone before. However, it is probably indicative of the consistency of this set of videos that I even bring this up. Usually in a group of videos that I review we are lucky to have one or possibly two videos included in the playlist. In this case we very likely will include the majority of them. We have not seen that since Dr James Gill.

The Musculo Skeletal Exam

Chris is the patient this time (I’m a bit more comfortable with that spelling)

The best demonstration of abduction and adduction I’ve seen so far.

I’ve watched a number of these and have just realised that Jessica does her nursing in a set of high-heeled shoes, I have pity for her poor feet and respect for her endurance standing on her feet all day in those shoes.

Anyway, this will probably be the last time I actually watch the video (listening being the more usual approach) so this will be of no concern to me (and likely to you either).

I love the pronunciation of buttocks probably the first time I have heard it pronounced that way.

Another video the equal of the ones we have seen in this post previously.

It’s worth noting that Jessica has her own channel, which given the nature of these videos is very likely going to be the subject of an upcoming blog post.

Hand Hygiene

The guitar music is good, but in other respects this is just not the quality of those that have gone before. This is not going to be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

It also goes all funky subsequently which is just not conducive to great relaxation. (Entertaining though I’m sure it is).

Outside Log Cabins 1.16.21 with Jamie O’Brien and friends

Funky music from the outset, charming images but that isn’t why we are here. This is a poor fit for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

In general, an excellent set of videos and the largest consistent set of videos for the Procrastination Pen playlist we have seen in a while. This gives me more ammunition for ongoing weeding activity to perfect that playlist.

The Bilderback Health playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than excessive background noise.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

If you liked this blog item why not subscribe to this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

We came across Michael Koller in a previous blog post.

At the time I pointed out that he had a page dedicated to videos i.e. this one.

So far I have not tried reviewing videos which have been linked to from a web page. This is a venture into the unknown. It is not possible to add them into a playlist so this entire blog post will buck the trend of all previous blog posts on ASMR and ASMR-related videos.

The organisation of the page is impeccable, a series of links in a table. I’d guess that they are designed for education purposes.

The first video is:

Head to Toe: Male; Dr Michael Koller

There is a link to the main video entitled “Complete Video”. The video has also been divided into four parts (I’m not sure what the point of that is).

There is also a link called “Text”, this turns out to be a fourteen-page checklist. Students have a much greater memory than I have if they can memorise and utilise all of that.

The “Complete Video” link is to this video

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=BF738033-A33B-4485-BB64-D1EA41DA0C73

the quality doesn’t seem to be great and it duplicates one that we’ve already seen on YouTube so not really worthy of additional review

The “part” videos are as follows:

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=CC577FB7-1AC2-4F94-A378-726E60ED48D9

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=CACF20C8-9029-4CB3-A3BF-FBFF8B24B259

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=C063B402-0B69-4EF8-8F01-5B2C2DF81062

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=2C87865E-268E-449F-8B4A-3387936DC6E6

The quality doesn’t improve just because they are a component of the main video above. These are also quite loud for what we want.

If the tone was a bit quieter, then these might have been ideal.

I was considering asking Dr Michael Koller if he would permit me to upload the videos to YouTube so that they could be enjoyed in the normal way. However sadly he has died so I am unable to do that. As such I cannot upload them to YouTube and therefore, I cannot add them to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

I very much suspect that this is a lost branch of a website which will one day be rediscovered by the Stritch school of medicine and taken down.

For that reason, if you want to see the videos, now is probably the time to do that.

Head to Toe: Female; Dr Michael Koller

For these the only videos available are the Part1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 videos rather than a complete video.

Parts 1, 2 and 3 are secured by a Stritch logon leaving only part 4 for us to see. There is no associated text file as there is for the Head-to-Toe Male video. The reason is not obvious.

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=8B72BEC6-895D-41FC-B762-38DFA47E5121

This video is much better than any of the Head-to-Toe Male videos in that it is substantially quieter. If this video was on YouTube, it would be in the playlist. I suspect that one cannot just take other people’s videos and upload them to YouTube so I’m sorry for ASMR video fans out there who would like this to be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Head and Neck; Dr Michael Koller

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=89C34E15-DC2A-40FD-AAF2-6221B3E19EC5

In contrast to the above this video does not come in parts -only the complete video is available. In addition, the above video does not have a “Text” link but for this video a link to the text file is provided.

The text file is four pages long and is again a checklist to go with the video.

At least the music used to start this is gentle, a bit of classic guitar music. Dr Koller introduces Nancy Grecko (assuming that is how you spell that).

The sound for the video is not great – a constant background noise. It is as if the sound track had been lifted from an ancient cassette tape. We have heard background noise like this before.

Given the track is not on YouTube it will not be in a playlist, however I may have considered it if it had been.

I have made an email request to a general contact address at Stritch to see if permission will be granted for me to upload these videos to YouTube. Assuming permission is granted I will upload the videos to my channel in the future and create a playlist as I would normally do. If no such list appears you can assume no such permission was given.

At intervals there are brief snatches of narration which do not have the background noise and this is distracting in that the noise is only emphasised as a consequence.

Thorax; Dr Michael Koller

There is an associated text file, which is again a four-page checklist. There is a bit of a theme developing.

This time there is a complete video

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=F015545E-1879-46B6-B402-F389825ACB95

and two “part” videos

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=F1DBD183-D5D0-4713-AF6C-098E76C2DB1D

https://vault.lumc.edu/videos/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=12AE3142-6A52-4F1D-A067-2F98F5B62AD2

The complete video has funky start music (thanks but no thanks). The background noise is still there but just less pronounced than with the “Head and Neck” Video.

Dr Koller refers to “IPM1” in the intro this now seems to redirect to “Patient Centred Medicine 1”. I’m not clear what the Original Acronym was for although it does still form part of the URL in some cases like here: https://www.stritch.luc.edu/lumen/meded/ipm/ipm1/geninfo.htm

Dr Koller refers to this being a composite video composed of videos that are found elsewhere – my apologies if you notice some overlap (I have not done so).

This is a reasonable video. It is not truly quiet, but it could be said to be quite calm and methodical, not as good as Dr James Gill however.

Part way through, though, Dr Koller starts whacking a tambour which cannot be said to be properly restful.

The outro indicates the “patient” was Thad, assuming that is how you spell that.

A review of the “part” videos indicates that, as expected, they replicate the content of the complete video.

Pulmonary; Dr Michael Koller

Having established with reasonable assurance what the expected behaviour is i.e., the “part” videos are just bits of the complete video, I’m going to limit myself to reviewing the complete video in each case.

In this case there is a text file as before, as expected it is a checklist – this time three pages long. I think we’ve probably satisfied our curiosity about the checklists now and we can cease to review them. The complete video is here http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=F6FD6842-E2D0-46EF-8A56-1CF6D17BE36F

The two “part” videos are http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=DEA8DD0B-6C75-4FF9-B53C-8784425AA7FF and http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=75C0B723-E226-43DC-BEB4-B04050DD47D5

We are back to the classical guitar music approach to video introductions although it seems to be a bit louder than before, the inter-video volume problem reasserting itself

Dr Koller and Thad appear again. (Apologies to Thad if I am misspelling your name, happy to correct this if you let me know).

The sound is strange like there is a slight metallic tone to the voice (as if the microphone was inside a metal box). Thankfully we lack that awful background noise in this video though.

There is a set of breathing sounds on the track but (to me) these were not excessively loud and did not distract from the track in anyway. Your mileage may vary.

Again, we see the definition of egophony which we have seen before.

Heart; Dr Michael Koller

The obligatory text file (which I think we can assume now is a checklist) and the complete video supplemented with 2 “part” videos.

Complete: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=A04A60F2-B7F4-46B1-9512-3075A42A99E2

Part 1: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=04E8B771-92D5-405F-97CA-796A9295DAEF

Part 2: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=128F2A83-7ECB-43E2-8F33-32DA6F6C3F36

The complete video starts with the classical guitar music again (a bit loud this time). This video still features Dr Koller and Thad. Again, we have a slightly metallic edge to the sound.

This is very much of the quality of the previous video.

Atrial fibrillation – an irregular heartbeat.

Mediastinum an area between the lungs

Epigastrium upper central region of the abdomen

Towards the end there are various heart beat sounds but I did not find then distracting. You may have a different reaction.

Abdomen; Dr Michael Koller

This video begins with far-too-loud start music, no restful guitar music this time. It has the metallic sounding vocal track, Dr Koller and Thad as we have heard in previous videos. This really needs a better microphone, I think. If it wasn’t for this aggravating metallic echo I think this would have been quite a good video.

Complete: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=36FFE14E-6DDE-4186-93F5-17E239D611DB

Part 1: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=9A6B1293-A7AC-4BE1-B5F0-882773806144

Part 2: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=32693A4A-A3E7-4EA1-B2E7-53B8AD91DA63

Part 3: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=F1A2F47E-302F-4A18-AC24-45C935050300

This is the last Dr Michael Koller video on the site. However, there are a lot more videos with other participants.

I’ll return here in a future blog post to review the others assuming the page stays up.

Sadly, I have not created a playlist this time (I may get permission to create one in the future from Stritch perhaps).

The overall playlist of videos covered so far in this blog is here:

The archive playlist (videos which were in the overall playlist but after repeated playings it turns out that was a mistake) is here:

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function) – usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night is here:

I hope that you find them restful

If you liked this article why not subscribe to this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by FOYN on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

If you’ve wandered into the blog via a search engine then you may not have read any other articles in this series. A brief background to explain what this blog is about. The plan is to review videos for their potential for ASMR or at the very least the ability to soothe you off to sleep.

The main output is an ever-growing playlist and my unwritten contract is that this will always appear at the end of each article. The assumption is that if you just want to hear the playlist you can scroll completely through the article and take up the link at the end.

Today’s video comes from a channel that we have seen before.

The channel is MDforAll, it contains no playlists. I use playlists habitually for filtering down content (i.e., limiting the number of videos covered in any one blog post). The channel also has a large number of videos, at today’s date sixty-seven videos in fact.

In the previous blog article I decided to adopt the mechanism of featuring only those videos which all contained the same medical professional and patient together in each one. On that occasion it resulted in nine videos which was a more workable number for you to read about in that one post.

This is therefore a sensible mechanism for arriving at a sensible length blog post on this occasion as well.

A scan through the videos on this channel indicates that a number of them are way too loud for our purposes. They are designed as instruction videos and the participating medical professionals are obviously trying to project themselves. Fair enough, the videos were not designed for the purpose to which we are putting them.

Eye, Ear, Nose, & Throat Examination

In contrast this video is a nice fit. The person presenting (unnamed) is quiet throughout. The patient has little to say. The video quality isn’t exactly HD but, given we’re using it to sleep, then it is probably of little consequence. The sound is pretty good but of course accompanied by air conditioning noise. This is something we expect by now.

The video has notes but they do not tell us very much we don’t already know: “Physical Examination of The Eyes, Ears, Nose, And Throat.”

The comments reveal that other people have happened across this video for ASMR purposes, so we are certainly not the first here.

Having selected this medical professional, the number of videos featuring this person (on this channel) is now limited, to just three videos in fact.

Neck & Cardiac Examination

This continues in the same vein as the previous video. It is equally quiet and the background noise (which we are probably getting used to by now) is limited to air conditioning noises.

One of the comments indicates that this is from MSU CHM. Assuming this is accurate, this refers to Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. This has a channel on YouTube with forty-five videos in it. This channel might be worthy of future review.

At least the medical professional asks the “patient” to hold his breath rather than “stop breathing” which we have seen before this. As I commented previously slavish obedience to this instruction (if it were possible) could have very final consequences.

The heart sounds at one point in the video might prove to be a little distracting. Not least, that I think my heart beats a bit faster than this guy and yours might as well.

On balance though, I think this video is worthy of inclusion in The Procrastination Pen playlist.

Lymph Nodes & Thyroid Examination

This video is slightly louder at the start but that still does not exclude it from the Procrastination Pen playlist. The notes tell us nothing we didn’t know: “Examination of the lymph nodes”. But at least there are notes. The video fades out even as the medical professional is talking. This makes me think there was/is a longer version of this video out there somewhere.

Again, there is no identity for the medical professional listed so there is no way to check where this originated. For all we know there could be more of these. Unless a random YouTube search turns them up though, I’m afraid that this is it.

These videos have been consistent. They all belong in The Procrastination Pen playlist.

These are the only ones on the channel that feature this medical professional and this patient. From the review, I think this channel might be getting mined-out for ASMR related content but I may review it one more time to be certain.

The playlist for MDForAll (On The Procrastination Pen channel) is here:

The playlist which contains every video reviewed so far on the blog is here: (less any that have subsequently been weeded)

The playlist of videos that initially made the above playlist but after much review it was determined they didn’t really make the grade is here:

(I’ve kept them in that list in case you still find them helpful)

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop listening to log on, this interrupts the flow. You may not find this to be the case in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Any feedback is welcome.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

For newbies to the blog, a quick guide. As an old codger I am finding it increasingly difficult to sleep. After messing about for a while with different solutions, I found that a number of YouTube videos were relaxing. Even if I could not get off to sleep, they distracted me from the anxiety of realising I would be tired in the morning.

Sometimes this was enough to get to sleep. Sometimes if I woke up in the night, it was enough to get back off to sleep again. Sometimes I could content myself with lying there just watching the video.

I came across the “unintentional ASMR” category whilst searching YouTube and discovered there is a whole resource of videos which engender ASMR effects in those who are fortunate enough to feel them.

This started an idea, what if I went in search of videos that might be suitable for ASMR or at the very least be relaxing enough for sleep. What if I tried to find videos that did not appear to be listed on existing ASMR channels. I would then have a long playlist of relaxing videos and maybe some of them would not have been found by some people looking for ASMR videos.

I thought that my research may help other people – those who perhaps do not want to spend time finding relaxing videos but just want to get some sleep for goodness sake.

As I come across more videos I review them, post them up here and add the good ones to an ever-expanding playlist. Every so often I review the playlist and archive those that have not stood the test of time. Hopefully, eventually, the playlist will just consist of quality ASMR videos. I always welcome suggestions for membership/deletions.

Today’s was covered previously but in that case consisted of a compilation video (which was the following three videos somehow welded up into one. I usually dismiss these compilation videos but in this case the join was largely unrecognisable so I let it pass. After this blog article I may well be weeding out the compilation video in favour of the following (On the assumption that they are any good of course)).

NEU_General Exam – Part 1

Those who read the previous blog article will be familiar with the participants. If you haven’t read the previous blog article, I’m pleased that you are a new reader and why not go take a look.

As usual we look at the video and we look at the YouTube channel where it is found (in the hope other juicy ASMR videos might be discovered).

The channel is redbreadproductions it has fifteen videos as at today’s date and it would appear that we have snaffled the only three worthy of greater attention. Yay us and onto the review.

This video is Part One of a three-part video series

The intro helpfully tells us it is the Northeastern Physician Assistant Program 2010, which appears to be this one.

Northeastern has its own channel replete with the kind of self-promotional videos which regular readers will now be familiar with.

However I was amazed to find this one amongst them:

It is not exactly a positive endorsement but hey it is early days yet – some ASMR videos have only been up for 5 years for example.

Our video has a rather too funky intro music track – it’s a shame but not the first time we have seen this.

The intro then goes on to say “The General Physical Examination”.

The whole video is only six minutes and twenty seven seconds.

It suffers with a humongous amount of background hubbub. It seems to be extremely loud and the weighing scales even more so. Clang, bang wallop and so on.

It sounds like the examination is next to a staff canteen in which some truly hot gossip item is doing the rounds. The kind of thing where it would be tempting to open the door and yell “shut up” quite offensively only the lull would last all of half a second and then resume even more loudly.

In any case, for our purposes, this is a tad distracting especially when the background discussion descends into laughter.

The rapport between medical professional and patient is excellent so the associated noise is even more distressing.

NEU_General Exam – Part 2

Thank (pick deity of choice) the background gossiping has abated – perhaps between videos the participants went out with some duct tape and taped their mouths up. The video is just over nine minutes, so a bit longer than previously, and is so much quieter and more attentive it is like we’ve started a whole new series.

The aircon is of course a constant companion but it is almost welcome after the unwelcome additional noise of that first video.

I also like the noise of the tuning fork in this one which I have never noted before despite watching a large number of similar videos.

NEU_General Exam – Part 3

Some of the conversation has returned – a little more muted like a room full of children a fraction of a second after an adult has really screamed at them. (Just like that event – expect the noise to build and build).

However, the medical professional’s voice is truly excellent. It would be great to find further instructional videos in which she features (preferably in a quieter room). However, I have not been able to do so.

I notice she says “doing good”. I assume this must be correct although I would have thought “doing good” was being saintly and in this context I would have thought it was “doing well” i.e. in good health. I am obviously too awake whilst writing this else I would not notice things like that.

Right at the end we get thanks to Rebecca Scott, Ph.D, PA-C (I assume she was the medical professional) and Rebekah Saunders, PA-SI (I assume she was the patient)

That’s all folks. A brief one this time, so you can get back to work and stop procrastinating. More next time.

These three just barely squeeze into the playlist as the quality isn’t amazing – they may well be subject to a future weeding process.

I’ve created a NorthEastern playlist for them here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far in this blog is here:

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after lengthy review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case people have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos regarding age verification is here:

I dislike these as they require me to stop and verify my age, I cannot be bothered to do this when I am trying to sleep. You may differ, in which case this playlist is for you.

If you liked this blog article why not subscribe to this blog.

Photo by Joe Cleary on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

As I’m exploring the world of ASMR I keep stumbling upon areas that I did not know existed. This time I am exploring a new area for this sequence of blog articles.

It would appear that on some nursing courses (presumably as part of the assessment process) the students have to produce videos. I’m guessing that the course team then view these to determine how the education process has progressed. Sadly, these are not produced for ASMR purposes. However, on the upside, this does mean that there is a constant supply of them.

It merely leaves the process of trawling through them all to determine if any might make for gentle listening. Alternatively, you could leave that up to me (with your task merely being to browse a blog article once in a while).

If the browsing of a blog item is too much work, simply scroll to the end of any one of these articles to find the playlists, open one in YouTube, select shuffle, put on a set of sleep-safe headphones, lie back and let the unconsciousness take hold.

This one is from the nursing world – in fact the students featured here also feature in videos by other students. This is a rich field of material which I have no doubt will crop up numerous times in this blog.

Head-to-toe physical assessment – Sterling Freeman

Sterling Freeman here the “nurse” and Olivia Rabone the “patient”. Howard College 2019 apparently. Background air conditioning noise is something that regular readers will have come across before. It seems a hazard in a lot of medical examination videos.

I love that Sterling refers to providing “privacy” when no obvious measures were taken. This speaks of someone slavishly following some kind of checklist.

At five minutes fourteen seconds someone butts in on them – I have no idea what he says but it does interrupt the flow a bit. It’s brief though, so I’m disposed to ignore it.

This is a lovely calm medical exam, definitely Procrastination Pen playlist-eligible, I think.

The channel Sterling Luna has only six videos of which none are more recent than two years ago. There are no playlists. However with only six videos I suspect we can review them all and determine if they are playlist-worthy.

Four of the videos (including the one above) seem to feature Olivia so perhaps we will start with the remaining three of those four.

CN’s and musculoskeletal assessment – Sterling Freeman

If you’ve been reading these ASMR-based articles for a while then the process for a medical examination video is already familiar. (I wonder if ASMR fans would be able to perform one of these assessments based solely upon their viewing history).

This is equally good ASMR-wise as the last one and is going into that playlist.

Respiratory and Cardiac Assessment – Sterling Freeman

By this stage both participants seem a little tired of the steps they need to take. Olivia for example is bored with the date-of-birth question (assuming this video is in the correct order, in which case this is the third such video).

This has such a gentle approach to an exam, it is another for the Procrastination Pen playlist I think.

HEENT – Sterling Freeman

This one has the air conditioning that used to play base for Motörhead. My goodness, it is loud. However even though the video is brief you still get time to get used to the noise so I’m going to include this video in the Procrastination Pen playlist. Let me know if you disagree and I’ll remove it. It may well be subject to a future weeding process however.

NG tube insertion; enteral & parenteral complications

Olivia again. This time in somebody’s house which has the advantage that the air conditioning isn’t playing a lead role.

There isn’t much medical examination in this one. The dog decides to photo bomb at six minutes thirty nine seconds and continues to feature until six minutes fifty one seconds. I don’t see his name in the credits though which is rather unfair. Unfortunately, this one just isn’t there ASMR-wise so it will not be in the playlist.

Explaining GCS; CN, Neurovascular, and Musculoskeletal assessments

The medical exam does not kick off until four minutes thirty-one seconds the volume is all wrong – too loud. This is not a playlist candidate.

The playlist for Sterling Luna (on theprocrastinationpen channel) is here

The complete playlist of every item featured so far on this blog is here:

The archive list (containing videos which were in the main Procrastination Pen playlist but, after careful examination, were found to not be as great as when first reviewed) is here:

If you like this blog item why not follow this blog.

Photo by Christopher Ryan on Unsplash