Assisted suicide: Safeguards debated as bioethicist warns of unintended consequences

Conditions
March 19, 2024

At a time when many states are considering assisted suicide legislation, I was interested to encounter the perspective of the well-known bioethicist Arthur Caplan who recently expressed his support for these laws on these pages.

While I appreciate Caplan’s endorsement of protecting doctors’ ability to refuse, as a matter of conscience, to participate in assisted death, I admire his insistence on restrictions or safeguards within these laws to …

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Non-competes: Legal updates that give physicians options [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 18, 2024
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Did you know that non-compete contracts in the health care industry are constantly evolving? Join family physician and entrepreneur Tod Stillson as we dive into the latest legal changes impacting physicians’ professional mobility. …

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Do they care if women die? Exploring women’s rights.

Policy
March 18, 2024

I was faced with a stark question—one that, though I have spoken openly about women’s rights, somehow I had not distilled into the succinct question posed by a coming-of-age woman living and attempting to digest our country’s policies. Simply put: “Mom, so they don’t care if women die?”

Oof! For a person who has a plethora of words for almost anything, I was caught off guard. My first instinct was to …

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How Russian studies enriched my journey to become a physician

Education
March 18, 2024

Tolstoy. Dostoevsky. Repin. Stravinsky. While many people may not appreciate the significance of these Russian geniuses, or think that knowledge of them could enhance a pre-med education, I would not be the same person without learning about them. For me, pursuing a Russian major was more than a list of vaguely interesting classes or language study; it was a deeper dive into the qualities of a culture that I am …

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Reaching the cutting edge of medical practice, and losing it

Finance
March 18, 2024

Where I stand today regarding my forty years in clinical medical practice forces me to say things that every physician can personally relate to. After all, we old guys frequently languish in dispensing medical advice to our peers. Most of it comes from the heart.

We all adhere to the presumption that the “best doctors” are derived from an inner desire to help people with health care problems while relying on …

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Postpartum depression: 40 years of insights [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 17, 2024
YouTube video

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We sit down with Alan Lindemann, an obstetrics-gynecology physician, to delve into the intricate world of postpartum depression (PPD). With over four decades of experience in the field, Alan offers invaluable perspectives and …

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Health care informatics and the future of patient care

Tech
March 17, 2024

In the digital age, health care informatics has emerged as a pivotal field, transforming the landscape of health care delivery and management. This discipline, crucial for both professionals within the health care sector and the general public, leverages technology to optimize patient care, streamline operations, and address the burgeoning demands for an efficient and effective health care system.

Unveiling health care informatics

Health care informatics, as defined by the American Medical Informatics …

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Inside the cancer waiting room where hope hangs in the balance

Conditions
March 17, 2024

I sat there, frozen in time, full of fear, full of anxiety. Waiting for my time to “face the music,” but this wasn’t a dance party.

My fellow patients, complete strangers, were seated about me, and each of us kept a safe distance apart from each other—a carry-over from the pandemic, I guess. All of us waiting to get our news—a thumbs up or thumbs down.

For me, it is a yearly …

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EMR shutdown highlights vulnerability in health care IT

Tech
March 17, 2024

Imagine that Elon Musk had decided to buy Epic instead of the platform formerly known as Twitter. Imagine that he had developed his own EMR and informed every Epic user that they should watch their email for their assigned migration dates to the system he had developed, to be completed in the next 60 days. Anyone who has ever participated in the installation of a first EMR or the migration …

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Redefining primary care: a holistic approach to well-being [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 16, 2024
YouTube video

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Join Preyasha Tuladhar, a family physician, as she shares her unique approach to primary care. She delves into the integration of biomedical, psychosocial, and cultural considerations in developing personalized treatment plans for her …

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A geriatrician’s transformative walk in Italy

Physician
March 16, 2024

I just walked about 90 km in six days along the Via Matildica del Volto Santo between Mantua and Lucca through the Appenine mountains in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy. This beautiful, lesser-known route, crossing regions once ruled by the formidable Countess Matilda of Canossa, offered a unique blend of physical challenges and the opportunity to connect with history.

As a geriatrician committed to enhancing the health and well-being …

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How to face our mistakes: Using the military’s after-action review to improve morbidity and mortality conferences

Physician
March 16, 2024

Nearly three decades ago, David Hilfiker, a family medicine physician in rural Minnesota, authored an essay in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Facing our mistakes.” In the piece, he chronicles three major medical mistakes he made during his long career practicing medicine. Some of the mistakes are horrifying and others simply tragic, but he is brutally honest and forthcoming—displaying a frank self-reflection that is too frequently absent …

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Bridging the gap between public perception and reality in health care [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 15, 2024
YouTube video

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In this episode, we are joined by Sarah Smithson, an internal medicine physician, as we discuss the stark disparities between the experiences within clinical settings and the broader public’s perception. Throughout our conversation, …

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Time wasted, care hampered: How antiquated tech hurts patient engagement

Tech
March 15, 2024

As physicians, we’re trained to dig into a patient’s story to make a diagnosis. Ideally, we have time to get to know the person in front of us and get a comprehensive understanding of the reason for their visit. In an ideal world, we have the information we need to make an accurate diagnosis and set them on a treatment pathway that will improve their quality of life.

That’s the aspiration. …

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Assisted suicide is the wrong prescription

Physician
March 15, 2024

America expends much time, effort, and resources when people become seriously ill, bringing many face-to-face with their own mortality. For patients and their families, it is an emotional and difficult time under the best of circumstances. As a cardiologist, I participate in the decision-making that comes at this time, and it has provided me with the honor of delivering care that has allowed patients to rebound from acute illness and …

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To the physician who didn’t match: You are not forgotten

Education
March 15, 2024

Match day. Many of you are rejoicing in the outcomes, while many of you might be experiencing these “other” emotions. They might sound like rejection, shame, hopelessness, despair, disappointment, anger, exhaustion, or self-doubt.

The wounds from this year’s match might still be fresh, and I do not want to thrust any toxic positivity on you. It’s okay if you are feeling awful right now; it’s natural. Give yourself time to process …

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Anesthesia is not my name: Knowing each other’s name improves results in the OR

Physician
March 15, 2024

As an anesthesiologist, I recall countless occasions when colleagues from the other side of the drape addressed me, like, “Anesthesia, did the patient receive antibiotics?” or “Anesthesia, I need more muscle relaxation here!”

Especially in my first years as a young physician full of insecurities, it intimidated me, so I never complained and only spoke up when vital.

Nowadays, I grasp the unspoken rules of the OR and can navigate the daily …

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Understanding and addressing urinary incontinence [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 14, 2024
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We tackle the important topic of urinary incontinence with Sarah Boyles, a urogynecologist. Join us as we explore the often overlooked but impactful effects of urinary incontinence on individuals’ quality of life, its …

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Reducing political influence in health care: Building trust, transparency, and equity

Physician
March 14, 2024

In our hyperpolarized and political society, it seems everything has a political angle, including health care. I think that some of this conflict is unnecessarily but intentionally introduced by special interest groups to force a point, a change in policy, or the acceptance of societal positions that are controversial for many and not universally accepted. Examples include LGBT issues, gender changing or affirming care, abortion access, birth control, health …

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