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How doctors think about financial independence is dead wrong

Finance

July 7, 2021

A rough career transition in 2019 followed by the pandemic highlighted how I was still financially tethered to my job — after 10 years of practicing as a subspecialty trained radiologist, saving, maxing out my retirement accounts, and investing in the stock market and in real estate. Looking around, I saw other physicians in a similar predicament. After years dedicated to rigorous training, we were still trapped by “golden handcuffs.” …

The rise of non-traditional nursing

Jessica Hodges, RN

Tech

July 7, 2021

Nurses are an essential component of the American health care system and are continually in high demand nationwide. For years, nurses have elected to leave the field or have sought alternative professions instead of working in a traditional nursing role full-time. The pandemic brought into focus the need for work-life balance across professions. Whether strained from high-stress levels, financial upset, demanding hours or an overwhelming workload, nursing …

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The rise of non-traditional nursing

Culture and end-of-life caretaking

Deepa Iyengar, MD, MPH

Physician

July 7, 2021

Amidst beeping monitors, I sat holding my mother’s frail hand in mine with tears rolling down my face and an eerie silence within my soul. I was trying to make sense of the last 24 hours.

My mother had migrated to Houston after an early retirement at 55 to spend time with her granddaughter and me. But life had other plans, as she was diagnosed with breast cancer a year into …

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Culture and end-of-life caretaking

How to pay for women in medicine programs [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 6, 2021

“‘That’s great. You want to start a women in medicine program! How are you going to pay for it?’

This is the most common question and potential barrier from colleagues, leaders, and those who understand the value of these programs. We found that our two-year Women Leaders in Medicine program improved burnout, retention, …

The life cycle of medication consumption

Fery Pashang, PharmD

Meds

July 6, 2021

Photography

A person’s lifetime medication consumption has a familiar and predictable pattern. The more a person ages, the greater their number of taken medication. However, the public behavior in initiating medication has been changed compared to thirty years ago.

Nowadays, parents demand to get their hands on OTC meds for their infants and toddlers.

In this piece, I am interested …

Dying of loneliness: the COVID-19 epidemic in children and adolescents [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 5, 2021

“We know the ER’s revolving door will continue to spin for so many children and adolescents who seek help in the heat of their personal crisis. Some will need to stay in the hospital – to heal their bodies and minds and even fight for their lives. Some – the lucky ones …

These journal ads could not run today

Martha Rosenberg

Meds

July 5, 2021

Many drug ads in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s would offend today.

In an ad for Valium, we are told that the woman pictured (“Jan”) is “psychoneurotic” because she is unmarried at age 35. “You probably see many such Jans in your practice,” says the ad—“The unmarrieds with low self-esteem. Jan never found a man to measure up to her father.”

Valium was …

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These journal ads could not run today

Nothing prepared me for telehealth’s nightmare

Joyce Petrosky, PMHNP-BC

Conditions

July 5, 2021

The orders from the state seemed to come suddenly, although we all knew we would have to adjust our methods of treating our clients, the news wasn’t good, and seeing anyone in person was treacherous since many still thought it was a hoax and they didn’t believe they needed to be cautious. Some would wear a hazmat suit if they could get their hands on one. As a psychiatric nurse …

Meet the physician who educates patients with cartoons [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 4, 2021

Listen to psychiatrist Emily Watters’ work with the homeless population and how she got her start writing cartoons, educating patients using out-of-the-box communication strategies.

Emily Watters is a psychiatrist and can be reached at The Cartoon Shrink.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD articles, “Blood …

The dark truth of physician burnout

Tomi Mitchell, MD

Physician

July 4, 2021

Burnout among doctors is not something new. In fact, way before the pandemic, 69% of physicians reported they were somewhat or incredibly happy in 2020, before the pandemic started.

This number drastically fell to 49% when COVID-19 stepped in. This is a statistic that we need to be aware of.

For many of us, we embarked on our journey in medicine with naïve optimism. We stepped into medical school thinking about the …

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The dark truth of physician burnout

Let’s talk about vanishing twin syndrome [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 3, 2021

“For the folks who are either physicians or becoming care providers, I hope you choose to familiarize yourself with this odd yet common form of loss. I encourage you to respect a woman’s right to decide at what point and to what degree her fetus and its life or loss has …

5 financial truths every resident needs to know

Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH

Finance

July 3, 2021

July 1st is here, which means it’s the start of a new residency year. For interns, things can be nerve-wracking and scary. You may wonder if you remember enough information from medical school and hope you arrive at the right place at the right time this week. For the senior residents like me, we are elated to be almost done with training, but we are also starting to focus on …

To the patient who wants to die: a psychologist’s perspective [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 2, 2021

“I often think about how I can make you see these things about yourself that others see. I think about the ways I can tell you that things will get better even though the darkest of days is upon you right now.

But I know I can’t make you see these things; no …

8 scholarship tips for medical school

Trisha Chau

Education

July 2, 2021

First off, congratulations to the Class of 2025 for getting into medical school. With the pandemic restrictions lifting, enjoy the next few months doing the things you love because medical school will take an emotional and financial toll on you. According to AAMC, the median debt for medical students in 2019 was $200,000. Unfortunately, fundraising for scholarships was difficult for many organizations due to the pandemic despite more students seeking …

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8 scholarship tips for medical school

COVID vaccines’ tragic dance [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 1, 2021

“As a species, we have been an abject failure in dealing with a worldwide crisis. We politicize things for money, political reasons and some kind of weird power, even when it kills us in the process. We already have a World Health Organization (WHO). Would it be so difficult to staff it …

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COVID vaccines’ tragic dance [PODCAST]

Redefining what a hospital library should be

Abeer Arain, MD, MPH

Education

July 1, 2021

Have you ever been to one of those areas in the hospital called “the library” or “the educational/academic center”? No, I’m not talking about the athenaeum at the universities. The library we are talking about is the one at the teaching hospital specifically dedicated to the education of the trainee residents and fellows. Usually found on the first floor, it is a place where anyone can walk in and use …

The joylessness of harried medical leaders

Steve Adelman, MD

Physician

July 1, 2021

How sad when a PCP calls, saying, “My chief warned me that if I don’t dramatically improve my productivity, I’m going to be terminated.” Such doctors are often patient-centered listeners who cannot bear to shift from healer mode to assembly line mode.

Some of these docs learn how to better balance healing with task completion; others make a beeline for concierge or direct primary care practices; still others …

Bloated notes are a huge problem and a time suck [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 30, 2021

“From a charting standpoint, the sins of commission easily outnumber the sins of omission. Our group’s progress note template begins with a summary that eventually becomes the narrative for the discharge summary. Most of the time, most of the important stuff is in there. It’s just obscured by what data scientists technically …

You need a break from the front lines of health care

Dawn Sears, MD

Physician

June 30, 2021

The current era of health care delivery has been aptly compared with going to war against an invisible enemy that can attack anywhere, at any time and with novel means.

This invisible enemy was attacking the civilians as well as the “front line” with vigor.

We have attempted to learn on the fly and use our intelligence to develop a defensive strategy against the enemy’s ever-changing tactics and learn from prior battlefronts.

This …