Physician

Doctors are more than just skilled workers. Here’s why.

Physician
March 28, 2016

Physicians today are increasingly viewed and treated as skilled workers instead of professionals. The difference is fundamental and lies at the root of today’s epidemic of physician burnout.

Historically, there have been three learned professions: law, medicine, and theology. These were occupations associated with extensive learning, regulation by associations of their peers, and adherence to strong ethical principles, providing objective counsel and service for others.

Learned professionals have, over many centuries, worked …

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Why we need hope in health care

Physician
March 28, 2016

Hope is a tricky thing. On the one hand, false hope can lead patients to opt for painful, futile treatments at the end of life. On the other, unnecessarily bleak outlooks can lead to depression and inaction. When health is at stake, presenting information with the right amount of hope can guide patients away from both suffering needlessly and/or succumbing to treatable disease.

I was reading a sad story about a …

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This doctor quit medicine. But she really tried to make it work.

Physician
March 27, 2016

It is exactly 49 steps from my bedroom to my garage.  It is a 23-mile drive to the hospital and 75 steps to the unit.  It takes 10 seconds to walk to the nursing station.  I can measure what it takes to get me to work each morning with absolute certainty.  I know because I have measured it a million times hoping something will prevent me from reaching my destination.  …

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Naturopaths should be restricted from treating children. Here’s why.

Physician
March 24, 2016

You may be aware of Ezekiel Stephan, a 19-month-old boy, who died in 2012, after his parents chose home remedies and naturopathy for the treatment of viral meningitis. The parents currently are on trial in Canada for failing to provide the necessities of life.

Over the course of many days, Ezekiel’s condition rapidly deteriorated, but his parents chose to “give him as much natural product as possible,” including syrup, frozen …

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Why doctors kill themselves

Physician
March 23, 2016
YouTube video

Pamela Wible, M.D., takes on physician suicide in her TEDMED talk (delivered on November 18, 2015). Learn more about Dr. Wible and her talk at TEDMED.com. Full transcription below:

I love the three things that people fear the most: death, disease, and public speaking. Here’s how it all started. At four, I was so talkative (and bossy) no babysitter would stay with me. So I tagged along with Mom, …

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A medical resident commits suicide. Here’s how one colleague mourns.

Physician
March 23, 2016

In the hour after I heard the news, I experienced the full spectrum of typical reactions to a physician suicide.

One end of the spectrum came from the attending in a clinic, who when asked if the residents could go home and mourn their friend who just committed suicide, proceeded to tell me a story of how when her grandpa died before a final exam in medical school. She decided to …

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Call people by their rightful name. It matters more than you think.

Physician
March 22, 2016

There are several Tumblr sites where people submit their actual name and compare it to the name the Starbucks employee writes on the cup.  There’s “Starbucks Name Fail,” “The Starbucks Name Game,” “Starbucks Can’t Spell My Name,” and “That’s Not My Name, Starbucks.”

There aren’t Tumblr sites for calling out Starbucks when they biff your drink.  “Starbucks F***** Up My Drink,” “Would You Just Look at This Beverage,” and “There’s No …

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5 tips for parenting a future surgeon

Physician
March 18, 2016

Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be surgeons.

Really. Don’t.

As the mother of a soon-to-be fellowship-trained surgeon, I know what I’m talking about. Listen to me. Ignore Willie Nelson. You don’t want your babies to be doctors; you want them to be cowboys.

Really.

Yeah, yeah, I know, your daughter is a whiz at all things mathematical and/or spatial. And your son is a science prodigy. Their eye-hand coordination is legendary …

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How to talk with your kids about exercise

Physician
March 18, 2016

No matter how early I rise with the intention of getting my workout done before my children wake up, I’m rarely able to do it alone. Most days my 3-year-old daughter climbs out of bed and comes straight down to our home gym and watches me do my workout.

Often times she’ll sit quietly in the corner, but sometimes she’ll join in and follow the trainer on my workout DVD and …

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Why don’t patients pick up their prescriptions?

Physician
March 16, 2016

As emergency physicians, we write prescriptions for patients that we discharge home for all manner of presenting complaints. I used to believe that the overwhelming majority of these prescriptions would be filled by the patient after discharge.

It turns out I was wrong.

Research estimates that patients discharged from emergency departments (EDs) fail to pick up their high urgency prescriptions, like antibiotics, nearly 35 percent of the time.

This is problematic because failure …

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How to do a no hands-on physical in 3 minutes (or less)

Physician
March 12, 2016

Pamela-Wible-Big-Box-Medicine2

Step 1: Greet patient.

Step 2: While chatting, check all boxes in electronic medical record for a complete review of systems and physical exam. Copy and paste parts of previous chart note while looking at patient every once in a while. Smile if possible.

Step 3: Tell patient to do yoga.

Step 4: Bill insurance company for complete physical exam.

Welcome to big box assembly line medicine.

Ever wonder what …

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This doctor quit medicine. It saved her life.

Physician
March 11, 2016

I quit medicine. I was five months out of residency, and I was leaving medicine. I had dedicated my heart, soul, several years of my life along with weekends, holidays, special events, and my children’s first words to this honorable profession. Medicine was never suppose to “just be” my job. It was suppose to be my calling, and it had betrayed me.

I was finally a full fledged physician, and I …

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How palm reading helps this physician today

Physician
March 9, 2016

I grew up in a house of spirituality, homeopathy, palmistry, astrology, art, and science alike. My father, with a masters degree in statistics, is a computer systems architect. He also fancies himself an amateur palm reader. The irritation with which I reluctantly used to give my hands over to my father, before the SATs, college decisions, medical school admissions, and my residency match results was real, but I was always …

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Should doctors marry doctors? Here are the challenges they face.

Physician
March 9, 2016

Fifty years ago, it was very uncommon to find doctors married to other doctors. Why? To answer that question, we need to explore the sociology of the time. Fewer women went to college, which meant fewer female doctors. Many couples married early, right out of high school or right after college. If the wife had career aspirations herself, these were often put aside in order to help her husband get …

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The heartbreak of dating an exhausted medical resident

Physician
March 8, 2016

When I was finishing my fifth year of studies as clinical psychology doctoral student, I fell in love with a second-year medical resident; a wanderer at heart with the softest smile and a way of listening that made me feel like the whole world stopped when I spoke. Whenever possible, we found ourselves in the forest exploring the world on foot or, if the weather was bad, on long drives …

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10 truths of physician parents

Physician
March 5, 2016

1. You either over or under-react to everything related to your child’s health. Your kid chokes?  You perform the Heimlich and are back to dinner conversation 2 minutes later.  Your infant spits up a little more than usual after their introduction to rice cereal?  You decide they may have FPIES and stay up all night worried they may require tube feeds.  True story.

2. You can’t go to …

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We are human beings before we are doctors

Physician
March 4, 2016

Mental illness has long been associated with shame and stigma. Although progress has been made through the efforts of global celebrities like Stephen Fry and many others to de-stigmatize mental illness — many are still ashamed to admit to it, and the stigma is far from being annihilated.

Nowhere is this stigma more entrenched than within the medical profession itself. A fact that should shock us out of our judgmental slumbers …

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