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.

You’ll be surprised at how ERs are meeting their metrics

Aida Cerundolo, MD

Physician

July 11, 2016

During a busy ED shift, my computer signaled the complaint and location of my next patient: a woman in bed 10 flagged with “GI bleed.” I almost bolted to bed 10 to ensure this patient was stable, but then noticed orders pending, so my urgency eased.

“I see you already saw the patient in 10,” I began, addressing the triage physician.

“Yeah, she’s all set,” he replied, without turning from his computer. …

Essential tips to choosing your next pediatrician

Jeremy J. Granger, MD

Physician

July 10, 2016

As a pediatrician I come across lists of “what to ask the pediatrician” and routinely meet with inquiring parents who are in search of a pediatrician. Occasionally they come with a list of questions but most often they are not sure what they should be asking. I always tell my new parents that the interview visits can tell you if I’m a normal person and if you can get booked …

Do 2 little letters define who you are?

Dr. Eunice J. Minford

Physician

July 10, 2016

Have you ever stopped to consider who you are or what defines you? Is your self-worth or self-esteem wrapped up in those two little letters “Dr.”? How would you feel if they were removed? Would you know who you are without them?

As medical students we work hard, study long hours, sit tons of exams and tests, to ultimately prove we have what it takes — that we are intelligent enough, to be a …

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Do 2 little letters define who you are?

How spirituality can help motivate patients

Shelly Sethi, DO

Physician

July 9, 2016

Recently, I was asked to give a talk on spirituality, and it’s importance in health care. I found myself thinking about how I have spent the last few years focusing on the “easy” fixes with my patients such as diet, sleep, and exercise. Now, I am not saying that these things are truly easy to fix.

However, when it comes to a physician addressing these topics with a patient, talking about …

Survival of the fittest does not apply after a certain age

Kevin Haselhorst, MD

Physician

July 8, 2016

John was an 88-year-old ranch owner who struck gold when he sold his homestead in Wyoming. His golden years in Arizona were spent struggling with back pain and caring for his 80-year-old niece with dementia. He ran out of pain medication and presented to the ER for another “handout” of hydrocodone. He admitted that life was taking its toll, and he was beside himself from aging. Was it time to …

The perfect son. The perfect doctor.

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Physician

July 8, 2016

Benjamin, Jr. was the apple of their eye. He was cute and inquisitive, and smart. Very, very smart. The minute he took his first breath into this world, his mom and dad had already ordained him as a future MD. He would become a doctor and follow in his father’s steps. No questions asked. He would become the second MD in the family. Every birthday, his parties were doctor-themed: kiddie …

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The perfect son. The perfect doctor.

Meeting your new doctor can come with some baggage

Dana Corriel, MD

Physician

July 8, 2016

I find interesting how much lies in the fate of the day’s mood when it comes to forming a new patient-physician relationship. I can have one of my typical days (and thankfully this is usually the case) in which my mood is great; I stroll into work, after having sipped an entire cup of coffee, maybe nibbled on a Moroccan cookie or two, and donned my white coat and stethoscope, …

The perioperative surgical home: What’s in a name?

Ronald L. Harter, MD

Physician

July 7, 2016

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

Our institution, like countless others across the country, has been working to institute processes to achieve the “triple aim” of improving the quality of health care, increasing patient satisfaction, and reducing the cost of providing that care.

As chair of my anesthesiology department, …

How the practice of medicine changed my prayers

Chiduzie Madubata, MD

Physician

July 7, 2016

I was standing outside of the patient room with two family members, a faithful wife, and a devoted mother. In the sea of faces that surrounded his bed on a daily basis, these were the two that stood out to me. For this young man in his 30s who was battling metastatic colon cancer, his wife, and his mother were his strongest advocates, constantly seeking answers about his prognosis and …

We are suffering the grave consequences of a single survey question

Justin Reno, MD

Physician

July 6, 2016

“You’re nothing but a punk ass kid. And you’ll die a punk ass kid!”

With that, she stormed out of the exam room, leaving me sitting on a stool, slamming the door behind her. Apparently she walked straight up to the front desk and asked to file a complaint about me, but left prior to receiving the paperwork.

Most all physicians will immediately know what the interaction involved. I hadn’t been mean …

The end of residency means difficult goodbyes

Anne Toledo, MD

Physician

July 6, 2016

“It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends. I can remember now, with a clarity that makes the nerves in the back of my neck constrict, when New York began for me, but I cannot lay my finger upon the moment it ended.”
– Joan Didion, Goodbye To All That

So it feels at the end of residency. Of course, there is a graduation date. …

Hamilton mirrors the duel between doctors-patients and insurance companies

Chad Rudnick, MD

Physician

July 5, 2016

It’s likely that you or someone you know has attempted to purchase tickets, or at least talked about the difficulties of purchasing tickets to Broadway’s most popular show, Hamilton. While participating or overhearing the discussion, the conversation has likely pivoted to how expensive ticket prices are on the secondary market. It has become so difficult to get tickets through the box office, even with the partial block ticket releases that …

Physician-led anesthesia is safe anesthesia

Edward R. Mariano, MD

Physician

July 5, 2016

Many people, even those who work in the operating room every day, take safe anesthesia care for granted. There has been growing pressure recently to abandon the team model and remove physician anesthesiologists’ supervision of nurse anesthetists with the latest threat coming from within Veterans Affairs (VA) health care. For our veterans, our heroes and arguably some of the most medically complex patients, having both …

Collaboration is vital to mission of professional medical societies

Yul Ejnes, MD

Physician

July 5, 2016

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

“Before we end the meeting, I would like to thank our staff, without whom none of this would have been possible …” I can’t count how many times I said that or something similar when I was the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Rhode Island …

Patients are blindfolded to charges and cost

Aida Cerundolo, MD

Physician

July 5, 2016

As she adjusts her sunglasses, Mary squints to protect her sensitive eyes from the sun. Four years ago when lymphoma threatened her life, doctors gave her a 5 percent chance of survival.

“I really should be dead right now,” she states casually. A bone marrow transplant gave this patient a new lease on life, allowing for the treasured opportunity to mother her 8-year-old son. The transplant has been successful, but her …

Sometimes the big picture isn’t apparent to patients

Laura Black, MD

Physician

July 4, 2016

Follow-up appointments at my continuity clinic have given me the opportunity to look at my clinical judgment in snapshots. Unlike on my inpatient rotations, where I see the same patients every day, I have to wait for a month or two to see if a medication is working, or if a patient is satisfied with their progress in physical therapy. Sometimes I have a crisp memory of my clinical decision-making …

A physician responds to Sarah Kliff

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

Physician

July 4, 2016

A response to Unpaid, stressed, and confused: Patients are the health care system’s free labor.

Dear Sarah,

I am genuinely sorry about your chronic foot injury. Thank you for your insightful article and feedback. You are correct the system is fragmented and places “considerable burden” on patients to “coordinate their own care.” You (the patient) and me (a physician) are now in the same boat, headed the same direction with the …

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A physician responds to Sarah Kliff

Tips to improve your communication with patients

Michael Ho, MD

Physician

July 3, 2016

“We experienced an iatrogenic event that produced an untoward sequela, and while it is now quiescent, it may still recrudesce.”

No one likes to be given bad news, especially of disease. But first, you have to understand what it means. When it comes to communication of medical information, the way the message is delivered is often just as important as the information itself. Indeed, good communication is the backbone of every patient-provider relationship.

The …

The humiliation a nursing physician faced during her board exam

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

Physician

July 2, 2016

To the American Board of Pediatrics:

I took and passed my recertification exam in Washington State last fall and would like to express my sincere gratitude to your organization for setting up more hoops for pediatricians to jump through under the guise of helping us stay up-to-date. The first hurdle was the exam application and the second was the testing day experience, which was one of the most humiliating of my …

What does quality mean in the eyes of a patient?

Kerri Vincenti, MD

Physician

July 1, 2016

One hot topic that has recently gained a relatively large amount of attention over almost all areas of medicine is quality improvement. Hospitals have created dedicated senior-level positions to oversee it, interdisciplinary councils have been formed to research and address it, and employees are reminded daily, if not more often, of their role in implementing it in the form of various quality benchmarks they are held accountable for (such as …

Physician

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