Two weeks ago, my piece, “Cannabinoids are medicine, but patients aren’t getting the care they need,” was published. Since that time, I’ve heard from quite a few physicians who admitted that they did not know card-mills existed or, if they did, how they were different from Cannabis Specialist Physicians. From their collective perspective, pot was pot. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to …
Cannabis card-mills have conflicts of interest
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unparalleled shifts in the practice of medicine. Telemedicine has quickly become a staple of medical practices across the nation in response to the pandemic. As of October 2020, use of telemedicine claims had increased by more than 3,000 percent compared to one year prior. By the summer of 2020, 4 in 5 specialists were utilizing virtual care and …
Telemedicine is the new house call
I urge the president to use executive action to cancel student debt. As president, he can take immediate action on student debt which would be a lifeline for students, parents, and their families.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis like we have never seen before. Adding the heavy burden of student debt is a recipe for disaster for millions of families. Student debt cancellation would provide much-needed relief during the …
Physicians of color need student loan forgiveness
“This is our call to action. I have the experience, knowledge, expertise, and deep passion for teaching every medical student these skills. I cannot do it alone. I need you. We need to do this together. I am seeking those of you who are caring, innovative clear thinkers involved in medical …
Self-care is the Rx we were never taught to write [PODCAST]
“Wait, are you Chinese? I don’t want to get COVID.”
First of all, I am Vietnamese, and second, not all Asians look alike. And third, what? Those were the thoughts going through my head while working at the San Carlos Respiratory Clinic in April 2020. Initially shivering from the cold weather underneath my scrubs and PPE, I could now feel my body hot with anger as I listened to a patient’s …
A physician’s response to anti-Asian racism
A gastroenterologist client of mine in Florida is very business savvy. From the beginning of our 12-year relationship, we planned to include real estate as part of his overall diversified portfolio alongside the equity investments in his retirement account.
Slowly but surely, with the savings leftover after deferring the maximum amount he could into retirement plans, he built up portfolios of real estate for income purposes that included buying an office …
Cost segregation: an underutilized strategy for physicians who own real estate
A few years ago, a close friend of mine met a guy who knocked her off her feet. It had been a while since she’d met anyone whom she really liked and she was deliriously happy, so much so that we didn’t see her for two months.
By the time we did, she’d become both a rabid soccer fan and French bulldog lover, neither of which she’d been eight weeks prior. …
Why your friend should never be your doctor
The old saying that says “practice makes perfect” is a basic rule taught to every resident starting their training. The follow-up questions that pose themselves: Is it true? How much time does it need to become perfect? What type of practice?
Time was answered partially by the journalist Malcolm Gladwell and his famous 10,000 hours rule; if one dedicates 10,000 hours for a skill, one will become an expert. If you …
When it comes to medicine, what kind of practice makes perfect?
“We need full transparency and empowerment of patients and doctors to make wise decisions. We must renew and restore the sanctity of the patient-doctor relationship. We need to stop pretending that health care can be ‘free,’ stop calling premium price prepaid care ‘insurance,’ and use market forces like choice and competition …
Why socialized health care is not right for America [PODCAST]
As an economics major entering med school, I was intimidated by a sea of classmates who had a deeper understanding of s-enantiomers than me. Once I hunkered down through first-semester biochemistry, the practical tools developed in an economics program have brought dividends throughout the rest of my career. Since it’s about time for another crop of frosh and sophomores to start thinking about their futures, here are a few points …
An ode to econ: the best major for a would-be MD
“Health care delivery will always be inherently unpredictable and challenging. Those drawn to medicine are among our most resilient, but the current landscape reveals acutely a rise in burnout that exceeded acceptable levels even before the COVID-19 outbreak. Such innate resilience in clinicians and clinical care teams is an individual and strategic …
How to protect your resilience [PODCAST]
“This is not what I signed up for.
Have you ever said this when you are rushing home 1.5 hours after the last patient left and you still haven’t finished all your charting? You grab a handful of forms to take home with you with the hopeful expectation that you will get them …
You don’t have to drown in the paperwork [PODCAST]
After entering Gate D at Fenway Park, John had his temperature taken and verified that he was symptom-free. As he rounded the corner, his friend heard him whisper through his mask, “I think this is real.” He was referring to the calming sounds of a string trio emanating from the concourse, next to the FIELD BOX 54-70 sign. Vaccine day was finally …
For the love of baseball and music: a Boston Hope Music story
In March, thousands of medical students received their residency match results. For most specialties, match rates for graduating U.S. MD seniors have typically remained above 90 percent. This almost certain job security is what allows most medical students to consider taking on astronomical amounts of student debt.
The individualist message is clear throughout medical school: Focus on yourself, your achievements, and hope for the best.
Absent from these …
The rise and fall of Hahnemann University Hospital
I am a trained neurosurgeon with decades of experience. However, I also have a passion for real estate.
So far, I have managed to amass a real estate investment portfolio of over $250 million in assets by working with our investors and co-development partners.
As a medical professional, I can relate to your current financial standing. You’ve managed to work your way into your current, high net-worth position(s) and are earning “good …
Physicians can practice medicine and build wealth through passive real estate investing
“I now say getting divorced was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Through that painful circumstance, I rediscovered me. I learned more about myself and my ability to do hard things than at any point in my life since medical training. I’m not the same person that I …
How divorce helped this physician [PODCAST]
I’ve been searching for a way to describe my experience as a third-year medical student until recently, when I stumbled upon two new terms: moral injury and emotional labor. Moral injury is a phrase coined to describe an insult to a person’s moral conscience or values. It happens as a result of actions that transgress his or her “deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.” It was originally used to describe …
Moral injury in medical school
When novice medical students such as myself learn how to counsel patients, the primary didactic focus is on developing awareness of how factors such as racism, socioeconomic status, environmental stressors, and social supports may predispose patients to or protect patients from acquiring disease and mediate adherence. But in this discussion of patients and the decisions that they may make before, during, and after a clinic visit, we often overlook personality.
As …
Under-addressed mediators of adherence: personality in patients
“One of the best solutions to rising obesity and non-communicable disease rates lie in primary care. Medical professionals can influence the U.S. food system indirectly through demand and collective purchasing power by educating their patients to choose and purchase healthier options. Merely improving nutrition education succeeds in shifting people’s thinking about food.
Simultaneous …
Put nutrition counseling in primary care [PODCAST]
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated America’s health, taking more than 500 thousand American lives, upending the economy, and perpetuating racial
The U.S. …
The pandemic’s epidemic: opioid use disorder and subpar suboxone access
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