A physician’s exam room should be educational and inviting

Physician
December 2, 2021

Today’s health care system has become so standardized that if a person in a medical office were instantly and magically transported to a medical office in another city, the person would instantly recognize that they were still in a medical office. Our offices are now antiseptic, cold, and devoid of educational material and humanity, and this office decor can adversely impact a physician’s ability to provide care to their patients.

When …

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Grow, share, eat: We have the opportunity to subvert the dominant supply chain

Policy
December 2, 2021

You might not be able to afford the usual Christmas roast this year.

According to the USDA, beef prices in the U.S. are up nearly 10 percent this year over last. And it’s not just in the U.S.  Distribution and other supply chain problems have led to severe price inflation for produce in Beijing, where a pound of lettuce now costs as much as a pound of pork. China’s agriculture ministry …

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Bonnie Koo, MD on taking control of your finances and pursuing financial independence [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 1, 2021
YouTube video

“While much of the conversation around financial independence is tied to the ability to retire early, the real prize is flexibility.

I hear a lot of ‘I love what I do and will work until I die’ amongst physicians. Not so fast. Your goals and priorities will likely change as …

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Life as an MD online with Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD
December 1, 2021
YouTube video

It was an honor to be interviewed by Jonathan Baktari, MD on his show, the Baktari MD Show. In this hour-long episode, Life as an MD Online, I discuss how I got started, online reputation and social media, the KevinMD …

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Do you have any idea how beautiful you are on the inside?

Physician
December 1, 2021

Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? Well, OK; maybe for some it’s were. Before you got a little thick in the middle, smoked, or even just breathed city air for enough years, or drank a little, or did a few drugs, there was a time — and maybe it’s still true — when you were knock-down, take-your-breath-away gorgeous. While operating inside a belly, I’ve often stopped working …

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A physician and sister, but also an accomplice?

Physician
December 1, 2021

My older sister, Joy, will soon die from metastatic breast cancer.  She will pass away at age 50.  She will leave behind a husband of 21 years and the three children they nurtured to young adulthood.  Our elderly parents will lament the unnatural timing of their firstborn’s death.  And, I will mourn this loss, wondering whether my support of my sister’s spiritual beliefs makes me, as a physician-scientist, an accomplice in her death.

For the …

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Top 5 interview questions and strategies for medical students

Education
December 1, 2021

Thousands of medical students are in the midst of interviewing for their dream job. The importance of interviewing well cannot be overstated. Below are the top five common interview questions that could be asked during your interview. 

Tell me about yourself.

Purpose:

  • Open the interview and quickly gauge how personable you are.
  • To understand who the applicant is beyond their application.
  • Although this is one of the most common interview questions, …

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What you don’t know about pain will hurt you [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 30, 2021
YouTube video

“If you treat chronic pain, or are someone living with it, remember this: Changing the brain can change pain. Addressing emotional health directly impacts physical health, because brain and body are always connected. Pain psychologists can serve as pain coaches – it doesn’t mean you’re crazy, and it’s not …

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Reflections after the last ER shift

Physician
November 30, 2021

Working in an ER is unlike any other branch of medicine.  Your specialty is unpredictable.  You have no scheduled patients and no set pace.  You could be fighting boredom one hour and running around with your hair on fire the next, or the next 11, for that matter. Your patients are not stratified by age, gender, body part, or severity of injury.  Your next patient could have an infected cuticle, …

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If you’re a nurse or an abuse survivor, you don’t have to be brave

Conditions
November 30, 2021

For decades, I was constantly told how brave I was and wore “brave” like a scarlet letter on my chest. Brave for choosing to raise my children alone. Brave for becoming a nurse practitioner. Brave for going public with my story of child sexual abuse and complex PTSD. Brave for being willing to stand on a stage and talk about my journey.

I was so convinced of my brave-ness that I …

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Physician communication using the tools of a trial attorney [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 29, 2021
YouTube video

“For twenty years, I defended doctors when they were sued, and now I coach female leaders from all industries on how to advocate for themselves and their potential with the tools of a trial lawyer. I know that when doctors are exhausted, distracted and powerless they’re more likely to be …

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When you die: a poem

Physician
November 29, 2021

I will tell you exactly
And only the facts.

You are trapped a little for a time
And unhappy

Then your face hollows and it has a death mask
As the soul withdraws from the body

And you look at me and tell me who you see
It is always someone,
Sitting there like me,
But on the other side of things
Waiting for you.

And suddenly you become a column of white light
And leave the body all at once
Going upward,
I …

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A letter to my pre-med self

Physician
November 28, 2021

I imagine you’re excited to receive this letter, but please listen to me for a moment. I’ll need you to suspend your disbelief here. I am writing to you from the future, and you are me from the past. I needed to reach out to you about the choice you’ve made.

I realize — again, because I am you — that you are super excited about the hare-brained idea to go …

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Why the Build Back Better Act is an investment, not a cost

Policy
November 28, 2021

The original Build Back Better Act proposed various provisions to improve Americans’ lives, including two years of free community college, child care assistance, and investments in clean energy. The steep price tag has led many to question whether or not we can afford to spend so much.

But as a pulmonary and critical care physician at a major metropolitan hospital, I have a different question: can we afford not to?

Every day in …

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Omicron: 2 infectious disease physicians on the new COVID variant [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 28, 2021
YouTube video

Welcome to this special episode of The Podcast by KevinMD, where I interview two infectious disease physicians on the COVID Omicron variant. They share their unique perspective on this threat answer the following questions: How do these early days of the Omicron variant contrast with past variants? What do …

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Fear of vaccines grows with the need for medical ethics [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 27, 2021
YouTube video

“While individual doctors have obligations to both the individual and public health, their first concern is their patients. And these decisions have to acknowledge fears and respect the stance. Providers must balance reassurance with acknowledgment, care, data, and the intent to ‘do no harm.’

It is undeniable that the COVID vaccination …

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Think TikTok is smarter than me? Then I’m not the right doctor for you.

Physician
November 27, 2021

“I don’t think I am the right doctor for you.”

In over 20 years of practice, I had never uttered those words before this year. Now, as my medical assistant of 20 years remarks, almost two years into the pandemic, I say it almost daily.

I like to think I am a good physician and listener, spending most of the outpatient visit time trying to understand what it is that the patient …

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Loneliness and hopelessness are all around us, yet we are missing it

Physician
November 27, 2021

It was dark as we entered a crumbling stone building, a one-room 15’ x 15’ structure. No electricity, no running water, no amenities, we assume “we all have.” I was leading a medical team to the poorest country in Europe, Moldova, a country I had come to know and love well. The team had finished a busy day in the clinic. Before going to dinner, I wanted to make a …

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Will the COVID Omicron variant change the world again? [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 27, 2021
YouTube video

“The variant keeps me up at night a little bit because it has 32 mutations in the spike protein, in contrast to the Delta mutation.

But it’s not just the mutations. In terms of biological plausibility, it’s plausible that it could be more evasive against immunity. Not just vaccines, but …

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Grieving our collective loss with compassion [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 26, 2021
YouTube video

“Cultivating compassion for ourselves and others is a practice in which we release judgment, anger and heal our emotional wounds. We can then move forward to a version of a better world where we have evolved to a new beginning. Change is always happening, and that is our constant. What …

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