Upholding the principles of informed consent in the fight against vaccine hesitancy

Conditions
January 14, 2021

Experts have taken to social media to quell misinformation and address common concerns about Pfizer’s messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine, performing an important public service in support of robust vaccine uptake. However, some scientific information is being oversimplified to the point that it is misleading. The public’s decision to take a vaccine whose long-term risks are unclear should be a well-informed one. Clear communication is crucial to the process of …

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A crisis of physician intra-professional respect [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 13, 2021
YouTube video

“What has become of medicine today? What has become of the sacred patient-physician relationship? What has become of medical offices- aren’t they supposed to be healing places? Who goes to a medical clinic (no matter how Big the Name) to be insulted and diminished and hurt? What has become of physicians as …

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An unexpected COVID-19 vaccine side effect

Conditions
January 13, 2021

Introduction

Today, I had my second shot of the Pfizer vaccine and suffered an unexpected and unreported side effect. That’s the problem with a new medical treatment; you never know what might happen.

Transformation

Just a few seconds after the needle penetrated my arm, I felt a mild soreness, kind of like a flu shot. But as I sat for the required 15 minutes of observation time, a wave of something engulfed my …

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Dear medical community, it’s time to engage in the climate movement [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 12, 2021
YouTube video

“I plan to reach out to climate organizations and see what I can do to get involved. Whether that means writing more op-eds like this one or writing to legislators, I now recognize that as part of the medical field, especially in regard to mental health, I have a role to play. …

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COVID malaise, and more COVID-19 coping tips from the trenches

Conditions
January 12, 2021

I write this now as both a time capsule and a vision of hope at the bitter end of 2020. At this point, a COVID-19 vaccine (the vision of hope) has been developed by several companies but has not yet received widespread distribution. Realistically, I know we are in for more quarantines, social distancing, and mask-wearing for at least another 9 to 12 months (sorry!).

My clinical work in psychiatry has …

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Women physicians and pivoting from medicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 11, 2021
YouTube video

“We must continue to work to create gender equity as here is where we stand today: A significant gender pay gap still exists in medicine where women doctors earn up to 33% less than their male counterparts. Even though women make up 36% of practicing doctors in the country, only 15% of …

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Reducing death from COVID-19 pneumonia before widespread vaccination

Conditions
January 11, 2021

When the pandemic hit the U.S. – we were caught off guard. We were uncertain about how COVID-19 spread or how it killed. But amidst the chaos, health care providers have learned how to better care for infected patients today. Since March, we’ve learned that surprisingly simple actions can make a significant difference in both containing COVID-19 and improving patient outcomes.

For example, we now know mask-wearing, social distancing, and limiting …

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How this surgeon beat a medical staff disciplinary action [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 10, 2021
YouTube video

“I recently represented a physician in a noteworthy peer review case at an academic medical center. The medical staff president initiated a complaint against a surgeon, who would later become my client. The complaint was that the surgeon inappropriately collected cash payment from an uninsured patient at the hospital’s point of …

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How transparent were the COVID vaccine trials?

Conditions
January 10, 2021

On March 2nd, 2020, as New York State announced its first proven case of COVID-19, a federal court there handed down a stunning decision. For 10 years, according to the court, the United States government illegally failed to hold drug companies accountable when they did not report, or inaccurately reported, crucial data about their drugs’ safety and efficacy.

Between 2007 and 2017, the court held, the Food …

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When an epidemic of violence against health care workers meets a pandemic [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 9, 2021
YouTube video

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated factors that cause violence in the workplace. At no time in recent history will you find clinical health care workers under this degree of stress. Physicians and nurses are operating under high alert in hospitals and clinics while facing COVID deniers and abusive treatment (name-calling such …

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Why states need to develop rural health outreach programs

Policy
January 9, 2021

Disparities in rural health care have been well established with respect to socioeconomic status, race, and geography. COVID-19 brought these disparities to the surface within most rural communities in the United States, highlighting the limited access to health care specialists and subspecialists.

As an otolaryngologist, I have had the privilege and unique opportunity of serving two different communities: Chicago’s city dwellers and …

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The side effect of the COVID vaccine that no one is talking about

Conditions
January 9, 2021

7:42 a.m.: I got my first COVID vaccine today. I don’t feel a thing and almost wonder if I really got the injection. Then, within the first few minutes after receiving it, I feel a little lightheaded. But I realize I haven’t eaten yet for the morning. Luckily, the employee health staff had given me a water bottle, which I quickly down (after sanitizing my hands) and waiting my 15 …

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Thriving in residency: tips for your personal, financial, and professional lives

Physician
January 9, 2021

The reality is just setting in: I’m months away from finishing my family medicine residency! I want to yell it from the mountaintops, but let me also channel my elation into some advice. This is for the next generation: all you phenomenal DO and MD students who are on the cusp of becoming physicians.

In deciding where to rank highly, I cannot overstate the value of being …

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When your institution has a less than 1% hiring rate for Black residents [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 8, 2021
YouTube video

“As soon as I realized we had so few Black residents, I began to ask around to find out if there were reasons why. One person brought up the fact that we happen to be the smaller institution between 3 other larger universities within an hour away and even bigger world-class …

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The dangers of selective empathy

Education
January 8, 2021

I go to medical school with a girl who is universally disliked, perhaps more than anyone I’ve met before. It began innocuously enough: She was too active in the group chat, too pushy about ordering class jackets, this and that.

In lecture, she barked out obscure answers like “Saturday Night Palsy” with physical force; her petite body careening forward in her chair, her class-jacketed hand spearing into the sky. But did …

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Medicine is failing rural Americans

Policy
January 8, 2021

In recent years, the divide between rural and urban areas of the United States has become more pronounced, with sharply divergent views on both social and economic policies. The results of this latest election show starkly that the divide persists, and indicate that the institutions that shape our nation are not successfully representing all portions of society.

One of those institutions appears to be medicine. A sign of this is how the public …

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Medicine must create inclusive clinical trials [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 7, 2021
YouTube video

“Researchers should make clinical trials more accessible by providing patients with simple explanations of studies at a variety of locations, including community clinics and medical centers. Increased flexibility regarding transportation and visit timing is essential. Researchers should also allow the participation of people who do not speak English and those living with …

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The R-word takes away people’s humanity

Conditions
January 7, 2021

Some of you may have heard it on the playground. Others might have used it in jest. I’m not going to write it. I’m just going to call it the R-word because it’s that disgusting.

It’s a slur against people with intellectual disabilities that you will see peppered in many news stories.

NFL player Janoris Jenkins was cut from the New York Giants for using the word; Khloé Kardashian promised to “do …

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It’s time to revisit the 4 R’s of the doctor-patient relationship

Physician
January 7, 2021

“We have met the enemy in medical education, and he is us!”

My paraphrase of the “philosophy of Pogo” is pertinent to today’s crop of graduating medical students. We have inserted them into the most toxic environment for learning medicine, ever.

Dr. Michael Halberstam once stated that the most powerful treatment the ER had to offer (after CPR, of course) was “the sight of your own doctor at the bedside.”  Yet look …

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Beyond the medical lessons learned from COVID [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 6, 2021
YouTube video

“I am thankful to you SARS-CoV-2 virus as you allowed me to be human again, to make mistakes, and learn from them. You taught me to slow down so that I could reset and redefine my goals. You allowed me to have time for myself, to dream again, and plan my …

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