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.

The truth about entrepreneurship: What no one tells you about business success

Shakeel Ahmed, MD

Physician

September 16, 2024

“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.”
— William Shakespeare.

In the dynamic world of business, the landscape is littered with tales of success and failure. However, a recurring narrative that I see repeated over and over and that ensnares many novice entrepreneurs is the misleading promise that “you can strike it rich or be successful with all ventures.” This piece of …

How a pediatrician fights vaccine misinformation in a small town

Dr. Ahmet Alptuğ Güngör

Physician

September 16, 2024

When I took the final exam after years of pediatric training, hearing my professors say, “You are now qualified and equipped to manage a pediatric clinic; congratulations” was a deeply touching moment for me. I felt fortunate to experience the profound satisfaction of seeing my efforts to help children recognized and appreciated. With eager anticipation, I awaited the assignment to the place where I would begin my journey as a …

Systemic collusion: How big business and government herd physicians into traditional employment

Tod Stillson, MD

Physician

September 15, 2024

As a physician, I spent years training to care for patients, only to realize by the time I completed my education that I wasn’t truly in control of my career. Like so many of us, I had been funneled into a rigid system that pushes physicians toward employment with large health care systems rather than allowing for independent practice or entrepreneurial ventures. It felt like I had been herded—herded by …

The little boy who taught me the power of education in the Guatemalan highlands

Oscar A. Leyva, MD

Physician

September 14, 2024

Walking through the narrow alleyways and past artisanal businesses in the Lake Atitlán region of the Guatemalan highlands, a swarm of children followed us as if we were a parade or a moving tourist attraction. As a global fellow through the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI), I served as an interpreter and interviewer in this underserved region with extreme poverty a few …

When a doctor acts like one of the kids

Ryan McCarthy, MD

Physician

September 13, 2024

Sue went to the operating room today, which was not at all what I recommended, not that we ever discussed my personal opinion on the matter. With a worsening small bowel obstruction, I woke up this morning and, realizing that matters had worsened overnight, I called her husband, Dave. I don’t think I woke him, but his voice, one complicated by little, if any, sleep and likely hours of talking …

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When a doctor acts like one of the kids

Is your medical malpractice case just a coin toss?

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

September 13, 2024

If you are embroiled in a medical malpractice lawsuit today, you are in a difficult situation.

Your lawsuit is one of 85,000 medical malpractice cases filed each year. Regardless of what your defense counsel tells you about merit, no one truly knows how many lawsuits have merit. A prominent defense attorney has gone on record declaring that there is no such thing as a frivolous lawsuit and publicly disavows any notion …

Why endocrinologists need to rethink CME: the secret to a healthier conference

Lubna Mirza, MD, Sadaf Zahra, MD and Yuyang Xia, MD

Physician

September 11, 2024

As endocrinologists, we spend our days balancing hormones and fine-tuning metabolism, but when it comes to our own continuing medical education (CME) conferences, it seems our ability to maintain equilibrium goes out the window. We advocate for healthy living, yet our CME events are a hormonal disaster, like a cortisol spike right after a sugar crash.

Picture the scene: you roll out of bed before the sun, which is already a …

What my patients taught me about faith

Scott Abramson, MD

Physician

September 11, 2024

When I was a teenager, I worked summer nights at the Funtown Amusement Park on the south side of Atlanta, Georgia. After work, as I drove home to the north side of Atlanta, I had to pass through “Cabbagetown.” In the early 1960s, during the days of segregation in the South, Cabbagetown was a shantytown neighborhood inhabited by tough, white folks who worked at the nearby Fulton Cotton Mills. On …

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What my patients taught me about faith

Why diversity in sports medicine is the key to better patient care

Marissa S. Vasquez Machuca, MD, MBA

Physician

September 10, 2024

The field of sports medicine is steadily growing, highlighting the imperative for a more inclusive workforce. There has been a notable rise in female athletes at all levels of sports. The success of U.S. female athletes at this summer’s Paris Olympics was dominant. The prominence of U.S. women in sports is evident by their winning of twenty-six of the forty gold medals awarded. Despite the clear rise in competitive women …

How a doctor with cerebral palsy defied the odds and transformed health care

Ron M. Aryel, MD, MBA

Physician

September 10, 2024

About midway through my pediatric residency program at a well-known children’s hospital on the East Coast in the mid-1990s, I found out what was wrong with me.

I told the chief of the pediatric emergency department, a Jewish woman, that I had finally learned the name of a device after I had patients use it many times. I knew what it was for, but I hadn’t learned its name. It was …

Legitimate vs. sham peer review (SPR): Is there a difference?

Tracey O'Connell, MD

Physician

September 9, 2024

For an introduction to SPR, read this overview. Additionally, you can explore the history of SPR.

When summoned for a peer review, how can you tell if it’s a sham? The biggest clue is whether the peer review process seems intended to help or harm you. If you feel sincerely supported by colleagues and the peer review proceedings are uniformly applied throughout your practice, you have less cause for …

Medical gaslighting and strategies to combat it

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

September 9, 2024

An excerpt from Story Treasures: Medical Essays and Insights in the Narrative Tradition.

The Gish gallop – named after American creationist Duane Gish, who challenged the science of evolution – is a rhetorical technique often used by a debater to throw out a fast string of lies, non-sequiturs, and specious arguments, so many that it is impossible to fact-check or rebut them in the amount of time it took to …

How to stay calm and lead effectively in high-stress medical emergencies

Stephanie Wellington, MD

Physician

September 9, 2024

Can you remain steady in the midst of chaos—whether in the emergency room, on the unit, or in the clinic? There are times in medicine when chaos ensues. Maybe it’s a trauma rushing into the ER. Or a refractory asthmatic coming into the office who rapidly deteriorates, requiring immediate intervention. Maybe it’s a newborn who is floppy and cyanotic after birth.

Regardless of the clinical setting, there are times when the …

How hypothesis testing could slash legal costs

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

September 9, 2024

There are 85,000 medical malpractice lawsuits filed annually. Among them, 52,190 are summarily dropped for reasons unknown; 26,860 are settled; 1,190 result in plaintiff verdicts, and 4,760 in defense verdicts. Only 33.3% of these lawsuits are likely to have merit, while 66.7% do not. To make matters worse, only one out of every 37.5 claims reviewed by attorneys is represented, meaning that 3,102,500 other claims are abandoned for reasons known …

Fighting burnout with deeper human connections

Kim Downey, PT & Lisa Scardina & Wael Saasouh, MD

Physician

September 8, 2024

Kim Downey:

Fostering meaningful connections and building a supportive community has become my mission as I work to stand up for and alongside doctors. I recently connected Dr. Wael Saasouh with Lisa Scardina. During our thought-provoking conversation, Wael said, from his perspective of wearing many hats in business, leadership, clinical, and research, “Once we can collaborate on multiple levels, a solution becomes a lot more attainable!” Lisa and I wholeheartedly agreed. …

Mastering health literacy: the key to taking control of your well-being

Reyhan Haider and Fred Garner, MD

Physician

September 8, 2024

In an increasingly complex world, where technology, science, and medicine are rapidly evolving, health care literacy is no longer a luxury but a necessity. The ability to understand and use health information effectively can mean the difference between life and death. However, it is important to distinguish between being health literate and health care literate. While both are critical, they serve different purposes in ensuring successful health outcomes.

Health literacy refers …

Empathy at the bedside: a gaping injury in our training

Dr. Razan Baabdullah

Physician

September 8, 2024

“Please grab a chair and sit,” I told my resident, who was preparing to discuss a procedure with a patient. She smiled. Her confusion was evident in the gentle lift of her upper lip, showing just the tip of her incisors. A touch of surprise was also flitting across her forehead and eyebrows. As surgeons, we are conditioned to be efficient and laser-focused bullet-point communicators with patients and other medical …

Cultivating joy beyond the clinic: a physician’s tale of rediscovering hobbies

Ben Reinking, MD

Physician

September 4, 2024

It smelled like hay, molasses, and mice. I really hoped there wasn’t a mouse in the oat bin again. It was early fall, and the pasture was eaten to the ground, so the horses received “special oats” with some molasses and corn added so they could head into the winter with extra fat stores. They loved it. So did the mice. I lifted the lid. No mice. Phew. I filled …

How coaching saved my life and helped me find freedom from burnout and anorexia

Jillian Rigert, MD, DMD

Physician

September 4, 2024

In 2019, I bought a condo, as growing up with the image of the American Dream told me to buy a house as soon as I could. I loved my little condo, but I felt trapped.

I decorated the rooms and made it a home, but it wasn’t me.

In 2020, I sold it and nearly everything in it, minimizing my belongings. This was not the most economical decision when it came …

A doctor’s journey in embracing her identity

Amna Khan, MD

Physician

September 3, 2024

I am the combination of two very different worlds—my mother is originally from El Salvador and Catholic, and my father is from Pakistan and Muslim. My parents are original trailblazers in my mind, creating a life together despite the unsure gaze of their respective families, who questioned the durability of their relationship, largely because they had never experienced one like theirs before. As a child and into adulthood, I felt …

Physician

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