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Leprosy: a disease that turns hands into paws, feet into stumps, and eyes into darkness

Conditions

March 4, 2022

I have been a staunch advocate for the fight against leprosy since 1991, when I first witnessed afflicted human beings in their advanced stages of the illness traipsing the streets of India and Bangladesh, most if not all begging to survive.

In medical school, I learned the basics of this “biblical” disease, but now as a physician and a world-traveled photojournalist, I took …

A nuanced look at the Tuskegee syphilis study [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 3, 2022

“The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is widely acknowledged as a violation of ethics today, but the social conditions of the time allowed the grave injustices to happen in plain sight. In the 1930s, social Darwinism emerged as justification for racist practices. The perceived inevitability of African Americans’ natural “extinction” was …

Don’t forget the socks and shoes: a reflection on the third year of medical school

Louisa Weindruch

Education

March 3, 2022

I badged myself back to the operating room and hiked up my ill-fitting scrubs. The bouffant was twice the size of my head. It made me feel like a child playing dress-up in adult clothes. As I walked to the OR, I rehearsed what I would say in my head. No matter how many surgeries I watched, I could never get over my pre-case jitters. What if I break the …

People over profit: Pfizer and Moderna must share vaccine technology

Amber Gipson-Fine, MPH

Meds

March 3, 2022

One year ago, the FDA granted emergency use authorization of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., and nearly 549 million total vaccine doses have been given since. These vaccines have been safe, effective methods in preventing infection and death from COVID-19.

Vaccine recipients had a lower overall risk of death from non-COVID-19 disease compared to unvaccinated counterparts.

Among available vaccines, …

Why selling will make you a happier doctor

Cindy Tsai, MD

Physician

March 3, 2022

“I love selling,” said no doctor ever.

Doctors often love buying. Expensive cars. Fancy watches. Luxury vacations. Hello, lifestyle upgrade! But very few love selling.

I find it is a common response to look at salespeople with disdain. Pharmaceuticals. Medical devices. EMR systems. Everything. Everyone is always trying to sell us something! Ugh!

I admit that I was one of them. I thought I didn’t need to “sell.” Doctors are in demand, after …

How NFTs, DAOs, Web3 and the metaverse impact health care

Christopher H. Loo, MD, PhD

Finance

March 3, 2022

These are my views and should not be construed as investment advice.

If you’ve tuned into the news over the last year, you’ve probably heard of people spending millions on digital JPGs, or people acquiring these digital images and then “flipping” them for a profit. Many of my friends made six-figure profits last year by speculating on digital NFTs, though I don’t recommend it.

You’ve probably heard of terms …

Society has unrealistic expectations of physicians

Tomi Mitchell, MD

Physician

March 3, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic helped bring out people’s true colors. After two years of the unrelenting pressures of the pandemic, people’s true colors came out, and I will be frank about this truth. As physicians, we often put our patient’s comfort before ours, but at what point does one have to stop and reflect on this. As physicians, we are often put on a pedestal and have unrealistic expectations. We want …

High deductible health insurance is bankrupting Americans [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 2, 2022

“Regulators should push health savings accounts (HSA) and businesses should offer them. While HSAs are growing, they are still only available to 30 percent of workers — more likely for larger companies than smaller ones. This, of course, is a way to help pay for extra medical costs almost …

May the needs of others become personal to you

Andy Lamb, MD

Physician

March 2, 2022

The hands were heavily stained black, the skin with severe eczematous changes, yet she did not mention them. She was a young mother who had come to the clinic to have her six-month-old baby boy seen by the “doctors from America.” I was the team leader of a faith-based medical team serving in the outskirts of Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania in Northwest Africa. We were there to provide primary …

Individualism vs. the common good: It is time for the pendulum to swing back

Rafid Rahman, MD

Physician

March 2, 2022

Health care is now at a crossroads.

We’ve been hearing that phrase more often recently, but what does that mean? Being at a crossroads signifies that now is the time to make a decision that will affect the future in substantial and irrevocable ways.

Why is health care at a crossroads now? Americans are getting sicker as every year passes: “A 2007 study reported that seven chronic diseases have a total impact on …

3 eating disorder myths that health care professionals should debunk

Melissa Geraghty, PsyD

Conditions

March 2, 2022

When it comes to eating disorders, there are plenty of incorrect assumptions. Let’s debunk three of them.

Myth: Eating disorders occur only in teenage, rich white girls.

This myth perpetuates stereotypes and can discourage people from getting treatment as they think they do not have an eating disorder as they do not fit the mold.

When people think of eating disorders, the image is often of an emaciated, white teenage girl in the …

Stop health care’s great resignation [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

March 1, 2022

“As the next COVID-19 variant hits our country, I feel a renewed sense of urgency. We need to move faster to invest in an infrastructure that protects our nation’s health care workforce before we lose more nurses, doctors, and other care team members. Every day they risk their own …

Please stop giving awards specifically to women in the workplace

Suzi Richards

Policy

March 1, 2022

Hear me out.

I am a first-generation, working female in my family. My mom was your typical 70s woman that stayed home with her kids and didn’t have, or even want, a career. Or so she said. The laws surrounding job discrimination and sex-based wage disparity of the mid and late 60s were still very fresh and, in many ways, working moms at that time, were not always held in the …

Family medicine and the fight for the soul of health care

Timothy Hoff, PhD

Policy

March 1, 2022

There is a fight going on for the soul of not only American health care but health care everywhere. Primary care and family medicine are at the center …

New strategies are needed for mental health treatment

Christopher Valerian, DO

Conditions

March 1, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has made mental health conditions so pervasive that, in turn, the stigma that once accompanied seeking treatment has been minimized. As a result, public attention towards psychological health has skyrocketed. Other factors such as the collective loneliness brought on by continuous isolation have resulted in a newfound willingness for people to speak more freely about their emotional wellbeing without judgment or ridicule. Individuals feel much more compelled …

Diabetes impacts the whole body, but the foot can’t be forgotten [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 28, 2022

“As we know, diabetes is a comorbidity that can cause more severe symptoms in COVID-positive patients. This knowledge, along with the sense that diabetes is overwhelming the entire body, can quickly deplete a patient’s reserve of positive energy. Despite all their best efforts, diabetes is a disease that can …

We need improved policies, not platitudes, for racialized and gendered frontline workers

Chidi Oguamanam, PhD

Policy

February 28, 2022

Since the spring of 2020, COVID-19 has disrupted our social and economic order. One of the unraveling consequences of the historic changes wrought by the pandemic is the grossly uneven gendered and racialized nature of those shouldering the burden. Across all labor and occupational sectors, frontline workers and essential service providers have become sacrificial beasts of burden. They range from retail store employees, waiters, transit providers, farmworkers, meat packers, delivery …

Acknowledging and mitigating unconscious bias in health care

Brooke Trainer, MD

Physician

February 28, 2022

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

“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
– Verna Myers, diversity advocate

Fostering a culture of diversity and inclusivity in health care professional organizations is important for many reasons, and thus should be a priority. First and foremost, …

Contemplating death taught me how to live

Jillian Rigert, MD, DMD

Physician

February 28, 2022

Trigger warning: This article discusses suicidal ideation. Please use your best judgment in reading. I am sharing my journey with caution in hopes that my reflection will help others, and I invite you to continue shall you feel it’s a safe and appropriate time for you to join in this discussion.

I am no stranger to existential crises. The moments where I realize my mortality and have a mild panic about …

Why boundaries should be part of your 2022 physician goals [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 27, 2022

“Setting boundaries can look like setting a time limit for patient appointments, availability for email responses, the number of shifts worked this month. You can set boundaries by saying ‘no’ to low compensation, setting a time limit on conversations with friends, setting a limit on our after-hours availability for work-related …

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