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Physicians fight from the social media frontlines

Conditions and Diseases

November 21, 2020

As of November 2020, there are about 11.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,50,000 deaths from COVID-19 disease in the USA. Conspiracy theories thrive in times of great uncertainty, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a petri dish for them. Misinformation regarding the usage of masks, vaccine safety, and other pseudoscientific theories are thriving on the internet.

Many doctors, nurses, and other health care …

The 5 “P’s” of a pandemic

Anupama Verma, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 21, 2020

Math was never my favorite subject. However, I was lucky to have good teachers who took the time to help me navigate through high school math and graduate with a final A grade. As I struggled with numbers and equations, calculus and fractions, I was told by one particular teacher to remember the five Ps of math: pen, pencil, paper, patience, and practice.

As of writing this, more than 11 million …

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The 5 “P’s” of a pandemic

The ibuprofen COVID-19 paradox

Amy G. Schade, PA-C

Conditions and Diseases

November 21, 2020

With the surge of information surrounding COVID-19 released in the news this year, an interesting concern arose regarding ibuprofen’s use in patients with COVID-19. In March of 2020, French authorities were the first to investigate anecdotal reports of severe COVID-19 infection in patients who had taken ibuprofen.

The initial concern involved the ACE-2 receptor. The theoretical concern was that NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen might …

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The ibuprofen COVID-19 paradox

How physicians should invest in Bitcoin

Noah Kaufman, MD

Physician Finance

November 21, 2020

As doctors, we carry more educational debt than most other professionals. We want to enjoy a nice lifestyle for our efforts, so we buy nice houses and spend our money. To make our hard work and sacrifices worthwhile, we have to invest our earnings to keep up with inflation.

Choosing how to invest our money is full of risk. One under-appreciated risk that we face — even if diversified — is …

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How physicians should invest in Bitcoin

Psychoanalysis for physician wellness

Francis Yoo, DO

Conditions and Diseases

November 20, 2020

“Physician burnout” and “physician wellness” are now ubiquitous terms in the health care profession. For example, the ACGME’s common program requirements for residency now have an entire section dedicated to “well-being.” In addition to the numerous avenues currently available for physicians to improve their own wellness, I would also like to propose psychoanalysis as an option to consider by sharing my own journey as an analysand (person undergoing psychoanalysis) with …

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Psychoanalysis for physician wellness

End-of-life conversations: Why physicians should embrace the responsibility

Caroline DeFilippo, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 20, 2020

Like most situations that physicians encounter in their work, end-of-life conversations are not easy and require preparation and training. Yet these patient discussions are among the most satisfying I’ve experienced in my career because they’ve made me feel that I’ve made a true difference, offering comfort and a certain level of control to patients and families who are enduring difficult decisions.

Throughout my years as a practicing internist, I’ve had dozens …

Is it safe to see family over Thanksgiving? And other holiday pandemic tips.

Allison Ashford, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 20, 2020

I received so many messages from my last post, and I figured it would be useful to perhaps answer some of them for all to see.

Is it safe to see family over Thanksgiving?

Yes. If you live with them. That’s it. The only potentially safe alternative is requiring guests to self-quarantine at home for two weeks prior. Unfortunately, it’s already less …

A physician talks to his retired colleagues

Richard Plotzker, MD

Physician

November 20, 2020

After I retired, our regional medical center realized they had accumulated scores of physicians of major capability and stellar professional reputation whose careers had either concluded or entered their closing years. Though I had retired from a different institution, I had been on staff there for twenty years, so they graciously absorbed me into their newly created senior physicians advisory group. Its purpose and activities remain in evolution with periodic …

Forgetting mental health is a miss for the Biden COVID-19 task force

Jennifer Piel, MD, JD

Health Policy

November 20, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden revealed on November 9, 2020, the members of his COVID-19 task force. His swift announcement of the task force clarifies that addressing the health and economic problems related to COVID-19 is his immediate priority.

The president-elect has assembled an advisory team of medical experts. The team, which includes an impressive list of scientists, physicians, and public health leaders, is absent a vital voice: the mental health professional.

Although some …

The cost of avoiding cost: a medical student’s perspective

Palak Patel

Health Policy

November 19, 2020

My first meeting with a therapist was a success: she specialized in type-A personalities, was transparent about her eclectic approach, and her office – on the bottom floor of a converted San Francisco townhouse – felt somewhere still and safe, a purple-carpeted hideaway in the belly of the Earth.

On the train out of the city, I watched my reflection melt in and out of the glass: I was a person …

The quiet death of confidence

Kellie Lease Stecher, MD

Physician

November 19, 2020

Have you ever walked into a hospital before shift change in the early morning hours? The lights are dimmer, there is scarce staff walking to their floors, and people are counting the minutes until the new staff comes. Most staff exist in this survival mode to get to the arrival of the new nurses. Sometimes you can even smell the burned coffee sitting on the bottom of the coffee maker. …

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The quiet death of confidence

Using the COVID experience to build durable relationships with my patients

Judy Hayek, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 19, 2020

“As you know, his condition has been worsening dramatically over the past week. He is unable to breathe without the non-rebreather since last night. Today may be a good time for a goodbye visit.” I told the family of my COVID-19 positive patient who was DNR/DNI (Do not resuscitate/do not intubate).

In my second year of residency in obstetrics and gynecology, I thought that the days of caring for a male …

We are again at war with another unseen enemy

Andy Lamb, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 19, 2020

February 24, 1991, and I wait. I wait on the edge of my cot under the pitched canopy of my far-away canvas home; its sides pulsating from the ever-present wind; sand somehow traversing the walls, everything inside airbrushed a pastel tan; outside the surrounding Saudi Arabian desert limitless in all directions. The winds of war have been blowing, and the time has come. There are 10 of us inside the …

The long months of winter are coming. Will we be ready?

Katarzyna Falkowska, DO

Conditions and Diseases

November 18, 2020

As cases of COVID-19 sore around the nation, the days of New York as the epicenter of the pandemic have become a distant memory for this emergency room doctor. Did the government really once send us refrigerated trucks for our dead and a naval ship for our sick? Did we really sit masked, goggled, and wrapped in plastic while sweating out shift after shift surrounded by coughing, gasping coronavirus infected …

Advice to aspiring medical students on work-life balance

Kelly G. Elterman, MD

Physician

November 18, 2020

I recently met a student and aspiring surgeon who asked me if I was happy with anesthesiology and a career in medicine in general. I told him that aspiring to medicine is wonderful and that while I am indeed happy with my career choice, it does come with daily challenges, both professional and personal. This led to a discussion of work-life balance, particularly with regard to family life, in which …

The problem with allowing COVID-positive health care workers to continue working

Sheetal Khedkar Rao, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 18, 2020

On November 9th, the governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, decided to allow hospital workers with COVID-19 to continue to come to work. He required that they be asymptomatic and that they only work on COVID-19 wards with COVID-19 patients. Given at-capacity hospitals and skyrocketing case counts in that state, health care workers (HCW) had asked state leadership to take extraordinary measures to curb disease spread. HCW were (and are) …

Medicine for the soul: Harness the power of the humanities to counteract burnout

Jacqueline Huntly, MD, MPH

Physician

November 18, 2020

Concern that the scientific growth of medicine has come at the expense of the art of medicine is not new. However, should we consider that not only does this impact the quality and practice of medicine, but might it also contribute to the rampant burnout in physicians? Does a narrow focus on the linear, scientific thinking that characterizes medical education and training mean that physicians are more vulnerable to the …

Weighing the ethics of paternalism and autonomy

Courtney Markham-Abedi, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 17, 2020

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is a quote by George Santayana.

It rings true in so many facets of life and medicine. In my career in psychiatry, I have held fast to this treatise.

Psychiatry, as a practice, has changed over the years. We operate with the knowledge that we must always remember our past, especially since our past has been quite …

We are making sacrifices for you. Please make a sacrifice for us.

Allison Ashford, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 17, 2020

I rarely post more than pictures on Facebook. In fact, I rarely use Facebook for much of anything anymore. But I need you all to just listen for a second.

I’m scared. For you and for me.

I need you all to take a minute and think of the last time that you interacted in-person with someone who does not live in your home. Did you …

The value of intergenerational relationships

Satya Moolani

Medical Education

November 17, 2020

With the rapid growth of modern medicine and awareness in lifestyle and environmental influences, individuals can live longer and healthier lives. Approximately 15.2 percent of the U.S. population consists of individuals 65 years and older. To make the added years of life expectancy fulfilling, older adults need to stay socially connected and involved. One key method is through the development of meaningful …

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