You are already at the table: Letting go of perfectionism in health care

Conditions
January 10, 2025

A few years ago, I decided to pursue a PhD. Why … isn’t it obvious? Being a psychotherapist who helps health care professionals navigate burnout and imposter syndrome, raising three teenagers, and holding multiple certifications in everything from DBT to MBSR to CCISM wasn’t enough—or so I thought.

In my work, I help physicians, faculty, and other high-achieving professionals process the relentless pressure of their careers. I often explain that their …

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How slowing down and finding peace can transform your career

Physician
January 10, 2025

While a new year offers new beginnings, it’s not about scrapping everything and starting fresh. Instead, it means sitting still and quiet long enough to truly appreciate life lessons and use them as fuel for growth.

So, here’s what I’m taking from one year to the next.

Peace

In 2024 I learned that life’s events can shake you to your very core, and there’s little you can do to stop it. But when …

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Why the health care CEO murder reveals America’s broken system

Physician
January 10, 2025

I have been a primary care physician since 1994 and have been reflecting on the tragic murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. The crime stands as a stark reflection of the profound frustrations many Americans feel toward the current health care system, which have been escalating for as long as I can remember. While the act itself is abhorrent and indefensible, its occurrence sheds light on deep systemic issues that …

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The ER doctor who became the new PCP

Physician
January 10, 2025

I am a family physician by training, and I thank God every day for that foundation. About a decade ago, I transitioned to emergency medicine, thinking I’d left primary care behind. Back then, primary care problems—hypertension, diabetes, routine medication refills—would occasionally show up in the ER, but they weren’t the norm. Fast forward to today, and they’ve become a central part of my shift.

It’s not because people suddenly decided the …

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How a family caregiver saved my life during a rare medical crisis

Conditions
January 10, 2025

Americans heard a lot this campaign season about family caregivers. The federal government is making progress, but more needs to be done. I know about the importance of family caregiving; I’m alive today because a family caregiver advocated for me when I could not do that for myself.

At the age of 38, in January of 2005, I started having difficulty walking. My primary care doctor sent me to a neurologist, …

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Why older adults are skipping doctor visits and how we can change it [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 9, 2025
YouTube video

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Join us as we explore the challenges of health care non-compliance among older adults with gerontologist Michael Pessman. We discuss the underlying factors driving resistance to medical advice, the importance of rebuilding trust …

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Why practicing medicine is both like and unlike practicing law

Physician
January 9, 2025

The question is whether practicing medicine is like or unlike practicing law. Only those in distress come in search of physicians and lawyers. Thus, their clients need healing as well as protection from the ills in their innate systems or in the systems surrounding them. The absolute dependence or even surrender of those in need during times of need provides their physicians as well as their lawyers the moral high …

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Pay for performance and shared savings are good, but they’re not the solution

Policy
January 9, 2025

Think about every health care reform effort we’ve been working on for the last decade or two, including accountable care organizations (ACOs) and the value-based purchasing models from CMS. The vast majority of them use one or both of the following strategies in an attempt to financially reward providers for delivering higher value (it’s like they’ve realized that financial incentives need to be fixed!):

  • Quality bonuses: For providers who deliver …

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Losing control of how the health care system treats patients

Physician
January 9, 2025

Particularly over the last 10 to 20 years, medical care has been vertically integrated so that many of us—most of us—are now working for larger health conglomerates. As part of this transition, more and more of our management is professional, with MBAs or their health care equivalent, running our working environments and collecting our billings from which they generate our salaries.

The Economist, a British journal, tells us that in 2022, …

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Strategies for patient-centered and employee-focused care

Podcast
January 8, 2025
YouTube video

This article is sponsored by NRC Health.

In the evolving landscape of health care, our consumers, patients, and workforce are undergoing significant demographic changes. At the heart of these changes are generational differences in attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. These generational influences don’t …

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Reviving the emotional flatline: Addressing burnout in health care professionals

Physician
January 8, 2025

As an emergency room physician with over 20 years of experience, I’ve faced countless moments of emotional intensity—saving lives, delivering difficult news, and navigating the chaos of a health care system stretched to its limits. Yet, it wasn’t a catastrophic patient case or a bad day at work that led me to my breaking point. It was the slow, relentless erosion of my emotional capacity. I call this state the …

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A clarion call about medical malpractice to leaders in health care

Physician
January 8, 2025

There are one million physicians practicing medicine in the United States. No medical intervention they recommend is immune from a complication. The exact number of complications is unknown. Some are medical errors inherent to the intervention, while others are random errors of nature caused by external factors.

When you add to this the fact that there are more lawyers in the United States today than ever before, something has to give. …

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How cognitive biases are sabotaging your wealth-building efforts [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 7, 2025
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Join us as we explore the hidden pitfalls of behavioral finance with financial planner Shane Tenny. Discover how cognitive biases like overconfidence, confirmation bias, and loss aversion can derail even the most successful …

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What if transitions of care resembled transitions of power?

Physician
January 7, 2025

The peaceful transition of power to the 47th president of the U.S. occurred January 6, 2025. It was the loser of the presidential election who ensured an orderly process and ironically certified the results.

In medicine, transitions of care – whether from inpatient to skilled nursing facility, from hospital to home, or during the passing of responsibility from one practitioner to another – represent pivotal moments in the continuity of patient …

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A heartfelt journey from oncology to the ER: How mentoring young doctors changed me

Physician
January 7, 2025

I have worked in clinical oncology in Pakistan. As an oncology physician, I was not supposed to interact with patients in the ER. Recently, I had the opportunity to work with recent medical graduates in an emergency medicine setting. This experience was new for me, as I have been focused on oncology for a long time.

However, that’s the beauty of life—it pushes us to do things we never thought we …

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Why stress and trauma are at the heart of autoimmune diseases [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 6, 2025
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Join us as we dive into the complexities of autoimmune diseases with family physician Pamela Buchanan. Discover the profound connections between chronic stress, systemic inequities, and immune health, particularly for women and Black …

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How lab values management can improve cancer testing and treatment

Conditions
January 6, 2025

When it comes to medical breakthroughs, it can be a long journey between discovery and implementation.

Implementing new technologies and therapies for patients is often hindered by slow adoption, inaccurate application, and delays caused by the rapid pace of guideline updates, which providers may struggle to keep up with. These challenges can prevent patients from fully benefiting from medical breakthroughs, leaving their potential only partially realized.

For example, the development of genomic …

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How burnout nearly killed me—and what doctors must do to survive

Physician
January 6, 2025

I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was 12. Growing up, I idolized my pediatrician, Dr. Helen Nash, one of the first Black female physicians in St. Louis. Her warmth and competence left a lasting impression on me. Medicine became my calling, my purpose, and my dream. I worked tirelessly through high school, college, medical school, and residency to make that dream a reality. But no one warned me …

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