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Nurse’s whistle of hopelessness: a tale of a dangerous workplace with no safety measures

Conditions

March 9, 2023

I finally found time after retirement to clean out my nurse’s book bag. It contained items such as a stethoscope, extra playing cards for patients, highlighters, various pens, a penlight, a notebook with important phone numbers throughout the health care system, tourniquets for IVs, and a plastic whistle.

This health care system, which has a revenue of $5 billion per year and spans throughout America, is quite complex. Let me explain.

The …

Rethinking access to the American tip jar: It’s time to include nurses and dental hygienists

Eric Dessner, MD

Physician

March 9, 2023

Americans are accustomed to tipping for a wide array of services. We understand that our gratuity makes up an important percentage of the wages earned by many different types of laborers: massage therapists, Uber drivers, hair stylists, tour guides, room service providers, valets — the list goes on. Much of the time, we don’t just add a tip because we’re adhering to a cultural norm but rather because we genuinely …

Research literacy bridges the medical mistrust gap

Janice Phillips, PhD and Nikki Hopewell, MSc

Conditions

March 9, 2023

A long inglorious history of medical racism and mistreatment has dire health consequences. Consider the atrocities associated with experimentation on African Americans without informed consent during the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972), which eroded the trust in the medical profession and medical research, and undermined the nation’s ability to achieve health equity.

Medical mistrust continues to worsen due to the negative health care experiences African Americans still endure today. For …

A fine line between DNR and denied treatment for the elderly [PODCAST]

Alan Lindemann, MD & The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 8, 2023

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

In this episode, we welcome Alan Lindemann, an obstetrics-gynecology physician, to discuss the issue of autonomy and treatment for elderly patients. He shares his experiences in the long-term care setting, and the disturbing trend of interpreting do …

The algorithm’s dilemma: Navigating ethics in health care

Jennifer Lycette, MD

Tech

March 8, 2023

An excerpt from The Algorithm Will See You Now.

Jacie shoved her glasses up her nose. “For those not selected, when PRIMA gives its report, or whatever… and if it says the treatment won’t work, how do you tell the patient?”

“We don’t.” Hope paused. “That’s the nurse’s job, of course.”

Cecilia gave …

Gratitude takes practice. How come health care workers aren’t better at it?

Craig Bowron, MD

Physician

March 8, 2023

Like interest rates and food prices, burnout among health care providers continues to rise.

From my perch—as a hospitalist in a large tertiary hospital—the sheer terror of the early days of the COVID pandemic has been replaced by a grinding fatigue fueled by staffing shortages across the entire health care system.

Patients and their families are burned out too, frustrated by delays and shortcomings in care that inevitably arise in an overworked …

Fool women twice? Drug makers revive menopause as a “disease.”

Martha Rosenberg

Conditions

March 8, 2023

In the words of the late soccer great Pelé spoofed on Saturday Night Live, women’s health has been “very, very good” for drug makers. In 2002, 61 million prescriptions were written for women in the U.S. for hormones to treat the so-called “disease” of menopause (which was once treated with electroshock therapy—yes, ECT).

Until the government-sponsored Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) found in 2002 that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) …

Transforming health care with AI: Google Bard and BioGPT lead the way

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Tech

March 8, 2023

Generative language models such as Google Bard and BioGPT are two cutting-edge technologies that have the potential to revolutionize Health care by providing accurate and reliable information to patients and health care professionals alike. Google Bard is powered by LaMDA and trained on web data, while BioGPT is developed by Microsoft and trained on biomedical literature. Both models can perform various tasks, such as answering questions, extracting relevant data, and …

Is mandating pre-medical training widening disparities in the U.S. physician workforce?

Deepak Gupta, MD and Sarwan Kumar, MD

Education

March 8, 2023

Around 75 percent of U.S. physicians are U.S. MD/DOs who have completed pre-medical training, while the remaining 25 percent are international medical graduates (IMGs) who may not have completed pre-medical training but are still able to take the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE) and become licensed to practice medicine in the U.S.

From the patient’s perspective, pre-medical training may not be necessary unless pre-medical training-deficient IMGs are not evenly distributed …

Critical thinking in pain management [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 7, 2023

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

In this episode, we welcome special guest Ronald A. Zent, a family physician, to discuss the ongoing opioid crisis. With a fourfold increase in opioid prescriptions and overdose deaths from 1999-2010, Ronald shares his insights on how …

The Titanic sinking: a metaphor for the impending collapse of medicine

Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD & Shreekant Vasudhev, MD

Physician

March 7, 2023

The re-release of the movie Titanic marks its 25th anniversary since it first sailed into theaters. Can you believe it? Twenty-five years ago, we watched Rose get undressed for a self-portrait with only a necklace on, Jack yelling, “I’m the king of the world” from the boat’s bow, and the two of them doin’ the dirty in the backseat of an automobile. This fictional love story of Rose and Jack …

Grieving parents want the truth

Colin Campbell

Conditions

March 7, 2023

Adapted from Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose.

I am glad I got to watch my kids die. To be clear, I’m not glad they died. I am heartbroken and devastated, and there is a never-ending hole of aching and pain in my heart. My teenage …

Read more…

Grieving parents want the truth

Patient empowerment: the key to solving the health care crisis

Ann M. Hester, MD

Physician

March 7, 2023

A sobering study by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicts an unthinkable shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 doctors by 2034. If underserved populations had fewer barriers to medical care, that shortfall could reach over 180,000! Successfully navigating these uncharted waters will require strategic planning and innovation.

Even the current state is so dire that the American Medical Association (AMA) developed a critical action plan: AMA’s Recovery Plan for …

Revolutionize your health and fitness with ChatGPT’s modern weight loss hacks

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Tech

March 7, 2023

Weight loss can be a challenging process for many people, as it often requires significant lifestyle changes and dedication to healthy habits. However, with the help of modern technology and innovative strategies, it’s easier than ever to revolutionize your health and fitness journey. This article will explore how ChatGPT can provide modern weight loss hacks to help individuals achieve their health goals.

1. Personalized nutrition plan. One of the most significant …

Discover the power of breathing: How a lesson in pediatrics helped me find inner calm

Victoria Silas, MD

Physician

March 7, 2023

“Until I know you better, I will tell you how to breathe!”

It’s my first day at the pediatric orthopedic hand specialty clinic on my pediatric ortho rotation in my third year of residency.

I have just been barked at by the professor emeritus, a retired Army colonel, who runs the service.

He didn’t tell me how to breathe, but he affected it.

Prior to this, my upper-level resident told me that I have …

A discussion on mental health during the holidays [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 6, 2023

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

In this episode, we welcome Jennifer Shaer, a pediatrician, to discuss the issue of physician suicide rates and how the holidays can impact mental health. Despite being one of the happiest countries in the world, Scandinavian countries …

The curious cases of the Tenerife plane crash and medical errors: What we see through the Swiss cheese model

Alisa Sano, MPH

Conditions

March 6, 2023

“Even a room with flammable gas will not explode unless someone strikes a match.”
– Dr. Bob Wachter

Case 1:

On March 27, 1977, two 747s collided on the runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people. On a foggy morning, the KLM 747 was waiting for clearance to take off. Captain Van Zanten was a well-known pilot with excellent safety records. The KLM crew spotted a Pan Am 747 taxiing …

Physicians spending more time with computers than patients

Steven Reznick, MD

Physician

March 6, 2023

Recently I tried to log onto my hospital system’s electronic health record to check on the status of a patient. This patient is elderly, severely mentally incapacitated, and being cared for by physicians on the neurology service. Her son, a practicing physician at the same facility, had not received a return phone call from any of the inpatient physicians and wanted to know why his mom needed a lumbar puncture …

The addictive quest for achievement and its dangerous consequences

Dawn Baker, MD

Physician

March 6, 2023

An excerpt from Lean Out: A Professional Woman’s Guide to Finding Authentic Work-Life Balance.

In the third grade, my teacher identified me as a high achiever. Aside from recognition, he “rewarded” me with the opportunity to write an extra report on a topic of my choosing every month. Being young and …

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