World events have me thinking about boundaries. Countries have boundaries. Often they are based on the land’s physical features, but not always. Boundaries are created over time and may need to change for various reasons. So too with our personal human boundaries.
When we speak of personal boundaries, we can mean the physical boundaries of our skin. Or we may mean the psychological or social boundaries that we live with and …
You have the right to boundaries
Several years ago, I stood before an audience at a neurosurgical conference to discuss my book The Lobotomist, a biography of Walter Freeman, MD, an advocate and promoter of the controversial treatment of lobotomy.
I gave my talk, and it went well. I am not a physician — I’m a journalist and biographer who often writes about medicine, and I feel comfortable speaking at medical conferences, grand rounds sessions and medical …
A few years ago, my rural town expected the addition of a “J-1,” or foreign, physician. This addition was meant to alleviate the work of my father, who had been the only neurologist at our underserved hospital for the past few years. And yet, with this J-1’s arrival, my father and his office soon found themselves struggling with more work than ever before.
As many rural physicians can attest, this behavior …
The J-1 work exemption: a flawed solution to the physician shortage
The leaked Supreme Court draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has produced mixed emotions, including amongst health care providers. If the Supreme Court does indeed strike down the rights afforded women in Roe v. Wade almost 50 years ago, it is expected that many if not most states will ban abortions outright or significantly limit women’s access to abortions. If this occurs, as physicians, we should have …
Women’s mental health in an America without Roe
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.
Recent data from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has shown a sharp increase in drug-related overdoses attributed to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, deepening the tragedies of the already challenged opioid epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic.
Unraveling the snowball effect of these public health …
3 solutions to combat rising drug overdoses during COVID-19
Primary care is a field that is both highly rewarding and highly challenging. Those who enter into it quickly find that they are rewarded with the satisfaction of knowing they are playing a vital role in the lives of their patients. However, they also soon realize the immense responsibility of the job. There are always more patients that need to be seen, more phone calls that need to be returned, …
Physicians owe it to themselves to take care of their health and families first
Misinformation and public distrust of health care professionals are a daily hazard affecting the health of millions of people. So what can health care professionals do about it?
A new study shows 37% of millennials, or those ages 25 to 34 years old, do not trust their health care providers. The age groups from 35 to 54 years old show 34% distrust their health care providers. At 65 …
Trust me, not the internet: Millennials need solid medical information
“Have you ever wondered how many times death has not come, but could have? On the corner of Church Street and Dubuque how close was I, pausing to assess an ice-sheeted puddle just before a woman turns, her head turned too, searching for what? A snack? A phone? A child crying? …
Residency interviews and the inner muse [PODCAST]
Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine published “Oral Health for All — Realizing the Promise of Science,” authored by some of the most respected officials in dentistry and medicine, including the U.S. Surgeon General. They declared the pressing need to address the “global public health threat” of inequitable dental care. With a surprisingly populist title, it was refreshing for a public health dentist to see a …
Oral health is justice for all
Patients need access to their health care data and health care consumers need access to their health care information. Data and information are not the same. Data is akin to the ingredients for a meal, while information is more like the meal. Imagine ordering a meal in a restaurant. The wait staff brings the ingredients to your table. You still need a chef to prepare the dinner. This is much …
Patient platforms should be intuitive in design and execution
In 2017, I was medically discharged from the military due to an exacerbation of an eating disorder. At that time, anorexia nervosa (AN) provided relief from the depression that I had developed secondary to the multitude of stressors that came with being in the Air Force and an oral and maxillofacial surgery resident. Years later, I have made major career pivots to regain my health. However, military and medical culture …
Military and medicine: 10 shared risk factors for eating disorder development
“Oh no, it’s a doctor hopper. You know who I’m talking about: the patients with twenty previous doctors documented in their chart. The ones who took years to be diagnosed. The ones who still have not been diagnosed, but insist something is wrong. They’re just jumping around until they get their …
A patient explains the reasons behind doctor hopping [PODCAST]
I will tell you why health care professionals feel they need to be superhuman, without needs or vulnerabilities.
Because that is who we want to be, why we got into the field, and then our training reinforces those very ideas. We exist to take care of others, not be taken care of.
I am a health care professional. I also struggle with major depressive disorder (MDD) as well as an eating disorder. …
Our vulnerabilities, when treated and acknowledged, can become our biggest strength
Our profession often sends the message that we are invincible heroes.
Here’s my vulnerable and honest admission: I lapped that up. There was something so seductive about denying pesky human requirements, like sleep, regular exercise, and time to decompress. I liked being needed more than I liked having needs.
I sublimated mine under my superhero cape right up until the time I hit a kryptonite wall. There …
We are humans first and inspiring, gifted healers second
It started as the “Chinese virus.” Then the “kung flu.” Then came the boycotts of Chinatowns, the rise in harassment, assaults, and murders. The recognition of hate and discrimination against Asian Americans was long overdue. However, anti-Asian racism doesn’t just manifest in hate speech or violence; it has undermined the U.S. COVID-19 policy response.
In 2020, American media narratives frequently painted Asian nations’ success in controlling COVID-19 as the result of …
Naming the anti-Asian racism of U.S. COVID-19 policy
This spring, in my culminating semester of PA school, I took a course entitled “Health Care Delivery Systems.” After 30-something months, the end was in sight, and I was not particularly excited for another serious class while I was wrapping up rotations, studying for my boards, and writing my master’s paper.
However, as soon as I started working on the class assignments, I realized this class might deserve a higher rank …
A specific way to improve our health care delivery system
Like many fellow Americans, I had my first psychedelic experience in the middle of the pandemic, in a place where the use of psychedelics is decriminalized.
I grew up in a Communist country, and the ban and stigma against psychedelics were tremendous. There was no plant medicine available, and I didn’t know even one person using anything other than alcohol and prescription drugs.
I read Michael Pollan’s book How …
Are psychedelics the heroes or villains?
In this episode, we talk with writer Dustin Grinnell. He takes us behind the scenes on his ideas for his books, his research process, and how he brings medical stories to life. We also delve into the realm of speculative fiction, and how that intersects with medicine, technology, and ethical dilemmas.
Inside the mind of a medical novel writer [PODCAST]
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.
As leaders in patient safety, anesthesiologists are committed to improving patient care and positively impacting the experiences of expectant mothers to ensure the health and safety of mom and baby. Along with primary health care providers, anesthesiologists are available to help expectant …
All mothers deserve to give their newborns the best start in life
The 2022 Medscape poll on physician burnout confirms what has been painfully obvious to doctors on the frontlines of COVID-19: Their burnout is intensifying.
According to the survey of 13,000 doctors, the nation’s most burned-out physicians are those in emergency medicine (60%) and critical care (56%). Medscape, a leading health care publication, describes burnout as “long-term, unresolvable job-related stress that leads to exhaustion, cynicism, and …
Gender inequality is making burnout worse
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