This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring.
“Medical-legal consulting is a great way to use your medical training in a non-clinical field that helps people. I started this field 14 years ago and have trained over 1,600 physicians to be medical-legal …
Medical-legal consulting as a side gig [PODCAST]
We are surrounded by technology.
This hasn’t always been the case in the health care industry—we can be a bit more “deliberate,” if you will—but the pandemic notably accelerated the pace at which organizations invested in new technology. Rock Health’s 2021 year-end report found that digital health funding among U.S.-based startups reached a record $29.1 billion in 2021, which almost doubled the number ($14.9 billion) from 2020. The …
Here’s a crazy thought: Make technology work for doctors
My 13-year-old daughter was writhing on the floor from pain in her back and belly, a fever, and intermittent chest pains. She was two days out from a spine surgery intended to fix an 8-month-old gymnastics injury. She couldn’t take any steps on her own, and it was a three-person project just to get her from the couch to the chair.
“Go to the ER,” the hospital answering service said.
I tried …
The paradox of treating pain in a system too full to manage it
The new reality of medical conferences shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic requires a new language and a fundamental rethink to make these major showcases of medical organizations and societies a place where physicians and patients can share their experiences and perspectives.
We can no longer characterize medical conferences as – in the words of an old Jimmy Buffet tune – “a Holiday Inn full of surgeons” who meet there every year …
Beyond Jimmy Buffet: The new medical conference
Our medical system is failing our children. The rate of chronic diseases in children is skyrocketing. Obesity has increased. Behavioral health issues are at new highs, making suicide a leading cause of death in children. During the pandemic, rates of pediatric preventive health visits, vaccinations, and screening tests have decreased, thereby losing opportunities for early intervention.
These failures were evident before COVID …
Kids are not OK: Health care is failing them
High functioning depression (or HFD) is the mental health diagnosis given to an individual who exhibits symptoms of high-level depression but manages to maintain overall functionality in life. An HFD person will often engage in activities that would be considered “normal” and healthy for a typical person, maintaining a job and even social relationships (though they may not appear as close and involved as typically expected). However, they might find …
Recognizing high functioning depression
This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring.
“Instead of trying to earn a spot on a talk show to help a person dealing with costly treatments for illness, perhaps it is best to lobby policymakers to pass legislation that impacts big …
Fund this: Policies can fill medical funding gaps for all [PODCAST]
My wife and I were on a short flight from Rome to Brindisi in the region called Puglia in the southern part of Italy last year.
As we were starting to taxi down the runway, I heard a child crying a few rows behind us, but it was very different from a baby’s or a normal child’s crying. It reminded me of when I have experienced autistic children screaming, usually from …
A random act of kindness on a plane
Suppose you have watched the news, been on social media, or have had any conversations with others. In that case, it should not be a surprise that health care workers are physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted and extremely burned out.
We are currently entering our third year of a global pandemic. So, burnout physicians are not a big surprise, especially when doctors’ opinions are marginalized over political beliefs about a virus. …
Losing our most valuable non-renewable resource: physicians
You know who you are.
I’m writing to tell you no matter how wrenching our time was together, or messy, or scary, or short were the hours, I love you. I cherish you. And no matter how hard I tried, it was you who gave more. Because you let me in when I showed up unannounced in my pale blouse and loud heels.
You might have been curled up …
A love letter from your doctor
This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring.
“In the ongoing saga of the pandemic, there is the debate whether to wear a mask or not. These are physical masks that temporarily hide our face, but we all wear another type of …
Autism spectrum disorder and the masks we wear [PODCAST]
Dogs have been part of my extended family for most of my sixty-plus years. With a dog comes poop.
It doesn’t really matter on a farm, but in the city, there is an expectation, a social contract of sorts. In the public parks and boulevards, the dog owner is expected to scoop the poop.
While some dog walkers dutifully pick up their dog’s poop, others don’t bother, and before I know it, …
Dog poop, the social contract, and pandemic behaviors
One year after the White House instated an executive order focusing on health equity and support for underserved communities, changes are in progress. But even with the positive news that the Omicron surge has peaked with the seven-day case average dropping, gaping holes in health disparities are still unanswered.
Some hospitals and health care systems such as CoxHealth have hired diversity, equity, …
Stand and deliver: Health care systems need to serve up health equity missions
Medical students are quickly familiarized with which specialties are most competitive when they finish their first year. The prior year’s Match statistics can make the process seem daunting. As if the enormous amount of material to be learned is not enough, students also face the anxiety of adequately preparing for a coveted residency position. There might be additional stressors for a medical student in a small city or rural area …
9 medical student tips to prepare for the Match
A few days ago, I talked to a mentor and brought up my anorexia recovery journey. Using my voice after years of suffering in silence has been instrumental in releasing myself from the inner torment while trying to create purpose from the pain. When I mentioned my struggle with anorexia, the mentor responded, “How are you doing, now?” followed by one of my most dreaded comments: “I mean … You …
Eating disorders are mental health illnesses that don’t have a certain “look”
This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring.
“As a clinician who has received two Pfizer doses and a booster without any side effects, I wholeheartedly embrace vaccination to solve this pressing public health crisis. The key is for policymakers to …
Why is Covaxin not in the FDA’s toolbox? [PODCAST]
The headlines read “Why Healthcare Workers are Quitting in Droves,” “Docs are Leaving Practice,” and “Physician burnout declared a public health crisis.” The side-gig, financial independence retire early (FIRE), and non-clinical career posts pop up in my daily professional media feeds. Believing in the power of suggestion, I wonder if I should start looking for career number two.
Start. That’s a joke. …
I am not leaving medicine because I like the clinical practice part of my job
New Haven, West Virginia, is a small town nestled in Appalachia and located approximately eight miles from the juncture of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. Newspaper articles from the 1950s and ’60s suggest that the town’s demographic makeup and surrounding area as nearly 97 percent Caucasian.
In 1926, as commissioned by West Virginia, a psychiatric facility was opened and named The Lakin Hospital for the Colored Insane. In the tradition of …
Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, MD: an icon in psychiatry
When was the last time someone sat down with you to talk about what you want from your career? Let me ask this differently: When was the last time someone sat down with you and listened while you talked about what you want from your career? If your answer is yesterday, or last week, or last month, or anytime in the last year, and you love what you do without …
What do physician coaches do, and what can they do for you?
An excerpt from First Patients: The incredible true stories of pioneer patients.
Unfazed by the village doctors’ refusals, the parish deacon forged ahead. Dr. Andrew Bell–preacher, educator, and doctor, possessed the temper and energy of a combustion engine. Nothing would stop him from carrying out his plan to vaccinate the three …
Farmer Jesty’s bold experiment
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