The prevalence of burnout among physicians is estimated to be more than 50 percent and has grown in recent years. This alarming trend is largely due to changing patient demographics, increasing cost constraints, new federal and state regulations, and other external factors that have reshaped the daily work experience of physicians. Too often today, physicians spend more time on data entry than in direct …
Fix the system to address physician burnout
Empathy is a cryptic term. Those in the health care profession can certainly spout off a variety of phrases and metaphors that are typically used to describe the concept of empathy in the educational setting. Throughout my medical education thus far it has been described as “putting yourself in another’s shoes” or “sharing in another’s emotion.”
We are also taught early on what empathy is not. Empathy is not feeling sorry …
Empathy is better felt than defined
I was a chubby kid, but my parents still introduced me to lots of sports. Soccer, swimming, tennis, basketball; so many sports, when all I wanted to do was read and eat Doritos. I wasn’t particularly good at any of them, but some of my teams were better than good. We were champs. My swim team won the Cape Cod Summer League, my soccer team won its division one year, …
The key to health care is to have a great team
I walked into the ICU amidst a chaos of harried residents, chirping alarms, and the whir of the portable X-ray machine. Aromas ranging from old coffee down to vomit and stool mixed together in the usual fashion. In other words, it was a typical morning. I watched as my team gathered into a semicircle around me outside the first patient’s room and I got into my morning rounds stance: leaned …
Resist! The invasion of computers in health care
The diversity of patients seen in any oncologist’s clinic is a microcosm of what makes America so unique. From one room to the next, I am amazed by the various ethnicities, economic backgrounds, and religious faiths that I encounter. Each of these patients forms a composite of beliefs regarding their cancer; just as every tumor we treat is different, so is every patient. This diversity is what makes generalizations in …
Barriers and hope for diversity when it comes to clinical trials
The statistics are staggering.
The high maternal mortality rate in the U.S. has been a matter of great interest and debate, spurring a reflective look into our health care system to determine why our country is on the wrong end of this statistic. The reasons and numbers vary across the country and notably in the state of Maryland, which has had a higher than average maternal mortality rate, the number of …
Is rising maternal mortality just hype? Nope, here’s why.
“She doesn’t look like a person with an addiction problem to me,” replied the physician to the psychiatrist, referring to a patient who was admitted to the hospital for confusion. She was found at home amidst an array of bottles containing various controlled substances, and a toxicology screen positive for cannabis. She was in a higher socioeconomic bracket having retired from a professional job. The psychiatrist explained that addiction crosses …
Don’t be so rigid in your thinking
Brooklyn, New York, Spring of 1992. As I looked out of the New York City taxi window on Avenue T, I saw the building. It had always appeared to me as the most magnificent building I had ever seen that housed people in need of rehabilitative care. I was happy; I was ready, I was in great spirit. “Let’s do this!,” I thought to myself as I stepped out of …
This patient didn’t want my care because of how I looked
It’s no secret that the United States is in the midst of an opiate epidemic. Almost 60,000 people died last year from overdoses, and overdose deaths are now the most common killer of Americans under the age of 50. Physicians and our patients have finally started the difficult conversation about what it will take to stop the suffering. But what’s been missing from this conversation is that this is not …
The opioid epidemic: What we can learn from history
“Aren’t you cute,” he said as he smiled and squeezed her cheeks. On the start of a new rotation, a medical student walked into clinic and introduced herself to the attending physician.
With all of the news surrounding the Weinstein debacle, Alyssa Milano has urged women to share their stories of sexual harassment or abuse using the words “me too.” What has transpired is that a whole community of women from …
Women doctors: Speak up, because #MeToo
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”
—George Washington Carver
Earlier this week, I walked into the exam room and introduced myself to a 48-year-old male. As I generally do, I sat in front of him and asked, …
We are all just one diagnosis away from a different reality
When I became a caregiver to my dad, I quickly realized that I was not going to be able to keep all of his medical information in my head. My smartphone became my second brain. It helped me to track his symptoms, keep up with the dates for his appointments, document recommendations, and share this information with my sisters in a timely and coherent manner. Here, I share five ways …
5 ways to use your smartphone to improve doctor visits
It’s something that’s not taught anywhere near enough as it should be in medical school, but every practicing physician quickly realizes that communication is everything in health care. It’s the foundation of the doctor-patient relationship, and what patients will judge you on. Sure, doctors are among the busiest professionals out there. We do an incredibly hectic job. But it’s so imperative to remember the importance of that interaction with your …
10 golden communication tips for doctors. And 3 things they shouldn’t do.
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In theory, of course, it’s a great idea for people to give their opinions and rate their experiences with any goods or services they buy. The notion goes back long before the Internet with publications like Consumer Reports, which is now itself online. Sites such as Angie’s List are very popular and can give you testimonials about providers of everything from home renovations to car repair to daycare. So it’s not surprising several …
Online physician reviews: A physician does a study on himself
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), about 9.8 million adults (or 4 percent of all adults) over the age of 18 years suffered a serious mental illness in 2015. A serious mental illness is one that affects a patient’s daily functioning. Considering all mental illness in adults in the same time period, 43.4 million adults (or 17.9 percent) who met the criteria for a …
How is mental health care failing American patients?
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 72-year-old man is evaluated during a routine examination. He has no symptoms or significant medical history. He is active and exercises regularly. He does not take any medications.
On physical examination, blood pressure is 135/70 mm Hg, pulse rate is 82/min, and respiration rate is 17/min. Cardiac examination reveals a grade 3/6 …
MKSAP: 72-year-old man with a holosystolic murmur
They say laughter is the best medicine. I really hope that’s true, because I tend to use a lot of it at work. There are two ways it can go: One, it can open up the appointment, setting the patient and physician more at ease and facilitating open and honest dialogue. It makes the visit enjoyable, maybe even fun, and can boost satisfaction. Or, it can seem like the doctor …
There’s a place for humor in medicine
I am going to discuss something that is really important for women. It’s going to get a lot of criticism, and it’s OK. I can take it.
Your clothing.
That’s right. I am here to tell you that what you wear, and how you dress, matters.
Why? Because how you feel in your clothes affects the way you walk, talk, smile, interact, and well, lead.
Don’t mistake what I am saying. I am not going …
If any reader has heard of C. difficile, affectionately known as C. diff, then I presume you have had closer contact with this germ than you would have liked. It’s an infection of the colon that can be serious, or even fatal. There isn’t a hospital in the country that isn’t battling against the infection.
We are not winning the war against this crafty and cunning adversary.
While the infection is …
C. difficile: We are not winning the war against this cunning adversary
There are some sad truths about being an aging male. Your muscle mass usually declines. You start feeling tired more easily. And there’s a good chance either you start losing interest in sex or start experiencing a decline in sexual performance.
Here’s another truth: Your testosterone level probably ain’t what it used to be. Which raises a question: Would testosterone supplementation restore some of your youthful vitality?
That is certainly what manufactures …
Direct-to-consumer advertising: Who’s really to blame?
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