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The American public deserves more COVID-19 vaccine options

Conditions

December 8, 2021

Covaxin, an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and the only vaccine to have been proven effective against all variants including the Delta variant in a Phase III clinical study, deserves to be tested in clinical trials in the U.S. for potential CDC/FDA approval for use in the U.S.

As we are about to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the vaccine rollout against COVID-19, we would do well to remember that despite the progress …

Personal attacks and sexual harassment of physicians on social media [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 8, 2021

“This survey study examines the self-reports of personal attacks and sexual harassment of physicians through social media outlets. A total of 108 physicians (23.3%) reported being personally attacked on social media, with no significant difference between female and male physicians. In contrast, women were significantly more likely than men to report online sexual …

We have an obligation to keep firearms out of the hands of children

Shayla A. Sullivant, MD

Policy

December 8, 2021

We are saddened by another school shooting in America. Four lives were cut short, and one young man who was obviously crying out for help clearly did not get it.

There are so many pieces to this puzzle to examine. So many areas where we can improve. As a child psychiatrist, I am fully aware that our mental health system is broken. So many families seeking care run into barriers and …

The catastrophe of men’s health and how we can help

Judson Brandeis, MD

Conditions

December 8, 2021

A hundred years ago, women lived one year longer than men, but now they live five years longer than men. And things are getting worse. Currently, the lifespan of men in the U.S. is declining due to alcohol, opioids, and suicide. These trends need to change.

I take care of men. I’ve been a urologist for almost 25 years and have seen thousands of men as patients, many of whom have …

A medical student shares a story about language [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 7, 2021

“My mother screamed. It meant my father needed a doctor — now.

But why?

We just visited the hospital days before to refill his drugs. He would be better if he used the drugs. Magic drugs. That is what he called them. I stood up from the mat where I slept …

Health care technology innovation from COVID

Bela Desai

Tech

December 7, 2021

The provision of quality medical services is the main target that every health care provider aims at achieving. Medical practitioners should have effective technical skills to ease their service delivery to their clients regardless of the health care sector’s various challenges.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, many government-imposed restriction measures had adverse effects in many sectors, including health care. Patients with comorbidities have a weak immune system, and …

Keeping a cancer diagnosis silent

Marc Braunstein, MD, PhD

Conditions

December 7, 2021

It is a seasonally cold fall evening in Long Island, NY, and I am standing in a field in the middle of what should be a darkened park. Still, I am truly amazed by how bright it is lit up by lanterns with different colors demarcating patients, families, and remembrances.

As an oncologist who treats blood cancers, this event, called Light the Night, sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, was …

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Keeping a cancer diagnosis silent

Navigating infertility as a Black male family physician

Carl Earl Lambert, Jr., MD

Conditions

December 7, 2021

Black men need to be comfortable saying that we can be scared sometimes, and to share our emotions without guilt or shame.

I say this as a Black man who has experienced vulnerability both as a family physician and as a patient. Over the last year, I’ve been challenged in unforeseen ways. In my professional life, I’ve cared for patients with COVID-19 and other chronic medical conditions, engaged as a clinician-educator …

To achieve health equity, culturally relevant care must be the standard of care [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 6, 2021

“Practicing culturally relevant care means we can account for the social determinants of health, barriers to access, and the emotional disconnect that results from the status quo, one-size-fits-all approach many patients have come to expect. It helps us reach into underserved communities and lift them up, which is essential during …

The race to find uses for Big Data

Afua Aning, MD

Tech

December 6, 2021

Smartwatch wearers: Have you checked your smartwatch lately? Did it tell you how many steps you have or how fast your heart is beating? How accurate is the information? What does that number mean for your overall health, and where do all of those numbers go after they are reported back to your computer?

The health care industry is under constant pressure to securely store patient information and still have it …

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The race to find uses for Big Data

To be, or not to be, vulnerable in a relationship

Joel Block, PhD

Conditions

December 6, 2021

The word vulnerable is derived from the Latin, “vulnerare,” to wound. Vulnerable literally means “able to be wounded.” In common usage, we refer to being vulnerable when we’re feeling weak, fragile, and emotionally worn down. No wonder most of us want nothing to do with vulnerability. Beginning in childhood, we learn to protect ourselves from emotional attacks perpetrated by family members, peers, and teachers. What’s more, if our parents are …

Patient surveys: the quest for positive reviews

Peter Valenzuela, MD, MBA

Physician

December 6, 2021

An excerpt from Doc-Related: A Physician’s Guide to Fixing Our Ailing Health Care System.

Early in my career as a rural physician in Texas, I took care of a couple in their mid-70s named Vernon and Nellie. They drove in from another small town 50 miles away. Nellie usually did all the talking, while her husband, Vernon, sat quietly next to …

Amid powerlessness, reclaim your personal power [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 5, 2021

“You have more power than you realize.

It’s no secret that medical providers feel structurally powerless in our chaotic health care system. Control over the volume, pace, and elements of our work often rests squarely in the hands of others. But know this: Your own personal power over your work remains …

Beat the overwhelm this holiday season and set the stage for cheer

Stephanie Wellington, MD

Physician

December 5, 2021

Like anyone else, the holiday season can be the source of great joy. And it can add to the stress and overwhelm that physicians already experience. The practicing physician may find herself torn between responsibilities in the clinical setting and the preparations needed to make a memorable holiday experience for family and friends.

It starts with rushing from work to make it to the store before closing. It’s planning, decorating, baking, …

My patient and I were born on the same day. It took a tragedy to bring us back together.

Patrick Connolly, MD

Physician

December 5, 2021

It was a hot afternoon, but no dog day humidity yet. I was driving back from a satellite office when our nurse practitioner called. A patient with a condition we’d seen many times before, a brain hemorrhage, her consciousness waning. The CT scan showed blood in the ventricles obstructing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid.

The pressure was building and our patient was dying. She needed an external ventricular drain to relieve …

War is really not all it’s cracked up to be

Michael J. Collins, MD

Physician

December 5, 2021

An excerpt from All Bleeding Stops.

42nd Surgical Hospital
Phu Bai
Republic of Vietnam
December 1967

Private Ira Stein has so many wounds, has lost so much blood, that the corpsmen nearly bring him straight to Graves. Steve Benson can’t get a pressure. He shakes his head. “Matthew, there’s no point taking this kid to the OR. He’s too far gone. He has no chance.”

“Bullshit!” …

Instead of focusing on your time, focus on your energy [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 4, 2021

“I can attest to the tremendous power of simply noticing these rhythms and attending to them. It’s part of a larger attempt to live a more authentic life. So much of my time over the past 20 years has been vying to achieve someone else’s standards or to live …

Our patients become an inextricable part of our lives

Benjamin Rattray, DO, MBA

Physician

December 4, 2021

In the early evening, I stand in the grocery store checkout line. A young mother in front of me presses a pig-tailed toddler against her hip as she rummages for her credit card, and a man with silvered hair and a monogrammed shirt shifts impatiently behind me. As I watch the toddler, I’m hit with a twinge of nostalgia. I think of how I used to pull my daughter’s hair …

The voices of women physicians with infertility

Dawn Baker, MD

Physician

December 4, 2021

“I wish I had known how common this is. I would have started sooner.”

It is currently estimated that one in four women physicians has infertility (compared to one in eight in the general population). Why do I care? Because I’m one of them. But truly, we should all care. These women are our partners, colleagues, trainees, and friends. Their experiences shape the landscape of physician wellness for all of us.

To …

The pain of doctoring and a call for change

Maseray S. Kamara, MD

Physician

December 4, 2021

Below are moments from my intern year of general surgery residency. They represent moments that occurred over three years ago, which I took home to my journal to process and work through. Back then, the moments left me speechless. And today, re-visiting them, the moments clearly demonstrate the fragility of the human spirit.

A silently sobbing 7-year-old the day after surgical repair of his broken femur. His face contorted. His pain …