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My journey to the root of empathy and why we must try to teach it

Physician

September 7, 2021

“Are there specific ways empathy will be tested in the standardized patient exam?” a medical school classmate of mine earnestly asked following a lecture years ago. I laughed, thinking that teaching empathy was impossible. As an optimistic and naive medical student, I had thought of myself as naturally empathetic. During those days, I was able to spend hours with patients, gaining their confidence while hearing their stories and concerns. I …

How doctors can support medtech innovation [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 6, 2021

“Feedback in the assessment stage is always useful for improving the design of a device — especially as it relates to improving long-term aspects, such as patient outcomes or cost-effectiveness. This kind of feedback can only come after a device has been on the market and in use for a …

Millions of Americans without ICU doctors due to the “Biden ban”

Seth Rabinowitz

Policy

September 6, 2021

Americans are dying in ICUs in far greater numbers than would otherwise be if not for a newly misapplied 57-year-old rule banning the only American board-certified ICU doctors available in many cities from providing critical care, leaving only nurses to do the doctor’s job in treating ICU patients.

There is a severe national shortage of only 25 percent of the needed board-certified intensive care unit doctors — known as critical care …

The emergence of direct specialty care

Diana M. Girnita, MD, PhD

Physician

September 6, 2021

One day, a primary care physician located about two hours away called my office in a desperate attempt to find a rheumatologist. His lovely 64-year-old patient, very healthy otherwise, recently developed a severe and disabling inflammatory arthritis. After conservative treatments failed, he tried to refer the patient to the traditional medical system. However, they could not get a sooner than six months appointment. This is a symptom of a broken …

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The emergence of direct specialty care

A person-to-person strategy is needed in the pandemic war

David Galinsky, MD

Physician

September 6, 2021

In June 2020, I wrote a short piece about the COVID vaccine that turned out to be prophetic. I said that the vaccine’s immunity might wane over time, that there might be bothersome side effects immediately, and that the public might ignore social distancing and mask-wearing once they were vaccinated. I worried that there would be political pressures to focus more on the economy than on public health.

And I wrote, …

So, are you committed to medicine — or your baby? [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 5, 2021

“As I approach this last stretch of residency, still entrenched in the rigors of training and the intensity of raising three young children under five years old, I am in a unique position of being able to reflect on the years and look ahead at what I want to build …

Unsolicited advice from unmatched residency applicants: Hope for the best, plan for the worst

Katherine Yu, MD and Shaan Somani

Education

September 5, 2021

When you enter medical school, you put your trust into an unspoken promise: Work hard, pass all your classes, and you’ll come out as a doctor after four years. While mostly true, this perception doesn’t take into account the residency application process and the possibility of graduating without a position as a physician-in-training. This thought didn’t cross my mind until I decided to apply for otolaryngology, one of the most …

Debunking common virtual therapy myths and tips for new patients [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 4, 2021

“While the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and normalized the need for increased mental and behavioral health services over the last year and a half, addressing mental health issues as a regular form of their wellness will persist beyond the pandemic. However, as the adoption of virtual technologies continues to open up …

Your best defense? Don’t play by the rules in a medical malpractice case.

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

September 4, 2021

Unfortunate outcomes are inevitable even when practicing quality medicine. Most are random events, but some are medical errors. The majority of physicians have been sued and those, who have not, will be. Common to all defendants is that the lawsuit is totally fallacious.

To be fallacious, the outcome of a medical intervention must be an unpreventable random mal-occurrence. This is the only alternative to a medical error. Nevertheless, there is a …

How shame tried to hijack my medical training [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 3, 2021

“I’m smart enough to be a physician. As if being the smartest person in the room makes you the best physician in the room. Hint, it doesn’t. Being a good physician is a culmination of knowledge, skills, and strengths that you, as an individual physician, uniquely brings to the field.

It’s …

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Charles Darwin have a COVID conversation

Tomi Mitchell, MD

Conditions

September 3, 2021

By now, many of you would have read my article, “Who needs scientists? It’s not like we listen to them anyway.” So, let me tell you another fiction story. But, first, I need to give you some background to this story.

Many of you would know about the theory of evolution by natural selection and how it explains the diversity we see today. It’s an excellent idea, and …

All physicians are leaders [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 2, 2021

“In times of uncertainty, human behavior often makes people resort to less-than-stellar behaviors; unhealthy personal environments can become manifest as well. Often, these coincide with health care being used more frequently and the safe haven of health care delivery being sought. With all physicians being leaders, it is incumbent …

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All physicians are leaders [PODCAST]

Physicians have gone from being heroes to villains

Lisa Cronk, MD

Physician

September 2, 2021

I am exhausted.

Mentally, emotionally, physically.

I fear we are reaching our breaking point. We have run a marathon, hoping that we were nearing the finish line as we saw numbers decline in June, only to be told to lace up our sneakers and start over.

Work in outpatient pediatrics is always busy in the summer – seeing our patients for school and sports physicals, marveling at how much they’ve grown since we …

Rage Against the Machine: This song is mine, and it’s how I heal

Amy Cowan, MD

Physician

September 2, 2021

“F—- you! I won’t do what you tell me!” the lyrics blare into my teenage ears, as I lip-synch to the rock band Rage Against the Machine’s song Killing In the Name. It’s 1992, and my Walkman is attached to the waistband of my Seattle Blues. It would take at least a decade to fully understand the meaning of those lyrics. Nearly thirty years later, this line …

The surprising power of family meals

Kristin Saxena, MD

Physician

September 2, 2021

I am a board-certified pediatrician, wife, mother of four, and host of a podcast. I have been interested in nutrition and feeding practices for as long as I can remember. In my practice as a pediatrician, I was constantly bombarded with parent concerns about children’s eating habits. Commonly parents worried that their children were not eating enough, were eating too …

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The surprising power of family meals

You deserve a doctor who’s a good fit for you [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 1, 2021

“I implore you — even if it’s difficult — if you don’t like your doctor, take the time and find a new one!

How do you do that? Check your insurance for who they cover, and then ask your friends who they see and like. Google the physician. Google the practice. …

From advocate to adversary: How COVID-19 has changed the doctor-patient relationship

Nida Zakiullah, MD

Physician

September 1, 2021

Ask any physician how they are doing today, and you’ll probably hear some version of frustrated, tired, and sad. It’s not the lump-in-your-throat type sadness. It’s that my-mind-and-soul-are-tired sadness. The feeling you have when all you can see is the conflict and the angst that seems to fill the world right now. The feeling that the world is burning and we are powerless to stop it.

I am a physician who …

Structural racism in health tech [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 31, 2021

“We focus on ensuring our solution works equally well for English speakers with any accent. We regularly hear from doctors how much of a difference this makes in their ability to deliver high-quality patient care. It’s our hope that more health tech vendors will take a good look at what …

Professional gay: Charting a career in LGBTQ health

Carl G. Streed, Jr., MD, MPH

Physician

August 31, 2021

“You’re superficial,” the dean of the curriculum explained to me as we sat in an empty lecture hall. I had just finished a lecture when he pulled me aside to share his assessment of my progress as a student. By this point in my second year of medical school, I had become more focused on the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer [LGBTQ] persons and communities, …

From electric fish to smart device EHRs: the mind-blowing evolution of health care technology

Afua Aning, MD

Tech

August 31, 2021

Fun fact: The first recorded use of electric stimulation to ease pain was in … get ready … CE 46! That’s right, nearly 2,000 years ago, ancient Roman writer Scribonius Largus described the use of torpedo fish, aquatic animals capable of electrical discharge, to heal. This system is still as common in health care settings as a conventional TENS Unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). Similarly, many health care IT innovations …

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