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The use of a signing bonus as tool for physician recruitment

Bo Claypool

Physician

October 5, 2011

As someone whose livelihood is dependent upon successfully recruiting physicians to various practice opportunities, whenever possible I use the tool of a “signing bonus” and it may not be for the reason you think.

If you have found yourself in the role of recruiter for your practice, you should be open to use of this valuable tool within the physician recruiting process.

Now, I must say, that whenever this is brought …

You may benefit from having a medical student care for you

Vineet Arora, MD

Patient

October 4, 2011

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Amid the buzz about whether medical students should be sued and the bill currently debated in Arizona (a state which finds itself in the spotlight more than usual these days), I noticed some commentary from several people who do not think they would like a medical student on their case. Sometimes patients do refuse to be cared for by medical …

The words we choose can have impact on those we interact with

Kate Land, MD

Physician

October 4, 2011

Language matters. The words we choose can have far-reaching impact on those we interact with. This is arguably more true in medicine than in any field.

Ryan Madanick wrote a recent blog post on the use of descriptor terms used by physicians in patient’s charts. He felt that the use of phrases like “is a very pleasant 52 y/o woman” or “is an unfortunate 16 y/o boy” is inappropriate. I …

Patients and families must be tireless in expressing any frustrations

Norman Silverman, MD

Patient

October 4, 2011

I was reading the other day in a magazine the personal account of a woman who had a “perfect example of a mitral valve click” (a type of heart murmur) that was so textbook in sound that she was asked to be a listening post for a class of medical students. She was pleased to help, but was disappointed in how of the 15 examiners no one treated her like …

Keith Ablow on Chaz Bono and the outrage that follows

Ford Vox, MD

Physician

October 4, 2011

Dr. Keith Ablow is an assistant clinical professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. So am I. Ablow has a problem with transgendered people. I do not. I first learned about Ablow’s well publicized stance Wednesday via an email to the Tufts community, signed by the university’s president, the dean of the medical school and the chair of the psychiatry department.

The university reaffirmed its commitment to the complete inclusion …

Health related questions about plastic

Avril Swan, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 4, 2011

Susan Freinkel is the author of the new book, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story.

She was kind enough to answer some health related questions about plastic based on her research for her book.

Is all plastic toxic?

There are lots of different kinds of plastic and some may pose more of a health hazard than others. The two experts are most worried about are:

Polycarbonate, a hard, clear plastic …

Read more…

Health related questions about plastic

Disease treatment progress will continue to be slow and painful

James Haddad

Conditions and Diseases

October 4, 2011

Recently, a friend sent me a text message with a rather conservative back-of-the-envelope calculation putting the number of lecture slides we’ve seen since October 2009 at roughly 41,000. That got me thinking: how many questions have I answered in that same time period?

Here’s the conservative estimate, not including quizzes, workshops, and miscellaneous other goodies: with roughly 100 questions per exam, an average of an exam every 3 weeks, and accounting for a few weeks …

Personal statement tips for medical school

Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam

Medical Education

October 4, 2011

As you all know, the personal statement is one of the most important components of the medical school application process. It is one of the first opportunities you have to explain to an admissions committee exactly who you are and what you bring to the table. Don’t show up empty handed.

Here are some tips I learned while writing my personal statement.

1. The personal statement on the AMCAS does not have …

Obese Americans don’t actually realize they are obese

David Gratzer, MD

Patient

October 3, 2011

What if you passed a regulation, and nobody cared? Obesity is quickly emerging as a major policy issue, with related health costs consuming 10 cents on every health dollar – and rising. Policymakers, then, are eager for ideas. Top of the list: regulations to force chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus. This past Friday, the FDA released proposed regulations to force restaurants to do exactly that.

New York …

Considering patient advocacy as a career

Trisha Torrey

Patient

October 3, 2011

Several questions have come my way recently about what kinds of job opportunities might exist for patient advocates. I refer people to an article I’ve written elsewhere, but the real answer is – to be a true advocate, you must analyze who is paying for your services, and what your responsibility will be to them.

Finding an employer

In 2011, most of the job possibilities for patient advocates are found either …

The cumulative effect of viruses in day care

Roy Benaroch, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 3, 2011

Tracy has a good question: “My 4 year old is not in day care – he stays with Granny. I heard that once you get a cold, you never get that cold again, and I am worried he isn’t exposed to enough germs now to keep him healthy later. Should we be trying to infect him with more colds now that he has the luxury of staying in PJs all …

A day in the life of a hospice professional

Rev. Amy Ziettlow

Patient

October 3, 2011

I know of few students who aspire to serve in end of life care. I sure didn’t. If anyone had told me that I would spend the first decade of my professional life serving the dying and their families as well as thinking, writing and talking about death and I dying, I would have thought that person to be morbid, strange, and sad. Most of society does not think …

Genetically informed therapy and technical innovations in cardiology

Stephen C. Schimpff, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 3, 2011

I want to give an overview of cardiac care advances – the first two themes are discussed here. I want to thank Dr. Mandeep Mehra, chief of cardiology at the University of Maryland for conceptualizing these themes for me.

First is genetically informed therapy. Pharmacogenomics is having an impact in the use of warfarin (Coumadin) and clopidogrel (Plavix). Warfarin dosage can now be titrated in part based on a person’s genomic makeup. In …

Universal board certification can solve the Doctor Nurse controversy

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

October 3, 2011

I’m going take on the Doctor Nurse controversy.

This isn’t a new issue, as the doctorate in nursing degree has been around for awhile. But a recent piece in the New York Times gave it new life.

The topic is a ripe invitation to “doctor bash,” with the predictable arguments about physicians protecting their turf, elitism, and the like.

Yawn.

To sample the …

Protecting health apps on the web from the evils of the Internet

John Halamka, MD

Health Technology

October 3, 2011

The Internet can be a swamp of hackers, crackers, and hucksters attacking your systems for fun, profit and fraud. Defending your data and applications against this onslaught is a cold war, requiring constant escalation of new techniques against an ever increasing offense.

Clinicians are mobile people. They work in ambulatory offices, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, on the road, and at home. They have desktops, laptops, tablets, iPhones and iPads. Ideally …

Lawsuits are more of an emotional issue than a financial one

Richard Young, MD

Physician

October 3, 2011

Doctors love to talk about tort reform – states passing laws to put limits on awards such as non-economic damages for harms such as pain and suffering, and on the legal process of suing a doctor for malpractice. They speak of defensive medicine – the practice of ordering extra tests, treatments, and days in a hospital to cover their medical-legal butts.

Texas passed a comprehensive tort reform law in 2003 …

Forget the mommy wars, offer support instead

Melissa Arca, MD

Patient

October 2, 2011

I was just thinking the other day how much I need my mom friends. The ones I’m fortunate enough to have in real life and the ones (you) who come here, read, offer support, share your stories, and commiserate at times.

All of you moms are incredibly important to me. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’ve breastfed or bottle fed, whether you are a champion of sleep training or prefer co-sleeping, …

Patients have a part to play in their own medical care

Sharon Bahrych, PA-C, MPH

Patient

October 2, 2011

Medicine has changed so much over the past years, I look back even to when I finished my program and in the mere 20 years since I finished, medicine has changed dramatically. I can remember when I was a student, seeing a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and advising her that the best treatment we could give her was a DMARD. Now we have multiple monoclonal antibodies that not only …

7 ways to make patients like you

Neil Baum, MD

Patient

October 2, 2011

Patients want to be cared for by doctors who show an interest in them as individuals. It has been a well-known statistic that the average doctor interrupts a patient within 16 seconds after the doctor-patient interview begins. You know full well that few patients can learn to develop an emotional attachment in 16 seconds. This article will discuss 7 steps to develop rapport that will make patients like you, will make them …

Read more…

7 ways to make patients like you

Sometimes cyber-medicine is fraught with danger

Stewart Segal, MD

Patient

October 2, 2011

I’m worried about the future. Everyone I know is stressed. Patients fail to follow up as directed. They fail to take their medications as directed. They have too much to do. Their priority lists are in shambles.

With all the responsibilities that today’s multitasking society thrust on my patients, they don’t even have the time to pick up the phone and call each other; instead, they text, IM, SMS, and email. …

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