Ageism and the mid-career physician

Physician
August 17, 2021

Four years ago, I was ready to throw in the towel.  I practiced for 22 years in a large metropolitan hospital, became very involved in resident education, clinical program directorship, medical staff affairs, in addition to a busy hospital-based surgical practice. I watched as the environment of care for clinicians and the quality of the relationship between the medical staff and system administration steadily deteriorated.

My small, single-specialty surgical group merged …

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Is it ethical to force unvaccinated patients to use telehealth only?

Physician
August 17, 2021

COVID-19 has raised many ethical challenges for health care providers, including the level of risk they must take when providing patient care. Early in the pandemic, the ability to mitigate these risks was relatively limited, especially when caring for hospitalized patients. Shortages of personal protective equipment rendered mitigation even more challenging.

As a result, it has been reported that 3,607 frontline health care workers died of COVID-19 in the U.S. from …

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Robert Pearl, MD on doctors and the 5 stages of grief [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 16, 2021
YouTube video

“Physicians have had a rough century, so far. In addition to battling COVID-19, doctors have spent the past two decades fighting the health care industry’s fiercest players and losing, badly.

Power in the industry now belongs to health insurance companies, major drugmakers, and hospital tycoons. Physicians feel beaten up, burned …

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How to make LGBTQ+ patients feel welcome during in-person and virtual doctor’s visits

Physician
August 16, 2021

Although Pride Month is over, awareness and advocacy for equity among the LGBTQ+ community must continue to be prioritized. This is especially important in health care settings. Many LGBTQ+ people feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in doctors’ offices, and more than 40 percent have experienced discrimination in health care environments. As a result, LGBTQ+ people postpone or avoid care at a rate that is 2-3x greater than the broader U.S. population. …

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I’m vaccinated and positive for COVID-19

Conditions
August 16, 2021

I just tested positive for COVID-19.

I was vaccinated earlier this year.

I am scared.

I am confident I will get through this.

I received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this year, and I just tested positive for COVID-19. It’s almost comical that I am positive now. I worked as a resident physician in the hospital from the beginning, during the first surge, and through August 2020. Since then, I have been …

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Redefining traditional gender roles and the importance of a growth mindset [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 15, 2021
YouTube video

“Maybe it’s a testament to a hardy relationship that there was no resulting argument. Without thinking, I blurted out, ‘You are so sexist!’ I could immediately tell by my husband’s face, his upper eyelids and eyebrows lifted a bit, his mouth freeze-framed in a small ‘o’ — my exclamation surprised …

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Doctors are humans, not heroes

Physician
August 15, 2021

Everybody dies. And doctors can’t change that reality.

But we’ve created a system where we lead people to believe immortality is possible. We expect clear-cut answers to health questions. We’ve been trained to look for multiple-choice questions with an answer key that tells us the correct solutions. As doctors, we’re expected to be selfless, altruistic superhuman helpers who always know the answers and will sacrifice ourselves to benefit everyone else. And …

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The bleak reality of racial disparity in surgical care

Physician
August 15, 2021

As a practicing surgeon for 30 years in the super-specialized field of otology, neurotology and skull base surgery, I have been privy to some of the most disturbing realities of surgical care. Often, these realities are bleaker than most people expect. One thing physicians, and the general population, need to be more aware of is the very real racial disparity in surgical care.

Are the outcomes for Black and Hispanic patients …

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Stop resisting the imposter

Physician
August 15, 2021

The problem with feeling like an imposter is thinking there’s something wrong with it.

I know this is different from any way you have thought about it, but humor me. What happens when we are offered an opportunity but we feel like an imposter?

We hide.

We overwork to compensate.

We look around at our colleagues and resent them. Because why do they get to feel so secure? Why aren’t they feeling insecure? They …

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A physician’s journey to walk again and how she learned self-compassion [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 14, 2021
YouTube video

“Suffering something similar in my career, I know the detrimental impact of not having a voice or being heard in the medical community. Medical professionals do not want to appear weak, so they continue until something breaks.

As a pain physician, I understand where the frontline health care workers are coming …

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Sorry, I’m fed up. It’s not professional, but I am.

Physician
August 14, 2021

“It’s experimental.”

“It alters your DNA.”

“It may cause long-term problems.”

“It’s too new, too rushed. I want more time.”

I hear this nonsense from patients all day.

None are docs, virologists, microbiologists, immunologists, public health officials, medical researchers, nor intensive care docs. COVID can kill them in a particularly unpleasant way; with 99 percent+ effectiveness, the vaccine prevents them from dying from COVID, but they still recite a litany of scientifically illiterate reasons for …

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Delta surge warning: Ignoring jaw pain comes at too high a price

Conditions
August 14, 2021

As surges of the Delta variant alarm officials and citizens in this country and around the world, while the cases of COVID-19 have reached more than 200 million worldwide, a less visible threat re-emerges.

If health care professionals are not allowed to perform non-emergency procedures, as was the case in 2020, patients suffering with chronic pain such as jaw pain, may be left helpless.

The COVID-19 …

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America as an outlier: Paying more for less

Policy
August 14, 2021

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States clearly stands out: we spend far more on health care per capita than any other country in the world, yet life expectancy is shorter than in other developed countries that spend far less. Despite having a higher total expenditure on health care per capita than any other country in the world, the U.S.’ health …

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Let’s look at what’s right about nursing homes [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 13, 2021
YouTube video

“Extensive media coverage of the emotional and death tolls that COVID-19 inflicted on nursing homes has intensified concern for preserving the humanity of an often-overlooked population. There is an opportunity to re-examine the policies and practices that shape the nursing home experience and to add quality metrics that capture the …

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The mindset hack that will change your life

Sponsored
August 13, 2021

This article is sponsored by the Fast FIRE to Freedom Summit.

“Abundance mindset just seemed too simple to really be the solution. But I couldn’t deny the evidence … and that allowed me to loosen up to the possibility that maybe mindset is really the key.”

Chris was gleeful as he told me and my husband Kenji this. Downright giddy. He laughed throughout our …

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I am no longer terrified of COVID

Conditions
August 13, 2021

I am no longer terrified of COVID.

I’ve seen its death. I’ve seen it take the breath from someone’s lungs. I’ve watched it shut down kidneys. I’ve walked the halls of an ICU with pumps outside the room, and patients turned upside down. I’ve heard the code blues. I’ve passed an endotracheal tube through vocal cords. I’ve squeezed air into suffocating lungs. I’ve broken ribs doing chest compressions. I’ve sent electricity …

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Why it is essential to prioritize universal coverage [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 12, 2021
YouTube video

“Looking to other countries that provide universal coverage to see what works and what would fit well for the U.S. is an option. Countries like France, Australia, and England provide universal coverage and rank their health care systems very highly, and are culturally and socioeconomically similar to the U.S.

Whatever health …

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The political backlash to evidence-based doctors’ recommendations

Conditions
August 12, 2021

Last week, someone referred to me online in the most shocking terms: a liberal. As I read the phrase, I gripped the pearls around my neck and coughed down my scalding afternoon tea. How could this have happened to me?

With all its newsworthiness to the public, last week was still an ordinary one in the intellectual life of a doctor: Read journal articles, understand new guidelines, disseminate via recommendations. By …

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Unconscious biases against vitamins and supplements [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 11, 2021
YouTube video

“Like many scary health scenarios where patients seek some modicum of influence, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to patient demand for ‘immune-boosting’ dietary supplements. Toilet paper wasn’t the only essential item being limited by stores; bottles of zinc and vitamin C flew off the shelves as consumers stocked up. The …

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Medical student rotations amid COVID: Welcome to medicine little grasshopper

Education
August 11, 2021

I learned a valuable lesson about mentoring medical students during clinical rotations amid the COVID pandemic, and it’s not as easy as you think.

I have been in medical education, either in it or teaching it, for 20 years. I have spent countless hours doing lectures, giving hospital grand rounds, or leading bedside teaching rounds to those who want to follow in my footsteps as a clinical expert. But some are …

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