Where have all the pediatric beds gone? The consequence of strict admission criteria.

Physician
January 21, 2023

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” …

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Cervical health awareness month: Unveiling inequities in cervical cancer outcomes

Conditions
January 21, 2023

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’ …

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Saving mothers: How technology can aid in the fight against preventable maternal deaths

Policy
January 21, 2023

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 …

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Finding strength in adversity: lessons from a health care worker [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 20, 2023
YouTube video

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When disaster strikes, it can change our perspectives and priorities in life. In this episode, we speak with Linda Munroe, a nurse practitioner who shares her experiences and insights on the challenges and rewards of being a …

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The impact of religious-spiritual values on individual lives

Physician
January 20, 2023

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

Physician
January 20, 2023

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 …

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The unspoken contract between doctors and patients: Navigating mental illness in the jail setting

Physician
January 20, 2023

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 …

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Questioning medical traditions for the sake of patient care

Physician
January 20, 2023

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]

Podcast
January 19, 2023
YouTube video

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In this episode, Susan Walker, a pediatrician, shares her experiences and insights into the demands placed on doctors, and how these demands can sometimes interfere with their ability to provide the best care for their patients. Susan …

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Student loan forgiveness: a key step in achieving health equity for minority physicians and patients

Policy
January 19, 2023

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 …

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Direct primary care: more access, more savings, more care

Physician
January 19, 2023

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

Physician
January 19, 2023

“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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The decline of whole-person treatment in modern medicine

Physician
January 19, 2023

Recently, a nurse practitioner responded to one of my op-eds in which I discussed the doctor-patient relationship. The nurse said:

I feel so frustrated at times, by the time constraints forced on us by using a business model of practice. In the 30-plus years I’ve been a nurse, we have moved from patient-centered care (which is the current inaccurate buzzword for the type of care we provide) to …

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Creating a trauma-informed society: the role of government policy in reducing adverse childhood experiences [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 18, 2023
YouTube video

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In this episode, we speak with Ariane Marie-Mitchell, a preventive medicine physician who discusses the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on health and development. She discusses the challenges of using a clinical tool to diagnose patients …

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A physician’s story of survival: the importance of seeking help

Conditions
January 18, 2023

“Remember, today you could be standing next to someone trying their best not to fall apart. So whatever you do today, do it with kindness in your heart.” – Unknown

Today, I want to talk personally from the perspective of a Black, female, physician. I have a confession, I struggle with setting boundaries. I did not know how detrimental this challenge was until I started studying it more deeply. Did you …

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A mundane ultrasound? The emotional weight of diagnostic tests.

Conditions
January 18, 2023

The word mundane is defined as an occurrence that is very ordinary and, therefore, not interesting. However, what may be mundane for one may be monumental for another, especially if one’s health is in question.

An ultrasound provides needed information to trained medical personnel for the evaluation of the health status of an individual. In many situations, it is a means to alert the physician to a potential problem situation for …

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The medical school selection process may be more crucial for shaping the future physician workforce 

Education
January 18, 2023

Every year, thousands of applicants in the United States register for the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Many graduate medical education (GME) programs receive thousands of applications that are reviewed by recruitment teams with fewer than ten faculty members. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of applications for GME programs and an overwhelming number of interviews for ERAS applicants, even though only a few hundred …

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Healing hearts: the power of authentic connection in medicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 17, 2023
YouTube video

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In this episode, we speak with Elizabeth LaRusso, a psychiatrist who shares her experiences and insights on the importance of cultivating meaningful connections and holding space for others. She discusses the challenges of learning to hold space …

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