This doctor defines himself as a Christian, not a physician

Physician
September 29, 2019

What is life? It’s the cumulation of the daily processes all wrapped up into one, filling the void of each day. These processes coalesce hour by hour, filled with demands, expectations, current crisis, and bills to pay. Life is a full-contact sport, each hour brimming with all-encompassing activities, expectations, and trivial pursuits. We live every second to its fullest, squeezing every ounce of information and productivity only to repeat it …

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4 reasons why physicians should hire a financial advisor

Finance
September 27, 2019

I’m a big proponent of do-it-yourself investing. In the age of index funds, many investors can manage their own investments at very low cost.

And fees you pay to a financial advisor could be used to invest and grow your nest egg.

But that’s not to say that I believe that no one should have a financial advisor. There are many situations where it can be beneficial to hire a financial …

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The keyboard is the sworn enemy of physicians

Tech
September 26, 2019

During one long ago very hot Washington, DC summer, at the suggestion of my parents, I enrolled in a typing course that was given at our elementary school.

This was the summer between sixth and seventh grades, and there were lots of things I would’ve preferred to have been doing, but my dad, who started out in advertising, felt that touch-typing …

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Who actually owns your medical records?

Physician
September 25, 2019

I was in a discussion with a group of patients about how difficult it is for patients to get access to their own medical records. It was initiated after one of my patients was refused copies of her recent hospitalization. There is much confusion out there about who actually owns the record and how it is allowed to be accessed. Most people are aware of HIPAA, the regulation set into …

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Black market pharmaceuticals target immigrants

Policy
September 25, 2019

The bootleg medications were smuggled across the border and sold to mostly Latino immigrants in public spaces throughout Los Angeles — at swap meets, parks, beauty salons and makeshift stands outside mom-and-pop grocery stores.

The drugs were cheap, and the customers — mostly from Mexico and Central America — did not need prescriptions to buy them. Some of the products featured brand names and colorful packaging that immigrants knew well from …

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In medicine, find the beauty in what is common

Physician
September 25, 2019

“The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely.”
– Osler, “Aequanimitas”

Recently, my family and I were leaving a restaurant, and in so doing, we crossed a large parking lot filled with a seemingly endless number of pebbles. My youngest daughter, whose hand I was holding, suddenly pulled away from me. I stopped short, about to reinforce with her the importance of holding hands in the parking …

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How pneumatic tubes symbolizes our health system

Physician
September 24, 2019

About once or twice a day, everyone on our hospital’s computer network gets an emergency message that scrolls across the bottom of our screens, highlighted in the colors of danger and warning.

They include things like a notification that a particular data system is down and that a backup on paper will have to be used for documentation, or the hospital …

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To extinguish burnout, bring back physician autonomy

Physician
September 24, 2019

In his article, “Medical education needs to stop burning out students — now,” Augustine Choi suggests the culture of medical education is responsible for increasing numbers of depression and burnout among medical students, and suggests that more programs are needed to address self-care and wellness in order to build resilience.

While I agree that mental health treatment should be readily available and easily accessible to those in …

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Made mistakes? How to spin them for your medical school applications.

Education
September 24, 2019

Despite more than a dozen years in medical school admissions consulting, I still clearly recall a bright advisee who had improved her grades considerably throughout her college career. But I, unfortunately, had a less than stellar freshman transcript. After calculating her AMCAS GPA with me, she lamented, “I feel like my grades are a criminal record.” In a twisted way, she was right — she couldn’t erase the grades.

But she …

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Seniority is the worst metric for health care leadership

Physician
September 23, 2019

STAT_LogoHealth care delivery in the United States is being led by practitioners who have ascended to leadership roles primarily through years of loyalty to their organizations. But as burnout worsens and affects the youngest clinicians to the detriment of the system, is this the appropriate cadre to shepherd us towards necessary system transformation?

We share two stories that …

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Hair is undoubtedly the politician’s crowning glory

Physician
September 23, 2019

It all started with John F. Kennedy’s campaign for the presidency.  After eight years with President Eisenhower’s baldness and Vice President Nixon’s receding hairline, the American public was ready for a change.  Kennedy had great hair, which he flaunted by appearing bareheaded at his inauguration.  A new political maxim was established that day; to win in American politics, it’s not what’s in your head, but what’s on your head that …

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It’s OK if doctors can’t memorize everything

Tech
September 22, 2019

The storage capacity of the human mind is amazing. One estimate of the size of the brain’s “RAM” is as high as  2.5 petabytes (a million gigabytes). The number is based on the total number of neurons in the brain and the total number of possible connections per neuron. I suspect it is an overestimate, given the vagaries and innate inefficiency of biological systems. Nevertheless, the true figure …

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The orthopedic objectification of women

Physician
September 21, 2019

A recent uproar in Twitterverse regarding the publication of certain images has sparked further debate after the response from publishers. The images represent scantily clad women with socially “ideal” body-types, seductively eyeing the camera and would, unfortunately, be commonplace in glossy magazines meant to sell products using these women’s sexual appeal. Body positive activists in society, for some time now, have been campaigning industry to stop this damaging and exploitative …

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Is it physician burnout or perimenopause?

Conditions
September 20, 2019

I am an experienced OB/GYN, well-versed in obstetrics, infertility, gynecology, surgery and — yes — menopause, or so I thought. So why was I so blindsided by my own menopause transition?

I thought I was going through burnout, with anxiety, anger, mood swings, irritability, and depression. I was at a point in my career as an OB/GYN of 20-plus years that patients flocked to me because of my reputation and expected …

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Clearing up the confusion surrounding Medicare for all

Policy
September 18, 2019

The Democratic debates this summer demonstrated massive confusion around Medicare for all. Does it mean Medicare for all who want it? Medicare Advantage? A “public option” on an Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange?

Democrats need to get their story straight.

The confusion is understandable. Medicare for all has been an aspiration since at least the New Deal, but since 1965, when Congress …

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A psychiatrist closes his practice

Physician
September 18, 2019

After practicing psychiatry and behavioral health for nearly 25 years, I’m done. I feel sick, and especially sicker from my occupation. Not merely burned out, but ill. Primarily mentally.

I’ve always had complex post-traumatic stress disorder. And depression and generalized anxiety, and many other diagnoses from the DSM. But, I’ve covered my illnesses so I could go to work and help so many people. Least of all myself.

My mother had chronic …

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7 questions every doctor asks about locum tenens

Physician
September 18, 2019

When it comes to locum tenens, doctors have a lot of questions. Maybe you even have some of your own. But first, let me ask you a few:

Did you know that there are more than 50,000 doctors working locum tenens in the U.S.? Or that 90% of health care facilities use locum tenens each year? Or that 21% of residents choose to work locum tenens right out of college?

Despite its …

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The infiltration of venture capital and private equity in the surprise medical bills debate

Policy
September 17, 2019

As proposals to ban surprise medical bills move through Congress and state legislatures with rare bipartisan support, physician groups have emerged as the loudest opponents.

Often led by doctors with the veneer of noble concern for patients, physician-staffing firms — third-party companies that employ doctors and assign them out to health care facilities — have opposed efforts to limit the practice known as balance billing. They claim such bans would rob …

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