Physician

Physicians who work themselves into the ground have nothing to be proud of

Physician

December 4, 2020

There were recently many news articles and coverage exalting a physician for working 250 straight days during COVID. 250 days, that’s nearly 8 1/2 months without a day off.

While this physician displays dedication and caring, I don’t think we should celebrate this as an achievement. The truth is he’s working every day all day for one of two reasons. Either there is no one else, and he’s a victim of …

Meet the doctor who really believes that laughter is the best medicine

Lynette Charity, MD

Physician

December 2, 2020

So there’s this 60-year-old African American physician, and she is fed up. She’s working at a local hospital because she wants to sleep in her own bed rather than continue the life of a locum tenens. After a weekend call where she’s on her 29th hour in the OR in two days with only three hours of sleep, she refuses to do another case. “I’m tired,” She says, “I’m sleepy. …

Empty chairs at the table this holiday season

Anjani Amladi, MD

Physician

November 29, 2020

There’s nothing like the holidays and a new year around the corner to remind us that 2020 is almost over. This year let’s try to take nothing for granted. Especially since millions of Americans will soon sit down to a holiday meal with one or more loved ones missing. Those empty chairs are a reminder of what we have endured this year. Whether it be loved ones who are sick, …

Being an attending: What no one tells you in residency and medical school

Fatai Oluyadi, MD

Physician

November 29, 2020

For most of us, medical training through all the pains of medical school and residency is often bearable when we fantasize about life on the other side of all of this. Life as an attending physician, when the sky suddenly turns all rainbow, when the money starts to fall from those skies — we’re finally our own bosses, and then we’re supposed to live happily ever after. The reality, however, …

To MBA or not to MBA as an MD: a physician’s journey

Manpreet Samra, MD, MBA

Physician

November 26, 2020

The first thing my husband said when I told him about MBA school was, “the NBA has a school?” It didn’t help that we first had our conversation about MBA school during the NBA playoffs but really – NBA school? I quickly overcame this moronic start to the conversation by saying “M” as in Michael Jordan – MBA school. He got it from there and every day since. And every …

I am an emergency and critical care physician. I had COVID-19 infection twice and I’m tired.

Kara Ward, MD

Physician

November 22, 2020

I am a critical care and emergency medicine physician, I have had COVID-19 infection twice, and I’m tired.

My first infection was early on in the pandemic. I had to place a Blakemore tube in a young man who was going to die from his massive bleeding from cirrhosis. I didn’t know then that the patient was positive for COVID, as he didn’t have any “typical” symptoms. I placed the tube …

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 …

Proponents of independent non-physician practice make a dangerous assumption

Rebekah Bernard, MD and Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

Physician

November 13, 2020

An excerpt from Patients at Risk: The Rise of the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant in Healthcare.

On a sunny Tuesday in March 2015, the steps of Capitol Hill were draped in white as nurse practitioners from across the United States descended on the nation’s capital. Their …

What not to do after a medical mistake

Pamela Wible, MD

Physician

November 10, 2020

If you are a doctor (or med student/health professional) and are human, you’ve probably made a medical mistake. You’ve probably not received emotional support for the mistake. Maybe you’ve never told anyone about a mistake that still haunts you today.

The truth is that almost all physicians have admitted to medical mistakes sometime in their careers. Depending on the patient outcome, many doctors carry the distress of medical errors for months, …

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What not to do after a medical mistake

You have options when it comes to board certification

Emmanuel K. Konstantakos, MD

Physician

November 9, 2020

It’s good to have options, isn’t it?

So why isn’t there an option when it comes to taking your boards? In other words, can’t residents have a say with which board to become certified with once they’re done with their residency?

Well, there’s good news for you. The answer is yes. You definitely have options. There are other boards for your initial written exams. (And that also includes the oral exams for …

The trauma of a combat doctor in Iraq

Reagan Anderson, DO

Physician

November 9, 2020

An excerpt from Universal Death Care.

Machine gun fire ripped me open—From Left to Right. There were too many bullets. No way could I feel each wound. They blended together like a single strike of lightning. I was paralyzed by pain. It had taken root in me. …

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The trauma of a combat doctor in Iraq

Election anxiety? Here’s a guide to practicing medicine in Canada.

Ashwini Bapat, MD, Kayla Wolofsky, MD, and Emeric Bojarski, MD

Physician

November 1, 2020

Oh, Canada! Every presidential election cycle, my colleagues joke that if the election result is not to their liking, they will move to Canada. On election night 2016, “move to Canada” trended on Google, and the Canadian immigration website crashed. This election cycle America is having an existential crisis. What does America stand for? Who is American? What are American values? This time around, my colleagues …

5 life lessons COVID-19 has taught me

Christine Lau, MD

Physician

October 27, 2020

During this past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down and changed not just the way we live and work but also how we think and behave. Every part of the world has been affected, and every aspect of life has been impacted. Our everyday routines were brought to a stop, and any sense of normalcy was lost. While we stop and look at the world around …

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5 life lessons COVID-19 has taught me

Do police officers get jaded over time, just like a lot of physicians do?

Karen Tran-Harding, MD

Physician

October 26, 2020

For many years and in disturbing frequency over the past few years, police brutality has been a big-ticket issue. The excessive use of force has led to innumerable acts of civil rights violation and, most tragically, the disproportionate death and destruction of innocent Black lives. There have been many debates on what to do to change law enforcement culture. But what has been weighing on my mind is …

Unconscious bias in the operating room

Edward Riley, MD

Physician

October 24, 2020

Our obstetric anesthesia team sat down to debrief after a particularly harrowing case. We had just replaced our patient’s blood volume twice over after she went into labor with a placenta previa accompanied by a placenta accreta. The operating room had been the usual controlled chaotic scene of multiple teams intensely focused on their responsibilities. It was noisy. Too noisy. I had to remind everyone to restrict themselves to essential …

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Unconscious bias in the operating room

A DO’s take on the FIGS faux pas

Kristina Scanlan, DO

Physician

October 23, 2020

Most health care providers are aware of the FIGS scrubs advertisement that depicted a female physician with a DO badge holding a Medical Terminology for Dummies book upside down. In one fell swoop, FIGS enraged the entire medical community causing backlash towards their company. This ad mocking female osteopathic physicians sparked outrage. Many in health care have vowed not to purchase FIGS, prompting the #boycottFIGS response posted as a result …

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A DO’s take on the FIGS faux pas

Why we’ll never eradicate malignancy in medical training

Anonymous

Physician

October 21, 2020

For a bunch of folks striving to stomp out malignant processes in our patients, we sure tolerate a fair amount of destructive behavior among training programs.

I’ll be the first to say I’m not the most delicate flower in the garden. Before pursuing medicine, I was a college athlete. I’m no stranger to long hours, harsh coaches, or repeated failures.

Medical students get their first bitter taste of malignant …

The issue of tie-downs in the emergency department

Elizabeth L. Mitchell, MD

Physician

October 21, 2020

During a typically busy Saturday evening shift in the emergency department (ED), I am summoned to the trauma room for a “tie-down,” an agitated patient needing restraints. I find the entrance choked with police officers and push my way through to see the patient. Once there, I see a large, young appearing Black man lying on his back, his hands cuffed tightly together on his stomach, a netted hood over …

“You’re fired”: 2 words this doctor never expected to hear

Brian Rifkin, MD

Physician

October 20, 2020

It took me 47 years to hear those two devastating words, “You’re fired.”

It’s not like I didn’t have a slew of jobs before becoming a physician. I cut lawns and raked leaves as an early teen; I worked in a fast-food restaurant when I was 14 using my older brother’s ID, I worked in a carwash one summer, I even worked for a national department store. I was always polite, …

Medical aid in dying is not assisted suicide

Roger Kligler, MD

Physician

October 18, 2020

In the KevinMD article, “Assisted suicide: a change of heart,” the author contends that there is salvation in suffering, but not everyone believes that is true. While I support the author’s ability to decide how she wants to die, I do not believe that her personal beliefs should dictate how I die.

I retired as an internist a few years ago because of declining health. I …