Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Join Tod Stillson, a family physician and entrepreneur, as he navigates the intricacies of tax planning and financial well-being for employed doctors. Tod provides valuable insights on transitioning from a traditional W-2 employee …
We know how dangerous sugar can be to our health. Excess sugar intake has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even our immune system health. But giving it up is easier said than done. One question that people often have is, “Do I have to completely give up sugar, like, all of it? Cold turkey?” The answer is: nope! For most people, systematically identifying, replacing, and reducing sugar in …
I can’t stop thinking about “customer satisfaction,” which is weird because I don’t actually have customers. I’m a primary care doctor for a group of patients in Martinsburg, WV, and have done so for almost twenty years. At its core, my job is the opposite of having it your way, like I’m told you can do at Burger King.
I don’t sell anything in my office except, perhaps, the benefits of …
Forty years ago when I first started in medicine, there were no CT scans or MRIs. In the next forty years, I foresee cancer as an illness of the past, and life expectancy will be over one hundred years old.
Scientific advancements will push medicine ahead, improving quality of life in increments, slowly taking two steps forward and one step back. The pandemic caused us to take one step back, but …
I love America Ferrara’s monologue in Barbie. Similarly, the impossibility of being a woman in medicine, as so clearly stated in Dr. Jennifer Lycette’s recent essay in KevinMD, absolutely resonates with me.
And yet, let’s not forget that in 2021, two of five practicing physicians were women, with certain fields including (my own) dermatology, internal medicine, and pediatrics having a female predominance. Studies support that these female physicians have …
This essay is part satire. The trouble is, I don’t know which part.
As far as I know, time travel is fodder for science fiction thrillers and movies. It doesn’t actually exist on Earth. However, I can time travel in my mind, and I do it frequently, reminiscing about the 40 years between the time I completed my psychiatric residency (in 1984) and now. What has changed in my specialty in …
In the heartstrings of medicine, a symphony resonates—a tale of profound connections and compassionate care. Envision a middle-aged man thrust into a harrowing journey: diagnosed suddenly with a life-threatening vascular disease, haunted by depression with suicidal thoughts, and navigating the complexities of life without social support. This narrative is both prologue and sonata, weaving through the very fabric of healthcare, unraveling the poignant threads that bind us to our patients.
The …
A few weeks back, a young male from Afghanistan visited us in the oncology clinic. He was in his late 20s and came with a translator to facilitate his consultation. He was not very fluent in either Urdu or English but could still understand most of it. He seemed very anxious and perplexed in the initial assessment room. I observed him closely and noticed that there was no family member …
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
Join L. Joseph Parker, a research physician, as we explore recent breakthroughs in gene editing, including its use in curing deafness and treating sickle cell anemia. Joseph discusses the ethical implications, accessibility challenges, …
Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is seemingly simple: we are to join forces with another non-profit group in order to deliver medical care to those that need it most on St. Lucia, a West Indian island nation variously colonized by the English and French, with Arawak and Carib roots. It will be our inaugural trip to this Caribbean idyll and our first collaboration with another non-profit, but …
The absolute belief in a vast conspiracy is often associated with an unbalanced mind. People suffering from some forms of mental illness are prone to these beliefs, seeing the invisible hand of the CIA behind the music choices on their radio stations. But that’s not always the case. Dr. Andrew Wakefield was born in 1956 and completed his medical degree in 1981, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of …
An excerpt from of Paint and Pancakes.
The epicenter of Jane’s cancer occupied some very expensive real estate between Broca’s area and the motor strip. Her ability to speak and form coherent words resided in Broca’s. A little further back was the Motor Strip, which controlled the movement of the right side of her body.
It all looks the same … so damned normal. Mike cleared his throat. High-price …
ADVERTISEMENT
My son was born in a small community hospital with breathing and heart issues requiring transfer to a children’s hospital several hundred miles away. I arrived at the children’s hospital, worried, exhausted, and overwhelmed many hours after he did. Everything had happened so quickly my head was spinning.
After I checked on my son, I was directed to the Ronald McDonald house. I arrived in the wee hours of the morning …
I recently worked a 28-hour shift in the hospital. I am on a rotation where I work these long shifts every four days, and my last 3 or 4 of these shifts have been the kind that really tries a person’s soul. I got called all night to see new patients and take care of existing ones, and mind you, this is after a 6:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. day …
An excerpt from The Medical Matrix: One Physician’s Story Maneuvering the Minefields of Medicine.
It was a routine Monday morning in the middle of May 2011. I had custody of my boys that day, so I dropped them off at school and headed to work.
As soon as I got to work I received a phone call from the vice CEO of the hospital. Maria (name changed) was a short woman …
I finished my residency training on June 30th, 2000, in a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency program at Ohio State University and Columbus Children’s Hospital (before it was renamed Nationwide Children’s Hospital). One month later, I was slated to begin my first “adult” job as I joined a private family medicine practice in Southern Ohio – practicing traditional medicine (outpatient and inpatient care). There were no hospitalists back then …
Do masks prevent COVID-19 infections? You might be thinking that it is a bit late to ponder these questions. But better late than never! As shown in the following graph provided by the CDC, COVID is here to stay with us, at least for the time being. Even though nothing compared to the 140,000 hospitalizations per week during the early 2022 wave, there were still about 40,000 weekly hospitalizations a …
An excerpt from First Do No Harm: A Physician’s Burnout and Mental Health Guidebook from Medical School to Retirement.
Residency requirements have changed drastically since my father completed medical school in the 1970s. Residents needed to be fully focused and alert despite working forty-eight- or seventy-two-hour days, which led some to substance misuse. Some residents took stimulants to help perk themselves …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
