A solid mass silently grew on my kidney. An unwelcome addition. Asymptomatic. Discovered haphazardly during a CT scan of my lungs … And it revealed itself.
At first, I was devastated. Will cancer ever leave me alone? It has already visited me twice before. First, breast cancer, also asymptomatic, detected during my very first mammogram at the age of 42, and then a troublesome mole that tested positive for melanoma.
I seemed …
I sat at my desk in my 6th-grade classroom, my anxiety mounting. I counted down the minutes until the big hand on the clock above the chalkboard finally reached noon. As my classmates emptied out of the room, headed to the cafeteria for lunch, my palms got cold and clammy, and I felt a growing sense of panic. I had to use the bathroom, but the prospect of entering a …
In 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions became convinced that the opioid crisis was not the fault of cartels smuggling fentanyl across porous American checkpoints. And it wasn’t due to pharmaceutical companies corrupting drug approval officials and DEA administrators by hiring them as consultants after making decisions in the company’s favor. No. The opioid crisis was caused by American physicians coddling pain patients and addicts.
But reviewing all the actions of tens …
In 1736, Ben Franklin famously advised Philadelphians that preventing fires is better than fighting them. Mr. Franklin’s advice is just as applicable today in addressing America’s opioid crisis. Billions of opioid settlement dollars are being distributed to every state, and a portion of those funds should be allocated to preventing opioid addictions, not just buying fire extinguishers (Narcan) and fighting fires (medication-assisted therapy or substance use disorder treatment). Preventing opioid …
Health care and how individuals receive it has been at the forefront of public concern for many years. Now, more than ever, a priority should be placed on discovering amenable solutions to address the incomprehensible challenges impacting this nation’s health care system. I believe that direct primary care (DPC) holds the potential to improve the way Americans access and experience health care. An article published by Medical Economics says …
Although I had never been diagnosed with anxiety, my career as a physician has always entailed a high degree of stress, and this has had consequences.
The stress of running a solo private medical practice
When I was running my solo private practice, there were always competing demands for my time: Patients waiting to be seen, patients or physicians on the phone waiting to talk to me, staff issues, scheduling problems, dysfunctional …
It has been a long time since my last post. The digital health economic, clinical, regulatory, and political landscapes have changed significantly since then. The objective of my blog, which began in 2011, was and remains to educate the reader (clinicians, health care IT community, patients and caregivers, and other health care stakeholders about digital health technology and how it is relevant to the changing health care environment. The first …
There is undeniable hope and optimism when looking at the future of cancer care. Cancer survival rates are steadily rising as oncologists continue to learn more about the 100+ unique types of cancer—and emerging variants—that exist. Thanks to new targeted therapies and remarkable improvements in genomics, cancer care physicians and researchers are finding better ways to treat each cancer type and improve health outcomes.
Despite this knowledge, however, there are still …
At the peak of the coronavirus crisis in 2020, American policymakers were faced with the critical challenge of how to encourage as many Americans as possible to be tested for and vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Fortunately, Congress rose to this challenge by passing legislation that, in addition to providing these services to the uninsured, required private insurance plans to eliminate all out-of-pocket costs associated with getting vaccinated or tested. …
An excerpt from The Healing Book.
When Allie’s canoe tapped the dock in Iquitos, Peru, she didn’t know which was greater: her exhaustion or her anticipation. After hours on the Amazon River, she was sticky with sweat, and her arms and legs itched and ached in the wake of countless mosquito bites. However, their arrival meant she was that much closer …
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A while ago, I wrote about my experience during an attack of atrial fibrillation (afib), lamenting the fact that my management never included a proper physical exam. Nevertheless, chemical cardioversion was successful, and my hospital stay was brief.
The episode was precipitated by a small pulmonary embolus acquired during sinus surgery the day before. I had experienced an episode of afib some 15 years previously and had remained free, I think …
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Join Laya Jalilian-Khave, a physician and post-doctoral fellow in psychiatry. Laya shares her profound journey from medical school in Tehran to practicing medicine in diverse settings, including the border regions of Iran and Afghanistan. Discover how she …
I read all the time about the strategies and measures physicians and other health care professionals take to mitigate, reduce, or immunize themselves against burnout, moral distress, and empathic strain. We have been talking about this for decades, with an increase in “burnout” as a result. It seems time to shift the paradigm to allow for more productive discussions, acceptance, and strategies. Instead of talking about burnout, resilience, and self-care …
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It’s been two years since the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health. Yet sadly, very little has changed. This year, 25 percent of youth have been diagnosed with a mental health condition. More than 20 percent of teens have seriously considered suicide, and more than 40 percent of high school students reported that they’d felt so sad …
The practice of medicine has been significantly enhanced by advancing technology. However, even with four years of medical school and an MD degree, this only provides the foundation for what is needed to be a good doctor. A critically important skill is the ability to make sound medical decisions.
This is why there is a hierarchy in training that begins after medical school, progressing through internship, residency, fellowship, and eventually leading …
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Join Kim Downey, a physical therapist, David Fessell, a radiologist, and Todd R. Otten, a family physician, as they share their journeys and expertise. Discover their unique perspectives on well-being, health care transformation, and strategies for achieving …
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I want to share this good news, but at the same time, I am a bit afraid to let the word get out. Our rural health clinic in Brewster has found a way to keep family medicine alive.
My generation of doctors has experienced incredible changes. The internet revolution is one of them. When I went to medical school in 1995, the internet was slow and clunky and limited in its …
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