Patients come to you for treatment, not your politics
As he was being wheeled in for surgery, President Reagan joked, “I hope you are Republicans.” The surgeon, a liberal Democrat, replied, “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans.”
All very appropriate and from another era. As a usually intelligent and intellectual segment of society, it is not surprising that physicians should have opinions, including politics. As citizens, they are entitled to them too.
In fact, one would hope that physicians participate …
As doctors, caring is our poetry
Poiesis is a Greek term that evolved into the word poetry in English. According to Wikipedia, in philosophy, poiesis is “the activity in which a person brings something into being which did not exist before. Etymologically derived from the ancient Greek term which means to make.” The word is used as a suffix, as in the biological term hematopoiesis, the formation of blood cells.
In the book All Things Shining, Hubert …
You need to ask these questions to teens starting hormone therapy
In medical practice today, we have all types of providers in charge of birth control counseling and treatment: medical doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and even medical assistants who report to their licensed providers. Having a standardized questionnaire that all providers can easily use and incorporate into their practice would help safeguard against regretful avoidable mistakes. Taking a good history is cheap. Health care costs for strokes …
How to stay off my operating table [PODCAST]
Why psychological explanations for long COVID are dangerous
Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and their allies will rally in DC, London, and Edinburgh this September to “demand bold, urgent governmental action” for the millions of people living with ME, long COVID, and other infection-associated, chronic diseases.
As researchers continue to find many similarities between ME and long COVID, the history of ME offers crucial lessons for approaching long COVID and some pathways toward more effective research …
Focus on the rheumatoid arthritis patient, not on their disease
Medical school, residency, and fellowship taught me pathophysiology, diagnosis, and the most advanced treatments for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. As an attending physician, seeing my own patients, I noticed that targeted therapy is not able to control the disease in all patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results varied. I could not stop asking myself, why is it so different?
In my previous article, I wrote about one of my patient’s …
Women doctors face challenges globally
As I looked around the hot, humid room at the male doctors in their white coats, I couldn’t believe I was actually participating in a medical training mission in Rwanda. After months of planning and securing equipment, I was actually in Africa. I watched as the medical residents listened intently to the lectures United States physician volunteers provided.
Forty-two Rwandan OB/GYN residents came to the University Hospital in Kigali for a …
Why are women leaving medicine? Gaslighting. [PODCAST]
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]
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“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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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Past Week
-
What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check
-
A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how
-
A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?
-
The hidden cost of delaying back surgery
-
The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?
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Past 6 Months
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What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
-
The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
-
What happened to real care in health care?
-
Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?
-
The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain
-
Recent Posts
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How a $75 million jet brought down America’s boldest doctor
-
Why ruling out sepsis in emergency departments can be lifesaving
-
The hidden cost of delaying back surgery
-
Precision and personalization: Charting the future of cancer care [PODCAST]
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Expert Q&A: Dr. Jared Pelo, ambient clinical pioneer, explains how Dragon Copilot helps clinicians deliver better care
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The lab behind the lens: Equity begins with diagnosis
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