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Stand and deliver: Health care systems need to serve up health equity missions

Terry Gallagher, DNP, APRN, Christina Manheimer, DNP, APRN, and Angela Moss, PhD, APRN

Policy

February 13, 2022

One year after the White House instated an executive order focusing on health equity and support for underserved communities, changes are in progress. But even with the positive news that the Omicron surge has peaked with the seven-day case average dropping, gaping holes in health disparities are still unanswered.

Some hospitals and health care systems such as CoxHealth have hired diversity, equity, …

9 medical student tips to prepare for the Match

Diego Razura

Education

February 13, 2022

Medical students are quickly familiarized with which specialties are most competitive when they finish their first year. The prior year’s Match statistics can make the process seem daunting. As if the enormous amount of material to be learned is not enough, students also face the anxiety of adequately preparing for a coveted residency position. There might be additional stressors for a medical student in a small city or rural area …

Eating disorders are mental health illnesses that don’t have a certain “look”

Jillian Rigert, MD, DMD

Conditions

February 13, 2022

A few days ago, I talked to a mentor and brought up my anorexia recovery journey. Using my voice after years of suffering in silence has been instrumental in releasing myself from the inner torment while trying to create purpose from the pain. When I mentioned my struggle with anorexia, the mentor responded, “How are you doing, now?” followed by one of my most dreaded comments: “I mean … You …

I am not leaving medicine because I like the clinical practice part of my job

Barbara Lazio, MD

Physician

February 12, 2022

The headlines read “Why Healthcare Workers are Quitting in Droves,” “Docs are Leaving Practice,” and “Physician burnout declared a public health crisis.” The side-gig, financial independence retire early (FIRE), and non-clinical career posts pop up in my daily professional media feeds. Believing in the power of suggestion, I wonder if I should start looking for career number two.

Start. That’s a joke. …

Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, MD: an icon in psychiatry

Courtney Markham-Abedi, MD

Physician

February 12, 2022

New Haven, West Virginia, is a small town nestled in Appalachia and located approximately eight miles from the juncture of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. Newspaper articles from the 1950s and ’60s suggest that the town’s demographic makeup and surrounding area as nearly 97 percent Caucasian.

In 1926, as commissioned by West Virginia, a psychiatric facility was opened and named The Lakin Hospital for the Colored Insane. In the tradition of …

What do physician coaches do, and what can they do for you?

Dinah Miller, MD

Physician

February 12, 2022

When was the last time someone sat down with you to talk about what you want from your career? Let me ask this differently: When was the last time someone sat down with you and listened while you talked about what you want from your career? If your answer is yesterday, or last week, or last month, or anytime in the last year, and you love what you do without …

Farmer Jesty’s bold experiment

Rod Tanchanco, MD

Conditions

February 12, 2022

An excerpt from First Patients: The incredible true stories of pioneer patients.

Unfazed by the village doctors’ refusals, the parish deacon forged ahead. Dr. Andrew Bell–preacher, educator, and doctor, possessed the temper and energy of a combustion engine. Nothing would stop him from carrying out his plan to vaccinate the three …

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Farmer Jesty’s bold experiment

Physician informatics and the chief medical information officer [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 11, 2022

This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring.

“At the beginning of my time as a CMIO, I needed to remain clinical to build camaraderie with my colleagues. This proved essential as the health system was going through a transition to …

Why is the world’s first universal coronavirus vaccine not in the FDA’s toolbox?

Tayson DeLengocky, DO

Conditions

February 11, 2022

Success in any project is based on using the right tool for the job. No tool would be more effective in the campaign against COVID than Covaxin, which has shown its value in India and other markets during recent months.

While mRNA vaccines were a promising option in the early stages of the pandemic, a study released by the CDC on January 19, 2022 showed that in two of the most …

An update on COVID’s long tail

Susan Levenstein, MD

Conditions

February 11, 2022

What’s the problem?

Anthony Fauci, MD, has said: “Virtually everybody is going to wind up getting exposed and likely get infected.” There’s one reason to avoid this scenario: long COVID.

If Omicron is sooner or later going to infect even just “more than 50 percent,” how many will get long COVID? We can’t know yet, the variant having appeared just three months ago. Hopefully, this …

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An update on COVID’s long tail

What doctors need to know about psychedelic medicine

Lynn Marie Morski, MD, JD

Meds

February 11, 2022

Frustration.

If you’ve treated patients with PTSD, I’m guessing that both you and your patients have experienced frustration at numerous points along the treatment course. And it’s understandable – up until this point, the efficacy of PTSD treatments has been notoriously poor. The best options aimed to diminish the severity of symptoms with a combination of therapy and daily medications.

However, the …

Reflections of a critical care doctor after 2 years of COVID

Rizwana Khan, MD

Physician

February 11, 2022

COVID has been with us for two years. I have written my reflection during the pandemic periodically to vent, share and disseminate information. But I have felt at a loss for words in the last few months. I am exhausted, emotionally drained and bereft.

Critical care docs are resilient. We train to serve the sickest patients. We are used to making decisions in split seconds. Lives depend on us, and we …

Don’t be in a hurry to fast

Karla Lester, MD

Conditions

February 11, 2022

There is a lot of confusion and outright falsehoods about fasting. You can search the internet for clarity and end up more confused than when you started.

The fact is, fasting can be a very effective tool to improve your metabolic health, increase insulin sensitivity and help you lose weight. But, who should and shouldn’t use fasting for weight loss and how long to fast for effective weight loss are questions …

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Don’t be in a hurry to fast

A crushing blow in a workplace I loved

Eve Makoff, MD

Physician

February 10, 2022

My gut churned, a burning rose into my chest as I read the email. It’s happening again repeated on a reel in my mind, followed by I need to leave this job. But I wasn’t quitting. I was triggered. It was years after I’d had the rug pulled out from under me at an institution where I’d spent decades working, but sometimes my nervous system sent me right back there.

I was a palliative …

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A crushing blow in a workplace I loved

Stop “shoulding” all over yourself

Michael Hersh, MD

Physician

February 10, 2022

The first time I heard the phrase “shoulding all over yourself,” I laughed. As a gastroenterologist, I have a particular affinity for poop jokes. It might not be obvious when you read the phrase, but say it out loud, and you will hear it. I think the phrase also caught me off guard. I didn’t understand the significance of the word should. It just seemed like an ordinary word in …

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Stop “shoulding” all over yourself

5 topics I don’t want to read about in 2022 (but I probably will anyway)

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

February 10, 2022

As 2021 passed into 2022, I was hoping new stories would emerge and dominate the medical landscape. So, I did a bit of crowdsourcing on social media and among colleagues. Here are five topics I’d like to read less about — if for no other reason than they’ve been discussed and vented ad nauseam with little likelihood of resolution unless words give way to meaningful action.

COVID-19

We’re rapidly approaching the three-year …

You are a servant with a servant heart

Andy Lamb, MD

Physician

February 10, 2022

As I was preparing for my next medical mission, I began to think about the word “minister.” Obviously from a religious standpoint, it has certain connotations, one of which is “to serve”. When you are ministering to someone’s needs, you are serving them.

This caused me to think of my dear friend in Nepal, Fahad. Fahad is a young Muslim physician with whom I had the privilege of serving and working …

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You are a servant with a servant heart

Solving the low-acuity emergency department problem

Dillon Mercado

Policy

February 9, 2022

Before I worked as a medical scribe, I didn’t realize how many mildly ill people visited the emergency department (ED). In my first few weeks, though, I learned that patients with minor complaints, such as sprains, cavities, rashes, and common cold symptoms, actually present to the ED quite often – often enough that the hospital where I worked had to dedicate an entire 12-bed wing to them. In most EDs, …

The business of medicine creates a culture where doctors aren’t allowed to rest

Laurel Kilpatrick, MD

Physician

February 9, 2022

When I was in the fourth grade, I left school early one day unbeknownst to anyone. I misread my watch when the teacher was switching subjects, and she stepped out of the room for a minute. I thought it was 12:05 — time for lunch. I gathered my bag, walked out of the school, and stood by my mom’s car waiting for her to take me home for lunch. No …

How strong policies can improve guardianship

Alyson O’Daniel, PhD

Policy

February 9, 2022

Millions of Americans each week watch as fictional television matriarch Rebecca Pearson, in the NBC-TV series, “This Is Us,” struggles with frustrations of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and fear of an unknown health future. In the coming decades, millions more will experience this in real life.

Guardianship — or the care and legal control over another person’s life —may become one of the biggest issues of the next three …