We should consider a new position in our primary care teams — that of the scrum master. “Scrum” is a rugby term that comes from agile, a work methodology for software development that now is being applied to industry and health care.
In rugby, a scrum is a huddle where the teams come together with interlocked arms to regroup and start play again. In agile, scrum masters facilitate team huddles and …
A scrum master for primary care
It’s hard for me to believe that a few years ago, I completely turned my back on an acting career I had spent almost two decades building and instead decided to forge into an unknown world of medicine. Even now, with nearly seven years of experience in the medical field and currently in my fourth year of medical school, I sometimes feel lost for an identity.
At the time of my …
I learned how to be a good doctor in theater school
I was browsing the internet one day and came across a photo of a group of women who appeared educated and influential. They were wearing blue T-shirts with claims that vaccines cause autoimmune diseases, seizures, ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, death, autism, sudden infant death syndrome and infertility.
I couldn’t help but laugh at them! I shared this photo on my Facebook page. To my surprise, one of …
The decision to not vaccinate is driven by fear and misinformation
The tricky part about retirement planning is uncertainty.
Uncertainty in retirement planning comes from three major sources.
1. Current and future income
Doctors are fortunate in that they have very high job security. Even if you were to be let go from your current position, there will almost always be another position somewhere in the country (although you might have to move out of your current metropolitan area).
However, the high income doctors currently …
How to plan for an uncertain financial future
For my students in 2018, it’s difficult to imagine an era when there was no such thing as evidence-based medicine (EBM). When I started medical school in 1997, though, the term had only been in use for six years, having been introduced by Dr. Gordon Guyatt at McMaster University (though EBM’s intellectual origins can be traced to several key individuals). When I tell trainees how recently EBM …
Considering the recent setbacks of evidence-based medicine
A few weeks ago, I was giving a day-long seminar in California on improving communication skills, optimizing the patient experience, and how this is all ultimately linked to better proven outcomes. Part of the day involved doing role plays, playing the part of doctors and patients in various difficult hypothetical scenarios.
My experience of this type of group exercise is that all clinicians usually really enjoy it, when it’s done in …
Imagine yourself treating a celebrity
School is back in full swing. The kids are packed up, scheduled and loaded with notebooks, pens, pencils, computers, and calculators. Long lines form outside school drop-off areas. Tired, pajama-clad parents drop off bleary-eyed children, accustomed to sleeping and playing all day, now headed off to fill their little brains with knowledge.
Of course, it isn’t just the little ones. All of our children were home over the Summer. Now our daughter is a high school …
Why it’s important to give your children the talk about marriage
Earlier this week, I was pleased to learn that my practice had achieved a statistically significant increase in box clicking.
In reviewing data from our accountable care organization, graphs were shown to us demonstrating improved compliance with several of the measures that they’ve instituted institution-wide for the purpose of reporting back to Medicare on how well we are taking care of our patients.
One of these measures is the ever popular “falls …
Clicking checkboxes doesn’t meaningfully improve care
I do not feel that I truly survived my lawsuit. Sure, I am alive, but the emotional toll it took on me during the four years that we co-existed was tremendous. That being said, I do feel that it taught me several things that may be helpful to others.
My lawsuit occurred very early in my career. The series of events that led up to it happened when I was a …
How to survive a medical liability lawsuit
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
It can be as blatant as a public argument between a hospitalist and emergency medicine physician about whether a patient requires admission. But most commonly it is more nuanced and subtle. Such as members of one speciality “bad-mouthing” another or a subspecialist criticizing …
When doctors behave badly: a call for civility
Combating loneliness as a non-medical spouse to a surgical resident is my current struggle.
I do not just mean the absence of his physical self — which do not get me wrong is frustrating– but the complete absence of his mind when he gets home from a long day at the hospital.
Absolutely no one gave me the proper and direct heads up that I needed as to what it would feel …
What you need to know as a non-medical spouse to a surgeon
As a patient who has had extensive dealings with five prestigious Manhattan medical institutions, I have taken the liberty of writing this letter from the perspective of one who has spent many long and arduous years in the underbelly of our deeply troubled health care system, and one who has seen firsthand how the doctor-patient relationship has steadily eroded over time. This relationship, so foundational to the practice of medicine, …
A patient’s open letter to aspiring physicians
The National Taskforce of Humanity in Healthcare recently published research showing physician burnout is impacting quality safety, and health care system performance — estimating that “costs for burnout-related turnover may be as high as $1.7B annually among hospital-employed physicians, and $17 billion across all U.S. physicians.” At Stanford Medicine, physician burnout costs at least $7.75M yearly.
These numbers are staggering. Growing numbers of physicians are leaving medicine (surely impacting the physician …
It’s time to advocate for a new culture in medicine
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It’s my first day at a new facility — and I’m prepped with food, snacks and a closed-lid container for my morning coffee and to refill it in the afternoon with water. You never really know how stringent the policies will be for water containers at your new workstation or whether food or snacks are allowed. You might even be lucky enough to get a surprise Joint Commission inspection, or …
The issues physicians face when changing their name
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 56-year-old man is being evaluated after his 18-year-old son had a syncopal episode during a high school basketball game and was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The patient has had no symptoms, including with physical activity such as golfing or playing tennis. Medical history is unremarkable, and a review of family history …
MKSAP: 56-year-old man with a family history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)
Doctors spend their early adulthood preparing for medicine. In college, we take classes to satisfy prerequisites and prepare for the MCAT exam. Medical school has a life of its own. The volume of material to master is extensive, and the pressure mounts to be your best. Next is the interview process for residency training and the anticipation of Match Day.
Then life will begin. Maybe?
Now, you are in your late 20s …
7 keys to having a medical career that serves your life
I introduced myself to the family sitting anxiously in the private room away from the chaotic symphony of beeping monitors in the main ER. When I opened the door, four pairs of bewildered eyes landed squarely and intensely on me. I wanted to look away so as not to betray my own emotions but instead stepped in and introduced myself again — one by one making eye contact. After a …
Your son is dead. How will you remember me?
The other day I felt like a used car salesman.
I was carefully phrasing my words, picking out just the right ones — the kind that really pack a punch — and delivering them at the right moment, with the perfect momentum. I was trying to make a sale.
Now, my cadence happened to be spot on, as I approached the finish line: the part where I get to package it all up. …
Your doctor may need lessons from a used car salesman
Science is in a constant state of flux. Theories are put forth to explain natural phenomena, based on the best knowledge of the day. These theories are tested. If they correctly predict future observations, the theories become more credible. If, however, these theories fail to predict accurately, they require modification or outright dismissal.
What is considered “settled science” one day may be turned upside down the next day as new data comes …
A reminder that science is never settled
No news is good news.
Especially for hospitals in the middle of the opioid epidemic.
Recently, the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) agreed to a civil penalty in the amount of $4.3 million for failing to prevent opioid drug diversion and federal recordkeeping violations as a result of a DEA investigation. The headline from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan read: “Eastern District of Michigan …
How to avoid negative press and fines during the opioid crisis
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