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Seen but not heard: How does the medical system value its scribes?

Physician

April 12, 2022

As an off-cycle medical student with an extended break between the completion of my M4 rotations and the conferment of my MD, I took a job as a medical scribe to keep myself active in the clinical setting (and, it must be said, provide myself with much-needed income).

I was atypical among most medical scribes, who are generally college students/graduates looking to obtain experience before applying to postgraduate medical programs, so …

Physician burnout and a big career change

Shreeti Kapoor, MD

Physician

April 12, 2022

Physician burnout continues to increase as we enter into year three of the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, the Physicians Foundation reported data from a survey of 2,504 physicians conducted from May 26-June 9, 2021. In this survey, 61 percent of physicians reported experiencing burnout, an increase from 40 percent reported in the 2018 data. This burnout is often seen in those who, during their midlife, may feel what Brene …

Medicine won’t keep you warm at night

Anonymous

Education

April 12, 2022

Life continues in medical school and residency. Engagements, marriages, and divorces. Becoming a parent to a child. Having a dog or cat. Love and loss. Life and death. Then there is the uniqueness and privilege of being in medical training combined with great responsibilities and pressures that set the stage for some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows.

Prior to beginning medical school, I was told by a …

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Medicine won’t keep you warm at night

How the pandemic affected teen mental health and substance abuse [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 11, 2022

“Two issues drive teen substance use: drug availability and perception of risk.

Availability: Today’s teens know that obtaining substances is far too easy. For example, 70 percent of high school seniors say marijuana is either “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain. Seventy-seven percent say getting their hands on alcohol is …

Mixed emotions on Doctors’ Day

Anonymous

Physician

April 11, 2022

So many mixed emotions as I scrolled the multiple acknowledgments on social media this recent Doctors’ Day. Although it is nice to be recognized, are we just supposed to forget the recent hostility and disrespect? Can we ever really thank those on the frontlines who risked their lives during the pandemic? The recognition comes too late for the many doctors and trainees who did not survive. How do we honor …

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Mixed emotions on Doctors’ Day

The emotional aspect of surviving a lawsuit or disciplinary action

Vickie Mulkerin, MD

Physician

April 11, 2022

Malpractice claims and disciplinary actions are unfortunate realities for too many physicians. A 2016 survey of physicians revealed that 34 percent of them had been sued, and 16.8 percent had been sued more than once. By the time a doctor is 54 years old, there is almost a 50 percent chance that they will have been sued. Disciplinary actions are far less common, but a comprehensive review …

International medical graduates ease the U.S. doctor shortage

G. Richard Olds, MD

Education

April 11, 2022

Thousands of young doctors just learned where they’ll be spending the next few years of their lives in residency.

A significant number of them will be U.S. citizens who completed medical school abroad. This corps of internationally educated doctors has become increasingly important to the U.S. health care system — and is tackling a disproportionate share of America’s biggest health care challenges.

The United States desperately needs doctors. According to the Association …

Incredible true stories of pioneer patients [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 10, 2022

“It was probably in early 1803, as Jenner’s fame swelled and more doctors were adopting vaccination, when Bell met a farmer with a curious story. The farmer’s name was Benjamin Jesty, from the Downshay farm in a nearby village. Seeing the growing practice of vaccination, Jesty was eager to …

The “Physician’s Gambit”: an unconventional, but effective wealth preservation play for 2022

Masterworks

Finance

April 10, 2022

This article is sponsored by Masterworks, the art investment platform.

Physicians face a dilemma.

U.S. physicians make $237,000 a year on average. That’s 4x more than most Americans. Very impressive if you ask me. But despite high earners, they still rarely achieve early retirement.

In fact, physicians usually retire …

Are my coping skills a result of my emergency medicine training?

Adrienne Van Curen, MD

Physician

April 10, 2022

In the wake of a harrowing year, I’m left wondering, is a career in emergency medicine worth it? Like so many of my colleagues, I suffered personal tragedies during the pandemic that exacerbated the incredible stress at work.

My brother died in March of 2021, three weeks after receiving a diagnosis of metastatic colon cancer, and tragically, just six months later, my mother also died unexpectedly.

I have no doubt that emergency …

How much time do physicians spend in the EHR?

Thrisha Gogineni, James G. Kahn, MD, MPH, and Sigal Maya

Physician

April 10, 2022

Doctors often find the electronic health record (EHR) time-consuming and annoying. However, quantitative estimates of physicians’ time on EHR tasks are sparse and not collated. We assembled evidence on hours dedicated to the EHR each day by physicians. The result is impressive – 4.5 hours.

A little background: EHR systems started in the late 1960s. The federal government implemented VistA in the 1970s in the Department of Veteran …

Happy Doctor’s Day. What was this all for?

Patricia McGuire, MD

Physician

April 10, 2022

Happy Doctor’s Day.

Every year, eager young pre-med students apply for medical school. When they don’t make it in and are quite determined, they apply to schools on a few Caribbean islands. They teach the same material, the same practical skills, the same tests are given and must be passed. Except these students arrive on an island far from home. Far from family and friends. Often, they must leave their spouses …

Am I a doctor or a contingency plan? [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 9, 2022

“I suspect that some of the nearly 20 percent of physicians who have quit their jobs during this pandemic needed to feel this relief, too. They needed to feel the relief of having no plan. No ‘if this, then that.’ They needed to just exist in the now. Because who …

Trauma in health care workers, in comic form

Emily Watters, MD

Physician

April 9, 2022

Emily Watters is a physician and discusses trauma in health care workers, in comic form. (Click to enlarge.)

Why is health inequity an issue, and why do we have to highlight the issue?

Sarah Murad

Education

April 9, 2022

Health equity is vital for a harmonious society with the potential to prosper. The root causes can be divided into two themes: structural inequity and social determinants of health. The root causes contributing to health inequity and disastrous health outcomes in specific communities should be analyzed. It is essential to understand the reasons to promote equal and effective interventions to save people’s lives. This is important because by saving a …

Taking courage to heart and to the heart of medicine

Joseph Fennelly, MD

Physician

April 9, 2022

Few individuals are called upon to be heroes like Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy who, in choosing to stay and fight a massive, invading army, faces a real possibility of imprisonment and death. This is true courage.

Within the medical profession, there are also wars to be fought that require true courage. One thinks of the late Dr. Paul Farmer, who worked tirelessly throughout his career to bring high-quality health care to …

New strategies are needed for mental health treatment [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 8, 2022

“Reducing the occurrence of comorbid mental and physical disorders will require an integrated model combining medical and behavioral health care services. The window of opportunity is open for health insurers and employers to invest in employee assistance programs and telehealth platforms and build on a newfound acceptance of mental health …

Take politics out of science and medicine

Anonymous

Policy

April 8, 2022

This month marks the 12th anniversary of Obamacare’s passing. Was it perfect? No. It was meant to be a starting block to cover a widening gap in the nation’s health equity. It became less effective because of direct attacks by politicians who then used the failures to point a finger back at President Obama for nothing other than party-line politics. The Affordable …

Losing my first patient

Allie Poles

Education

April 8, 2022

I had known AR for eight days before she passed away.

AR’s medical record was littered with phrases all too familiar in the field of medicine: she had “poor insight into the severity of her disease” and was “insisting on all resuscitation measures despite poor prognosis.” But quite frankly, I could not blame her. She had been diagnosed with metastatic gastric cancer, bilateral Kruckenberg tumors and additional metastases throughout her abdominal …

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Losing my first patient

The connection between sickle cell disease and socioeconomics

Ramandeep Kaur, MD

Physician

April 8, 2022

Two new treatments have emerged for sickle cell disease. One curative treatment is a bone marrow transplant, and the second treatment is a gene-based therapy undergoing clinical trials. While this is much-welcomed news for patients battling the disease, the medical profession still needs to address sickle cell disease’s socioeconomic and racial health care inequities.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic disease that alters and lowers red blood …