Physician

Patient respect in medicine: Ensuring well-being and trust

Physician
August 10, 2023

Treating patients with respect and dignity is essential to the medical profession. This is true even when the patient lies unconscious in the operating room. It seems unnecessary to stress the importance of creating a secure and comfortable environment to ease the patient’s anxiety and stress and develop confidence. Respect is also crucial to promote successful outcomes. By prioritizing these values, medical professionals can ensure that patients feel valued and …

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Thriving through transitions: lessons from a hospitalist’s journey

Physician
August 10, 2023

We all know that life is in transition, and we all go through different changes during our careers, from personal to professional growth. We all strive for a reasonable life-work balance.

Early in my career, after completing my residency training, I was discouraged by many of my mentors from pursuing a hospitalist career. The common agreement at the time was that hospital medicine was the recipe for burnout, and a fellowship …

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Medical schools’ hidden crisis: the dark truth behind physician burnout

Physician
August 9, 2023

The annual suicide rate of physicians over the past few decades has amounted to about 400 highly trained and competent American physicians per year and is now increasing. That wipes out about one large medical school four-year class each year in our nation.

Our medical school education system has for the last century rejected and intentionally prevented offering an academic business education to all medical students, which has unfortunately become a …

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Princess Diana: Unraveling the enduring fascination of gossip and our innate curiosity

Physician
August 8, 2023

“What heart surgeon did Diana date?”

According to data from a popular search trend analysis website, this is one of the most highly searched phrases about heart surgery.

According to Cosmopolitan, Princess Diana dated cardiac surgeon Hasnat Khan for years and called him “Mr. Wonderful.” Mehera Bonner did a lovely job discussing this topic.

Nonetheless, it left me to ponder the following: Why do we want to know who the Princess of …

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Residency reshaped: the courageous journey of switching specialties

Physician
August 8, 2023

“Don’t leave. There are miserable people in this world, and then ones more miserable than the others. My assessment is that you’re in the second category.”

Although it has been over a decade since I resigned from my ophthalmology residency after completing my PGY-2 year, I still remember this attending physician’s words and how they reverberated in my consciousness. I was terrified at his prophecy. Earlier that week, I had requested …

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A love letter to the doctor I was

Physician
August 8, 2023

I recently returned to the hospital where I had first worked as an attending. Everything felt different. It seemed darker and smaller, reminiscent of the feeling when you revisit your elementary school, and the water fountains appear almost touching the ground, making you feel like a giant.

I walked through the same door I had used countless times over ten years, yet it now seemed more like a portal. The floor, …

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The case for ABIM’s maintenance of certification program

Physician
August 8, 2023

A recent post on KevinMD put forward “the case for eliminating recertification by the ABIM,” in which the author expressed a number of concerns about the relevancy, time commitment and cost of maintaining certification. I have good news for the author: His concerns have already been addressed by ABIM over the last several years.

Allow me to share my case for ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

Like the author of …

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From buzzer beaters to critical care

Physician
August 7, 2023

Twenty-four is the number of hours in a day that you have to change someone’s life, and it’s also the jersey number of my favorite basketball player, Kobe Bryant. Basketball has always been a passion of mine, and my desire to compete is the source of my relentless, driven attitude. The fundamentals of basketball entail rigorous training, critical analysis of opponents, working well under pressure, and most importantly, teamwork.

At 3:30 …

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The untold struggles of a surgical fellow

Physician
August 7, 2023

My experiences with mental illness have been intimately tied with my experiences of being a surgical trainee. If you read my medical chart, you will see diagnoses like postpartum depression, generalized anxiety, and adjustment disorder. If you read my residency rotation reviews, you will read descriptors like “hardworking,” “reliable,” and “good team leader.” You would not guess that I almost quit residency less than a year from graduating because I …

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Pain and laughter for a veteran patient

Physician
August 6, 2023

Mr. Sampson, a 70-year-old man with a history of diabetes, was referred to us by his primary care physician for nerve conduction studies. He had been experiencing increasing numbness in his right hand for the past year and had recently started having trouble playing his beloved guitar. As a Vietnam War veteran, he had a fascinating story to tell.

As I approached him in the waiting room, he greeted me with …

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From burnout to brilliance: How one doctor found balance

Physician
August 5, 2023

During my five-year journey as an emergency medicine physician, I have experienced the adrenaline rush and ever-changing dynamics of the emergency department. Each shift offers a chance to make a meaningful impact on those around me. However, the demanding nature of this work can sometimes challenge my motivation, making it difficult to ensure that every shift is a great one.

Throughout the years, I’ve learned some essential rules that help me …

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Embracing the Asclepion: a call for authenticity in medical symbolism

Physician
August 4, 2023

At the heart of the City of London sits an imposing building with massive brass front doors. Emblazoned and embossed on both doors is a symbol – the Caduceus, which in the U.S. is associated with medicine and health care. But why is it on the doors of the Bank of England, the second-largest repository of gold in the world?

Historically, the Caduceus was the staff of Hermes/Mercury, the patron of …

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Painful physician burnout truths

Physician
August 4, 2023

Every week, there is a new article or blog about physician burnout. According to Business Wire, nearly half (49 percent) of U.S. physicians reported burnout in 2023, up slightly from 2022 (45 percent). It’s the same ideas rehashed repeatedly – doctors are worn out, drowning in paperwork, suffering due to insurance restrictions, and considering early retirement. Even more tragically, some doctors are dying by suicide. It is estimated that …

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Juggling medicine and motherhood: a doctor’s journey

Physician
August 3, 2023

When my children were in preschool, parents often commented at school events that they did not know I worked or was a physician. I never knew how to handle that double-edged sword. Ostensibly a compliment, their surprise at a working parent’s presence at school felt like an insult; their shock over my medical life cast doubt on my professionalism. I smiled benignly and changed the subject.

For years, I worked in …

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Transform your life with 10 powerful tips for health and happiness

Physician
August 2, 2023

Separately, we discovered many of the same helpful tips that neither of us learned in a combined fifty-six years of education and training; we have each found comfort, sustenance, and direction from them. When we recently discussed wellness in our department, Alicia shared resources she had found useful in navigating the stressors of physician life. Christine was reluctant to talk about the subject at all, and together we found commonalities. …

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The surprising link between science and art: lessons from Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei

Physician
August 2, 2023

Though I studied medicine and was never really a science buff, I remain in awe to this day of algebra, calculus, theoretical physics, and quantum mechanics. I am fascinated by the great Greek mathematicians of yore, from Archimedes to Theaetetus, Euclid, and yes, Pythagoras of Samos, who is also a philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. Oh, my Pythagoras! The Pythagorean theorem, a beacon of inspiration, ignited my passion …

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How unproven orthopedic treatments impact health care costs

Physician
July 31, 2023

I am a clinically retired orthopedist who completed my residency training in the mid-80s. I trained at a university residency program with faculty who were both forward-thinking and innovative, yet always grounded in evidence-based medicine. It was understood that many traditional concepts in orthopedic surgical care had not been challenged and lacked convincing clinical data to justify their continued advocacy. Examples included post-operative immobilization, avoidance of internal fixation in the …

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Ensuring fair reimbursement for emergency procedures

Physician
July 30, 2023

The applicability of add-on payment/reimbursement qualifiers/modifiers for emergency procedures should not be limited to patients’ emergency conditions alone. They should also be applicable to situations where arrangements are made for procedures outside regular office hours or on weekends. This includes cases where proceduralists choose to schedule procedures during after-hours or patients choose to have procedures during these times. Additionally, these qualifiers/modifiers should apply to proceduralists who work during after-hours or …

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