How medical notes will change if patients get to see them

Physician
August 22, 2021

On April 5, 2021, the federal government mandated that health care providers provide free electronic access to patients’ clinical notes, as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. This includes 8 types of notes spanning outpatient and inpatient arenas. If providers/organizations do not comply with this mandate, they will be subject to fines due to “information blocking.”

This was borne from the OpenNotes movement – which declares itself to promote and …

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How to tell someone their loved one died

Physician
August 22, 2021

First, you turn off your phone. You can’t have any interruptions. As you walk to your patient’s room where the family is waiting for you, pick up a box of tissues and put it in your back pocket. Don’t hold it in your hand as you meet them. It’ll betray their new reality.

When you enter the room, you introduce yourself to everyone as the doctor. You find a seat to …

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Getting messy in the game of health care

Physician
August 22, 2021

“We can’t sit in the stands – we have to get messy and play on the field.”

The casual observer, the season ticket holder, the player, and the coach have very different levels of knowledge, skill, and passion for a professional sport. The casual observer may be confused, not even understanding the fundamentals of the game. The season ticket holder likely has some experience with the sport, possibly playing as a …

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How doctors think about financial independence is dead wrong [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 21, 2021
YouTube video

“A rough career transition in 2019 followed by the pandemic highlighted how I was still financially tethered to my job — after 10 years of practicing as a subspecialty trained radiologist, saving, maxing out my retirement accounts, and investing in the stock market and in real estate. Looking around, I …

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The ritual of taking medications: the pill wheel

Meds
August 21, 2021

Woodworking / Illustration

The problem with the act of taking medications is that it’s so mundane that we don’t see any problem with it.

This machine-cut, flat, unemotional, same-size-fits-all object that we defencelessly welcome in our very private body has a role. Medications occupy our existence by interlocking with our cells and taking control of our body, fighting, provoking, sedating, and changing the music …

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Who needs scientists? It’s not like we listen to them anyway.

Physician
August 21, 2021

But seriously, who needs scientists? It’s not like we listen to researchers or pay attention to the warnings. The world is burning up with record ground-breaking temperatures. These so-called scientists predicted these warnings decades ago, with great details. Who do they think they are? They got lucky! They are fear mongers and not to be believed. Look at the fake media! Landslides, earthquakes, fires, flooding, drought, and the list goes …

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How one word may have harmed my patient [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 20, 2021
YouTube video

“With this single word, mom had now completely altered her willingness to see the deep suffering of her child. This single word watered all of this child’s five years of depression, crippling anxiety, history full of ACEs, and very significant struggle down to a simple, selfish, flippant choice.

Furthermore, mom …

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Why this physician and her husband almost divorced

Physician
August 20, 2021

My husband and I recently had a bit of a wobble in our marriage. In truth, it was more than a wobble, and it had been building for years. I am pleased to say that we have traversed the turbulence. Not only are we once again sailing in smooth waters, but we are sailing in more idyllic waters than ever before.

Why did it happen?

For so many reasons, but I need …

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Does Aduhelm mark the return of science-based medicine? [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 19, 2021
YouTube video

“While we still lack a complete cause and effect model of Alzheimer’s disease, there is no doubt that the etiology is multifaceted and nonlinear. This accounts for the fact that it takes an incredibly long time for Alzheimer’s disease to develop. I mention this because one of the major problems …

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The Delta variant is a monster and our last weapon is the unvaccinated

Conditions
August 19, 2021

Oh, how the tide has turned. Three months ago, COVID was ravaging my homeland, India. The Delta variant was burning through the country like an uncontrolled wildfire. People carted dying relatives town to town, desperately seeking hospital beds or a whiff of oxygen. A cousin in India said, “COVID is not taking lives, just the beds. Lack of oxygen is taking lives.”

I watched India’s suffering unfold and felt guilty for …

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Debunking common virtual therapy myths and 4 tips for new patients

Conditions
August 19, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred an avalanche of mental health issues that have continued to plague the general public over the last 18 months – with the full impact from lingering quarantines, prolonged social distancing, and now the fear over the unknowns of new variants. In fact, nearly 70 percent of working adults say this has been the most stressful time period of their lives.

Fortunately, along with the unprecedented surge …

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A neurosurgeon’s lessons on love, loss, and compassion [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 18, 2021
YouTube video

“Dehumanizing patients can lead to indifference in physicians. It is a privilege to be trusted to take care of every patient we encounter, yet we can lose sight of this and begin to see our patients as a burden, or as units of work, rather than as individuals. When individual …

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4 reasons you need a credit card in medical school

Finance
August 18, 2021

My son is a fourth-year medical student, and we have had some great discussions about credit cards recently, including their benefits. I believe this information would be helpful for all medical students to consider.

As a student my son once preferred to use a debit card or cash to keep his expenses controlled. This financially conservative approach is what he was taught during his young adult days in our home. Avoidance …

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Physicians’ sense of powerlessness and being a cog in a wheel [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 17, 2021
YouTube video

“Toward the end of my clinical career, I didn’t feel like I had control over much at all. The patient safety issues loomed large. We used ridiculous workarounds for broken processes. The constant vigilance to provide excellent care in a suboptimal environment was exhausting. I didn’t see anything I …

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Ageism and the mid-career physician

Physician
August 17, 2021

Four years ago, I was ready to throw in the towel.  I practiced for 22 years in a large metropolitan hospital, became very involved in resident education, clinical program directorship, medical staff affairs, in addition to a busy hospital-based surgical practice. I watched as the environment of care for clinicians and the quality of the relationship between the medical staff and system administration steadily deteriorated.

My small, single-specialty surgical group merged …

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Is it ethical to force unvaccinated patients to use telehealth only?

Physician
August 17, 2021

COVID-19 has raised many ethical challenges for health care providers, including the level of risk they must take when providing patient care. Early in the pandemic, the ability to mitigate these risks was relatively limited, especially when caring for hospitalized patients. Shortages of personal protective equipment rendered mitigation even more challenging.

As a result, it has been reported that 3,607 frontline health care workers died of COVID-19 in the U.S. from …

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Robert Pearl, MD on doctors and the 5 stages of grief [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 16, 2021
YouTube video

“Physicians have had a rough century, so far. In addition to battling COVID-19, doctors have spent the past two decades fighting the health care industry’s fiercest players and losing, badly.

Power in the industry now belongs to health insurance companies, major drugmakers, and hospital tycoons. Physicians feel beaten up, burned …

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How to make LGBTQ+ patients feel welcome during in-person and virtual doctor’s visits

Physician
August 16, 2021

Although Pride Month is over, awareness and advocacy for equity among the LGBTQ+ community must continue to be prioritized. This is especially important in health care settings. Many LGBTQ+ people feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in doctors’ offices, and more than 40 percent have experienced discrimination in health care environments. As a result, LGBTQ+ people postpone or avoid care at a rate that is 2-3x greater than the broader U.S. population. …

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I’m vaccinated and positive for COVID-19

Conditions
August 16, 2021

I just tested positive for COVID-19.

I was vaccinated earlier this year.

I am scared.

I am confident I will get through this.

I received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this year, and I just tested positive for COVID-19. It’s almost comical that I am positive now. I worked as a resident physician in the hospital from the beginning, during the first surge, and through August 2020. Since then, I have been …

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Redefining traditional gender roles and the importance of a growth mindset [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 15, 2021
YouTube video

“Maybe it’s a testament to a hardy relationship that there was no resulting argument. Without thinking, I blurted out, ‘You are so sexist!’ I could immediately tell by my husband’s face, his upper eyelids and eyebrows lifted a bit, his mouth freeze-framed in a small ‘o’ — my exclamation surprised …

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