Don’t give up on private practice just yet
The medical landscape for practicing physicians is changing. Seemingly the option of “hanging one’s shingle,” being your own boss, setting your schedule, and providing personalized care in a warm and cozy environment, “Marcus Welby style,” isn’t a viable option anymore.
Rather, graduating physicians are choosing between the options of becoming a hospital-employed physician, hospitalist, employed physician in a large multispecialty group, joining the faculty at an academic institution, or, sadly, electing …
Death is what gives life meaning
“He knew it was his time a month ago. We were sitting at the kitchen table, and he told me he couldn’t feel half his face. He kept tapping the left side and saying he couldn’t feel anything. I knew he had a stroke because my daughter had one. He was stubborn, didn’t want to go to the doctor.”
One week ago, I saw Mr. Samson for the first time in …
How pediatricians can get involved with behavioral health
Boom! Crash! Ow!
That was the feeling of many pediatricians nationwide as we were hit in the face with the bomb of the COVID pandemic and all of the challenges it would bring, notably in the demands for mental health care. This skyrocketing demand led to the declaration of a state of emergency by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2021 and a call for pediatricians to do more to address …
Why physicians require business skills [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!
“There are two valuable reasons why all physicians, especially medical students, should obtain or demand from their medical school academic business education.
About 98 percent of physicians and medical students have never had an academic business education. About …
Endometriosis is often misdiagnosed. How to get the right diagnosis.
The six to ten percent of women in the U.S. who are living with endometriosis have to deal with not only the pain and complications the disease causes, but often also with exceptionally long delays before receiving a diagnosis—an average of 8.5 years from first seeking care to diagnosis. One study revealed that more than 75 percent of the women who participated in the study were first …
Care coordination for obstetrics teams is crucial
Maternal health has been a trending topic in the news due to increased maternal mortality rates due to challenges in accessing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is deepening concerns surrounding this issue. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of undeveloped countries, with an alarming 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births. My wife, Parissa, could have been part …
A friendly battle with a patient’s potassium
“By God’s grace, Dr. Sal!”
“Yes, T.J.! What’s the good news?”
“Guess what Mr. Thompson’s potassium is now?”
“3.1 …”
“Wrong! 4.1!”
We high-fived each other immediately and breathed a huge sigh of relief. For six days straight, we’ve been giving Mr. T potassium through an IV and by mouth with little to no change in his potassium level.
He came to the hospital after being found passed out in his home. Very low initial blood …
A nut allergy nightmare at 35,000 feet [PODCAST]
A patient gave this physician her humanity back
I am a physician.
We are always taught to see our patients as more than their state of illness or diagnosis. “Speak to the patient,” “listen,” “look them in the eye,” “do not put one foot out the door,” the list of do’s and don’ts, while self-explanatory, is long. A good doctor is considered one who is able to view the person behind the symptoms and offer a shoulder, not just …
The true story of a Hungarian Jewish man’s fight for freedom
An excerpt from Not A Real Enemy: The True Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man’s Fight for Freedom.
The first signs that something terrible had happened were the lights. The hospital was brightly lit through every corridor. In communist Hungary, electricity was yet another resource one learned to do without. Lights …
The recent closing of Amazon Care shows the magnitude of the challenge in changing health care
Amazon recently announced plans to shut down Amazon Care, an in-home and virtual health care service.
The reasons cited were attributed to a significant overlap of services with the One Medical chain of clinics, which Amazon purchased in July of this year for 3.9 billion, as well as Amazon Care not being a complete enough offering for large enterprise customers for which it was targeting.
This is the third health …
Severe hypoglycemia: Are your at-risk patients prepared?
This article is sponsored by the Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning, an independently owned and operated full-service medical education company that has been developing certified health care education for nearly twenty years.
Visit the tools and a CME quality improvement activity at preventhypotoolkit.org. …
ADVERTISEMENT
Negotiating employment contracts from a place of strength [PODCAST]
Use connectivity to rise above our individual and collective challenges
With so much disconnect in our world right now, it can be a challenge for some to find ways to stay connected to meaningful things, people, places, and events. I won’t belabor my own list of disconnectedness, but I imagine many of your lists are much longer than you are accustomed to.
A recent medical experience motivated me to write about this …
The Inflation Reduction Act: Can it build back medicine better and reduce climate change?
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 is an ambitious piece of legislation that was signed into law on August 16 of this year. This was a revised, negotiated version of the Build Back Better Plan that failed to pass in December 2021. Like many pieces of legislation, this is a complicated bill, 730 pages in length, with a very broad scope. Although controversial, the costs of this bill will …
ADVERTISEMENT
The impact of a single COVID infection
This piece started out focusing on the impact of colds on our lives, particularly if COVID is now “just a cold.”
But now it’s personal.
My husband and I escaped COVID until now by being very careful until we got vaccinated. Once vaccinated, we focused on living our lives safely – no eating at indoor restaurants (there are plenty of outdoor venues to choose from), masking indoors and testing when gathering with …
What to do if you’re involved in a medical malpractice lawsuit [PODCAST]
Improving access to care in rural America: Keeping rural hospitals in the game
Almost 20 percent of America’s population lives in rural areas of the country, where accessing health care facilities and services can be challenging. The patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 residents, compared to 53.3 physicians in urban areas.
Rural hospitals work diligently to meet the health needs of the populations they serve, but they have long struggled with staffing shortages, inconsistent patient volumes, …
ADVERTISEMENT
“How is it being back?” Truthfully, it’s much harder than before.
I am an anesthesiologist, a physician with a specialization in anesthesia. I chose this profession, with its difficulties and its rewards. I knew there would be sacrifices and I have gladly made them. I didn’t expect this, yet here I am, doing what has to be done, if for no other reason than it is what I do.
I want to share with you something I wrote in the summer of …
Past Week
-
Why no medical malpractice firm responded to my scientific protocol
-
A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?
-
The hidden impact of denials on health care systems
-
DSM-5 doesn’t name it, but moral distress is everywhere in medicine
-
How to change the world: Start by making your bed
-
Acknowledging the silent grief of vanishing twin syndrome [PODCAST]
-
Past 6 Months
-
What happened to real care in health care?
-
Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
-
The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
-
Flatline: Our nation is dying, and we’re ignoring the signs
-
How to build a culture where physicians feel valued [PODCAST]
-
How the CDC’s opioid rules created a crisis for chronic pain patients
-
Recent Posts
-
How to change the world: Start by making your bed
-
Understanding therapy beyond crisis management [PODCAST]
-
Health workers deserve care too: How to protect their mental health
-
A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?
-
The truth about GLP-1 medications for weight loss: What every patient should know
-
The moment I knew medicine needed more than science
-
Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
544
pages
Past Week
-
Why no medical malpractice firm responded to my scientific protocol
-
A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?
-
The hidden impact of denials on health care systems
-
DSM-5 doesn’t name it, but moral distress is everywhere in medicine
-
How to change the world: Start by making your bed
-
Acknowledging the silent grief of vanishing twin syndrome [PODCAST]
-
Past 6 Months
-
What happened to real care in health care?
-
Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
-
The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
-
Flatline: Our nation is dying, and we’re ignoring the signs
-
How to build a culture where physicians feel valued [PODCAST]
-
How the CDC’s opioid rules created a crisis for chronic pain patients
-
Recent Posts
-
How to change the world: Start by making your bed
-
Understanding therapy beyond crisis management [PODCAST]
-
Health workers deserve care too: How to protect their mental health
-
A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?
-
The truth about GLP-1 medications for weight loss: What every patient should know
-
The moment I knew medicine needed more than science
-
