Breaking free from BMI’s limitations for fair and effective care

Conditions
June 11, 2023

The 2023 Clinical Practice Guideline for Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity heralds a new era of evidence-based anti-obesity treatments for children, a cause I wholeheartedly support. However, amidst these advancements, I harbor concerns about the ongoing reliance on the body mass index (BMI) as a screening and diagnostic tool.

Originally designed for population-level assessments, the ease of measuring BMI and its historical precedence has led …

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Unlock the secrets to aging gracefully: specialized care and support for elderly patients

Conditions
June 11, 2023

She sat in the hospital bed, staring out the window as the nurse flitted in and out of the room, adjusting IV lines and checking her vitals. It had been a long time since she’d been in a hospital, but at 75 years old, her health was beginning to fail. She knew that she was considered “elderly” now, but she didn’t feel old. She still had so much life left, …

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Breaking free from limiting habits: Unveiling the path to your full potential [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 10, 2023
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Join us as we explore the habits that might be making your life harder than necessary. Our guest, Cindy Tsai, an internal medicine physician, shares valuable insights into common obstacles that hinder personal growth and alignment. From …

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Physician excellence: Transitioning from the comfort zone to the growth zone for exceptional patient care

Physician
June 10, 2023

Health care is a dynamic, evolving field that demands a high degree of adaptability and a commitment to lifelong learning from its practitioners. For physicians, improving patient care is often about the challenge of moving from a comfort zone – a place of established practices and familiar routines – to a growth zone, where they are constantly learning, adapting, and expanding their skill sets. This shift is about staying up-to-date …

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Pursuing undergrad research without misrepresenting your career path

Education
June 10, 2023


Reprinted with permission from Getting In: The Essential Guide to Finding a STEMM Undergrad Research Experience, Second Edition, published by The University of Chicago Press. © 2015, 2023 by Paris Grey and David Oppenheimer. All rights reserved.

Sometimes students disqualify themselves from participating in undergrad research because they believe (or someone …

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How healthy eating can protect us from extreme weather

Policy
June 10, 2023

Hurricane season starts June 1, and many of us in the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast are stocking up on bottled water and other supplies. As a physician focused on preventive medicine and public health, I recommend filling your pantry with healthful plant-based foods like black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, pecans, canned soups, peanut butter, oat milk, and apples. Many plant-based foods can withstand a loss of …

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Unfilled residency spots and the future of emergency medicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 9, 2023
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Join us for an enlightening podcast episode as we delve into the challenges facing emergency medicine residency programs and applicants. With 555 unfilled first-year residency spots in the Match, we explore the factors that have contributed to …

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How excessively regulating doctors can harm patients

Physician
June 9, 2023

According to the American Board of Medical Specialties, its program for maintenance of certification (MOC) serves the patients, families, and communities of the United States and improves patient care by establishing high standards for ongoing learning, practice improvement, and assessment activities. Whether this is true or not has been a hotly contested topic in the medical profession for about two decades, when MOC was first introduced. Proponents claim that MOC …

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AI-driven solutions for burnout, patient empathy, and worker shortage

Tech
June 9, 2023

A recent Medpage Today article reviews a research article published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Nidhi Subbaraman, in a topic-related Wall Street Journal article, also reviews this JAMA article and several pilot AI doctor response programs currently undergoing clinical testing.

Both of these reviews indicate that AI-created responses to patient-driven online questions posed to doctors are viewed more favorably (by the patients) and rated …

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How modern lifestyle changes are disrupting our immune systems

Conditions
June 9, 2023

In addition to a steep increase in prevalence, in recent decades, we have seen an evolution in the ways our immune system misbehaves: eosinophilic esophagitis, mast cell disorders, and early onset colon cancer, among many others. This data alone should remind us that we are an ever-evolving species. With our rapidly changing lifestyle over the last century, it shouldn’t be surprising that we are seeing some sort of physiologic hangover.

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Empathy and awareness: Unveiling the hidden dangers of food allergies [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 8, 2023
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Join us for an insightful podcast episode as we discuss the critical issue of food allergies and the recent incidents of food-induced anaphylaxis deaths that have deeply impacted the food allergy community. Our guest, Lianne Mandelbaum, is …

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The alarming epidemic of physician burnout and how we can combat it

Physician
June 8, 2023

Physician burnout is not a new issue, but it has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. According to the Medscape’s 2023 survey, 53 percent of physicians say they are burned out, compared to 42 percent in 2018.

Burnout among doctors can have disastrous consequences for individuals and society at large. Burnout can lead to reduced productivity, lower quality of care, and even medical errors. It affects not only the physician’s …

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A retired physician’s battle with moral injury

Physician
June 8, 2023

I retired early from the profession I loved because the devolution of the health care system had made it impossible for me to care for my patients in a manner that met my standards. It also left me with a wound of “moral injury” which makes me leery of re-engaging with our health care system.

My early career

My first post-training job (1989) as a physician was in a BCBS clinic. After …

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Unveiling the secrets to effective resuscitation and overcoming obstacles

Physician
June 8, 2023

Whether one is resuscitating or being resuscitated, the call for help is a cry for help. However, constructive help may be hard to come by and thus harder to let go.

When one is resuscitating or being resuscitated, the scenario may often be that they are or have been driving under the influence of tunnel vision, thus being blindsided by situational incompetence induced by it. Just like the best-case scenario for …

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Georgia’s new law promoting truth and transparency in health care credentials

Policy
June 8, 2023

Landmark legislation was signed into law by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on May 2, 2023. Senate Bill 197, the Health Care Practitioners Truth and Transparency Act, is likely the most comprehensive state law promoting exactly what its name promises: truth and transparency, in this case regarding health care credentials.

Informed consent for a patient means, in part, that the patient understands exactly who is treating them. This new Georgia …

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Physician employment contracts: the key to fighting burnout and improving working conditions [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 7, 2023
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Join us on this insightful podcast episode as we delve into the pressing issue of physician burnout and the challenges physicians face in their careers. Our guest, Dennis Hursh, a veteran attorney with over 40 years of …

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A tense family drama unfolds as a young daughter pursues unconventional career path

Physician
June 7, 2023

You may not have heard about the young girl from my neck of the woods who just graduated from high school and is heading to college in Arizona to study ichthyology. It’s been causing quite a stir because her father, a family medicine doc who runs a busy practice in town, is less than thrilled about her daughter’s chosen career path. The tension between father and daughter is palpable, and …

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Decoding the brain’s decision-making: insights for medical professions and strategies for success

Physician
June 7, 2023

The interplay between the brain’s fast and deliberative decision-making systems is complex yet fascinating, shedding light on the cognitive underpinnings of different medical professions, such as emergency room (ER) doctors and radiologists.

Let’s illustrate this with an example. Consider an ER doctor faced with a patient exhibiting symptoms of a heart attack—chest pain, shortness of breath, and cold sweat. The physician must rapidly recognize these symptoms, immediately initiate protocols, administer clot-dissolving …

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Unmasking the truth: the shocking reality of the opioid epidemic and who’s really to blame

Physician
June 7, 2023

An excerpt from Burden of Pain: A Physician’s Journey through the Opioid Epidemic.

Glide your hand over a piece of velvet and you notice the smoothness. You feel its aggregated smoothness, not the individualized roughness of each fiber. Each fleeting fiber, a prick of truth, is nullified, synthesized, and then magnified into the silky fluency of general perception—propaganda containing within it a concoction of ambiguities and assumptions, cooked with a …

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