I am not a pediatrician, and I am glad that I am not. There was a time in my life when becoming a pediatrician was a genuine career aspiration, but the universe clearly steered me away from it. After becoming a mother and receiving the title of a “NICU mom,” I could see how switching tracks was a blessing for my sanity. Those who continue to provide this noble service …
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Join Tami Burdick, a patient advocate and the author of Diagnosis Detective: Curing Granulomatous Mastitis. Discover the overlooked factors that can contribute to unexplained health issues and learn practical steps to protect yourself and your loved ones …
Although the health care workforce has begun to normalize following the historic lows of the pandemic, according to Staffing Industry Analyst’s most recent Healthcare Staffing Report, health care employers across the board still struggle with a tight labor market, high turnover, and continued attrition.
In fact, the health care sector continues to rank last for overall employee satisfaction, with low scores in areas such as engagement, intent-to-stay, and employee experience …
During a recent conversation with Dr. Dawn Sears, I mentioned that I was working on a presentation I wish to give locally, speaking on “How caring for your doctor gets you better care.”
Our discussion revealed some important insights all patients should be aware of, which we share here:
1. Let the pilot fly the plane. Passengers generally don’t walk onto an airplane and start complaining to the pilot about their seat …
In today’s digitized, on-demand world, patients frequently use portals to send their physicians questions and requests. Today, physicians receive 57 percent more patient messages than before the pandemic. They spend the highest proportion of their inbox time on these messages, often responding after hours.
While messaging is an essential care access point, high volume strains the thinly–stretched health care workforce and may contribute to burnout. …
Clinical decision support tools in the EHR are gaining momentum. These exciting and meaningful innovations are challenging us to make room for them to flourish.
New technology is often disruptive before it finds its way to being helpful. In the late 1800s, the telephone created unexpected challenges in medical practice at its inception; it brought a need for new team members to answer calls and required doctors and patients to develop …
While preparing yet another talk about burnout, I had a brainstorm. I created a counterpoint PowerPoint (or tongue-in-cheek complementary model) to The Stanford Model of Professional Fulfillment. Perhaps it was a particularly irreverent or flippant stage of my own stuttering burnout. Maybe it was passive-aggressive pent-up frustration. Whatever it was, I came up with a “new and improved” model for physician burnout. I’ve gotten rather burned out on burnout. …
An excerpt from A Petit Mal.
In ER, we are seen by French doctor, which is unusual and relevant because doctor asks boy if he likes any French soccer teams. Boy is wearing Italian soccer jersey.
Yes, Paris Saint-Germain, boy says.
Ah, doctor says, you like PSG. And you also like Juventus, ah.
Boy …
Every time an American fills a prescription, a searchable electronic database record is made. This record is kept, like the paper records of a few decades ago, to allow for verification of medications dispensed in the U.S. But in the past, to access these records, enforcement agencies had to get a search warrant signed by a judge. This meant that the authorities had to have and show to the court …
Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement and palliative care, famously said, “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life.” This quote has become the central philosophical tenet of palliative care. It implores us to remind patients, who may be feeling helpless, hopeless, or worthless, that they matter. There is abundant evidence that patients approaching death are susceptible to …
This article is sponsored by Gilead Sciences, Inc.
In this special sponsored episode from Gilead, I’m joined by Anu Osinusi, an infectious disease physician and Vice President of Clinical Research for Hepatitis, Respiratory, and Emerging Viruses at Gilead, to discuss navigating COVID-19 today. We look back on the early days of …
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Join L. Joseph Parker, a research physician, as we explore a recent study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Discover how two compounds found in cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG), may revolutionize fracture …
If there is one root cause of all the disgruntlement among health care workers, it is that we lost autonomy due to hospital consolidation. Relationships are largely about leverage. With rare exceptions, a single doctor cannot dramatically impact the bottom line of a hospital chain, whereas the loss of your professional income—particularly for those of us geographically rooted in an area with few alternatives—is devastating.
The beauty of locums is that …
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Some of the most brilliantly funny men have the saddest personal lives. John Belushi, Chris Farley, and Sam Kinison were all preceded by Jerome Lester Horwitz, otherwise known as Curly of the Three Stooges: n’yuk-n’yuk-n’yuk. Why, soitenly the tragic life of a comedic legend deserves a great biography, and while Curly’s niece (Moe’s daughter) did her best to amass a wealth of Curly memorabilia – a mixture of …
Over the past 20-plus years, I have made my mark within the plastic surgery field. I firmly believe that dedicating valuable time to understanding each patient and grasping their sense of aesthetics and beauty is essential in providing exceptional patient care. My goal is to not only meet their expectations but also bring their unique vision to life.
Since my childhood, I have been known for my artistic and creative nature. …
When I was 36 weeks pregnant with my second child, Anna, my obstetrician noted that my fetus had a disproportionately small head, or microcephaly—a condition now commonly known because of its association with the Zika virus. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said, meaning we’ll look for answers if the baby is affected at birth. But when my daughter was born, there were no answers then either.
Anna was …
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Listen to conversations that uncover the unique perspectives of health care professionals and the transformative power of their work. Tamara Beckford, an emergency physician, reveals her remarkable journey from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic to …
PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, has long been considered the best-kept secret in the American health care system. It’s time to unveil this hidden gem. The health and well-being of older Americans – and the future of our health care system itself – may hinge on it.
Originating nearly half a century ago with the On Lok program in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the PACE model has since …
Most humans, especially doctors, are completely disconnected from their bodies. This conditioning starts in childhood, escalates through teenage years, and peaks in residency where we are trained to completely detach from our body. Our emotions are held in our body. But in order to survive the chronic stress and trauma of medical training, we stop feeling.
It’s our coping mechanism.
It’s survival.
Yet this is so counterintuitive to our soul’s calling because most …
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In a recently published study, it was found that a set of 4 genes (JUN, CEBPB, PRKCB, ENO2, or CEBPG) was shown to predict the diagnosis of heroin addiction with an accuracy rate of around 85 percent. This is an amazing development and could open the door to knowing who is at high risk of opiate addiction before the prescription is written. If similar markers can be found for …
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