When medical malpractice is not medical malpractice
In medical malpractice, inductive reasoning regards the standard of care as the duty to do no harm. If there is a complication from a medical intervention and the medical intervention differs from the standard of care in any conceivable way, the difference alone is sufficient to conclude that the medical intervention departs from that duty.
However, unanticipated threats require nimbleness. This is a calculated risk. It causes a difference, but it …
Why this doctor stayed stuck in a job for years and how she finally broke free
My work was draining. The joy was no longer there. Sure, I loved caring for patients, but the schedules, the call, and missing my children’s life events were all catching up to me. It all was too much. After two decades at a Level 1 hospital, I was the epitome of a “burned-out” physician. My mind would harken back to the Clash’s famous song from the 1980s—”Should I stay or …
Why physicians need to become more educated about alternative pain treatments
All indications are that pain care in the United States is in crisis. There is an epidemic of prescription opioid-fueled opioid addiction and overdoses (over a million dead and millions more addicted) as well as an epidemic of chronic pain. Estimates of the prevalence of pain indicate that from 21 percent (2021 National Health Interview Survey) to 56 percent (2021 Harris Poll) of Americans have chronic pain, and about 7 …
How modern ads manipulate your health fears for profit [PODCAST]
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We dive into the controversial world of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising with health reporter Martha Rosenberg. Drawing from her extensive knowledge, Martha unpacks how DTC drug ads manipulate consumers, fuel hypochondria, and create demand …
Why climate change threatens our children’s future: hurricanes, floods, and a call to act
As Valencia, Spain, reels from devastating flash floods and the U.S. Southeast recovers from hurricanes Helene and Milton, I, like many other parents, look at my own kids with increasing concern about the ailing world they will inherit.
If a climate haven like Asheville, North Carolina, lying 2,000 feet above and 300 miles away from the ocean, can be swept away by a single catastrophic storm, how can we possibly keep our children safe?
Scientists have shown that ocean warming due to …
Why the RVU system makes attaining the quadruple aim laughable: a deep dive into a broken health care model
The quadruple aim represents an ambitious, holistic vision for the future of health care: improving population health, enhancing the patient experience, reducing per capita costs, and improving the work-life balance of health care providers. While many health care systems have adopted this framework, the widespread use of the relative value unit (RVU) system fundamentally undermines these goals. Far from facilitating the quadruple aim, the RVU system creates a chasm between …
Why parents today are more stressed than ever—and how we can help [PODCAST]
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We sit down with Marissa Caudill, a psychiatrist specializing in child, adolescent, and adult mental health, to explore the findings from the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory “Parents Under Pressure.” We discuss the skyrocketing …
How Betty Ford’s breast cancer battle revolutionized health care in the 1970s
It is rare that an ABC movie of the week endures. Buzz Kulick’s 1971 Brian’s Song is the notable exception. IMDB describes the movie as a “beloved tearjerker,” which portrays the friendship between Chicago Bears teammates Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo in the mid-1960s. Central to the plot is not only the race-based prejudice that existed in professional football at the time but also the public depiction of cancer in …
How one medical student’s life-changing conversation reshaped her career
The fourth-year medical student “Megan” urgently wanted to meet with me. She just returned from an away rotation in pathology in mid-August and wanted to talk. She was not her usual confident self, appearing distracted and pale. She shared that she had thoroughly enjoyed her rotation and had found it stimulating and the faculty inspiring. One of her …
What would we do if we weren’t doctors?
I have often wondered where I would be if I had never been accepted to medical school. After all, I got in by the slimmest of margins. I even failed at one application round, finally matriculating at Boston University after an icy post-college winter delivering UPS packages through the snow-covered streets of Cambridge and a depressingly lazy summer punching receipts at the exit to BJ’s Wholesale Club. Now, thirty years …
Toward a work-life compass: Work-life balance doesn’t exist
A four-day workweek is being touted as better, especially for jobs that are cognitively oriented. The brain needs more time for rest and relaxation than a five-day workweek allows, so four days of work and three days for everything else will provide a work-life balance.
For more than two decades, particularly after I had my first child 17 years ago, I’ve been trying to achieve that elusive work-life balance. I …
A surgeon’s insight into the future of health care staffing [PODCAST]
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A terminal disease intercepted by modern medicine
I have been a physician for over forty years, with an office practice and providing geriatric house calls in our community. Now, I am also a caregiver.
My partner, Robin, was diagnosed with a rare malignancy in November 2022, known as anaplastic thyroid cancer. She was given six months to live.
Surgery to remove what they could took 9 1/2 hours, and seven weeks of subsequent radiation and chemotherapy helped slow it …
AI medical scribes: Boosting efficiency or risking over-reliance?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming health care at extremely rapid rates. In this ever-evolving world of health care technology, clinicians should be searching for ways to optimize their workflow, improve patient care, and maintain a healthy work-life balance. One of the most talked-about innovations lately is the AI medical scribe.
But many nurse practitioners, physicians, physician associates, and other health care providers are wondering: should clinicians actually use an AI medical …
How automation helps nurses return to the bedside
I have been in health care and worked as a bedside nurse for more than 30 years now. Early in my career a surgeon said to me, “I could have made changes if I had that information sooner. I’ve had 200 people on my operating room table during this time.”
The surgeon was referring to critical data within medical registries, which are used by clinicians to improve care delivery. Registries have …
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From career to motherhood: Navigating gender inequity [PODCAST]
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We sit down with Alopi Patel, an anesthesiologist and interventional pain physician, to explore the gender-based inequities women face in their careers. Inspired by the metaphor of flamingos losing their pink during times …
How a single act of kindness can transform the world
Since I was a child, I have despised the words “May you live long.”
I felt like it was a curse.
My younger brother, who knows my thoughts, used to joke, “Allah kre tumhari itni lambi umar ho, tum marne ko tarso!” (May Allah bless you with such a long life that you will pray for your death.)
He still wishes the same for me. (He wants me to suffer.)
I used to say …
How the DEA’s use of predictive algorithms is worsening crises in urban communities and raising suicide rates among African Americans
The true definition of criminal behavior has always been problematic. Are we criminals because we break the law or because we have been convicted? Famous and revered people throughout history have clearly broken the law but are almost never defined as criminals. All the founding fathers of the United States self-admittedly committed treason against the crown, a capital offense. In contrast, others, like Stalin and Hitler, had every legal right …
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Living with type 1 diabetes: my journey through misconceptions, stigma and resilience
I was only a child when my life took a sharp turn. At around five or six years old, I started noticing odd changes in my body that I didn’t understand. The day I landed in the hospital was the day the word “diabetes” entered my life, even though I didn’t know what it meant.
I overheard my father telling my mother about my diagnosis, but all I could follow was …
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How smartphones are stealing your focus—and what you can do about it
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Overcoming the curse of knowledge: Why doctors need to translate medicine [PODCAST]
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The heartbreaking pandemic story I will never forget
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How Earth Day can inspire better health for doctors and patients
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Spreading hope one card at a time for doctors’ well-being [PODCAST]
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Past 6 Months
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How trade wars could destroy the U.S. health care system
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How hospitals are quietly taking control of physicians
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The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
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How the system hunts physicians who refuse to kneel
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Doctors don’t need yoga, they need time to smoke
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What happened to real care in health care?
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Recent Posts
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Overcoming the curse of knowledge: Why doctors need to translate medicine [PODCAST]
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Signing bonuses and taxes: What physicians should know
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Learning to trust your body again: Healing the hidden wounds of medical training
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Love, empathy, and the triangle of exhaustion: Why humanity must come first
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How smartphones are stealing your focus—and what you can do about it
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Practical advice for physicians seeking joy and well-being [PODCAST]
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Past Week
-
How smartphones are stealing your focus—and what you can do about it
-
Overcoming the curse of knowledge: Why doctors need to translate medicine [PODCAST]
-
The heartbreaking pandemic story I will never forget
-
How Earth Day can inspire better health for doctors and patients
-
Why female physicians are done asking for permission
-
Spreading hope one card at a time for doctors’ well-being [PODCAST]
-
Past 6 Months
-
How trade wars could destroy the U.S. health care system
-
How hospitals are quietly taking control of physicians
-
The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
-
How the system hunts physicians who refuse to kneel
-
Doctors don’t need yoga, they need time to smoke
-
What happened to real care in health care?
-
Recent Posts
-
Overcoming the curse of knowledge: Why doctors need to translate medicine [PODCAST]
-
Signing bonuses and taxes: What physicians should know
-
Learning to trust your body again: Healing the hidden wounds of medical training
-
Love, empathy, and the triangle of exhaustion: Why humanity must come first
-
How smartphones are stealing your focus—and what you can do about it
-
Practical advice for physicians seeking joy and well-being [PODCAST]
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