This article is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pain is a deeply personal experience and one of the most common reasons why individuals seek medical care in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control …
Balancing research with safe opioid prescribing to reduce pain and improve quality of life
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Join Dustin Grinnell, the author of The Healing Book. Dustin takes us on a journey through this thought-provoking collection of short stories, where characters embark on paths of self-discovery, healing, and personal growth. We delve into the …
Unveiling the power of healing: a journey through stories [PODCAST]
Screentime addiction is real and it is everywhere. Over the past decade, I’ve worked with only one physician who doggedly held onto his pager, refusing to adopt the hospital’s HIPAA-compliant messaging app. He happens to be in his seventies, and a giant in his field; if he gets any grief for not using a smartphone 24/7, he probably doesn’t care. For the rest of us, though, this isn’t an option. …
Break free from screen addiction: a doctor’s prescription for smartphone sanity
There are a lot of things that I’ve forgotten since 1984, the year I started medical school. But I will never forget the Dean of Students’ proclamation on the very first day of class: “You must dress to inspire confidence,” he thundered. But that wasn’t the last of it. Over and over, our dapper dean schooled us on the importance of professionalism. Whether he said it overtly or not, we …
Dressing to inspire confidence: How the clothes you wear can change perceptions
You’ve undoubtedly heard the buzzwords: ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting. I don’t have much of an opinion about what that all does for your waistline, but I venture to say that ketones may benefit your brain.
Some doctors have recommended, with rock-solid evidence, diets that increase brain ketone levels as part of the regimen to treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children. Others claim that high ketone levels are like a magic bullet and …
Ketones may be the key to unlocking a healthier brain
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Join Ketan Kulkarni, a physician entrepreneur. We’ll delve into the pressing issues of burnout and discontent among health care professionals, particularly physicians, and explore strategies for achieving holistic success and happiness in both personal and professional life.
Holistic success and happiness in medicine [PODCAST]
As the world continues to navigate the challenges posed by respiratory viruses, recent developments have highlighted the urgency of advancing our therapeutic arsenal, particularly in the realm of broad-spectrum antivirals.
1. Winter is here. It is winter again in the northern hemisphere, and with it come the known respiratory viruses like flu, RSV, and COVID-19. Recent reports have also identified a wave of childhood pneumonia in China, not entirely attributable to …
What’s trying to start the next pandemic? AI drug discovery and the quest for a pan-antiviral drug
An illustrated overview of ADHD, addressing common misconceptions and illustrating the real challenges faced by those with the condition. Through comic strips, the narrative explains the impact of ADHD on executive function and daily life, debunking the myth that symptoms are a choice or the result of not trying hard enough. It also touches on the less visible inattentive symptoms, aiming to …
Beyond the myths: ADHD explained in powerful comics
It’s been almost two years since I left clinical medicine. In the midst of our country’s health care attrition crisis, stories of early retirement, burnout, and career transitions aren’t hard to find. While each of those accounts brings a deeper understanding of the problem, as well as potential strategies to remedy it, this is not a story about why I left medicine. Instead, it is an observation of how medicine …
Escaping the time warp: my journey after leaving clinical medicine
Are you or a loved one constantly battling the frustrating symptoms of seasonal or year-round allergies? You are not alone; millions around the globe are affected by sneezing, itchy, watery red eyes, stuffy, runny noses, and headaches. Avoidance of triggers and medications may provide temporary relief, but for those seeking a longer-lasting or more natural solution, immunotherapy (IT) can be life-changing. IT provides sustained benefits of decreased symptoms and medication …
Intralymphatic immunotherapy: a breakthrough approach for allergies
Months after I left him, I could still feel the pain he inflicted. He not only weaponized my insecurities but also demeaned the things about myself that I loved, insidiously dismantling my sense of self until nothing remained.
I even doubted my ability as a psychiatrist, and I hated him for that.
“Talking to you is like trying to read a Step 2 question!” he had sneered. “I don’t know anyone who …
Empathy: the unexpected gift from abuse
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Join William Lynes, a urologist, as he shares his remarkable journey of a recent missionary trip to Cuba. Discover the challenges and triumphs faced by both the Cuban people and the mission team. Explore the profound faith and resilience …
A physician’s journey in Cuba reveals surprising faith and resilience [PODCAST]
Not all at once, just slowly enough that you don’t notice.
“I’m having a rough go at it,” Mr. Robinson confesses. He was listening to me use choppy, challenging vocabulary to piece together what’s landed him in the hospital.
But I know what he’s talking about. The mass in his chest that’s been compressing on his airway, making him so sick, so quickly. He is talking about his pneumonia: the fevers, chills, …
How to lose your compassion: the brutal reality of medical internship
It’s a narrative that has become disturbingly familiar: different health care providers, yet the same traumatic story.
Ramon, an idealistic new nurse, was drawn to nursing to make a meaningful impact in the lives of the most vulnerable. But in an instant, his love for nursing changed. After just six months as a nurse, a patient’s son viciously attacked Ramon, enraged over his mother’s COVID-19-related hospitalization. In a blind fury, …
The Federal SAVE Act: a beacon of hope for health care worker safety
During her time working with people who were dying, nurse Bronnie Ware found that one of the top 5 regrets is, “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” (Source: The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware)
How do you know if you are living a life true to you? What steps may you take …
The top regret of the dying: Are you living your true life?
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Join Vickie Leff, a palliative social worker. We’ll dive into a thought-provoking conversation about shifting the health care paradigm, where we explore the emotional toll on health care professionals, the need for sustainability, and how institutions can …
Health care’s hidden struggles: a paradigm shift [PODCAST]
It took a traumatic spinal cord injury in 2008 to transform my life.
The experience was a radical awakening. I was told that I would never walk again.
On one fine spring day in 2008, my life changed forever. I was walking to work when I was hit by a car at high speed. My body was flung into the sky, and as I hovered, like a slow-motion movie, a few thoughts …
My spinal cord injury story from physician to patient, and how I rebuilt my nervous system
Strategic thinking: The Doctor Strange of health care. Health care professionals, much like Doctor Strange, often engage in complex decision-making, foreseeing multiple outcomes to choose the best path for patient care. Your ability to strategize and anticipate is crucial in saving lives and ensuring quality care.
Innovation: Channeling Iron Man. Innovation is key in health care. Just as Iron Man tinkers and invents, you too innovate daily – whether through cutting-edge surgical techniques, …
The superhero spectrum in health care
Stealth firing is a term used to describe the cold, unexpected firing of employees by their managers and/or individuals from human resources (HR) departments – sometimes without the manager’s awareness and even after years of loyalty for some. The Bureau of Labor Statistics cannot adequately track this statistic because its definition lacks precision, but it is not uncommon in certain practice areas, such as law, tech, and financial firms. The …
Should you fire back after a stealth firing?
An excerpt from A Surgeon’s Knot.
The phone jarred Jackson Cooper, MD’s weary, anxious brain into consciousness from the edge of sleep. He jumped up, dropping the receiver on the cold floor of the call room. “Hello,” he said, tension entering the new intern’s mind.
“Dr. Cooper,” the nurse’s voice said nervously. She almost stuttered as she spoke. “It . . . it’s . . . Mr. Simpson, he’s bleeding. I …
Tragic turn in the OR: A rookie doctor’s race against time
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