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The true cost of being uninsured in America

Policy

February 8, 2019

In a New York Post article dated January 23, 2019, the author states how Americans without health care insurance hit 13.7 percent. This 2.8 percent increase means an additional seven-million Americans lack health coverage as noted by the Gallup survey period.

This is not far behind the 18 percent recorded just before the Obamacare mandate in 2014.

Everyone is blamed in this article except the culprits. Do you think for one moment …

6 resources on the power of narrative medicine

Jennifer Lycette, MD

Physician

February 8, 2019

When I first turned to writing, I had no knowledge of the field of narrative medicine.

It took four years of medical school, three years of residency, three years of subspecialty fellowship and over a decade in practice before I learned of it. (That’s more than 20 years, for those counting.)

Throughout, I’ve struggled to hold fast to my core belief that the key to patient care is to allow the telling …

What is your passion in medicine?

Stephanie Wellington, MD

Physician

February 7, 2019

We don’t talk much about passion in medicine anymore.

What is your passion for medicine? What was it that sparked your initial desire to pursue this career instead of another? What is the impact you are called to make as a doctor?

I was speaking with a friend who is not in medicine and asked why he picked his chosen field. He is knowledgeable and skilled at many different things. He admitted …

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What is your passion in medicine?

Radiation oncologists aren’t just strangers in the basement

Mudit Chowdhary, MD

Physician

February 6, 2019

“We have a consult for radiation oncology regarding a 60-year-old gentleman with a history of lung cancer and is currently admitted. His oncologist is Dr. Heme Onc.”

As a new radiation oncology resident, I was surprised to hear the consulting physician refer to the patient’s medical oncologist as “his oncologist.” What about the patient’s radiation oncologist? Indeed, I remembered the patient well: he was diagnosed with Stage IIIB non-small cell lung …

Compassion, respect, and camaraderie are keys to fight physician depression

Audris Bol, MD

Physician

February 6, 2019

My story starts like most individuals who enter into medical training. I had the dream that being a physician was my life calling to bring physical healing to others. While I did gain medical knowledge and skills, I also unintentionally developed a jaded mentality. I was quickly introduced to the reality of medical culture in which public embarrassment from “pimping” (a series of difficult intentionally unanswerable questions posed to medical …

How to say “no” to kids

Jennifer Trachtenberg, MD

Physician

February 6, 2019

Do you feel like you’re always saying “no” to your child and not getting the response from them that you are looking for? Do you end up repeating yourself over and over, so frustrated you begin to yell or just given in to your toddler’s demands? Unfortunately, I hear this way too often from moms, so I wanted to give some tips on the art of saying “no” that will …

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How to say “no” to kids

How an insurance company auditor tried to destroy a physician’s career

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

Physician

February 6, 2019

It’s no secret that in today’s health care market, insurance companies are calling the shots. As a pediatrician in private practice for almost two decades, I’ve seen insurance companies transform into perhaps the single most powerful player in today’s health care landscape — final arbiters whose decisions about which procedures or medications to authorize effectively end up determining the course of patient care.

Decisions made by insurers, such as MassHealth, have …

Practice at the top of your license: What does that really mean?

Philip A. Masters, MD

Physician

February 5, 2019

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

Much has been discussed in recent years around the concept of “practicing at the top of your license.” But what does this really mean?

The most common definition is that each medical professional’s routine activities should utilize the full extent of their education, training, …

2 questions every physician should ask themselves

Lisa Herbert, MD

Physician

February 5, 2019

The numbers are in. Medscape National Physician Burnout, Depression & Suicide Report 2019 indicates that the rate of physician burnout is still at an all-time high. Forty-four percent of physicians reported feeling burnt out.

According to the report, 50 percent of women reported experiencing burnout versus 38 percent of men. Carol Bernstein, MD, a psychiatrist at NYU Langone Medical Center, states that the reasons for the difference …

It’s time to update the stethoscope

Davinder Ramsingh, MD

Conditions

February 5, 2019

Perhaps the most important aspect of a physician’s role is our diagnostic capabilities. Truly, if we cannot identify and diagnose a patient’s pathology with reasonable accuracy, we cannot effectively treat them and may even cause greater harm.

Let’s look back. The year is 1816, and you are a physician evaluating a patient with shortness of breath. The common practice of the time was direct auscultation by placement of the practitioner’s ear …

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It’s time to update the stethoscope

Why would any woman discourage a man’s advocacy or support?

Agnieszka Solberg, MD

Physician

February 4, 2019

A male interventional radiologist who is active in the #HeForShe campaign recently told me that he is being pressured to stop advocating for women. My first instinct was the biggest sigh and eyeroll of my life followed by thoughts of locker room peer pressure and boys’ club type discussions.

But the criticism did not just come from men; many women are asking him to stop. That they don’t need a knight …

How physicians can use Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method

Dewan Farhana, DO

Physician

February 2, 2019

Marie Kondo, the best-selling guru of organization and “sparking joy” has established the foundation of getting a space organized and functional. Her do-it-all-once method, known as the KonMari Method, is considered healthy and life-altering for those seeking organization and productivity in their space. One of the ideal places to organize is the home office especially for doctors, nurses and medical professionals who have reading, studying and research to do. You …

How to write a physician CV

Health eCareers

Physician

February 2, 2019

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com.

Academic and education environments tend to use the word curriculum vitae, or CV, more frequently than resume. But, a CV’s purpose is the same: to get you a job.

Although a CV generally contains more information than a standard resume, the keys to a successful CV are still brevity and …

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How to write a physician CV

A physician’s addiction to social media

Amanda Xi, MD

Social media

February 1, 2019

For Apple iPhone users, the release of iOS 12 included a new feature called “Screen Time.” Although a number of productivity apps that offered a similar snapshot of phone usage were available before this update, I was never interested in quantifying my usage. Now, on a weekly basis, I get a reminder of the exact percentage breakdown of how I’m using my phone.

In true millennial fashion, a review of my …

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A physician’s addiction to social media

Direct primary care physicians are not concierge doctors

Rebekah Bernard, MD

Physician

February 1, 2019

I recently received a scathing email criticizing an article I wrote about the care of patients in underserved areas. “Should you really even get to write articles about poor, underserved populations when you run a concierge practice?” the author wrote. “This is called hypocrisy. You are what is wrong with the medical field.”

What the author of this email didn’t know was that I spent six years working for the underserved …

How to talk with a struggling physician colleague

Elisabeth Poorman, MD

Physician

February 1, 2019

My friend, Lello Tesema, and I were sitting in a restaurant in Harvard Square. It was the first, feverish bit of spring when it seems like the entire city has emerged en masse from their winter dens. We were sitting outside under patio lights, wearing regular clothes instead of our usual scrubs. I should have been happy.

As often happened in those days, I asked Lello if things were ever going …

Reflections after a medical student’s first code blue

Danielle Verghese

Education

February 1, 2019

We were in the middle of the morning routine – sign out between mouthfuls of eggs and homefries – when the call came in overhead, “Code Blue, 9 West. Code Blue, 9 West.” Just like that, our team snapped into action, the continued banter only thinly concealing a change in demeanor: backs straight, jaws set, we walked with a sense of purpose. There was a life on the line.

By the …

Why medical students should develop and increase self-awareness

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

Education

January 31, 2019

The most important piece of advice I can give to incoming medical students is to be vigilant about how you are feeling day-to-day and to be aware of your actions. As is often said, our personalities, the distinctive makeup that makes us who we are, are set in stone. If you are a mindful person, you’ll stay that way even as you get older. If you are someone who likes …

The growing role of end-of-life activists

Jennifer Lynn

Conditions

January 31, 2019

Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with grade 2 astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer on January 1, 2014, her cancer also returned in April 2014, where her diagnosis was elevated to grade 4 astrocytoma, also known as glioblastoma, with a prognosis of just six months to live. She decided to take lethal drugs prescribed by her physician to end her life on November 1, 2014, at her home in Portland, Oregon. Under Oregon’s “Death …

The problem with abbreviations in the medical record

Fred N. Pelzman, MD

Physician

January 28, 2019

Several patients seen in our practice recently were significantly and dramatically transformed by the electronic health record (EHR). And not in a good way.

Take, for instance, the patient whose outside chart was reviewed when she showed up in our office for a follow-up appointment after an emergency department visit.

The notes from the emergency department providers, including a scribe and the …