Conditions
How a friend’s kindness saved me from my darkest hour
An excerpt from The Problem with Men.
Gary could tell something was wrong the moment he saw me. “Come in, friend,” he said, his voice gentle. He guided me into the kitchen, a cozy, older space similar to the one in my apartment across the street, but his was painted a cheerful light yellow. After rummaging through a cabinet, he returned with a joint and lit it without hesitation.
“Here,” he …
A future male OB/GYN’s commitment to patient comfort
The modern IUD has been an option for women for 60 years now.
CDC just updated its 2016 guideline that advises physicians to discuss pain management options. This comes after continued viral TikTok patient stories about IUD insertion pain have garnered increasing attention from the medical community.
For perspective: According to OB/GYN’s Kristyn Brandi and Aliye Runyan, MD, their patients describe the insertion procedure as sometimes feeling like …
How biased medical experts are destroying doctors’ lives and careers in the opioid crisis
As a U.S. health care writer and patient advocate for almost 30 years, I read a lot. Recently, some of that reading is in court transcripts of doctors being persecuted out of medicine or into jail by various prosecutors and their hired “experts.” I use the term “persecuted” intentionally. I believe that “medical experts” in many court or Medical Board proceedings are simply “hired guns” – clinical predators hired for …
How seniors can reverse muscle loss and belly fat
As a retired physician, I notice many seniors become skinny and weak due to muscle loss yet have big bellies as fat accumulates. They are less strong, less vibrant, and prone to falls and chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline. This does not need to happen, but many older people do not appreciate the health and wellness impacts of muscle loss …
What medicine never taught me about parenting a child with ADHD
Once again, I found myself balled up on the kitchen floor, head between my knees, sobbing. My shoulders shook, and my chest heaved as I gasped for air, but air wouldn’t be enough. What I was truly gasping for was hope, something that had eluded me during this perpetually challenging season of my “neurodivergent” parenting career.
I’m not sure what made that moment any different from the countless dysregulated nights that …
Has COVID-19 changed the way oncologists talk about cancer?
War metaphors in oncology are controversial, to say the least. For some patients with cancer, the idea that they are “cancer warriors” in a “battle” with their disease is inspiring. Using such language gives them a sense of agency in a situation where very little is in their control. Many others loathe such language …
When technology merges with humanity
An excerpt from Nephilim.
“Those eggs really hit the spot, right?”
“I’d love some more,” he answered.
“Sure,” Zdenek responded. “One or two?”
“How many do we have?”
Before long, James had wolfed down nine eggs.
“I wonder if it’s the choline,” Zdenek mused as James shoveled. “Eggs have a boatload of choline. Maybe she’s craving it. Orange that is.” James hadn’t touched his toast. “Choline, you know? It might help my baby merge with …
How health systems can combat a $3B+ patient retention issue
In today’s health care ecosystem, patient retention has become a $3 billion dollar issue for health systems, with patient leakage (also known as patient keepage) at its core. Despite efforts to keep patients within their networks, a significant portion continue to seek care elsewhere, leading to financial losses. Interestingly enough, physical therapy proves to be key in improving patient retention, as recent data shows that rehab-related leakage is the number …
The heartbreaking reality of smoking: a daughter’s final goodbye
Fred was the cool guy.
Back in the 1950s and 60s, smoking cigarettes was considered movie star quality. That circling of smoke in his parked car with the girl of his dreams.
He started smoking at the tender age of 15.
Fred had it figured out. Cigarettes were glamorous. Cigarettes were cool.
Doctors advertised that smoking was good for you. It helped you keep weight off, and it relieved your anxiety.
In 1965, the Surgeon …
How parental preferences and evidence-based practices intersect to achieve success in intervention programs
With more than 15 years of experience as a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) and clinician working with children and teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents, I have seen first-hand how parent involvement is the key to success in intervention programs. To make an impact on these children’s lives, we need to go beyond simply applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy sessions. This is where parents come in, reinforcing, …
Should transgender athletes compete in women’s sports?
Watching the 2024 Paris Olympics reminded me of my intense love for sports. It is the nobility, beauty, strength, agility, and fairness that attract me and the audience. Performances by Simone Biles, with her majesty and strength, to Katie Ledecky’s’ power and domination, surrounded by Olympic and world record performances, often bring me to tears. These attributes have abounded in Paris, but unfortunately, something foul is also afoot.
Sexual and gender …
From anaphylaxis to food allergy freedom: a family’s journey down under
My daughter Amelia’s first bottle of formula was a turning point. The innocent act triggered a terrifying anaphylaxis that catapulted us into a world of food allergies. As a young mother, the diagnosis was a gut-wrenching blow. Every food label became a riddle to decipher, and every social event a logistical nightmare, as we didn’t want our daughter to grow up facing the social exclusion, bullying, and isolation that all …
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Is saliva the key to early disease detection and better oral health outcomes for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities?
Dental appointments for patients with special health care needs – especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) – are no easy feat. Fraught with challenges, uncertainties, and fears, a dental appointment can be, at best, a trying situation and, at worst, traumatizing for patients with IDD. The sensation of plaque being scraped from teeth, the loud sounds of drills and suction, and the bright lights while lying in a …
Hope from an older doctor to those patients ready to give up their car keys
When you are older, you are considered a threat to other drivers. Reflexes are dampened, muscle responses are sluggish, cataracts obscure vision, and inflexible eye lenses slow focus.
Cars are made to drive fast, and many whippersnappers navigate the streets as if they are at the Indianapolis 500. How many times have you been tailgated and honked at from behind when traveling at the posted speed limit?
And should there be an …
The tragic migraine classification and diagnosis fiasco
The first classification of primary headaches was developed in 1962 by the Ad Hoc Committee, a group of neurologists with a special interest in migraine. They correctly classified primary headaches, as per the published data, into:
- Vascular headache of the migraine type
- Muscle contraction headache
- Mixed muscular/vascular headache
The different types of primary headaches were classified according to the anatomical structure from which the pain originates. Therefore, one had to examine …
Health care communication in a post-COVID world: What’s changed and what’s not since the pandemic
An excerpt from The Mumbo Jumbo Fix: A Survival Guide for Effective Doctor-Patient-Nurse Communication.
If you’re like me, you mark life’s timeline by three milestones—before COVID, during COVID, and after COVID. While most of us no longer wear masks or maintain social distance, the world has undeniably changed in ways that impact health care communication among its three essential participants: doctors, patients, and nurses.
Telemedicine, the …
The hidden pain behind a smile
(Trigger warning: suicide attempt)
It was dinner time at this hospital’s psychiatric unit. They shuffled into the dining area—slippers, pajamas, disheveled, sad, lonely, depressed … and forgotten.
Head count. All were present except for one: Rita. Faithful Rita. Always at every therapy session, including poetry therapy, art therapy, and bingo night. Always smiling and laughing, cheering up the other patients. Rita was 54 years old and a mother of three. Her husband …
Why doctors are afraid to take on insurance giants—and how it hurts patients
Half of my family and many of my friends are doctors. I admire them enormously: they are smarter, work harder, and are more compassionate than any group I know. Yet sadly, they are all wimps. Despite non-stop carping about the dangers and cost of health insurers’ prior authorization machinations, not a single one is willing to step up and take on an insurance company.
Of course, I understand why: doctors’ incomes …
The unspoken emotional toll of trauma surgery: a medical student’s journey
It’s one thing to choose a career dedicated to saving lives; it’s another altogether to confront the harsh reality of death. As a third-year medical student, my trauma surgery rotation highlighted that distinction. For all the patients we saved, there were also those who, despite the team’s best efforts, succumbed to their injuries amidst trauma activations. The protocol for a patient’s death in the trauma bay was always followed to …
Past Week
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How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life
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Why primary care needs better dermatology training
-
Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.
-
Why physician strikes are a form of hospice
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Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories
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The truth about sun exposure: What dermatologists want you to know
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Past 6 Months
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Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices
-
COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account
-
Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives
-
New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine
-
Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years
-
mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?
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Recent Posts
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The truth about sun exposure: What dermatologists want you to know
-
Learning medicine in the age of AI: Why future doctors need digital fluency
-
How a South Asian nurse challenged stereotypes in health care
-
Doctors reclaiming their humanity in a broken system [PODCAST]
-
Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.
-
How to balance clinical duties with building a startup
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Past Week
-
How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life
-
Why primary care needs better dermatology training
-
Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.
-
Why physician strikes are a form of hospice
-
Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories
-
The truth about sun exposure: What dermatologists want you to know
-
Past 6 Months
-
Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices
-
COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account
-
Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives
-
New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine
-
Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years
-
mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?
-
Recent Posts
-
The truth about sun exposure: What dermatologists want you to know
-
Learning medicine in the age of AI: Why future doctors need digital fluency
-
How a South Asian nurse challenged stereotypes in health care
-
Doctors reclaiming their humanity in a broken system [PODCAST]
-
Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.
-
How to balance clinical duties with building a startup
-
