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Medical students are learning to treat others, but who is caring for them?

Education

June 16, 2024

Imagine being completely consumed by the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Could you do this for a day? How about for a week? What if I asked you to do this all day, every day, for an entire month? Sounds exhausting, right? Medical students are asked to do this for four years. During that time, we navigated a world that was completely new to us in an unfamiliar environment alongside hundreds …

Why saving interstate telehealth should matter to you

Sean McBride, MD & Shannon MacDonald, MD

Physician

June 16, 2024

As cancer clinical trialists with sub-specialized practices, we treat patients from across the country. But while they must travel for treatment, there are clear occasions where we recognize that advice and consultation by telephone, video, and patient messaging are perfectly safe and far more convenient and cost-effective.

Telemedicine across state lines was the legal norm during COVID-19. Patients and practitioners quickly recognized that Americans deserved access to physicians unencumbered by …

Naloxone: a life-saving tool that needs an upgrade [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 15, 2024

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

Join us on this episode as we delve into the complexities of the opioid crisis with David I. Deyhimy, an addiction medicine specialist and founder of MYMATCLINIC. Together, we’ll explore the crisis’ evolution, …

Addressing obesity: Is there a role for us as specialists?

Zachary Fellows, MD, MPH

Conditions

June 15, 2024

I was in rheumatology private practice for just under four years as my first few years out of fellowship. During that time, too many of my patients were coming with obesity complicating a facet of their rheumatic disease. The most common example might be osteoarthritis, where excess weight directly applies force to joints like the lower back, hips, and knees, accelerating the disease and worsening outcomes. A less obvious example …

Maternal instincts in medicine: the dual journey of motherhood and healing

Nicolette Siringo

Education

June 15, 2024

It’s 4:57 p.m., and I’m anxiously tapping my foot in a stuffy cubicle, trying to ignore the pain of my compression socks seemingly cutting off circulation to my feet. I quickly glance at the timer. Thirty-one seconds. I close my eyes and say a quick prayer as I feel the agile kicks of my daughter, who this week is measuring the size of a cucumber! I do one final pass …

The troubling trend of violating resident physician rights

Anonymous

Physician

June 15, 2024

Resident physicians are vital to the health care system, delivering essential medical services while training to become fully licensed doctors. However, a troubling trend has emerged nationwide, with residency programs and hospitals frequently violating the rights and protections resident physicians are entitled to under employment contracts, state labor laws, and accreditation standards. I personally was forced to deal with these issues, despite having virtually zero knowledge regarding the legal side …

A day in the life: the unseen struggles of an oncology resident

Anonymous

Physician

June 15, 2024

Yesterday, I couldn’t get up in time in the morning and had to rush to the hospital without breakfast. I was just afraid of getting noticed by anyone from my department that I was a little late. When I reached the outpatient department (OPD), I just got a text from my consultant that he was not feeling well, and I had to see all the patients in his absence. In …

Catch peripheral artery disease early and prevent amputation [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 14, 2024

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Join us on the podcast as we delve into the hidden epidemic affecting Black and brown communities: peripheral artery disease (PAD). Our guest, Anahita Dua, a vascular surgeon, sheds light on the alarming …

For treatment, please call Dr. Congressman

Joseph Lanctot, FNP-C

Policy

June 14, 2024

Recent regulatory changes create a national staffing level for nursing facilities. Despite the much-needed rule change and the well-known stench of understaffed nursing homes that many Americans dread going to, most of the news cycle has portrayed this as a negative development. This is but one example where our patients are being manipulated into beliefs and actions that are contrary to their best health care interests. Recently, the same lies …

A modern tale of thyroid cancer: AI, haikus, and healing

Isabelle Tran

Conditions

June 14, 2024

AI Ally

Hangs up. Phone drops. Thud.
She blinks back, tears, and looks up.
Thyroid cancer, huh …
Typing, click clack … thud.

She sighs in relief.
Texts friends, invites family
over for comfort.

The next day, she calls
her doctor ready to talk,
ready to listen.

Behind the poem: not your typical haiku

A lesson in generosity: How one woman helped a stranger afford insulin

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions

June 14, 2024

I waited in line at the pharmacy, a familiar chain store. The man in front of me waited patiently for the technician to ring up his meds. I overheard her say to him, “$125.00. That includes your insulin.”

The man bowed his head and smiled politely, showing many missing teeth. He was dressed modestly. I did not know his name. I did not know him. I had never met him before. …

A story of liver cancer and diabetes [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 13, 2024

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

Join us for a discussion on the critical intersection of diabetes and liver disease. Our guest, Sarah Bauer, a pediatrician, shares her personal journey and insights into the recent screening guidelines released by …

Health care’s breaking point: patients and physicians abandoned

Michele Luckenbaugh

Conditions

June 13, 2024

I know you are wounded, as I am also injured.

It is as if we have been battered and bruised and kicked to the side of the road, left there alone to suffer. An ignored problem will soon be forgotten; at least, that is their contention.

We have screamed out our maladies and concerns to those in closed, cold rooms, those with mechanical minds that churn out debits and credits but cannot …

Why charm and competence are essential for career survival

Deepak Gupta, MD

Physician

June 13, 2024

Charm and competence among providers should ideally be concordant, but they can sometimes be discordant, which should be evaluated and corrected if possible. This discordance isn’t limited to health care; it can also be observed in politics, during litigation, and within families. Charming politicians can sway followers, charming litigators can sway juries, and charming family members can influence their families. Whether or not their competence, or lack thereof, gets overlooked …

Balancing expectations and reality in modern obstetrics

Roshni D. Patel, DO

Physician

June 13, 2024

“I want everything to be natural.”

Well, we are in a building with electricity and high-speed internet, neither of which are gifts from Mother Earth.

Yes, that’s really how I responded to a patient. We laughed, but her comment allowed me to reflect. I interpret this statement to be the patient’s wish to minimize intervention or achieve a vaginal delivery. I understand this position. However, it may stem from the cultural mythology …

How contemplative medicine revived a doctor’s passion [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 12, 2024

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

Join Koshin Paley Ellison, a psychotherapist and author of Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity Courage and Compassion. Explore the transformative power of contemplative medicine as we delve into topics such as …

13 reasons why women should not be doctors?

Charles Tanguay, MD

Physician

June 12, 2024

This article is satire.

In recent years, health care has made significant strides toward gender equality. But are these changes for the better? Let’s use facts to address the misconceptions and finally close the topic of women in medicine.

1. Female doctors make less money than men. As everyone knows, quality of care is directly proportional to revenue.

2. Female doctors cannot handle multiple patients. They are, after all, the undisputed queens of …

Is your portal making you too available? Give your patients an option that works for everyone.

Anand P. Lothe, MD

Physician

June 12, 2024

Recently, a physician wrote about how access to a patient portal has turned his primary care practice into a reluctant concierge medicine practice, with patients asking questions and expecting quick responses day or night. I could relate. Modern technology is bringing a host of new, unexpected challenges to today’s physicians.

Patient portals may provide a level of ease and efficiency, but, as the physician rightly pointed out, they also create confusion, …

Ensure your physicians always have crisis support: 5-step awareness program

Dike Drummond, MD

Physician

June 12, 2024

Physician leaders: Are you committed to doing everything you possibly can to prevent physician suicide?

This CHAP is how you answer that question.

This document contains two steps that will ensure you do everything possible to be there for your people when they need you the most.

A simple audit that will show you how badly you fail to support your struggling doctors. It will take you less than 15 minutes to …
Read more…

Ensure your physicians always have crisis support: 5-step awareness program

How one patient’s death transformed my approach to mental health care

Claire Ellerbrock, DNP, APRN

Conditions

June 12, 2024

Prior to working as a nurse practitioner, I worked as a psychiatric registered nurse in an inpatient behavioral health setting, caring for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). Individuals with SMI die ten to twenty years earlier than the general population due to comorbid medical conditions. I had been aware of this statistic for some time but only understood the devastation after I had an encounter with a patient in …

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