Cancer as a model of diversity: To be an ally, ask
I was brought to tears today, suddenly, unexpectedly, by the ringing of a bell. I had passed a small sign earlier, and I knew that the ringing signified the completion of someone’s chemotherapy. As I heard cheers, I thought how amazing this group of individuals (who I could not see, closeted as I was behind a curtained space) had a shared experience of crossing the finish line.
There is a lot …
Faced with yet another variant, epidemiologists must act more like silicon valley start-ups
With yet another highly contagious COVID variant sweeping the East Coast, it’s never been more clear that we need a systems approach to reforming epidemiology in the U.S. Several legislative approaches, including the PREVENT Pandemics Act and public health loan forgiveness, offer a promising start, but as a scientist who was on the ground during COVID, it is clear to me that much more is needed. Specifically, the CDC, …
Why primary care physicians should be the quarterbacks in patient care
“There are, in truth, no specialties in medicine, since to know fully many of the most important diseases, one must be familiar with their manifestation in many organs.”
– Sir William Osler, MD.
I agree with this statement to an extent. However, I wholeheartedly respect and admire many subspecialists whom we all rely on. Disease does not usually wave a red flag and manifest extravagantly in one organ system. It usually is …
Health care leadership: Making medicine a team sport
Americans give lip service to the importance of teamwork. But most often, we credit success to individuals. Perhaps nowhere is this “MVP mindset” more apparent than in medicine.
The brilliant lone physician — gallantly battling to save a patient’s life — is the TV-inspired image most of us conjure up when we think of the medical profession. While that archetypal hero was, in fact, the best hope for patients in the …
End-of-life choices: Why Medicare needs to change [PODCAST]
New York nurses strike for dignity and respect on the frontlines
As a PA, I’ve worked in some of the city’s busiest emergency departments. While they differ in practice styles, patient population, and architecture, they all have one thing in common: the nurses are overworked. As thousands of them go on strike and thousands more threaten to do the same, it should come as no surprise to anyone who has witnessed their plight.
I have seen NYC RNs be spit on and …
Where have all the pediatric beds gone? The consequence of strict admission criteria.
In the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the piper tunefully leads the children astray and to their doom.
Well, the piper has returned. Actually, he has been back for several years, but few noticed. This time he is not making off with the children but rather the beds they lie in, specifically pediatric hospital beds. This was not really obvious except to pediatricians until the recent calamitous “triple epidemic” …
Cervical health awareness month: Unveiling inequities in cervical cancer outcomes
According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is among the most preventable and treatable gynecological cancers. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and longitudinal screening are highly effective modes of prevention and detection, respectively. While statistics on the efficacy of vaccination and screening are promising, the realities surrounding cervical cancer outcomes are anything but. A closer look at the diagnosis and mortality rates paints quite a bleak picture.
The United States’ …
Saving mothers: How technology can aid in the fight against preventable maternal deaths
Maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the United States are among the highest in the developed world—impacting roughly 50,000 women each year and taking the lives of 700 mothers annually. Three in five of these deaths are preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. HHS) announced $350 million in awards to …
Finding strength in adversity: lessons from a health care worker [PODCAST]
Nurse’s heart-wrenching encounter with newborn going through withdrawal
I always knew my work schedule, but this time I got it wrong … or maybe I got it right. I clocked in and reported to the ICU for my night shift to start, but I wasn’t on the schedule. Strangely enough, they had enough nurses that night. The nursing supervisor asked if I would be willing to go to the neonatal ICU (NICU) and rock a baby. Except for …
The impact of religious-spiritual values on individual lives
A friend of mine recently went into the hospital for a surgical operation. Afterward, she told me about a conversation she had with her doctors. Meeting with her surgeon and her anesthesiologist before surgery, this retired lifelong Sunday school teacher couldn’t resist the temptation to give them both a Bible lesson. “Let me ask you, doctors,” she inquired, “who do you think performed the first surgery?” As the doctors pondered …
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The link between thoughts and emotions: How to change your feelings by changing your thinking
Your emotions result from the way you think about things. Before you can experience (feel) any event, you must process it with your mind and give it meaning (thought). You must understand what is happening to you before you can feel it. Every time you feel sad or have intense negative emotions about something, try to identify the corresponding negative thought that you probably had just prior. By learning to …
The unspoken contract between doctors and patients: Navigating mental illness in the jail setting
There exists an unspoken contract between doctors and patients. The patient tells the doctor what is wrong with as much detail as possible, and the doctor uses their knowledge and skills to make the patient feel better. However, this paradigm does not always work.
I am a jailhouse psychiatrist, working with some of the most mentally ill individuals today. Those with serious mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia or severe bipolar …
Questioning medical traditions for the sake of patient care
The United States consumes forty-six million turkeys every Thanksgiving. Have you ever wondered why? When traditions take hold in society, we start to forget why they existed in the first place. For example, the tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgiving started with a writer named Sarah Josepha Hale, who published scenic depictions of American life in New England. She subsequently campaigned for everyone to adopt her depiction of a cooked …
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Balancing patient care and bureaucracy [PODCAST]
Student loan forgiveness: a key step in achieving health equity for minority physicians and patients
As student loan forgiveness awaits a decision from the Supreme Court, the Department of Education has launched a program that can forgive student loan debt for over 40,000 Americans and ease student debt burdens for up to 3.6 million borrowers. As this news circulates, what is less discussed is how student loan debt affects doctors and everyday citizens’ health – especially those who are underrepresented minorities.
Excessive student loans are …
Direct primary care: more access, more savings, more care
Your doctor will see you now. Really, now. Come on in! Forget about waiting for two months for an appointment, hours on hold, or a six-hour wait at an urgent care clinic. Your doctor can see you now; shoot them a text.
More and more primary care clinics are providing a more personal, accessible, convenient, and affordable health care option called direct primary care (DPC). This model focuses on patients rather …
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Doctors struggle with unrealistic expectations and lack of self-care, leading to a lack of mercy towards colleagues
“Mercy and consideration for the other man, but none for yourself, upon whom you have to keep an incessant watch.”
– Sir William Osler, MD.
Ironic, isn’t it? The physician is expected to go above and beyond, superhuman even, held to an unrealistic standard above most others, and yet, is their own worst critic. (Or was until social media, but that is another writing for another day.)
We continuously hold ourselves to that …
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Past Week
-
What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check
-
A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how
-
A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?
-
Conflicts of interest are eroding trust in U.S. health agencies
-
Precision and personalization: Charting the future of cancer care [PODCAST]
-
Past 6 Months
-
What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
-
The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
-
What happened to real care in health care?
-
Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?
-
The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain
-
Recent Posts
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Precision and personalization: Charting the future of cancer care [PODCAST]
-
Expert Q&A: Dr. Jared Pelo, ambient clinical pioneer, explains how Dragon Copilot helps clinicians deliver better care
-
The lab behind the lens: Equity begins with diagnosis
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Venous leak syndrome: a silent challenge faced by all men
-
Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]
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The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?
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