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Gender inequality is making burnout worse

Physician

May 12, 2022

The 2022 Medscape poll on physician burnout confirms what has been painfully obvious to doctors on the frontlines of COVID-19: Their burnout is intensifying.

According to the survey of 13,000 doctors, the nation’s most burned-out physicians are those in emergency medicine (60%) and critical care (56%). Medscape, a leading health care publication, describes burnout as “long-term, unresolvable job-related stress that leads to exhaustion, cynicism, and …

Lesson learned: Pick your battles

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions

May 12, 2022

It was a known fact — I was 4′ 11″ but I had a mouth on me to compensate. I was loud and noisy. Fellow nurses called me the “rebel without a cause.”

But I had a cause.

I knew I was David against Goliath. Almost everything became my cause. And I verbally fought my way through this iron-clad management structure.

I had to fight for the betterment of the patients, their survival, …

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Lesson learned: Pick your battles

Your doctors don’t keep track of what they’re doing

Justin D. Saliman, MD

Tech

May 12, 2022

A little-known fact about doctors that most patients would find horrifying is that physicians don’t keep track of their results.

If I botch a knee surgery so badly that my patient requires five repairs by a different specialist, I might never find out. As a result, I will continue to use a flawed technique on patient after patient. The fact that I never hear from any of them again will be …

What are your true colors?

Diana Londoño, MD

Physician

May 12, 2022

We have probably heard this saying with different permutations many times about someone showing “their true colors.”

As physician and best-selling author, Tess Gerritsen, shared: “There is no better test of character than when you’re tossed into crisis. That’s when we see one’s true colors shine through. So, I try my best to make my characters personally involved in the plot, in a way that stresses them and tests them.”

It made …

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What are your true colors?

COVID-19 and the Great Resignation: a catalyst, not the cause [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 11, 2022

“The Great Resignation. I doubt there is a medical practice out there that has not been affected by it. And experts predict we are just at the beginning. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ early data from 2022 shows that health care is among the top three industries increasing in monthly …

An example of medical-legal consulting

Armin Feldman, MD

Physician

May 11, 2022

Medical-legal consulting is a great way to use your medical training in a non-clinical field that helps people. Physicians all over the country are now doing medical-legal consulting as a rewarding part-time gig.

One service out of many we provide is to give our opinions regarding the causation of traumatic injuries. Some attorneys ask us to provide opinion letters regarding a particular injury caused in a work-related situation, a personal injury …

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An example of medical-legal consulting

Jim Dahle, MD and the White Coat Investor [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 10, 2022

In this episode, I interview Jim Dahle, creator of the White Coat Investor. He has literally created a new asset class of content: the health care professional personal finance space.

He discusses how he got his start with the White Coat Investor, why his message still resonates today, and how financial literacy …

Medicine and motherhood: on call forever

Sarah C. Smith, DO

Physician

May 10, 2022

My residency baby just turned eighteen. Obviously, he isn’t really a baby anymore. He is six foot four and going to college, but somehow, I still think of him as that little baby. Maybe I’m just relieved that “we” both made it to eighteen. By “we,” I mean “me” as a physician mom and “him” as a person. I realize that sounds ridiculous, but honestly, being a physician mom is …

A call to action for my medical colleagues

Uma Pisharody, MD

Conditions

May 10, 2022

Modern medicine, a system originally designed to fix acute health care problems, now creates more chronic health care problems than helping to solve them. I see the dangers of over-testing and over-prescribing taking place each day in my day-to-day pediatric clinical practice.

It scares me to see how many doctors reflexively prescribe pills designed to merely mask symptoms rather than take time to understand the underlying cause or that most chronic …

Introducing a new kind of financial advisory. Custom built to serve physicians.

Joseph Sicchitano, CFA

We are not defined by what we eat [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 9, 2022

“I propose that we look at what each choice in food does for us: How does it make my body feel? How am I able to sleep and move and focus when I eat this food? How am I giving my body what it needs right now and what will keep it …

Toxicity, gaslighting, and passive aggression in fellowship

Anonymous

Physician

May 9, 2022

“Yeah, I mean, whatever, it’s a master’s! Have your own damn party.”

My jaw dropped in disgusted shock. The wall was thin, very thin. Come to think of it, it wasn’t even a wall. It was a partition: the separation of space between different office spaces. My mentor uttered these words: Assigned to support, encourage, and guide me through training; the person supposedly invested in my personal and professional growth. This …

How medical careers are like argyle sweaters

Kellie Lease Stecher, MD

Physician

May 9, 2022

Working in health care, going through medical school and residency, changes who you are. We invest so much of ourselves and our potential futures into accomplishing board certification. Once we achieve this feat, we often live in fear of one day losing what we have achieved. After all, many of us have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of dollars, relationships, friendships, marriages, the ability to have children, joys of life, our …

A surgeon’s favorite stomach surgery patient

Sid Schwab, MD

Conditions

May 9, 2022

High on my list of favorite operations was surgery on the stomach: The anatomy is neat, the re-plumbing alternatives clever, technical challenges rewarding, and, because it’s well-supplied with blood, complication-free healing is pretty predictable. Also, several procedures were invented by and named for history’s pioneer surgeons, and it’s nice to feel the connection, heir to the discoveries and invention of the greats. Let me tell you about one of my …

The doctor as a patient: a view from the other side

Randall S. Fong, MD

Physician

May 9, 2022

I had my very first surgery ever, just last year. Despite being cut upon, it was a remarkable experience, and the staff cracked jokes at my expense, even as I was going under. In the mood for some inappropriate medical humor? Well, perhaps not in this public forum; I’ll save it for gatherings less formal and where beer is plentiful. Suffice it to say, I survived and was treated well: …

Who will heal the physician? [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 8, 2022

“Medical errors exist at the far end of a continuum of unexpected events in clinical practice and they are devastating for all involved. Even when care is attentive and patient compliance perfect, unexpected outcomes occur in medicine. Unanticipated diagnoses, delays in diagnosis, premature death — these are all included in the …

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Who will heal the physician? [PODCAST]

The matriarchy is all around us, but I feel it most in the practice of medicine

Courtney Markham-Abedi, MD

Physician

May 8, 2022

I have always been a lover of words. Confusingly, I have found myself unable to define words that I would have easily been able to describe a decade ago. Due to a more weighty examination of cultural and social constructs, I am now left scratching my head thinking about how to define previously simple words like woman and mother.

When posed with the question, “When did you become a mother,” I …

A path toward clinical trial diversity

Liz Beatty

Conditions

May 8, 2022

Minority and marginalized communities have historically been underrepresented in local and federal governments and in dozens of private sectors globally. Pharma is no different; there exists a steep chasm that drugmakers have yet to bridge concerning research and trials. The longer this gulf exists, the harder it becomes to address – the feelings of mistrust, resentment, and disenfranchisement only get harder to overcome with time.

Over the last decade, the pharmaceutical …

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A path toward clinical trial diversity

Love: Stepping forward or hanging back?

Joel Block, PhD

Conditions

May 8, 2022

The saga of distancers and pursuers in relationships exists in many different forms. Perhaps the most common version is the man as distancer and woman as pursuer.

It would seem that hardly any adult with some experience in the world of romance has not encountered this theme, at least to some degree. It is apparent that, generally speaking, men and women travel a different relationship path.

In the United States, most researchers …

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Love: Stepping forward or hanging back?

The trials and tribulations of health care delivery

Michelle Detka

Policy

May 8, 2022

The reason I pursued PA school pertained to a loved one’s cancer diagnosis. During the trials and tribulations of the diagnosis and treatment, I learned a lot about our health care system. I witnessed the work of phenomenal PAs as they took care of my loved one, which inspired me to pursue my degree as a PA. During this time, I also promised myself that I would do my best …

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