Balancing care during COVID

Conditions
February 22, 2022

I started this commentary when the initial COVID spike involving the mass hospitalization of unvaccinated individuals occurred, and non-COVID patients requiring hospitalization were turned away because no beds, especially in intensive care, were available.

Some patients traveled hours to find vacant beds, and a few even died! I put the draft aside as COVID declined and hospital beds became available.

Then, Omicron joined Delta, and cases climbed once again. Hospital beds refilled …

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Nurses are in need of racial healing

Policy
February 22, 2022

In a recent survey of nurses (n=5,600), 63% of respondents reported having experienced racism in the workplace. These racist acts were mainly done by peers (66%) or a manager or supervisor (60%). Such widespread racism should send shockwaves throughout a profession known for its caring and compassion.   These findings outlined in a report from the National Commission to Address  Racism in Nursing are a …

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A milligram of understanding for the vaccine-hesitant [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 21, 2022
YouTube video

“The starting point is to do our best to approach discussing COVID and vaccination with the appropriate type of empathy and understanding.

To understand that our patients don’t have access to the same level of data and research that we do, and even if they did, they might not understand …

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Kissing disease’s link to multiple sclerosis

Conditions
February 21, 2022

In recent decades, mounting evidence has suggested the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a ubiquitous member of the herpes family that causes infectious mononucleosis (a.k.a. the “kissing disease”), can cause multiple sclerosis (MS). Last month, a study published in the journal Science went even further, citing EBV infection as likely the leading cause of MS. It is a compelling connection that begs many questions. For example, if someone has …

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Who will heal the physician?

Physician
February 21, 2022

I was a third-year medical student in 1999 when the landmark report titled “To Err is Human” was released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), unveiling the uncomfortable truth about the fallibility of physicians and our medical system. I remember it vividly.

The publication’s scandalous revelation that nearly 100,000 preventable deaths occurred in hospitals each year shocked me. I recall feeling simultaneously offended and defensive at the implication …

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Are we opening everything too quickly?

Policy
February 21, 2022

In “Open Everything” published in The Atlantic on February 9th, 2022, Yascha Mounk discusses his arguments for lifting any remaining COVID-19 restrictions to “shake off the pandemic malaise.” He asserts that we are “in danger of prolonging the status quo more than is justifiable” and that “the time to end pandemic restrictions is now.” The broad strokes that Mounk makes are diametrically opposed to …

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Viral nomenclature or a sign of our times?

Conditions
February 21, 2022

As Pandora’s box of coronavirus opened in 2020, it engulfed our planet into an abysmal nightmare. As darkness fell, those of us in medicine sought refuge under a lamp called “knowledge” that sparked its flame from scientific evidence. But what if medicine and life itself were being written in real-time on a clean slate?

From the get-go, the medical world switched up its protective parental gear.

Moral responsibility got perceived as heroism. …

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How to convert medical knowledge into digital assets that work for you [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 20, 2022
YouTube video

“Instead of trading up for a faster horse by drawing in the exam room, it felt like I’d just built a motor car.

I created a new workflow around my digital assets. When patients checked in for a clinic visit, I scanned the chart for their visit diagnosis and fired off …

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A physician’s top 10 fears

Physician
February 20, 2022

I recently had a good (albeit unexpected) cry and figured out that I have been in an unremitting fear cycle for about two-plus years. When the COVID pandemic first shut things down across the United States, my family and I had just started a much-anticipated ski vacation. On the way to the resort, we heard that Vail and other Colorado resorts had just shut down. When we checked into our …

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I risked my career to save my life

Physician
February 20, 2022

Early into my military career and as an oral and maxillofacial surgery resident, I started to acknowledge the fact that, during periods of sleep deprivation that were initially inherent to my military training hours and then surgery call requirements, I found myself thinking dark thoughts that I had never experienced before. I scheduled an appointment with a Psychiatrist and was diagnosed with depression. Scratch that. I was diagnosed with “high …

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How inflation fueled health care costs

Policy
February 20, 2022

The 3-hour concert was over. On the way back to the car, the excitement of it all kept us singing the lyrical masterpiece. I turned on the ignition and typed in our address.

“You have 1 hour and 35 minutes to go,” the GPS alerted me. I glanced at the fuel gauge. The gas floater barely survived the red indicator.

Taking no risks, I drove us to the nearest gas station to …

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Guns, the Supreme Court, and physicians’ voices [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 19, 2022
YouTube video

“When my patients asked me about losing weight, I would say, ‘Eat less and exercise more.’ I know that it is more complicated than that. There are psychological and socioeconomic factors. There is bariatric surgery and there are medications. But ‘eat less and exercise more’ is common sense, and …

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Artificial intelligence is worse than the old boss

Physician
February 19, 2022

It seems that each positive story I read about the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) is countered by a negative story.

One internal medicine physician writes: “Someday, with enough computing power and artificial intelligence, we may be able to have systems that can do some basic medical advice and education about health care that could end up saving doctors a lot of time and …

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How to fix the CDC [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 18, 2022
YouTube video

“A resurgent CDC is necessary to recapture the vitality of U.S. medical science. A scientific researcher alone cannot do this work. This will also require heavy managerial work and restructuring and charting a different course altogether. CDC will need a double-headed leader approach, one excelling in scientific expertise and …

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There are so many paths to financial freedom

Finance
February 18, 2022

There are so many paths to financial freedom. It does not matter if it’s starting another business, investing in real estate, or saving in your 401(k). You will reach financial independence as a physician if you save and invest. The most crucial factor in achieving financial independence is consistency.

  • Do you save and invest money every month? Or do you have to wait until the end of the month and …

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An unplanned conversation leads to a mentorship opportunity

Physician
February 18, 2022

Charlotte: I initially met Richard at a wedding. Standing near the much-desired sushi buffet, we quickly started talking about the broken infrastructure of the health care system. At the time, I was an exhausted intern in internal medicine, happy to have the right weekend off. I shared big dreams of one day creating a new model of medical delivery. Richard, a senior executive with decades of leadership experience, listened compassionately. …

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