Physician

Physicians writing on KevinMD about the life of the profession: the work itself, the exhaustion, what women physicians are paid and asked to carry, the losses the profession has been slow to name, and who decides how physicians work. Five maintained records draw on this archive: Physician burnout: what physicians say, in their own words, Primary care: what physicians say, in their own words, Women in medicine: what women physicians say, in their own words,, Physician suicide: what physicians say, in their own words, and Physicians and administrators: what physicians say about who runs medicine, in their own words.

How do you tell a 24 year old that she is dying?

Jennifer Caputo-Seidler, MD

Physician

December 14, 2017

Physicians are no strangers to death. We are baptized into medicine with cadavers as first-year medical students. We learn to break bad news. We lose patients, some that are expected and some we never see coming. Through it all, we maintain a distance, an emotional reserve that enables us to shoulder these losses but still see the next patient with the full attention they deserve. But every now and then …

The patient who was a former bowling champion

Bruce Campbell, MD

Physician

December 14, 2017

My new patient was having trouble breathing and had lost his ability to swallow; despite this, he had been too proud to call either friends or family for help. He had lost thirty pounds and his clothes hung loosely. His belt was far too long. The day I met him, I thought, “This man could walk through a harp.”

People had tried. Over the previous months, his worried family members had …

Motivating patients to stop smoking and lose weight before surgery

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

Physician

December 13, 2017

The committee that plans and oversees medical care for the county of Hertfordshire, England announced recently that unless obese patients lose a specified amount of weight and smokers quit smoking for at least eight weeks, they will not be allowed to undergo elective surgery.

Patients with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 must lose 15 percent of their weight within nine months, and patients with a BMI over 30 …

What’s in a woman physician’s last name? A lot.

Veronica Maria Pimentel, MD

Physician

December 13, 2017

A recent post about a physician using her maiden name professionally generated major controversy on a physicians’ group. Hundreds of comments later, it became evident that female physicians who chose to use their maiden names are subjected to negative judgment.

I am a physician married to a supportive man who understands my choice to keep my last name. I am not unique in my circle. Most of my female physician friends …

Think the world is in chaos? Focus on mental health.

Philip Tran, MD

Physician

December 12, 2017

About a year ago, I did away with TV. It was an overwhelming expense with little personal utilization. I thought to myself while struggling with the decision to cut the cable, “What will I be missing?” I may no longer be “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” but I do keep a regular eye on my iPhone news feed. It is an addiction many people share. That itch to grab our …

The demand for preparation: from the playing field to the OR

Scott Magnuson, MD

Physician

December 11, 2017

We often pull comparisons between unexpected resources in any given profession, especially when it comes to adopting tried and true best practices. For example, I always encourage hospital systems and training institutions to look to the hospitality industry for the treatment of patients and guests, among other areas. Last year, as I settled into my seat on a cross-country flight, I witnessed a textbook example of looking outside the box …

The moment I became a passionate doctor

Jo Ann Gates, MD

Physician

December 9, 2017

I was nearing the end of my pediatrics rotation as a third-year medical student when the senior resident asked me to admit a patient to the general pediatrics floor. The only information I had as I headed down to the intensive care unit was that she was a ten-year-old girl who had survived an extensive resuscitation at home.

By this point in my education, I was certain that I wanted to …

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The moment I became a passionate doctor

Here’s how to be a good mom and good doctor

Foreign BornMD

Physician

December 8, 2017

Go to college, go to medical school, start and finish residency and fellowship, get married, settle down and have children …

There is a certain expectation of what a “successful life” would look like for a physician mom. Some may even choose to stop work and become a full-time stay-at-home mom.

Even when my spouse, who works part-time for most of our marriage, took a year off work to be the stay …

Surprise! Doctors spend more time with computers than with patients

Peter Ubel, MD

Physician

December 8, 2017

Medical appointments are getting shorter by the year. Sometimes it feels like doctors have no time to spend with their patients.

What’s to blame for these brief clinical interactions? It could be the electronic health record, or EHR. Because of changes in how insurance companies and the government pay for medical care, doctors increasingly need to document their care on the computer, causing many physicians to spend more time with their …

Withdrawal of care in the PICU: What happens if there is disagreement?

Christopher Johnson, MD

Physician

December 8, 2017

Most experienced pediatric intensivists, myself included, have encountered situations in which we, the doctors, believe continuing to support a child is unethical because it is not saving the life but prolonging the dying; whereas the child’s parents believe the opposite — that it is unethical to withdraw life support because all life is sacred, no matter the circumstances. Sometimes these situations arise because poor communication causes families to distrust the …

4 reasons why patients don’t take their medications

Linda Girgis, MD

Physician

December 7, 2017

I often see patients for follow-up and learn they are not taking the medications either I or another health care provider prescribed. Sometimes the reason is obvious, and other times the patient is reluctant to give up the information. Patients have the right to take or not take medication that was prescribed. But, sometimes by not doing so, they are putting their health at risk.

As a doctor, I want my …

What do you do when a colleague has cancer?

Anonymous

Physician

December 7, 2017

This year has brought about change — the theme of 2017. As it comes to a close and I reflect back, it is so hard to believe what is going on in the world today, let alone just the United States.

In 2017, I graduated from my internal medicine residency training program, passed my board exam and celebrated my one-year wedding anniversary. I helped my family cope with my grandmother’s progressive …

A patient called me the N-word

B. Cameron Webb, MD, JD

Physician

December 7, 2017

Editor’s note: This article contains a racial slur crucial to the writer’s story.

It took only 57 hours of working as a new attending physician in Charlottesville, Virginia for a patient to call me the N-word.

Fifty-seven hours. In fact, a racial slur found me before I found the shortcut to the hospital cafeteria. So, when torch-bearing White supremacists gathered downtown earlier this year, I saw more confirmation of my conclusion that …

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A patient called me the N-word

Leonardo Da Vinci and health care: a matter of perspective

Neil Baum, MD

Physician

December 6, 2017

Recently, a Leonardo Da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World), was sold for $450 million, making it the largest fee for a painting ever sold. Was it a good investment? The painting was sold by Leonardo’s heir to King Francis I of France for 4000 gold ducats in 1519, which according to the American Numismatic Society would be equivalent to $575,000 at today’s price of gold at $1277 …

Celebrate the joys of working in medicine

Rachel Matar, PA-C

Physician

December 6, 2017

I keep a spare set of scrubs in my car. It’s an act of preparedness, informed by experience. A couple of months ago, I came out of an ED room after performing a particularly unsavory procedure and noticed that my left knee was wet. Disgusted, I shared my misfortune with my coworkers, and all of them had the same sympathetic response; they mirrored my grimace and cautiously offered hope: “Maybe …

A beacon of light in these tumultuous times

Robert Baker, MD

Physician

December 5, 2017

In these tumultuous political and cultural times, it’s easy to presume the future is bleak. However, after attending a conference centered around medicine, public health, and medical science innovation, replete with remarkable stories of human perseverance, resilience, and courage, I felt humbled, inspired, and hopeful. In that order.

Who cannot be awed listening to the one physician who kept treating desperately ill patients when the entire rest of the medical staff …

To stop the opioid crisis, the war on physicians must end

Marylee M. James, PhD

Physician

December 5, 2017

The present state of our nation can be traced back over the past five decades to the concerted efforts of specific entities, their goals based on profit and power, who set specific plans in place to maximize their control of same. Over the past 40 years, two such plans were woven together as they brought us to our present war on physicians and patients.

One plan was created by increasing private …

10 surprising things you need to know about the emergency department

Irene Tien, MD

Physician

December 5, 2017

Despite the fact that most people will have had the misfortune of visiting the emergency department (ED) at some point in their life, I find that many folks do not really understand what happens in the ED.

1. Emergency medicine is a specialty. Yes, we actually did residency training to learn how to work in the ED. This training lasted three to four years after medical school and is sometimes followed …

Is there ever a right time for a doctor to have a baby?

Gillian Mueller Goddard, MD

Physician

December 4, 2017

When is the right time to have a baby? This question plagues professional women across industries. It takes on more significant importance for women training as physicians. Medical training is long and coincides with a woman’s late 20s, often stretching into her 30s. Waiting to have children until completing training is not always biologically feasible.

Medical schools and residency training programs still lag behind in developing formal parental leave policies. Outside …

To survive in medicine, compartmentalize your patients

Andrea Eisenberg, MD

Physician

December 4, 2017

“Breathe in slowly, deeply, giving fresh energy to your body.

Breathe out, releasing any tension from your day.

In … 1 … 2 … 3 … 4 …

Out … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 …”

I try to follow the yoga instructor, but in my post-call fog, I struggle to let go of the last 24 hours. We begin by sitting poses to stretch our necks. But my neck is so …

Physician

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