More than a decade ago I hired my first coach, and life was never the same. During my time with the life coach, I experienced first-hand the value of an end-of-year process that goes deeper than setting a New Year’s resolution.
Years have passed. As a busy physician, I’ve told myself that I don’t have the time for a deep dive reflection of my life and career. I have patients to …
A year-in-review process for busy physicians
You hear it in conversations with friends when returning to work. Maybe in clinic visits with your patients. Definitely among celebrities and on mainstream media. And maybe you’ve even said it yourself. ”
“My sister suffered with postpartum.”
“I was just diagnosed with postpartum.”
“My wife had to seek help after we realized she was experiencing severe postpartum.”
Yet the word postpartum simply means: the time after childbirth. In the medical community, “postpartum” most often …
Postpartum does not equal depression
Of the many thousand operations I did in my surgical career, most were life-improving rather than life-saving. To me, life-saving implies immediate or imminent risk of death: gunshot wounds, stabbings, gastrointestinal bleeding or perforations, punctured lungs, and cracking a chest in the ER for a stab wound to the heart. Potentially life-saving but less dramatic is removing a malignancy that, untreated or treated later, would likely have killed the person.
Most …
How a ruptured spleen saved a life
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We sit down with health care executive Eugene Chan to explore the rising rates of liver cancer worldwide and the potential game-changer in its treatment: monoclonal antibodies. Join us as we delve into the factors contributing to …
Breakthroughs in liver cancer treatment [PODCAST]
The perception that our U.S. health care system is broken has become nearly fact among health care workers and the public alike. Many other countries are facing similar challenges, beyond the recent spotlight on our Canadian and British friends across the pond. The issue remains: Who are we to blame and more importantly, what can we do about it?
The angst is typically directed at insurance companies or government interference. Many …
Blame game in U.S. health care: Who’s responsible and what’s the solution?
Since the Civil War, there have been seventy-four wars and conflicts America has fought in. But as bad as previous wars had been, there has never been anything in American history like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. While America’s direct intervention against Germany and Japan lasted less than five years, the war on terror went on for decades. Extended time in extreme circumstances will cause extreme adaptations in the human …
The unseen battle: America’s veterans and the crisis of chronic pain
I started my day today (ironically, Martin Luther King Day) reading another tragic story about a young Black mother who hemorrhaged to death after giving birth in a large public hospital in Brooklyn.
Statistics tell a shocking story. The maternal death rate increased by 79 percent from 2018 to 2021. Women of color had even worse numbers, with the maternal mortality rate among Black women increasing from 37 per 100,000 in …
We need to step up for Black mothers
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Join David Lee Scher, a cardiologist and digital health consultant. We’ll explore the ever-evolving world of digital health, discussing topics such as problem-solving in health care, building credibility in digital health technologies, the power of digital partnerships, …
Building credibility in digital health [PODCAST]
Today, the conventional rules that medical experts use to evaluate the merits of a malpractice lawsuit are established by attorneys, not doctors. These rules are based on inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is acceptable except for one thing; it forgives threats to validity. Although the premises are true, the conclusions are influenced by bias. The rules are as follows:
There are four categories of evidence:
…
Steps to take so that a medical malpractice lawsuit is decided from unbiased opinions
As medical doctors, we think we can help alleviate physical suffering in almost any situation. When the 2010 earthquakes shattered Haiti’s capital, I felt compelled to help. I had extensive pain management experience and training as a physiatrist. I thought I was ideally suited to lend a hand. At the time, this all seemed obvious. But I had never been in a disaster zone before, which made me hesitant.
Still, my …
From pain management to Port au Prince: a doctor’s journey in disaster relief
Who could imagine that physicians born with an enigmatic passion to be in a position where the health of our civilization depends on them would be caught in so many obstructive and despicable circumstances that have led to increasing attrition of physicians in clinical medical practice. It is not so much about the overwhelming challenges that physicians are expected to overcome, but far more about the fact that our government, …
Government neglect and the erosion of private medical practice
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In this episode, we sit down with Shirin Hund, an internal medicine physician, to explore the impact of high-deductible health plans on individuals with chronic medical conditions like diabetes. Shirin discusses the financial barriers these patients face, the consequences for medication adherence and health outcomes, and the need for legislative changes to improve access …
High-deductible plans and chronic conditions [PODCAST]
Skin and mental health are intertwined. This is evident embryologically, as we know that the skin and brain are derived from ectoderm, forming a skin-brain axis. Furthermore, scientific pathophysiology has shown that conditions such as acne, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis are directly influenced by mood.
Whether you are a patient, a provider, or an aesthetics professional, be aware that treating skin should also include treating mental health when needed. Ignoring that …
Psychodermatology: A skin-brain axis exists, so what are you doing about it?
When building your practice, knowing what factors influence how patients find you and ultimately choose to be treated by you is critical. As a health care provider, you focus on treating patients and providing the best care possible. The business side of health care may be of less interest to you. However, to effectively grow your practice, it’s essential to know how new patients find you and why they chose …
The top 3 factors influencing how patients choose your health care practice
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We sit down with Carol Raye, a patient advocate who shares her personal journey with a life-threatening C. difficile infection. Join us as Carol sheds light on the challenges she faced, the importance of responsible antibiotic use, …
From popcorn to peril: a C. difficile survivor’s tale [PODCAST]
In its annual cancer statistics report released this week, the American Cancer Society (ACS) predicted over 2 million new cancer cases and over 600,000 cancer deaths in the United States in 2024. The ACS cites decreased smoking rates, earlier detection, and improved treatments as the primary reasons for decreased death rates from cancer in recent decades. Missing from the report, however, is the fundamental recommendation to shift from the traditional …
The power of nutrition in cancer prevention
In an article I recently wrote about a new calcium channel-blocking medication that could be effective in treating central chronic pain, I mentioned that medications like lidocaine block sodium channels to prevent the transmission of pain through the peripheral nervous system. I also said that these medications have limited use, usually just in the ER, because they are short-acting and injected, though there is a lidocaine patch that some …
Can we finally say goodbye to opioids? There may be new pain relief on the horizon.
“Man is a dupeable animal. Quacks in medicine, quacks in religion, and quacks in politics know this, and act upon that knowledge. There is scarcely anyone who may not, like a trout, be taken by tickling…there is scarcely a disease for which a charm has not been given.”
– Thomas J. Pettigrew
As a surgeon, when I routinely went to the OR, I had a ritual. I would …
The secret superstitions of surgeons: How rituals impact surgical success
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Join health care executives Susan Montminy and Marlene Icenhower as they discuss the critical topic of patient engagement in health care. In episode, Susan and Marlene explore the impact of patient engagement on provider satisfaction and health …
Patient engagement: the missing piece in health care [PODCAST]
Dr. Margaret-Mary Wilson is UnitedHealth Group (UHG)’s chief medical officer, and she recently told Fortune magazine that UHG’s acquisition of physician practices and surgery centers through its subsidiary Optum has allowed UnitedHealth Group to gather “a critical mass” of doctors, which helps the company improve care. She said that the practices that they’ve acquired are not a bunch of “flashy acquisitions” but rather each one “brings the pieces together to …
How do we get a critical mass of women physician innovators?
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