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Delivering unpalatable truths in medicine

Samantha Cheng

Education

June 18, 2022

Many providers enter medicine to comfort patients and their loved ones. However, much of what I do doesn’t live up to that intention. In the past few months and particularly the past few weeks, I’ve spent most of my afternoons making little difference in the course of my patients’ hospital stays, and instead of having multiple conversations with the loved ones of these ill patients, providing daily updates, reiterating expectations …

It’s time to flip the script on peer evaluations [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 17, 2022

“It’s time to flip the script on evaluations. How can we shine a light upon the strengths of the wonderful peers we are blessed to work with? How can we amplify their greatness, help them work in their own zone of genius? How can we recognize that we all have different, …

Bringing brain health awareness into the operating room

Katie J. Schenning, MD, MPH and Stacie Deiner, MD

Physician

June 17, 2022

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.

“I am so ashamed. I am truly sorry to anyone I hurt or offended.”

These were the first words Beverly said when I met her in the preoperative holding area before surgery. She was referring to her recent behavior during an episode of …

The epidemic of work dread

Michael Hersh, MD

Physician

June 17, 2022

Work dread. Even if you didn’t know it had a name, you know the feeling. It is that sensation in the pit of your stomach when you realize that the start of your workday or workweek is fast approaching, and you don’t want it to come. Sometimes it begins on Sunday afternoon when you want to be enjoying time with your family. Other times, you might find yourself sitting in …

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The epidemic of work dread

10 steps to create your direct specialty care clinic

Diana M. Girnita, MD, PhD

Physician

June 17, 2022

Three years ago, I was a physician in the “traditional” medical system seeing 25 to 28 patients every day. I spent hours writing notes to provide proper documentation for the correct billing code. Often, my time was spent calling insurance companies to justify the appropriateness of my medical care. More and more hours were spent on completing tasks for insurance companies rather than patient care. Like many of my colleagues, …

Burnout is a spiritual crisis [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 16, 2022

“It is a time to ponder on those essential questions: What is your purpose in life, and how can you follow it? What talents can you share with the world, and what are you grateful for? When we deviate from this true calling, when we deviate from love, from creativity, our …

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Burnout is a spiritual crisis [PODCAST]

How to help rewrite the COVID-19 information playbook

Joanne Armstrong, MD, MPH

Conditions

June 16, 2022

Facts combat fear

It’s hard to believe the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in the U.S. only a year and a half ago. Like many others, I welcomed the COVID-19 vaccine as a triumph of global cooperation that leveraged decades of research and a beacon of hope that life could eventually return to normal. Yet I was so surprised the first time a pregnant patient told me …

Is there more to patient safety than preventing medical error?

Christine J. Ko, MD

Conditions

June 16, 2022

I cry often enough that my kids almost gleefully expect it, checking me for tears during movies or shows, shaking their heads in mock dismay when they see that their prediction is correct. I’ve cried many times at home, watching screens, reading books, talking on the phone, and at work, where I am a doctor who cannot always suppress my emotions. And I’ve cried in front of health care providers …

Allow patients to continue their opioid of choice while starting microdoses of buprenorphine

Julie Craig, MD

Meds

June 16, 2022

Twenty-six hours into the shakes, sweats, crawling anxiety, and gripping nausea of opioid withdrawal, Faye caves in and takes a couple of fentanyl tabs. She knows that she must tough out a couple of days without fentanyl to start Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) through a medication-assisted treatment program, but the sickness gets the better of her. Those couple of tablets reset the clock on her withdrawal.

Starting buprenorphine – an evidence-based …

Virtual care is convenient, but is it better for everyone? [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 15, 2022

“2022 is well underway, and we are still unclear about exactly where this virus is headed and what the lasting impact it will have had on all of us. We have self-driving cars, drones delivering food, and most of us spend our entire day on video calls, and the rest on …

Professionalism or depersonalization in medical school?

Anonymous

Education

June 15, 2022

“And when we speak, we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed, but when we are silent, we are still afraid, so it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive.”
– Audre Lorde

Like Audre Lorde, I would rather be afraid and speak my truth than choke on my silence. Often, as I navigate my journey through medicine, I feel as though …

When is the best time for physicians to write their EMR notes?

Charles Tanguay, MD

Physician

June 15, 2022

Do you feel EMR charting is a burden? Do you struggle to complete your notes on time? If you answered yes to one of those, you’re not alone!

Doctors spend, on average, 16 minutes in their EMR for each outpatient encounter. This represents several hours of your time each week! Writing comprehensive notes is a requirement in our practice for …

Fresh prescriptions: Looking for the twinkling lights

Elizabeth Tower, MD

Physician

June 15, 2022

I always got my contacts from Costco, and it constantly felt like a chore. Like any child made to go on errands with their parents, Costco was my eye-rolling-moan-inducing trip.

I realized my eyes were inadequate in third grade while reciting the Hail Mary. I was a little distracted as my blue and green plaid skirt was all twisted and the scratchy green sweater vest a little too tight. Despite years …

The gravity of difficult questions

Allison Ong

Conditions

June 15, 2022

“I don’t want to be alive anymore.”

My friend Margot was despondent. Her lips quivered. Her eyes, normally the shape of almonds, folded themselves into little triangles when she cried. This kind and gentle woman of 62 years – my neighbor – was undeniably at her lowest point. I was sharing a couch with her during my junior year of college as her composure crumpled before me.

I first met Margot when …

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The gravity of difficult questions

How long will it take to address clinical inertia in T2DM? [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 14, 2022

This article is sponsored by the Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning. Visit the CME activity and Clinical Inertia Assessment Tool. This activity is supported by an educational grant from Lilly.

It’s been over …

I married an MD

Rolfe Hanson

Conditions

June 14, 2022

Recognizing accomplishments and a ticket to residency: That was Match Day. But now, at the doorstep of the next challenge, you’d better take a hard look at your most important personal relationship.

That is, if you want to keep your good thing together. Because if you think residency is going to be the start of easy, no-maintenance times for you and your partner, maybe you need to go back to medical …

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I married an MD

Health care worker appreciation: When the thought doesn’t count

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions

June 14, 2022

Maybe we need to educate upper management — those multi-million-dollar hospitals with multi-million dollars per year salaried CEOs and board members with their financial perks — that health care professionals and nurses during “Health Care Worker/Nurse Week” in May of each year are no longer in the second grade.

Maybe we need to remind “them” that we are college-educated health care professionals with degrees, like ADNs, BSN, MSNs, RNs, LPNs, educators, …

The health care system will cause its own physician shortage

Advait Suvarnakar and Aashka Suvarnakar

Policy

June 14, 2022

A quarter of a million dollars — that’s the amount of debt the average medical student in the United States owes after completing medical school. After all the late nights studying, the endless exams and selfless sacrifice, it’s human nature to expect a historically stable career as the reward — right? I mean, weren’t we all told that “hard work pays off” at some point in our lives? For budding …

Eating disorder myths debunked [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 13, 2022

“When people think of eating disorders, the image is often of an emaciated, white teenage girl in the hospital hooked up to feeding tubes. In fact, eating disorders are varied in how they present in a person, and they certainly do not ‘look’ a certain way.

Eating disorders occur in all cultures, …

Flip the axis: primary care rotations

Russell Phillips, MD and Katie Cavender, MBA

Physician

June 13, 2022

Primary care is foundational to the U.S. health system, but not enough students are entering the field. Whether students are interested in medicine, nursing, social work or pharmacy — it is critical that we share the exciting aspects of primary care and then adequately prepare them to work in the field. High loan burden and low pay relative to other potential jobs and specialties and training within a culture that …

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Flip the axis: primary care rotations

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