I have three adult daughters, all college graduates. All are in long-term relationships with men, children, dogs, and careers. I am “Dad” and will always be Dad. I additionally happen to be a physician who cares for adult patients. If they are ill or have a medical problem, their first phone call is to my cell phone. If it’s not a phone call, it’s a text message. I do not …
Mary Eliza Church Terrell famously wrote, “And so, lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst into glorious fruition ‘ere long.”
Lift as we climb.
Terrell lived her life by this motto, as an organizer in the women’s suffrage and civil rights movements, and as a founder of the National Association of Colored Women and the …
An excerpt from The Medical Jungle: A Pioneering Surgeon’s Battle to Revolutionize Vascular Care and Challenge the Medical Mafia.
Still no matter what anyone said, I knew in my heart that endovascular grafts and endovascular aneurysm repair were going to be a game-changer and that vascular surgeons had to get involved …
When I was a dental student, a 5-year-old child with special needs started coming to the clinic for dental care. I remember him as inquisitive but lacking the ability to focus or respond correctly to some verbal prompts. He would sit quietly in his mom’s lap on the dental chair, but when we approached him holding any instruments—including a toothbrush—he would fight so much that once he even vomited. Three …
We were best friends and classmates in elementary school until the Persian revolution hit in 1979. We both escaped Iran with our families, emigrated to Los Angeles, and have been friends ever since. Our experiences early in life provided us with the life lessons needed to find success, and we hope that by sharing our lessons, we can help impact the next generation. Below are some tips we wanted to …
The concept of Dry January, an opportunity to take a break from alcohol, does not need to end on January 31. If it does end, dietary guidelines recommending a maximum of 1 drink or less for women and two drinks or less for men on any given day should guide subsequent alcohol use. This is because alcohol use disorder (AUD) causes over 140,000 deaths annually …
Valentine’s Day marks the most romantic day of the year. For this Hallmark holiday, this country displays our love for each other by spending approximately $25 billion on cards, roses, chocolates, and dinners. Why so much? WTF!
Like one’s dating status on Facebook, the origin of Valentine’s Day is “complicated.” Formal messages or valentines appeared as printed cards in the late 1700s. Today, Hallmark sells about 145 million cards at an …
Getting into medical school is arguably the largest barrier to entry into the physician profession, but it is not the only one. Previously, I covered who gets to succeed in medical school and who gets to graduate. In this article, I look at who gets to be a resident.
After completing medical school, the next step for a graduate is residency—the post-graduate training that every new physician goes through to practice in …
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.
With a special thanks to …
We are over 25 years apart in our careers. One of us began her medical career in a time before the internet and email. The other is a digital native. Remarkably, though, our experiences have been very similar in one respect. We have spoken with colleagues who decided to avoid seeking care for their mental health concerns. Why? Due to fears that this type of medical care might adversely impact …
In the wake of Tyre Nichols’s murder, I find myself wanting to hold onto my Black son a little tighter.
He is 7.
Young enough to still be deemed cute by some, but old enough to not be given as much grace for simply “being a kid” by others.
Sometimes I spoil him a bit more than I’d like to.
It’s only really because even though I know technically he’s a kid until age …
Hand disorders and injuries often result in significant functional deficits if not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner. Unfortunately, in Canada, hands are often undertreated or treated too late, with potentially serious consequences for both the patient and society due to prolonged disability.
Hand conditions are complex and require specialized knowledge to diagnose and treat correctly. Unfortunately, primary care physicians rarely have the training or expertise to accurately diagnose and …
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For those who haven’t yet seen Hulu’s dramatic series Fleishman Is in Trouble, it’s really about the different forms of existential crises people face in middle age. The show contemplates the challenges of maintaining a marriage, parenting in the digital age, job dissatisfaction, and suburban listlessness, and how a responsible adult might reconcile these dilemmas and chart a new course forward. It manages to explore these weighty themes with earnestness …
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
Health disparities affecting minority and vulnerable populations are increasingly well-recognized after the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Across a large number of quality metrics, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s latest National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report found that Blacks, American Indians, Alaskan Natives, …
Social media has really exposed the trauma caused by gaslighting, dismissal, and misogyny by medical professionals. Chronic illness groups are rife with posts recounting the poor treatment they suffered at the hands of doctors. Imagine presenting with extreme fatigue, intermittent balance problems, and tingling in your hands and, after a cursory exam, being told your symptoms are due to stress and to lose weight. Two years later, you are diagnosed …
We previously reported about the national baby formula shortage that began in February 2022 and lasted for several months, affecting countless infants, parents, and caregivers and intensifying distress amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, these supply chain disruptions were largely exacerbated by the novel coronavirus for numerous industries, including the food and infant care sectors, thereby further compounding the already precarious situation. As a result, these industry-wide shortages …
“Dr. Forna, I’m not going to die this pregnancy, am I?”
“No, ma’am. You’re not going to die this pregnancy. Not on my watch! We are going to do everything we can to keep you safe.”
I’ve had this conversation with pregnant women many times in my over 20-year career as an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB/GYN). Still, they have become more frequent in the last few years as more stories of Black women dying …
Those of us who live in developed nations generally take for granted that we have ready access to clean water. Yet, the World Health Organization estimates that over two billion people worldwide must drink unsafe water. This problem is often greatest in remote areas of developing countries. Ingestion of water from rivers, wells, and other sources that feces have contaminated induces diarrheal …
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