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Nurses and doctors are in this together. Let’s start acting like it.

Physician

December 25, 2015

I recently wrote about inter-professional hostility in health care. I thought I would share some of the inspiration for that post here. Is there really an escalation of scope of practice conflicts and a downward spiral of disrespect, or is it just more palpable in the modern era of anonymous comments and viral online posts? I don’t know for sure, but lately, the conversation seems louder to me.

In …

What a nurse learned from a patient who wasn’t afraid to die

Liz Witherell, RN

Conditions and Diseases

December 24, 2015

I donated blood today. I’m one of those people who doesn’t shudder at the thought of needles piercing my skin, or get queasy as I watch the blood drain from my vein into the collection bag. It’s no big deal. I eat the cookies and drink the juice afterward, and I kind of enjoy talking with the elderly volunteers.

I think I’m lucky. I know so many people who are sickened …

How to put EHRs back on the right track

Margalit Gur-Arie

Health Technology

December 24, 2015

“It was a dark and stormy night.”

My computer didn’t catch fire while typing the previous sentence. No alarms were triggered warning me about the quality of such opening. I wasn’t prompted to select subjects and predicates from drop-down lists. I typed the entire sentence, letter by letter, not at all dissimilar to its first rendering back in 1830. Computer software, in general, and Microsoft Word in particular, magically removed the …

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How to put EHRs back on the right track

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Cooking is just what the doctor ordered

Diane Dao

Medical Education

December 24, 2015

Last year, I visited my brother in Rhode Island at Johnson & Wales University. We took a culinary school class together learning about the fundamentals of Italian and German cuisine. What were two medical students doing in culinary school?

As a fourth-year medical student, I learn the science and art of caring for the body and mind. Unfortunately, the majority of patients are plagued by ailments secondary to chronic preventable diseases …

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Cooking is just what the doctor ordered

7 surprising things patients should know about their physicians

Jordan Grumet, MD

Physician

December 23, 2015

The daughter of the patient walked out of the room livid. She was convinced that the nurse had no business taking care of patients. She seethed as she recounted all the supposed injuries and mistakes that had occurred. I took a deep breath and paused for a moment, trying to collect my thoughts.

The daughter didn’t know that I had watched this same nurse successfully perform CPR on a man the …

A straightforward office visit with a teenager turns into something much more

Florencia D. Kantt, ARNP

Conditions and Diseases

December 23, 2015

I walk into the exam room on a Friday afternoon to find a 16-year-old female who is coming in to see me for a sport physical. On paper, everything looks great: Her vital signs are on point, she’s a straight A student, vaccines are up to date, she eats healthy and exercises regularly, Mom and Dad are still happily married and she’s not dating an abusive senior who is pressuring her into …

A patient with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. An unconditional love.

Helena Frischtak

Conditions and Diseases

December 23, 2015

Today, I talked at length with that lady whose husband has Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). That patient — the one with arbitrary myoclonic jerks, always naked and uncovered by blankets due to uncontrolled flailing, his penis and Foley catheter exposed. That one with overgrown mycotic toenails and eyes that are always only half-open, his gaze drifting everywhere. He was until now just a patient for me — the CJD patient.

Yet today …

7 Christmas wishes for electronic medical records

Hans Duvefelt, MD

Health Technology

December 23, 2015

Dear Santa,

I’ve been a very good doctor all year. I have checked all my boxes and aced all my meaningful use requirements. This year, I’m not asking you for anything fancy. I just thought you might be able to instill some kindness and good will into the people who designed the user interface of my EMR. Maybe, with your help, they would come to see how a few minor tweaks …

A model for improving quality, safety, and value of health care

Yul Ejnes, MD

Health Policy

December 23, 2015

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

In December, I concluded a 13-year term on the board of directors of the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI). RIQI was formed in 2001 to “to significantly improve the quality, safety, and value of health care in Rhode Island.” …

How we can move to value-based health care delivery

Robert Rowley, MD

Health Policy

December 22, 2015

A recent study of health care organizations showed that most are not prepared to deliver standardized longitudinal care across multiple provider systems. Shared care plans will be the centerpiece of coordinated care delivery, incentivized by the move from fee-for-service to value-based care. In 2015, Medicare unveiled its plan to transition to quality-based payments via the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), which will sunset and subsume earlier quality-encouraging programs, and …

EMTs and paramedics are part of the health care team. Don’t forget that.

James D. Turner, JD, NREMT

Physician

December 22, 2015

After having read the article by Marjorie Stiegler, MD entitled “Stop the hostility among health care professionals,” I wanted to talk briefly about a group that was not mentioned, but needs to have a voice speak out for them. The EMTs and paramedics that serve this country as paid professionals and volunteers in ambulance services and fire departments all over this nation.

Yet, I sometimes find that EMTs and …

Why premedical education is disconnected from medicine

Christopher Cai

Medical Education

December 22, 2015

Premedical education has become disconnected from medicine. Rather than helping students evaluate whether medicine is right for them or preparing students to enter the discipline, the premedical gauntlet encourages students to blindly discipline themselves according to rigid criteria.

For example, during a recent trip to the pre-health advising office at my university, my advisors presented me with the “A.C.E. checklist.” It includes the three accomplishments every candidate should have before applying …

Researching violence is something we must do

Ahmad Bailony, MD

Physician

December 22, 2015

A few months ago I went to visit my brother in San Francisco. My sister-in-law picked me up from the airport with my four-year-old nephew in the backseat. Shortly into our car ride from the airport, my nephew says out loud, “My leg hurts.”

I replied, “I’ll check it when I get home.” To which he retorted, “No, I want a doctor to check it.”

“I am a doctor,” I shouted out.

He …

What can we learn from inspirational physicians?

Sara Taylor, MD

Physician

December 21, 2015

“It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.”
– Hippocrates

The Internet has the ability to connect us regardless of geographic location, socioeconomic status and age — it really has no boundaries. I grew up in a time when today’s technology was not the norm and having a pen pal offered you a way to connect with someone you didn’t otherwise know.

Nowadays, …

A letter to a third-year medical student

Lauren Gambill, MD

Medical Education

December 21, 2015

Dear third-year medical student:

It’s hard to believe as I am writing this, that I am in my last rotation of third year. This year has been amazing and has gone by so quickly. There is no way to predict or to prepare for what your third year will have in store, but if it is anything like mine, it will be full of ups and downs. Moments that you will …

9 tips to find a doctor if you work with venomous animals

Leslie Boyer, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 21, 2015

Because of their beauty, their amazing biology, and their use in developing medicines, venomous animals are found in captive collections far beyond their native ranges. Fortunately, accidents involving them are rare. But people who take care of such animals need to be prepared for an emergency, and if they wait until the last minute things can go very wrong. Speaking as one who receives emergency calls, I offer the following …

A day with a cystic fibrosis patient

Paula Trepman

Conditions and Diseases

December 21, 2015

In my first quarter of medical school, I learned about prenatal screening for cystic fibrosis (CF), a progressive multisystem disease caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the CF transmembrane regulator gene. We also learned about bronchiectasis, a common pathology of CF that consists of the irreversible enlargement of airways, promoting continuous low-grade bacterial infection and causing deadly respiratory failure.

But despite my hours of studying and memorization, these clinical facts …

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A day with a cystic fibrosis patient

The guilt and shame heaped on part-time physicians must stop

Ashley Maltz, MD, MPH

Physician

December 20, 2015

Dear Fizzy, MD:

Your article on part-time physicians “ruining” medicine really struck a chord with me. That you, as a mother and a wife, chose to prioritize your wholeness and family above career is commendable. I applaud your courage to chart your own course in the face of a work culture that undermines your wellbeing while at the same time, expects you to deliver health and healing to others …

Misogyny in medicine is alive and well

Laura Faiver

Medical Education

December 20, 2015

In 1978, my mother interviewed for dental school. On her post-interview tour of the school, her male tour guide assumed she was applying for dental hygiene school and showed her only those areas of the school. Upon my mother informing him that she was applying for dental school, he smirked and said, “Good luck getting in, you’re a woman,” and walked away laughing.

Of course in 1978, overt sexism was neither …

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Misogyny in medicine is alive and well

The View disses breastfeeding. Here’s why they should stop.

Jennifer Lincoln, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 20, 2015

Yet again, the topic of breastfeeding has been discussed in the mainstream media and — not surprisingly — was depicted in a less-than-factual way. It seems every few weeks these stories surface, and usually it’s a mom who’s been shamed for nursing in public. It happens so often I have almost stopped paying attention because they are so equally infuriating and repetitive.

This time, however, it was the …

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