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Physicians are being forced to pass polygraphs if they want to continue to practice

Physician

March 19, 2024

I am a former associate director in a state physician health program (PHP). I also hold faculty appointments at Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School in medical ethics and psychiatry.

There is a little-known nether realm inhabited by a subset of doctors who have or are suspected of having substance use disorders. These physicians often are referred to state PHPs which, because they’re generally considered voluntary in nature, have …

DEA overreach: a threat to doctors’ freedom in American medicine

L. Joseph Parker, MD

Meds

March 19, 2024

Today, doctors’ liberty and property are at risk when they choose to treat a patient. Not because of some new law but because of the misapplication of old ones. The current opioid panic has essentially given the DEA free rein to target any physician whose medical practice they disagree with. This has created a serious problem in American medicine and a unique danger to health care providers in this country. …

Cryonics: advancements, ethics, and skepticism

Osmund Agbo, MD

Tech

March 19, 2024

Scientists have transitioned from crafting flying contraptions capable of moving massive payloads through unfriendly skies to exploring the vast expanse of the cosmos, affirming that the concept of impossibility holds no sway over their endeavors. Yet, their ambition now surpasses earthly confines as they endeavor to replicate the divine feat of Lazarus’s resurrection on a monumental scale. This profound aspiration propels neuroscientists into the captivating realm of cryogenics, igniting a …

Assisted suicide: Safeguards debated as bioethicist warns of unintended consequences

Philip Reed

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 …

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

The Podcast by KevinMD

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. …

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

Courtney Markham-Abedi, MD

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 …

How Russian studies enriched my journey to become a physician

Alexander Camp

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 …

Reaching the cutting edge of medical practice, and losing it

Curtis G. Graham, MD

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 …

Postpartum depression: 40 years of insights [PODCAST]

Alan Lindemann, MD & The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 17, 2024

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

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 …

Health care informatics and the future of patient care

Afua Aning, MD

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 …

Inside the cancer waiting room where hope hangs in the balance

Michele Luckenbaugh

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 …

EMR shutdown highlights vulnerability in health care IT

Cathleen Gould, MD

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 …

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

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 16, 2024

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

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 …

A geriatrician’s transformative walk in Italy

Paula Rochon, MD

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 …

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

Neel Vahil, MD

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 …

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

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 15, 2024

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

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, …

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

Joshua Reischer, MD

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. …

The fifth vital sign

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

March 15, 2024

An excerpt from Narrative Medicine: The Fifth Vital Sign.

“If you don’t take a temperature, you can’t find a fever.”
— Samuel Shem, The House of God

I enrolled in a creative writing course at a local university to better understand the parameters of narrative medicine. I learned about the pillars of the narrative, such as poetry and creative nonfiction, and our class …

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The fifth vital sign

Assisted suicide is the wrong prescription

Joseph E. Marine, MD, MBA

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 …

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

Amna Shabbir, MD

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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