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A cardiologist’s urgent call to combat heat-related health risks

Physician

August 9, 2024

As I drive to work and back, my eyes are on the ambient temperature reading in my car—it has been creeping up every day. I routinely listen to NPR, and extreme heat in various parts of the world comes up in daily discussions.

As a heart failure cardiologist in the clinic, I routinely ask my patients about their activity levels. Most of them complain about the heat and how it impacts …

Untold stories of physician suicide and mental health [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 8, 2024

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Join us as we explore the world of clinician wellness and mental health with three remarkable guests. Kim Downey, a physician advocate, shares her insights on supporting health care professionals. Betsy Gall, author …

How a group of British medical students fought for social prescribing

Julia Hotz

Education

August 8, 2024

An excerpt from The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging.

With slicked-back hair, a fancy-buttoned vest, and a politician-like charisma, you wouldn’t guess Dr. Bogdan Chiva Giurca, a doctor for England’s National Health Service (NHS), grew up in a Romanian village, handwashing his clothes because he couldn’t afford laundry. “I got to taste the real social determinants of health without knowing they were called …

ER doctor’s adrenaline-fueled night: from life-saving procedures to unpredictable chaos

Veronica Bonales, MD

Physician

August 8, 2024

From the beginning of medical school, you are taught the rules of patient assessment; you are taught the “ABCs” – airway, breathing, and circulation. You don’t move on to B until you have established A. You don’t move on to C until B is established. If at any time you lose A or B, you go back to the beginning. Emergency medicine doctors are all about A. My first patient …

How corporate health care is failing physicians and patients alike

Anonymous

Physician

August 8, 2024

A large part of patient care in the modern corporate setting is working within your restrictions. Most corporate health care settings will limit how wide your scope can be, and this often determines how you treat patients. As a family physician working within a huge corporate setting, this oftentimes leads to alternate outcomes, such as referring a patient to another office where a procedure can be done safely or having …

How microplastics affect our reproductive health [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 7, 2024

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Join us as we explore the world of microplastics with fertility specialist Oluyemisi (Yemi) Famuyiwa. Learn about microplastics, how they permeate our environment, and their potential effects on human health and fertility. Yemi …

Physicians’ social media criticism of trainees sparks controversy

Jonathan Cohen, MD

Education

August 7, 2024

In the past two weeks, there have been two social media posts, one from a resident physician and another from an attending physician, criticizing trainees. The resident was critical of a trainee’s inability to identify anatomical structures in the operating room, while the attending physician was entertained by a trainee who mistakenly wore a shoe cover as a scrub hat, with a photo of it included in the post. As …

Physicians create their own practice misery by following groupthink

Curtis G. Graham, MD

Physician

August 7, 2024

Purposeful disregard for business education tears away the only platform that guarantees the highest incomes in private medical practice.

Along with the other challenges that continually reinforce physicians’ financial problems, the indoctrination of all medical students and later physicians with the “groupthink” myth that has been destroying physician practice careers for the last century is added to the list. You know, “You can practice medicine without a business education.”

The fact that …

When patients trust their doctors: a touching story of faith and medicine

Jennifer Tillman, MD

Physician

August 7, 2024

I enter the exam room, met by a faint but lovely strawberry fragrance. Mrs. B. rests comfortably on an office chair; she always eschews the exam table. In her 80s, she is a formidable woman, heavyset, her deep brown skin somewhat pale, yet she sparkles in a long, bright, flowery dress, glasses with large silver frames, one hand resting on a cane of knotty oak. Her two adult sons stand …

Debunking schizophrenia myths [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 6, 2024

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In this episode, we welcome Brooke Kempf, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, to debunk common myths about schizophrenia and promote a more accurate understanding of the condition. We’ll explore misconceptions about the …

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Debunking schizophrenia myths [PODCAST]

Talcum powder and female cancer: Separating myths from facts

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

Conditions

August 6, 2024

Another recent correlational study on the relationship between talcum powder (TP) and female reproductive tract cancers was published. This research originated in the 1970s when gynecologists at one hospital noted that an unusually high number of women were experiencing these cancers. They reviewed medical records and, in looking at possible causative agents, noted that many of the affected women used TP. They published their findings, and additional case review studies …

How anxiety can be your biggest competitor and ally in achieving success

Dr. Farees Ahmad Khan & Dr. Sarah Alnaher

Conditions

August 6, 2024

Did you ever have a competitor in life who challenged you in every test and every election for a leadership role? If so, today, I would like you to imagine that person and replace them with an emotion that we, as psychiatrists, frequently encounter during our practice – anxiety!

Much like that pushy competition, anxiety can feel overwhelming and challenging. However, it also has the potential to push us to achieve …

How cultural barriers delay cancer treatment for women in Pakistan

Dr. Damane Zehra

Conditions

August 6, 2024

Pakistan, classified as a lower-middle-income nation, is experiencing a massive increase in the number of cancer cases. Our health expenditure as a proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP) is worryingly small in contrast to that of more developed nations.

We are fighting with illiteracy, poverty, limited resources, lack of awareness regarding screening and early presentation of tumors, and an inadequate number of trained oncologists. There are very few centers with …

How quality sleep can boost your weight loss journey [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 5, 2024

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Join Nisha Kuruvadi, an internal medicine physician, as we explore the intriguing connection between sleep and weight loss. Did you know those precious hours of sleep could be more than just rest? Sleep …

Medicine’s struggle with genetic and social realities

Charles Dinerstein, MD, MBA

Physician

August 5, 2024

For decades, the medical community has wrestled with the role of race in research and practice, a tug-of-war steeped in historical, social, and political entanglements. While some argue for discarding race, in doing so, we overlook the nuanced interplay between genetics and lived experiences. Does race carry explanatory power, or are there better alternatives to this surrogate?

Race presents a complex interplay of benefits and challenges as a variable in health …

The unseen dangers of faulty expert witness testimony

L. Joseph Parker, MD

Physician

August 5, 2024

Expert witness testimony is critical to the pursuit of justice. There are always arcane matters that the general public and even many otherwise knowledgeable people don’t understand. That makes it impossible for a judge or jury to come to an evidence-based decision without an expert clarifying and explaining the basics of the science behind the situation. This started with forensics and got off to a bad start with bite mark …

Hope after a spinal cord injury [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 4, 2024

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Join us as we sit down with Olivia Ong, a pain and rehabilitation medicine physician from Australia, who shares her remarkable journey of recovery after a spinal cord injury in 2008. Once self-sufficient …

Against medical advice: Patient leaves hospital despite heart attack diagnosis

Veronica Bonales, MD

Physician

August 4, 2024

Interior hospital: (Patient screaming and crying out as they are wheeled in through the ambulance bay and brought into a room …)

Doctor: What brings you in today?

Patient: You gotta help me, Doc … My chest hurts. I think I’m having a heart attack!

Doctor: OK, sir. We’re going to do a series of tests, including an EKG and chest X-ray, and give you aspirin.

Patient: Whatever you’ve got to do, I don’t …

Avoiding the curse of knowledge in health care

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Physician

August 4, 2024

In the medical field, it’s easy for experienced professionals to fall into the “curse of knowledge” trap. This cognitive bias occurs when someone, having a deep understanding of a concept, assumes that others possess the same level of knowledge. While this is a natural human tendency, it can create significant communication gaps, especially in health care settings.

Understanding the concept

Doctors with extensive knowledge about medical conditions and treatments might inadvertently overestimate …

Lessons learned at the bedside: Stick with the basics

Edward T. Creagan, MD

Physician

August 4, 2024

“Dance with the one who brought you.” This phrase was attributed to an iconic college coach. There have been lots of interpretations of this comment, but the coach basically said that when the big game is on the line, when the championship is at stake, you do not tinker with your personnel and your coaching strategy.

Stick with the basics that brought you to this point in the season.

Throughout our careers, …