Entitlement, arrogance, and isolation in modern-day medical practice

Physician
March 10, 2020

I recently read a medical school commencement, delivered by a physician, that was both inspiring and sadly reminiscent of what physicians should aspire to throughout their careers.

This physician relayed how patients throughout her training and career had provided her with moments of clarity, helping her identify the “why” she chose a career in medicine. She went so far as to describe how a group of patients saved her from choosing …

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Dear patients: Please show up on time

Physician
March 9, 2020

There is constant tension to remain on-time working in a primary care clinic, seeing patients every twenty minutes back-to-back.  It takes an incredible ability for the front desk staff, medical assistants, and the physician to be able to keep this flow running smoothly only to have it be derailed by the late patient who does not understand how their actions affect everyone else after them.

I currently work in a system …

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Continuing medical education: Why it’s important and how to make it effective

Education
March 9, 2020

With the escalating pressures on hospitals, health care facilities, and practitioners to be cost-effective, it is increasingly difficult to justify spending money on education and training. Education and training are expensive when adding together the costs of curriculum development and educators. While finding the right person for the job is important in getting the job done, most, if not all, management would agree that the “right” person includes appropriate education, …

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Start a hospitalist program with these 6 steps

Physician
March 8, 2020

Just to give you my background, I manage a large hospitalist program for a busy downtown community hospital that is part of a large health system consisting of a total of 29 acute care hospitals in the same geographical area.

One of the reasons why our team was hired recently to manage this hospitalist program was to change the existing work culture, which had resulted in poor team performance, low physician …

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What’s the future of the physician assistant?

Policy
March 7, 2020

Currently, in America, there are only three legal groups of prescribers, the physicians (which include MDs, DOs, DPMs), the nurse practitioner (NPs), and the physician assistant (PAs).

The first class of physician assistants, in 1965, was also the year of the first class of nurse practitioners. Today there are nearly 300,000 NPs In America and 123,000 PAs.

PAs are outnumbered almost three to one, and the trend, with the rapid rise, and …

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My first physician colleague who died by suicide

Physician
March 5, 2020

I was busy running around the ER on a particularly busy shift when my phone buzzed, and a text message from Jane’s ex-boyfriend David popped up on the screen. I was surprised since I had not talked to him in over three years; therefore, I ignored it until I had a moment to myself an hour later and finally opened the message.

The first line of his message got straight to …

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Do patients addicted to drugs truly have capacity?

Conditions
March 4, 2020

Is it time to rethink how we determine the capacity of our patients who are addicted to drugs?  I recently began debating this question after I took care of a young woman with endocarditis.  She had a long history of IV drug abuse that had led to the development of endocarditis.  She had been admitted one week earlier and was being prepared for surgery, but she left against medical advice …

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Doctors: It’s OK to sometimes suck

Physician
March 4, 2020

I’m here today to let you in on a little secret. It’s not something that I’m particularly proud of, and it’s work that I’m always trying to improve upon. But it’s true. And today you’re about to find out something I’m desperately trying to hide.

So here it is. Yes, I’m a doctor. And yes, I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at my job. But you know what? There …

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Seattle is at risk for explosive coronavirus growth

Conditions
March 4, 2020

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The coronavirus outbreak in the Seattle area is at a critical juncture and could see explosive growth in cases much like Wuhan, China, if public officials don’t take immediate, forceful measures, according to a new analysis of genetic data. The author of the analysis, a computational biologist named Trevor Bedford, said there are likely already at …

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Why does Generation Z require so many workplace accommodations?

Conditions
March 3, 2020

Recently the Wall Street Journal reported on how many young people are now seeking “accommodations” at work for their anxiety, PTSD, depression, and other mental conditions.

The article provoked a lively discussion split largely on age lines. While older people accuse Gen Z members of being “emotional hemophiliacs,” Gen Z members often say they have real, palpable “mental illnesses” and need extra time to complete their …

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Our seniors deserve better. It’s time we all paid more attention.

Conditions
March 2, 2020

Most Canadians are familiar with nursing homes or long-term care facilities that provide 24-hour care to seniors who are no longer able to care for themselves independently – but we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about them. Given our rapidly aging population, and the likelihood that someone we love, or maybe even ourselves, will be living there one day, maybe we should.

What might surprise …

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What it’s like to take a MPH gap year

Education
March 2, 2020

It has been nearly seven months since I made the decision to take a year off from medical school to pursue a master’s of public health (MPH) degree in Baltimore and nearly eleven months since I last saw a patient. From attending a Public Citizen workshop on access to pharmaceuticals to competing in my first business case competition to meeting several members of Congress to brushing up on my gym …

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What can a doctor do to build confidence?

Physician
March 1, 2020

The journey in medicine is a journey of goal setting. Doctors set goals all the time. We set the goal to become a doctor and then strive to achieve it. Once we decide on the chosen specialty, we set the goal for the residency training program we hope to match into, and we strive to achieve that. Match Day can be a day of great celebration for some, while it’s …

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