How physicians can use Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method

Physician
February 2, 2019

Marie Kondo, the best-selling guru of organization and “sparking joy” has established the foundation of getting a space organized and functional. Her do-it-all-once method, known as the KonMari Method, is considered healthy and life-altering for those seeking organization and productivity in their space. One of the ideal places to organize is the home office especially for doctors, nurses and medical professionals who have reading, studying and research to do. You …

Read more…

How to write a physician CV

Physician
February 2, 2019

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com.

Academic and education environments tend to use the word curriculum vitae, or CV, more frequently than resume. But, a CV’s purpose is the same: to get you a job.

Although a CV generally contains more information than a standard resume, the keys to a successful CV are still brevity and …

Read more…

A physician’s addiction to social media

Social media
February 1, 2019

For Apple iPhone users, the release of iOS 12 included a new feature called “Screen Time.” Although a number of productivity apps that offered a similar snapshot of phone usage were available before this update, I was never interested in quantifying my usage. Now, on a weekly basis, I get a reminder of the exact percentage breakdown of how I’m using my phone.

In true millennial fashion, a review of my …

Read more…

Direct primary care physicians are not concierge doctors

Physician
February 1, 2019

I recently received a scathing email criticizing an article I wrote about the care of patients in underserved areas. “Should you really even get to write articles about poor, underserved populations when you run a concierge practice?” the author wrote. “This is called hypocrisy. You are what is wrong with the medical field.”

What the author of this email didn’t know was that I spent six years working for the underserved …

Read more…

How to talk with a struggling physician colleague

Physician
February 1, 2019

My friend, Lello Tesema, and I were sitting in a restaurant in Harvard Square. It was the first, feverish bit of spring when it seems like the entire city has emerged en masse from their winter dens. We were sitting outside under patio lights, wearing regular clothes instead of our usual scrubs. I should have been happy.

As often happened in those days, I asked Lello if things were ever going …

Read more…

Reflections after a medical student’s first code blue

Education
February 1, 2019

We were in the middle of the morning routine – sign out between mouthfuls of eggs and homefries – when the call came in overhead, “Code Blue, 9 West.  Code Blue, 9 West.”  Just like that, our team snapped into action, the continued banter only thinly concealing a change in demeanor: backs straight, jaws set, we walked with a sense of purpose.  There was a life on the line.

By the …

Read more…

The growing role of end-of-life activists

Conditions
January 31, 2019

Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with grade 2 astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer on January 1, 2014, her cancer also returned in April 2014, where her diagnosis was elevated to grade 4 astrocytoma, also known as glioblastoma, with a prognosis of just six months to live. She decided to take lethal drugs prescribed by her physician to end her life on November 1, 2014, at her home in Portland, Oregon. Under Oregon’s “Death …

Read more…

The problem with abbreviations in the medical record

Physician
January 28, 2019

Several patients seen in our practice recently were significantly and dramatically transformed by the electronic health record (EHR). And not in a good way.

Take, for instance, the patient whose outside chart was reviewed when she showed up in our office for a follow-up appointment after an emergency department visit.

The notes from the emergency department providers, including a scribe and the …

Read more…

Should residency programs review their applicants’ social media history?

Social media
January 28, 2019

By now, I’m sure most of you probably have heard about the Cleveland Clinic first-year resident who was fired last September when it became known that in 2012 she had tweeted she would “purposely give all the yahood [Jews] the wrong meds …”

The website Canary Mission documented numerous tweets expressing similar thoughts. She has apologized but will likely have great difficulty finding another job as a physician.

This …

Read more…

6 things learned from being rejected from medical school

Education
January 26, 2019

I have spent the greater portion of my 20s enduring a premature quarter-life crisis. Patterns of self-doubt and debilitating anxiety became my new normal.

I was rejected from medical school — again.

After taking time to process the reality that I would have to wait another year to re-apply, I fervently journeyed through a messy jungle of introspection that led me to these six lessons. Although I learned more than I could …

Read more…

The conflict between pharmacists and their corporate superiors

Meds
January 24, 2019

Pharmacists play an essential role in today’s ever-expanding health care system today. They check for drug interactions, watch for signs of opioid overprescribing and try to determine whether a drug for one condition prescribed by one doctor will negatively impact the patient because of another diagnosis the patient has. In hospital units, their roles have become yet more complex — often serving on various quality committees, managing daily dosages of …

Read more…

ADVERTISEMENT

Treat your family like you treat your patients

Physician
January 24, 2019

Many times during difficult patient interactions — when I am not sure about the right thing to do — I let myself be guided by the question: “What would I do if it was my family member?” This internal dialogue usually cuts the clutter and lets me focus on the most important thing: the well-being of my patient. I can step away from the behavioral chaos and guide them in …

Read more…

This physician chose not to do a triathlon. Here’s why.

Physician
January 24, 2019

I posted on social media that in 2019, I would compete in Ironman. I wanted to hold myself accountable and was announcing “I could do this.” My primary reason, so I thought, was that “I wanted to grow mentally and physically.”

Since then, I have been training six hours per week on top of my usual daily routine. I have been mentally and physically challenged in ways I didn’t think possible. …

Read more…

My garden has taught me a lot about health care

Physician
January 24, 2019

Sustainability is a bit of a buzz word these days. To be sustainable means that you only use what you need, leaving the rest to be used by you or others in the future. Sustainability is a popular topic in environmental sciences and refers to renewable agriculture, good stewardship of natural resources and recycling of waste. What about sustainability in health care?

In health care, we often describe The United States …

Read more…

ADVERTISEMENT

What clothing choice says about a patient

Conditions
January 23, 2019

asco-logo The woman waiting to see me looked every inch a lawyer or accountant in her black pencil skirt, pink shirt, and a Chanel-style houndstooth jacket. Her ankle boots were reminiscent of those worn by women in Victorian times with a row of small buttons up the side. She had a scarf loosely knotted around her shoulders, and her hair was …

Read more…

Must-have medical apps for primary care

Tech
January 23, 2019

Earlier this year, we put together a list of what we thought were the best medical apps for health care providers. Now at the end of 2018, we’re augmenting that list to give you a full picture of what we think are must-haves medical apps for those in primary care.

Safe Motherhood Initiative: ACOG DII SMI

Quick reference for common obstetric emergencies

Many of us in family medicine practice full-scope …

Read more…

A stage IV lung cancer survivor story

Conditions
January 23, 2019

I want to share how the era of immunotherapy, specifically immune-checkpoint-inhibitors, has changed the landscape of community oncology practice in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, for oncologists and, more importantly, patients.

I want to tell you the story of Joe. A stage IV lung cancer survivor story. (Name and details changed to protect anonymity.)

In 2015, Joe was diagnosed with stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adenocarcinoma. He had multiple metastases to other organs. …

Read more…

ADVERTISEMENT

To my mentor: Thank you. I didn’t know how much I needed you.

Physician
January 23, 2019

I never really had a true mentor. Or role model. I wasn’t sure if they were the same thing, or what the difference was, so I gave up. Sometime in middle school, I remember a teacher encouraging us to find someone we looked up to and develop a mentor relationship. I was 12, looked at my teachers who I thought were old, and ignored that advice.

In high school, I thought …

Read more…

541
pages