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What hidden constraints shape clinical decisions?

Physician

May 6, 2026

What if the biggest problem in medicine isn’t bad decisions but rather the decisions we cannot even consider?

Clinical decisions unfold through processes shaped by the environment, which determine what clinicians can notice, consider, and act on. What seems like individual reasoning is structured in advance by systemic and environmental forces.

Within this context, this paper introduces a concept that I call “invisible triage,” a preconscious process that restricts which options are …

PRP therapy protocols lack expert consensus

Francisco M. Torres, MD

Meds

May 6, 2026

As a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) physician, I have guided patients through musculoskeletal care. Recently, my focus has shifted toward regenerative medicine, particularly platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. What began as curiosity is now a strong commitment to understanding these therapies for patients who have exhausted conventional treatments.

This new focus led me to attend an intensive weekend course with experts from orthopedics, sports medicine, PM&R, rheumatology, and pain medicine. …

Patients pay when Medicare care coordination codes go unused

Rachel Yates, RN

Conditions

May 6, 2026

In my years as an ICU nurse, I learned to recognize a pattern. The patients I cared for in trauma surgical intensive care often arrived after a cascade of preventable events. A missed medication. A symptom that went unaddressed. A follow-up appointment that never happened. By the time they reached my unit, the question was no longer how to keep them well at home. It was how to bring them …

Why physician well-being matters at every career stage

Farid Sabet-Sharghi, MD

Physician

May 6, 2026

The life of a physician is often viewed as a linear climb, a constant upward trajectory of achievement, responsibility, and endurance. But after decades in the field, I have come to realize that medicine is not a straight line. It is a series of seasons. If we fail to recognize the changing weather of our own lives, we risk arriving at the final season with broken bodies and weary minds. …

How implicit bias in health care impacts patient safety

Vidya Kollu, MD

Physician

May 6, 2026

Recently, I found myself in a place many physicians know professionally but dread personally: the waiting area outside a procedure room, this time as a mother. My six-year-old underwent what was supposed to be a simple elective procedure under general anesthesia at a day surgery center. He walked in smiling. He was put to sleep by using inhalational anesthesia through a mask. We were debriefed briefly by the ear, nose, …

Finding meaning and purpose in medical residency training

Gus W. Krucke, MD

Physician

May 6, 2026

If you have just matched into residency, the profession is about to begin shaping you in ways that are not always visible at first. You have made the right decision and chosen a life of service, one whose rewards are far greater than a bank account will ever reflect. What follows is not part of a curriculum, and it will not be captured on a slide. It is learned more …

Your waiting room does what social media cannot [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 5, 2026

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

What happens when patients from opposite ends of the political spectrum sit together in your waiting room and start talking like neighbors? Psychiatrist Farid Sabet-Sharghi explores why the medical …

Why tickborne co-infections are changing Lyme disease care

Melvin Sanicas, MD

Conditions

May 5, 2026

Tickborne diseases are the most common vector-borne infections in the U.S., and for decades Lyme disease has dominated the conversation in endemic regions. But ticks are carrying more than Lyme alone and co-infections are becoming harder to ignore. New research suggests ticks are harboring a wider mix of pathogens than previously recognized, and that co-infections are becoming an increasingly important part of the clinical picture.

A recent study published in Ecosphere …

Artificial intelligence in radiology and global health equity

Dr. Amarachi Amanda Dukor

Physician

May 5, 2026

In global conversations about the future of radiology, artificial intelligence (AI) is often positioned as the solution to the field’s most pressing challenges. From improving diagnostic accuracy to reducing physician workload, the possibilities seem extensive. Yet, as a medical student training in Nigeria, I have come to realize that the conversation around sustainability in radiology must begin much earlier, specifically at the point of access. In my training, I have …

How mobile surgical units improve rural surgical access

Pranav Ayyappan

Policy

May 5, 2026

Travel time to get to an operating room (OR) has increased since 2010. In 2020, 44 percent of rural adults traveled for 60 minutes or longer to get to a place to receive surgery compared to approximately 37 percent in 2010.

Longer travel to receive surgery results in delayed treatment. Delayed treatment causes the development of more complicated cases, higher complication rates, and poorer outcomes for those who receive …

Why systemic endometriosis requires whole-body care

Christine N. Metz, PhD

Conditions

May 5, 2026

There have been unanswered questions about endometriosis for as long as it has been identified as a medical condition. We do not know yet why an estimated one in 10 women of reproductive age worldwide develop this often painful, chronic condition while others do not. We do not have a single, successful non-surgical treatment for endometriosis, characterized by lesions that mimic the tissue of the endometrial lining of …

Why physicians treat symptoms not causes of disease

Tomi Mitchell, MD

Physician

May 5, 2026

I have come to a realization, one that has been building quietly over years of practice, long before I had the language to articulate it fully. We are very good at doing what we were trained to do. And yet, something about what we are doing is not enough.

As physicians, we are exceptionally skilled at identifying symptoms, categorizing them, and intervening with precision. We move quickly. We think algorithmically. We …

How workers compensation reform can cut litigation costs

Kayvan Haddadan, MD

Conditions

May 5, 2026

As a pain physician treating injured workers daily as well as being a qualified medical examiner (QME) or Independent Medical Examiner (IME) providing independent opinions, and a business owner cutting checks for workers’ comp premiums, I see the system’s strengths and serious strains up close. It started with good intentions: a no-fault safety net, so workers get care and some income if they’re hurt on the job, without dragging employers …

How medical misinformation drives demand for nonscientific treatments

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

Conditions

May 5, 2026

Not long ago, when the president announced that Tylenol caused autism, he commented that leucovorin, a cancer medication, treated the condition. It was disturbing to see the outsized impact the pronouncements of a nonscientist had on the public, despite counterstatements by autism scientists to the contrary. I can fully understand the response. What mother-to-be would take the chance, even if untrue, that Tylenol may cause autism? Or if parents have …

Opt-out states and physician-led anesthesia care explained

Michael Beck, MD

Physician

May 5, 2026

Clear, factual information regarding the roles and responsibilities of anesthesia care team members is increasingly difficult to find. In health care, “scope of practice” defines the range of responsibilities professionals may perform based on their license. As many state legislatures and Washington, D.C. are currently in session, anesthesiologists across the country are advocating for patient safety by promoting anesthesiologist-led care, not as part of a “scope” agenda, but as a …

What physicians and dragonflies share in resilience and agility

Gita Balakumar, MD

Physician

May 5, 2026

Do you ever feel like a hovering helicopter, eyes fixed on every corner of the horizon, yet swift and nimble to the next need, while trying to stay aloft with a missing blade? If you have ever stood in the middle of a shift, a surgery, a conversation, or a decision that could not wait, and felt all of that at once, then you already know what it is to …

Treating adolescent opioid use disorder with buprenorphine

Chris Buresh, MD, MPH

Conditions

May 5, 2026

I recently reviewed the case of a 17-year-old who came into the emergency department (ED) after a friend found him unresponsive at a party. He had taken what he thought was a Percocet. It was fentanyl. He survived because his friend called 911 and paramedics arrived with naloxone in time. But here is what happened next: nothing. He was observed, medically cleared, and discharged. No one offered him naloxone to …

Why lung cancer screening needs urgent policy reform

Anuraag Balaji

Policy

May 5, 2026

The act of taking a deep breath is a simple, mindless reflex. However, for nearly 124,990 Americans this year, that same breath will become a reminder of a system that failed them. Currently, health care in the U.S. is viewed as a privilege, reserved for those who have the means to access it; it is no longer seen as a right. When it comes to lung cancer, our health …

How GLP-1 medications shift modern weight-loss trends

Tom Lavin, MD

Conditions

May 5, 2026

Weight loss culture is shifting again. In recent years, the dominant aesthetic ideal emphasized curves and the “Kardashian-curve” look popularized across social media. Today, the pendulum is swinging back toward a thinner body ideal that resembles trends from the early 2000s. At the same time, the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications has surged, particularly among young adults. These two developments are unfolding simultaneously. As medications that support weight loss …

I ate plain rice and chicken for six months because no one explained celiac [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 4, 2026

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

What happens when a Division I athlete loses 40 pounds, can barely form sentences during practice, and keeps hearing from doctors that it might just be anxiety? Kamiah Gibson, a D1 women’s volleyball …

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