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Society has unrealistic expectations of physicians

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 …

How faith-based dialogue can support vaccine acceptance

Maryam Chloé Pervaiz, Andrew Hatala, PhD, Tara Vijayan, MD, MPH, and Richard Handley, MD, MBA

Physician

February 27, 2022

It starts with an invocation. A prayer. A plea for redemption. This is how the Sabbath Town Halls, Sufi Naqshbandi, and Bahá’í community gatherings begin and end.

Around the world, communities of faith are much more than a sanctuary. They provide a space for healing and hope. As religious exemptions, hesitation, and resistance for vaccinations and public health policies have taken on a new fervor, the critical role of faith-based institutions in supporting …

Support groups are life-changing for many patients

Daniel P. Kraft, MD, MPH

Conditions

February 27, 2022

“Gimme five,” the TV doctor said to his little patient as he entered the exam room. As I watched this scene in an evening TV program, I was reminded of one of my pediatric practice’s most gratifying stories, which happened over 20 years ago.

Before the days of cellphones, the internet, and social media, I had become the local expert on support groups. After realizing how what I learned from support …

A neurosurgeon finds another reason to stay in clinical practice

Barbara Lazio, MD

Physician

February 27, 2022

Each day I am inundated with reminders of why doctors are leaving clinical practice. My peers are exhausted by pandemic patients and pandemic controversies. They feel unappreciated and overworked doing what was originally their passion. Many feel they are part of an industrial machine, turning out widgets in the form of patient visits or procedures. They want to leave. Should I? Wouldn’t it be easier to be a dog-walker, park …

How not to be a broke doctor [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 26, 2022

“Remember the things that we’ve discussed as the majority of people are broke. And just because your friends are showing off the ‘stuff’ things they buy doesn’t mean they can actually afford them.

Once you realize that everybody in the world is after your money, the quicker you know how …

Read more…

How not to be a broke doctor [PODCAST]

Finding joy in my forgetfulness

Samuel M. Chen, MD

Physician

February 26, 2022

Someone once described war as: “Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.”

Similar to flying: “Hours and hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of stark panic.”

My life is like that: Fairly mundane, routine and predictable — until it isn’t.

Near where I work is a sandwich shop. I have walked to it, but usually, under some time constraint, I drive. I have taken to getting a large sandwich, …

Read more…

Finding joy in my forgetfulness

Permission to burn the manual

Cathi Whaley, MD

Physician

February 26, 2022

I started planning my escape in late 2020. I would find a way to quit health care, to cease being a practicing physician altogether. Living the life of a doctor-mom, I felt consumed with daily obligations and duties.

Guilt plagued me for feeling burdened by this life, for feeling it was a monotonous prison. The guilt soon transformed to anger. I was not showing up to my life in a meaningful …

Read more…

Permission to burn the manual

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