The future of health care depends on hands-on training: We cannot afford to cut corners

Education
September 3, 2024

Imagine walking into a doctor’s office or hospital and being treated by someone who has never actually touched a patient before. Sounds absurd, right? Yet, this could become a reality if we continue to push aside the hands-on training of our future health care providers.

This may seem extreme, but it reflects a recent message sent by HR to one of our most dedicated preceptors. (Parts of the message are redacted …

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The future of health care depends on hands-on training: We cannot afford to cut corners

A doctor’s journey in embracing her identity

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 …

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A doctor’s journey in embracing her identity

Is saliva the key to early disease detection and better oral health outcomes for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities?

Conditions
September 3, 2024

Dental appointments for patients with special health care needs – especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) – are no easy feat. Fraught with challenges, uncertainties, and fears, a dental appointment can be, at best, a trying situation and, at worst, traumatizing for patients with IDD. The sensation of plaque being scraped from teeth, the loud sounds of drills and suction, and the bright lights while lying in a …

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Is saliva the key to early disease detection and better oral health outcomes for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities?

A gastroenterology approach to obesity [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 2, 2024
YouTube video

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In this episode, we dive into the complexities of obesity with gastroenterologist Pooja Singhal. Together, we explore the media’s portrayal of new obesity medications, the harmful misconceptions surrounding obesity, and the vital need …

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A gastroenterology approach to obesity [PODCAST]

A medical student’s perspective: Using my osteopathic training in the field of psychiatry

Education
September 2, 2024

Every DO has the quote, “Mind, Body, Spirit,” ingrained in their minds. These words resonate when we step on campus, open a lecture, and discuss osteopathic medicine. These tenets are the foundation for osteopathic medicine when working with patients. While I always understood what that meant, it was only during my psychiatry rotations that I fully grasped the importance of focusing on holistic care and the mind, body, and spirit.

In …

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A medical student’s perspective: Using my osteopathic training in the field of psychiatry

The aging nursing population is contributing to the U.S. nursing shortage

Policy
September 2, 2024

The aging nursing population is one of the underlying conditions contributing to the nursing shortage in the United States. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1 million nurses are at least 50 years of age, and 60 percent of nurses are over age 40. Furthermore, over 20 percent of nurses plan to retire within the next five years. For reference, there are nearly 4.7 million registered nurses (RNs) …

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The aging nursing population is contributing to the U.S. nursing shortage

How Australia’s deadliest creatures and groundbreaking medicine make it unique

Physician
September 2, 2024

Australia is a very beautiful and unique place. I first went to Sydney in 1996 to present some research I had accomplished together with a much more brilliant and capable research physician. I was able to ride the monorail, now gone I’m told, and travel to the Outback, or at least the edge of it. My wife and the two oldest still at home at that time went there a …

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How Australia’s deadliest creatures and groundbreaking medicine make it unique

Fixing rural health care with technology and policy [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 1, 2024
YouTube video

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In this episode, we sit down with Jay Anders, a physician executive, to discuss the evolving landscape of health care. We explore his unique insights on leadership, the challenges facing today’s medical professionals, …

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Fixing rural health care with technology and policy [PODCAST]

Diary of a resident: Dr. Punching Bag, MD

Physician
September 1, 2024

As I neared the end of my second year of general surgery residency, I had spent almost an hour comforting an anxious patient, assuring her that her bedside abscess drainage would be simple and quick. Finally, I put on my sterile gloves to begin. Before I could start, a nurse who embodied the “Karen” stereotype entered the room and asked, “Are you cleared to perform this procedure alone? Where is …

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Diary of a resident: Dr. Punching Bag, MD

Celebrating women physicians: Keeping our foot on the gas

Physician
September 1, 2024

American College of Physicians  

Given that September is Women in Medicine month, my thoughts turn to celebrating women across the spectrum of medicine, from pioneers like Elizabeth Blackwell, MD, the first woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S., to physicians today caring for patients day-in and day-out.

A story comes to mind from medical school of a female physician who made …

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Celebrating women physicians: Keeping our foot on the gas

Cognitive decline and surgery: the silent struggle doctors don’t talk about

Physician
September 1, 2024

You’d think surgeons would be the first to know when to hang up their scalpel, but alas, they’re as stubborn as a rusted bolt. When should a surgeon put down the knife and stop pretending they’re not going blind? It’s a question of cognitive decline, ego, and knowing when to pass the baton—or in this case, the scalpel.

Unlike our colleagues in internal medicine, surgeons wield sharp objects, making the temporal …

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Cognitive decline and surgery: the silent struggle doctors don’t talk about

Hope from an older doctor to those patients ready to give up their car keys

Conditions
September 1, 2024

When you are older, you are considered a threat to other drivers. Reflexes are dampened, muscle responses are sluggish, cataracts obscure vision, and inflexible eye lenses slow focus.

Cars are made to drive fast, and many whippersnappers navigate the streets as if they are at the Indianapolis 500. How many times have you been tailgated and honked at from behind when traveling at the posted speed limit?

And should there be an …

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Hope from an older doctor to those patients ready to give up their car keys

Balancing residency and pregnancy [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 31, 2024
YouTube video

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In this episode, we sit down with Amaka Nnamani, a pediatrician who shares her powerful story of starting her residency while four months pregnant. Amaka discusses the unique challenges she faced balancing her …

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Balancing residency and pregnancy [PODCAST]

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The tragic migraine classification and diagnosis fiasco

Conditions
August 31, 2024

The first classification of primary headaches was developed in 1962 by the Ad Hoc Committee, a group of neurologists with a special interest in migraine. They correctly classified primary headaches, as per the published data, into:

  1. Vascular headache of the migraine type
  2. Muscle contraction headache
  3. Mixed muscular/vascular headache

The different types of primary headaches were classified according to the anatomical structure from which the pain originates. Therefore, one had to examine …

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The tragic migraine classification and diagnosis fiasco

Pandemic lessons: How better staffing and communication can save health care

Policy
August 31, 2024

An excerpt from Healing Healthcare: Evidence-Based Strategies to Mend Our Broken System.

The greatest challenge facing our professional workforce today is creating a healthy work environment in which nurses care for patients. A significant characteristic of a healthy work environment is appropriate staffing. Nurse staffing is a multifaceted issue, and it is extremely difficult to objectively advocate for change. Different members of the health care team have different concepts of …

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Pandemic lessons: How better staffing and communication can save health care

Health care communication in a post-COVID world: What’s changed and what’s not since the pandemic

Conditions
August 31, 2024

An excerpt from The Mumbo Jumbo Fix: A Survival Guide for Effective Doctor-Patient-Nurse Communication.

If you’re like me, you mark life’s timeline by three milestones—before COVID, during COVID, and after COVID. While most of us no longer wear masks or maintain social distance, the world has undeniably changed in ways that impact health care communication among its three essential participants: doctors, patients, and nurses.

Telemedicine, the …

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Health care communication in a post-COVID world: What’s changed and what’s not since the pandemic

Redefining physician identity [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 30, 2024
YouTube video

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In this episode, we explore the urgent need to redefine physician identity in today’s health care landscape. Joined by health care executive Olivia Morris and physician advocate Kim Downey, we delve into the …

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Redefining physician identity [PODCAST]

The hidden pain behind a smile

Conditions
August 30, 2024

(Trigger warning: suicide attempt)

It was dinner time at this hospital’s psychiatric unit. They shuffled into the dining area—slippers, pajamas, disheveled, sad, lonely, depressed … and forgotten.

Head count. All were present except for one: Rita. Faithful Rita. Always at every therapy session, including poetry therapy, art therapy, and bingo night. Always smiling and laughing, cheering up the other patients. Rita was 54 years old and a mother of three. Her husband …

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The hidden pain behind a smile

Why doctors are afraid to take on insurance giants—and how it hurts patients

Conditions
August 30, 2024

Half of my family and many of my friends are doctors. I admire them enormously: they are smarter, work harder, and are more compassionate than any group I know. Yet sadly, they are all wimps. Despite non-stop carping about the dangers and cost of health insurers’ prior authorization machinations, not a single one is willing to step up and take on an insurance company.

Of course, I understand why: doctors’ incomes …

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Why doctors are afraid to take on insurance giants—and how it hurts patients

Why every physician is a leader

Physician
August 30, 2024

An excerpt from All Physicians Lead: Redefining Physician Leadership for Better Patient Outcomes.

I Googled the term “physician leadership” and got 183,000,000 hits in 0.45 seconds. There are seemingly endless courses and programs devoted to developing physician leadership, and there’s no shortage of attention to the topic.

Almost uniformly, however, the books and courses approach the topic from a similar angle. Physician leadership is often viewed as something that occurs when …

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Why every physician is a leader

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