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.

Dear Lena Dunham: Check your abortion privilege

Jennifer Gunter, MD

Physician

January 18, 2017

Lena Dunham is under fire because of comments she made on her Podcast Women of the Hour. The episode, entitled Choice, begins with a thoughtful discussion of choice and how pro-life is a misnomer because those who self-identify that way are just anti-choice.

You can listen to the episode here.

The comment that has some up in arms is around the 14:40 mark. Dunham discusses how she was approached by a woman …

Doctors have feelings too

Dr. Prarthna Bhardwaj

Physician

January 18, 2017

As an intern, I once cared for an elderly gentleman who came in with heart failure. In no time, we grew fond of each other. It was almost like he looked forward to my visits. He sometimes called me “sunshine.” I am not sure if he meant it in a way that meant that I woke him up every morning. He was almost ready to go back home when he …

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Doctors have feelings too

What pediatrician mothers want you to know

Paria Hassouri, MD

Physician

January 17, 2017

As a pediatrician who has been practicing for fifteen years, the most frequent non-medical question that patients’ parents ask me is, “Doctor, do you have children of your own?”

Their questions show that although they value my medical education and expertise, they want to know if I’ve had first-hand experience with the worries and difficulties of having a sick child, making decisions regarding vaccinations, and raising children in general. I answer …

EMR alert fatigue: Can we learn from the aviation industry?

Brian C. Joondeph, MD

Physician

January 17, 2017

Anyone with a computer or smartphone is well aware of the incessant alerts that flash across the screen, often accompanied by a beep or exclamation point. The alert may be for an upcoming appointment, a reminder of an acquaintance’s birthday — or a just-announced sale at your favorite online retailer.

How many of these alerts are really important? It’s easy to ignore a media news flash — but what if you …

The successes make the challenging cases more bearable

Brooke Crawford, MD

Physician

January 17, 2017

I first met her in the urgent care at the cancer center when I was on call one night. She was beautiful: 53 years old, four adult sons, and in incredible pain. She had stage 4 breast cancer, and unbeknownst to her, she had a metastatic lesion in her femoral neck, which she had fractured about four weeks ago. But she’d just had a spine operation for mets in her …

Barren walls: When passion becomes a business

Jordan Grumet, MD

Physician

January 17, 2017

I bought my first house a few days before starting my second year of residency in St Louis. It was a townhome: two bedrooms, one and a half baths, hardwood floors and lots of wall space. So much wall space, in fact, that I immediately began to look for ways to adorn all those barren surfaces.

After visiting some local art galleries, I came to two conclusions. I knew exactly what …

My primary care doctor sent me to the emergency department

Joshua W. Elder, MD, MPH and Ashley N. Elder, RN

Physician

January 16, 2017

My wife who is eight months pregnant went to a routine prenatal appointment last week. She told the OB doctor that she was concerned she had pink eye. OB providers, along with pediatrics, family medicine, and internal medicine all constitute primary care providers (PCP) and pink eye is a common primary care condition.

Surprisingly, the OB physician referred her to the nearest acute care facility. Attributing this provider’s recommendation as rare …

Obesity and empathy: A physician’s New Year’s resolution

Stephen Spencer, MD

Physician

January 16, 2017

Empathy is the cornerstone of quality patient care. It is no surprise that the fundamental moral code that has facilitated human kindness for thousands of years is what drives physicians to commit to their oath today: Treat others as you would have yourself treated.

When it comes to the disease that is obesity, I can empathize. I’ve struggled with obesity for as long a time as I can remember. There are …

An order of ceviche, please. With a hospital visit on the side.

Kirstin Hirni, MD

Physician

January 16, 2017

It’s October, and I’m a second-year medical student. My best friend Carly and I have just finished a backpacking trip through South America. We fly out tomorrow from Lima, Peru, and we have just one thing left to do: eat shrimp ceviche, the classic South American dish of raw seafood marinated in lime or lemon juice, oil and spices.

We wander along the busy streets until we find the restaurant our …

3 ways you can advocate for better health care

Suneel Dhand, MD

Physician

January 16, 2017

Being sick is a horrible enough time without having to worry about how much it’s going to cost you. Unfortunately, the United States is unique among developed nations in not ensuring that the populace has a safety net that will protect them against exorbitant personal health care expenses. It’s a terrible thing to have to deal with as a physician. I went to medical school to learn how to take …

A day in the life of a radiologist

Samuel M. Chen, MD

Physician

January 16, 2017

“Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave, and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.”
– Alice Childress, American playwright, actor, author (1912-1994)

I am awakened in the wee hours by the sound of rain. Ordinarily I would return to bed in hope of stealing more sleep from night, but this particular day I know I have to rise at 4:30 …

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A day in the life of a radiologist

A 3-question patient satisfaction tool for hospitalists

Rajil M. Karnani, MD

Physician

January 15, 2017

About three years ago, our hospital was abuzz about patient satisfaction. Our HCAHPS scores were lower than expected, and there was a push by the administration to improve them. As a hospitalist, I wondered to myself, what could I possibly do to improve them? I already believed I was doing a very good job communicating effectively with patients.

Many years ago, I developed the habit at the end of each encounter …

If you think fake news is bad for politics, you should try being a physician

Matthew Anderson, MD, MBA

Physician

January 15, 2017

Much of the discussion surrounding the presidential election this year focused on fake news. There were countless stories in newspapers and on television news shows about these obviously biased and fictitious posts that might have affected the outcome of the election. I could not help thinking during this campaign season that if you think fake news is bad for politics, you should try being a physician.

As physicians, we are on the …

This new year, a resolution to be grateful to the medical staff

Grace Cordovano, PhD

Physician

January 13, 2017

While having coffee the other day, I came across a video called The Thank You Project. Watch it. I assure you, it’s worth 5 minutes of your time.

In 2004, Kellie Haddock, her husband, and their 14-week-old son were involved in a horrible car accident. Her husband was killed on impact, and their son was severely injured. In her heartbreaking tale, she recounts the roller coaster ride she endured …

The deadly risk of being treated by a male physician

Dr. Saurabh Jha

Physician

January 13, 2017

Halfway through the “Bell Curve,” which is an analysis of differences in intelligence between races, I realized what had been bothering me about Charles Murray’s thesis. It wasn’t the accuracy of his analysis, which concerned me too. It was what he analyzed. The truth, I used to believe, was always beautiful, whether it was what happened in the multiverse at T equals zero or the historical …

There is a direct connection between inefficiency and burnout

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH & Paul DeChant, MD, MBA

Physician

January 12, 2017

An excerpt from Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine.

Mark Linzer’s research identified workplace chaos as one of the key predictors of physician stress, burnout, and …

Do surgery checklists really work?

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

Physician

January 12, 2017

A before and after study at the University of Vermont Medical Center found that a 24-item operating room checklist did not significantly reduce the incidence of any of nine postoperative adverse outcomes.

More than 12,000 cases were studied, and outcomes included: mortality, death among surgical inpatients with serious treatable complications, sepsis, respiratory failure, wound dehiscence, postoperative venous thromboembolic events (VTE), postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma, transfusion reaction and …

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Do surgery checklists really work?

Is it a stroke or a secret?

Raj Waghmare, MD

Physician

January 12, 2017

Seconds after I arrive at the ER on a Sunday afternoon, I’m called to see an elderly woman who can’t breathe. She’s ninety-four, and gurgling for air. On my way, I pass two middle-aged women. They are hovering outside a nearby room, trying to get my attention. One gestures like a traffic guard as she tries to wave me into the room. The other throws up her hands as I …

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Is it a stroke or a secret?

Stop pushing doctors out of practice!

Suneel Dhand, MD

Physician

January 12, 2017

Since finishing my residency several years ago, I’ve worked in almost every type of hospital up and down the East Coast, from big urban academic medical centers to more rural community outposts. Although I primarily practice hospital medicine, working with both smaller private groups and being a hospital employee, I empathize a lot with my independent practice colleagues and brethren. I almost certainly would have gone down the route of …

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Stop pushing doctors out of practice!

Is work-life balance possible for doctors?

Steven Zhang, MD

Physician

January 12, 2017

Running has been a constant in my life, and it always will be. I’ve gone on runs in snowstorms and 100-plus degree heat waves, Christmas mornings and birthdays. That hour or so dedicated to running is sacred, reserved for a few minutes to clear my head, a sort of reset button to each day. I’m surrounded by nothing but the sound of shoes hitting the pavement and gasps of heavy …

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