Dr. Bryan Vartabedian (on Twitter as @Doctor_V) posted to his blog the narrative of a Grand Rounds presentation he gave in which he focused on the risks and benefits of physicians’ use of social media.
The post is long, but provides an overview of Dr. V’s approach to social media. If you review his blog, you will see that this post (and the related presentation) neatly summarizes …
Physician online professionalism in social media
An interview by MedCrunch with Ashley Wendel, MA, CMC, PDC, a Physician Executive Coach and Healthcare Organization Consultant dedicated to helping physicians create meaningful and sustainable change that positively impacts their professional lives.
MC: Thank you so much Ashley for your time!
Ashley: Thank you, I’m really happy to share anything I can.
MC: You are a physician coach, what are the most common problems you encounter in your practice?
Ashley: Well, for many …
Advice for doctors who want to change careers
Recently, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that all star defensive stalwart Chris Pronger has been shut down for the rest of the NHL season with what the team has described as “post-concussive syndrome”. Pronger joins Pittsburgh Penguin superstar Sidney Crosby, teammate and NHL leading scorer Claude Giroux, and Ottawa Senator forward and NHL second leading scorer Milan Michalek out of action due to concussion. To list every star player currently on the …
The phenomenon of concussions in professional sport
An excerpt from What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease.
The symptoms of kidney disease don’t show up until you’ve lost most of your kidney function. That’s when you’ll experience the fatigue that’s not always a result of anemia, the muscle cramps that usually – but not always – present themselves in your calves, nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, easy bruising, itching and the shortness of …
Chronic kidney disease from a patient perspective
I got home recently after a 14 hour day in the operating room with (predictably) a pair of really tired feet, which lead me to think about shoes, foot rubs, and the fact that no one ever talked to me about this in my training.
What kind of shoes should you wear in the hospital?
There’s a lot of walking in the hospital, but there’s even more standing. Running shoes don’t provide …
What kind of shoes should you wear in the hospital?
When tragedy strikes, one looks for comfort in many places. When traditional resources–relatives, physicians, clergy members–do not completely satisfy, one may reach out for comfort from unexpected places. Increasingly, people turn to online health and wellness support communities.
My family’s tragedy occurred when my father suffered a Sudden Cardiac Arrest, or SCA, in 2010. As I watched him lay lifelessly on life-support in that hospital bed, the man who was undoubtedly …
Overcoming tragedy requires a team
Throughout my career in oncology, I thought I was communicating difficult concepts to patients and families relatively well. Recently, my wife and I visited our daughter in Salt Lake City over Thanksgiving. Catherine is an extremely accomplished blogger and video broadcaster. So when she commented on my blogs, I paid attention. Her (constructive) criticism was my use of some medical terminology which she didn’t understand. More surprising to me was …
Understanding the process of cancer metastasis
As doctors, we have pills to treat infections and high cholesterol. We have scalpels to replace hips and open clogged arteries. But beyond pills and scalpels, what tools do we have? Walking out of the doctor’s office without a prescription is a rare occurrence these days. And the famous surgeon tagline has always been “a chance to cut is a chance to cure.” We see people when they’re sick and …
Being a good doctor is more than writing prescriptions
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 67-year-old man is evaluated in the emergency department for confusion and agitation secondary to malignant hypertension. Initial blood pressure is 230/130 mm Hg, and funduscopic examination reveals papilledema.
He is admitted to the intensive care unit, and therapy with nitroprusside by continuous infusion is begun; the …
MKSAP: 67-year-old man with confusion, agitation, and malignant hypertension
“I’ve been a fighter all my life,” said my new patient, a middle aged man with thinning hair, a worried wife, and a dismal prognosis. He had worked all his life as a plumber with no health insurance. When he was healthy, it was okay. But now he was sick.
I was meeting him for the first time in the community health center where I work as a family physician, tending …
The positive effects of palliative care on quality of life
One will find many examples of precaution and their corresponding examples of risk in how medical care is provided by physicians and accepted by patients. In fact, not only do these two elements correspond but at times the price, itself, of precaution becomes the risk.
Risk is everywhere in medical practice. Risk is present when a patient is selecting a physician. The risk is becoming the patient of a doctor whose …
Balancing precaution and the apparent risk in medicine
This year, nearly 4 million of you visited KevinMD.com.
Thank you.
I’m humbled that so many of you find the time during the day to visit the site and participate in the discussion that often ensues.
As our health care world dramatically changes around us, it’s important that medical professionals have a say in the process. KevinMD.com provides an influential platform for your voice, and I will continue to do my best to …
2011 KevinMD posts of the year
Incredible innovative and entrepreneurial skills have led to many new techniques and technologies in medicine. Some are both disruptive of the old way of doing things. Others are transformational. Over the next few weeks I will review some of those that I believe are among the most disruptive and transformational. Medical simulation is such an advance. It is dramatically transforming the way medicine, especially medical procedures, are taught and it …
Simulation is a disruptive and transformational technology in medicine
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Cancers of the tongue and throat, all categorized as oropharyngeal cancers, are appearing at an epidemic rate.
The old paradigm is that such cancers most often occur in older men who drink and smoke. But this is no longer true. Now the most common cause of cancer of the tonsil and tongue is human papillomavirus (HPV). That’s right, the sexually transmitted disease. And it is occurring in ever younger people …
Human papillomavirus and the risk of oropharyngeal cancer
I have been using electronic health records now for over 10 years. Like most physicians who have used EHRs, I would not ever go back to a paper-based medical record.
Having said that, it is important to recognize some of the potential problems created by some EHR products. One potential pitfall of some EHRs is the number of steps it takes to find information that is in the system. Yes, it …
Solving information overload in the EHR
With paper exam notes, the doctor and staff record information and the note reflects what they recorded. Unfortunately, EHR based notes may not be as direct.
Many EHR systems store the information that you enter in one way, and offer a variety of presentation and reporting options. The ability of the EHR to offer multiple presentation options is a powerful tool. For example,
You may generate an exam note, referral form, and a …
Why your EHR note may not be accurate
The principle of autonomy is one of the four guiding principles of medical ethics, the others being beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. It means that patients have the right to decide what is done to their own bodies. For children under eighteen, the age of majority, this means their parents decide for them. What happens when parents refuse a treatment that their child’s doctors recommend? (The right of a minor child …
Is ethical for parents to refuse surgical treatment for their child?
During my first week on a pediatric outpatient clinic as a third year medical student, I spent an average of 140 minutes caring for each patient. Looking back at that first week, the amount of time I spent with each patient ranged from a “brief” 79-minute visit to one whopper 188-minute visit where I reviewed several journals in the workroom and sought two attending physician opinions to be completely sure. …
The value of continuity of care is priceless
What is your personal experience with MRIs? Was your last one fun? How much did it cost whoever paid for it? Did it make a real difference in your outcome?
I am a 78-year-old American man in robust general health and with good comprehensive health insurance all my adult life and I have never had an MRI.
Until 2010, I had also never had a CT scan. And I’m proud of that.
Why …
I’m proud that I’ve never had an MRI or CT scan
Dear United States House of Representatives and Senate:
I really hope that you enjoy your Christmas break going back home to your families. While you’re home, I really hope that you will hear from those constituents who will be affected by the 27.4 percent Medicare physician pay reduction that is schedule to take effect January 1st. I really hope that the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association, …
The patient reality of a Medicare payment cut
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