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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, …
Fixing rural health care with technology and policy [PODCAST]
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 …
Diary of a resident: Dr. Punching Bag, MD
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 …
Celebrating women physicians: Keeping our foot on the gas
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 …
Cognitive decline and surgery: the silent struggle doctors don’t talk about
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 …
Hope from an older doctor to those patients ready to give up their car keys
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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 …
Balancing residency and pregnancy [PODCAST]
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:
The different types of primary headaches were classified according to the anatomical structure from which the pain originates. Therefore, one had to examine …
The tragic migraine classification and diagnosis fiasco
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 …
Pandemic lessons: How better staffing and communication can save health care
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 …
Health care communication in a post-COVID world: What’s changed and what’s not since the pandemic
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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 …
Redefining physician identity [PODCAST]
(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 …
The hidden pain behind a smile
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 …
Why doctors are afraid to take on insurance giants—and how it hurts patients
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 …
Why every physician is a leader
It’s one thing to choose a career dedicated to saving lives; it’s another altogether to confront the harsh reality of death. As a third-year medical student, my trauma surgery rotation highlighted that distinction. For all the patients we saved, there were also those who, despite the team’s best efforts, succumbed to their injuries amidst trauma activations. The protocol for a patient’s death in the trauma bay was always followed to …
The unspoken emotional toll of trauma surgery: a medical student’s journey
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Join us in this episode as we dive into the powerful story of “Max,” a patient who steadfastly refused all vaccines despite his well-controlled HIV infection. Through persistence, respect, and trust, our guest …
From refusal to acceptance: a journey of trust in vaccination [PODCAST]
When patients go to the hospital seeking help, they are vulnerable and fully trusting of the modern hospital system to do only what is needed and nothing more. And with good reason—patients are well aware of the incredible sacrifices doctors have made, including the oath to do no harm, and their passion to save lives. What is less known by patients is the fee-for-service model of health care that awaits …
When corporate hospitals cause real harm
“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.”
– H. G. Wells, 1945
Many anesthesia professionals will likely recall the rise and fall of the Sedasys platform. Touted as a revolutionary advancement that would one day put anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists “out of work,” the Sedasys computerized propofol-infusion platform predictably generated a fierce response from anesthesia professional societies who deemed it dangerous, off-label, and fraught with medicolegal liability. Sedasys …
How AI is reshaping the anesthesia workforce
It was recently circulated on social media that flamingos are known to lose their bright pink hue in times of adversity, such as when raising their young. This is due to the tremendous energy it takes to nourish their young flaminglets, often at the sake of their own wellbeing. Similarly, women lose their metaphorical bright “pink” during …
The progression of women’s health issues in the workplace from menstruation to menopause
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Join us on this episode as we talk with Tod Stillson, a family physician and entrepreneur, who has successfully transitioned from traditional employment to becoming a high-earning independent contractor. Tod shares his journey, …
A family medicine playbook to earn a million dollars [PODCAST]
Released in 2000, the landmark report “To Err is Human” aimed to transform patient safety by highlighting the prevalence of medical errors and their devastating impact. The report underscored various issues, including medication errors, falls, and surgical complications, garnering widespread attention and spurring significant improvements in certain areas of patient safety. As a result of this increased focus, tools like the World Health Organization’s Surgical Safety …
Embracing data-driven solutions to prevent falls
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