“We fear that CPS is going to take them away,” the mother of my patient chokes with tears. My patient on the inpatient pediatric wards looks at me with guarded eyes. I can still see the markings on their neck where they tried to strangle themselves. They were intubated in the pediatric ICU. This transgender patient and their family have gone through a living hell only to come out again …
In the fast-paced and demanding world we live in, professionals often face immense pressure to portray strength, competence, and unwavering resilience. However, beneath the surface, many individuals silently battle their own mental health challenges. According to CDC, more than 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness.
One of the most difficult hurdles to overcome is the fear of admitting our struggles to others. In this compassionate article, …
Concern is rising about the shortage of health care workers in the U.S. As Senator Bernie Sanders told the media, “We don’t have enough doctors. We don’t have enough nurses. We don’t have enough psychologists or counselors for addiction. We don’t have enough pharmacists.”
He should have added, “We don’t have enough dental health workers.” Because study after study shows that oral health is integral to overall …
I think that from time to time, everyone has had the feeling that they weren’t doing their best. Maybe something we did wasn’t the right thing at the time. Perhaps we should have thought about it longer or acted sooner. We often second-guess the decisions we make, whether they involve matters of love, career, finances, child-rearing, or even where to meet the in-laws for dinner.
While I can do that in …
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Join us in this insightful episode as we welcome Peter Grinspoon, an internal medicine physician specializing in medical cannabis. Peter enlightens us on the current landscape of medical cannabis, focusing on its potential benefits for patients. We …
When I was first paged about Mr. P, I braced myself for the worst. He had already had three “code greys” called—the hospital code for aggressive behavior. When we met him on his hospital bed, he was bound by restraints on his wrists and ankles to protect the staff. He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for alcohol withdrawal, though the medications used to treat his condition had …
The 2023 Clinical Practice Guideline for Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity heralds a new era of evidence-based anti-obesity treatments for children, a cause I wholeheartedly support. However, amidst these advancements, I harbor concerns about the ongoing reliance on the body mass index (BMI) as a screening and diagnostic tool.
Originally designed for population-level assessments, the ease of measuring BMI and its historical precedence has led …
She sat in the hospital bed, staring out the window as the nurse flitted in and out of the room, adjusting IV lines and checking her vitals. It had been a long time since she’d been in a hospital, but at 75 years old, her health was beginning to fail. She knew that she was considered “elderly” now, but she didn’t feel old. She still had so much life left, …
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Join us as we explore the habits that might be making your life harder than necessary. Our guest, Cindy Tsai, an internal medicine physician, shares valuable insights into common obstacles that hinder personal growth and alignment. From …
An excerpt from Saving Grace: What Patients Teach Their Doctors about Life, Death, and the Balance in Between.
On the morning of the first day of surgery in Nicaragua, I paced. It was 8:10 a.m., and the cases were supposed to begin at 7:30 a.m. …
Health care is a dynamic, evolving field that demands a high degree of adaptability and a commitment to lifelong learning from its practitioners. For physicians, improving patient care is often about the challenge of moving from a comfort zone – a place of established practices and familiar routines – to a growth zone, where they are constantly learning, adapting, and expanding their skill sets. This shift is about staying up-to-date …
Reprinted with permission from Getting In: The Essential Guide to Finding a STEMM Undergrad Research Experience, Second Edition, published by The University of Chicago Press. © 2015, 2023 by Paris Grey and David Oppenheimer. All rights reserved.
Sometimes students disqualify themselves from participating in undergrad research because they believe (or someone …
Hurricane season starts June 1, and many of us in the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast are stocking up on bottled water and other supplies. As a physician focused on preventive medicine and public health, I recommend filling your pantry with healthful plant-based foods like black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, pecans, canned soups, peanut butter, oat milk, and apples. Many plant-based foods can withstand a loss of …
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Join us for an enlightening podcast episode as we delve into the challenges facing emergency medicine residency programs and applicants. With 555 unfilled first-year residency spots in the Match, we explore the factors that have contributed to …
According to the American Board of Medical Specialties, its program for maintenance of certification (MOC) serves the patients, families, and communities of the United States and improves patient care by establishing high standards for ongoing learning, practice improvement, and assessment activities. Whether this is true or not has been a hotly contested topic in the medical profession for about two decades, when MOC was first introduced. Proponents claim that MOC …
A recent Medpage Today article reviews a research article published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Nidhi Subbaraman, in a topic-related Wall Street Journal article, also reviews this JAMA article and several pilot AI doctor response programs currently undergoing clinical testing.
Both of these reviews indicate that AI-created responses to patient-driven online questions posed to doctors are viewed more favorably (by the patients) and rated …
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In addition to a steep increase in prevalence, in recent decades, we have seen an evolution in the ways our immune system misbehaves: eosinophilic esophagitis, mast cell disorders, and early onset colon cancer, among many others. This data alone should remind us that we are an ever-evolving species. With our rapidly changing lifestyle over the last century, it shouldn’t be surprising that we are seeing some sort of physiologic hangover.
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Join us for an insightful podcast episode as we discuss the critical issue of food allergies and the recent incidents of food-induced anaphylaxis deaths that have deeply impacted the food allergy community. Our guest, Lianne Mandelbaum, is …
Physician burnout is not a new issue, but it has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. According to the Medscape’s 2023 survey, 53 percent of physicians say they are burned out, compared to 42 percent in 2018.
Burnout among doctors can have disastrous consequences for individuals and society at large. Burnout can lead to reduced productivity, lower quality of care, and even medical errors. It affects not only the physician’s …
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I retired early from the profession I loved because the devolution of the health care system had made it impossible for me to care for my patients in a manner that met my standards. It also left me with a wound of “moral injury” which makes me leery of re-engaging with our health care system.
My early career
My first post-training job (1989) as a physician was in a BCBS clinic. After …
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