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 …
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 …
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 …
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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 …
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 …
The decline of whole-person treatment in modern medicine
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 …
Creating a trauma-informed society: the role of government policy in reducing adverse childhood experiences [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!
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 …
A physician’s story of survival: the importance of seeking help
“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 …
A mundane ultrasound? The emotional weight of diagnostic tests.
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 …
The abusive surgeon and the sleep-deprived intern: a novel
An excerpt from Doctor Zhulik.
Christmas Eve
“You know, you’re the worst f*cking intern I have ever seen.”
“I don’t know why the hell you’re even trying to become a surgeon, Appleby. You have the manual dexterity of a chimpanzee.” A heavy man, Bernstein’s belly burst out of the gown, threatening to push …
Past Week
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Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives
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Aging in place: Why home care must replace nursing homes
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COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account
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How federal actions threaten vaccine policy and trust
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When the clinic becomes the battlefield: Defending rural health care in the age of AI-driven attacks
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The critical role of nurse practitioners in colorectal cancer screening
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Past 6 Months
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The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school
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Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit
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Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters
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Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years
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A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians
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Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care
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Recent Posts
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The critical role of nurse practitioners in colorectal cancer screening
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How motherhood made me a better scientist [PODCAST]
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Public health under fire: Vaccine battle hits federal court
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How the quietly efficient physician can turn perception into power
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Are we repeating the statin playbook with lipoprotein(a)?
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Past Week
-
Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives
-
Aging in place: Why home care must replace nursing homes
-
COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account
-
How federal actions threaten vaccine policy and trust
-
When the clinic becomes the battlefield: Defending rural health care in the age of AI-driven attacks
-
The critical role of nurse practitioners in colorectal cancer screening
-
Past 6 Months
-
The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school
-
Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit
-
Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters
-
Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years
-
A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians
-
Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care
-
Recent Posts
-
The critical role of nurse practitioners in colorectal cancer screening
-
How motherhood made me a better scientist [PODCAST]
-
Public health under fire: Vaccine battle hits federal court
-
How mindful leadership transforms physician wellness
-
How the quietly efficient physician can turn perception into power
-
Are we repeating the statin playbook with lipoprotein(a)?
-
