A hungry college student was on a plane flying to Italy. She was alone, as her parents had bought her a ticket to join them on the trip, but their own flight had been sold out. About an hour after take-off, the flight attendants came down the aisle with their carts to serve dinner. She chose the chicken and quickly ate the entire meal. It was Indian-style cuisine, an odd …
A nut allergy nightmare at 35,000 feet
That health care in the United States is wildly expensive is beyond debate — but the actual numbers are almost beyond belief. In 2010, for example, health care costs amounted to $2.6-trillion. By 2020, those costs had risen to $4 trillion — an increase of more than 50%. Worse, such increases show no signs of slowing.
Health insurance premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, and direct government expenses all add up to a nearly …
Denying essential medical care doesn’t save money — or lives
When I started my internal medicine practice in 1996, the medical arena was vastly different than it is today. Back then, having an MD after my name actually meant something.
A letter from me to an insurance company would get a needed medication covered for a patient––a time before preauthorization existed. Dr. Google was not yet born. “Provider” exclusively belonged to the insurance industry.
My patients called me “doctor” and referred to …
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“In the majority of robotic-assisted cases I perform, automated movements are particularly helpful in delivering gear – I can easily get balloons and stents around the C-shaped curve in the right coronary artery from the cockpit just like I would be able to …
Robotic interventional cardiology [PODCAST]
We were reminiscing recently at a brunch we set up. It had been many years since we had seen each other. Eventually, we went our separate ways. But we reconnected once again.
Anna was one of our night shift nurses. She was bright and articulate. She eventually became a preceptor and mentor to many new ICU nurses.
The “night shifters” are on an island of their own. We form a special family, …
Seemingly unimportant acts make a big difference
Microaggressions are common, subtle, offending behaviors and attitudes that stem from implicit (unconscious) bias. Individuals targeted by microaggressions are different than us — different in their look, skin tone, gender, sexual preference, socioeconomic status, educational level and age.
Implicit bias refers to unconscious stereotypes, assumptions, and beliefs held about an individual’s group identity. They affect our understanding, actions, and decisions and increase Read more…
Do microaggressions persist after practice?
Lump
I am a pretty private person and will only disclose information with a small few I trust. However, it has been five years since my second diagnosis with breast cancer, and I felt compelled to share my journey because I’ve made it a lot longer than I thought I would.
Every day for the rest of the month, I will share what I recall, what helped, and what didn’t. My only …
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“A prospect seeking a career in medicine must start with their own awareness of boundaries and perfectionism before entering the field. This inner work must be indoctrinated in schools and encouraged through residencies and mentorships. Furthermore, administration must model this and valued it …
What needs to change in medicine for it to be sustainable? [PODCAST]
Nurses are notoriously tough, resilient, and caring. Their ability to deliver health care with a mindful spirit is uncanny. Multitasking is soon ingrained in even the greenest of this kind.
Go ahead, inundate them with requests, some admittedly regretful, and you will witness amazing things being accomplished with few exceptions. They can be mischievous as well. After all, they’re human, right? Surely the new haughty unsuspecting intern deserves a 2:45 a.m. …
The nurse who walked a million miles
Here’s the story of a girl who got a comprehensive sex education and still chose abstinence. That girl was me.
Did I gain this knowledge from school? Heavens no. I grew up in the South at the turn of the 21st century. Abstinence-only sex education was the name of the game (still is, last I checked), especially in the school district I was in. Ironically (or maybe not so, in light …
I received a comprehensive sex education. I still chose abstinence.
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“He needed to be taken to the hospital to be pronounced, and he was put on a gurney. One frequently mouthed wish was to be taken from his home feet first. I stood beside him as he was placed in the ambulance. His …
What a good death looked like [PODCAST]
Your parents likely spent months searching through baby name books, polling the family, and looking through the photo albums of ancestors to pick the perfect name for you.
Maybe your parents had to see your face before they could pick the perfect one. Names have history, they have power, and they embody your personality.
My daughter was officially named Daniela, yet we called her Bimbi months before she was born. That is …
I’m a physician, not a provider
Completing my second year as an attending during a pandemic has been, well, interesting. It has brought up a variety of emotions. It’s all you’ve dreamt about for the past 7+ years of training, finally making it — the ability to “call the shots.” It is exhilarating yet mortifying, all wrapped in one!
You have those occasional cases you have never been exposed to during training. You lean on colleagues for …
Health care takes its toll. Look for the moments that remind you why you’re in it.
About a month ago, I had just finished hospital rounds when I heard “code active threat” on the overhead intercom. Thinking it was a drill, I continued typing patient notes until I heard a more urgent: “Please barricade in place or, if able, evacuate the premises immediately.”
My heart raced as I quickly weighed my options: barricade myself alone in the physician lounge or run to the parking garage, risking the …
Gun violence is our society’s disease
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“As doctors, we are called to heal. We are called to serve. It’s in us. Our ability to heal and serve others does not have to be limited to the hospital and clinic walls. I want all our brilliant doctor minds to be …
Allow yourself the space you need to heal [PODCAST]
5G and its related cell towers are still causing controversy around the U.S. Earlier this month, residents in Indiana and Nevada were against 5G cell towers being placed in their neighborhoods. In Charlotte County, Florida, one resident against the towers was concerned about his neighborhood being the guinea pigs of possible health implications caused by 5G. Before these complaints surfaced, 107 …
Clearing up common misconceptions surrounding cellular technology and radiation
The first occurred when the ethics committee gathered to discuss one of the residents on the nursing wing. She was in the late stages of dementia and unable to speak. She had developed an ulcer on her foot, and the doctor recommended antibiotics and whirlpool treatments. These might prevent having her foot amputated.
Her health care agent with medical power of attorney was her daughter. She said that her mother had …
We’ve all heard the tired cliché about July being the most dangerous time of the year to go to a hospital. All new interns — freshly minted doctors straight out of medical school — are on the loose. And you better watch out, the tale goes. That’s demonstrably false, and July is as safe as any month for medical care.
But there is still a big reason to worry — not …
What no one tells you about being a new doctor
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“If I knew back in training and practice what I know now, I would have looked for the support and mentoring that would have helped me to forge a path in clinical medicine. But I saw help as an admission of weakness. I …
We are humans first and gifted healers second [PODCAST]
It’s 4 a.m. when a 17-year-old awakens at home with severe left shoulder pain that his worried parents call 911. By the time he reaches the emergency room (ER), he has pain all the way to his wrist.
“Any recent injuries?” asks the doctor.
“Yeah, about three days ago, I was lifting about 200 pounds at the gym and noticed that my shoulder was really sore.”
When questioned further, he admits that he’d …
Teen dies when blood culture protocol botched: What can we learn from this tragedy?
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