Dear Mom and Dad: Are you calling your pediatrician’s office too often?

Physician
February 13, 2018

I work as a pediatrician in a bustling metropolis, in an outpatient setting of a world-renowned academic center. One of those non-profit hospitals you see in television ads. For the last three years, our outpatient encounters have plummeted, and the mothership has put all efforts into recuperating financial losses. Meanwhile, our office phones are ringing off the hook, and we cannot seem to hire enough nursing staff to deal with …

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In defense of FOX’s The Resident

Physician
February 13, 2018

The public’s apparently insatiable appetite for medical drama continues unabated as yet another prime-time TV show set in a hospital has hit our screens. FOX’s The Resident has generated discussion like no other. This may simply be due to the fact it’s the first major launch in the era of widespread social media, but it seems to have enraged a vast swathe of our ranks. Has The Resident crossed a …

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To aspiring physician-writers: It’s time to write that book!

Physician
February 12, 2018

In 2011, my first novel was published. It is a medical novel, and, unsurprisingly, since I practiced as a nephrologist for many years, it takes place in a dialysis unit. I learned a lot from writing this book, seeing it published and living with the consequences. Since its publication, many professionals have confided to me that they harbor a secret desire to write a book. I want to share my …

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Medical school admissions: Patience is a virtue

Education
February 11, 2018

For patients, being patient can be the most difficult part of receiving health care. For some, this ends in the waiting room, but others, unfortunately, anxiously await insurance approval, test results, surgery, transplants, and sometimes — even death.

However, in medicine, patients aren’t the only ones who need patience. It’s important that physicians learn to be patient as well; something that is much easier said than done for many type A …

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Think twice before you give a hug

Conditions
February 10, 2018

I’m usually a hugger. When I see people I haven’t seen for a while or want to acknowledge someone in an open-hearted way, I often will automatically reach for a hug. Physical acknowledgment is usually perceived as a sign of warmth. But not always. In the last few years, I have noticed that this automatic hug can actually cause harm or insult even though my intent is not to.

I learned …

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Learn to see beauty in death

Physician
February 9, 2018

We physicians stand witness to countless tragedies in our careers.

At some point, as we stand by the bedside of a dying patient, comfort a heartbroken relative or officially call a death. We learn that love and loss, sorrow and joy are intertwined. They depend upon each other. They are two sides of the same coin. Dealing with loss after loss, we learn to look for the beauty in all of …

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7 tips for branding: What doctors need to know

Physician
February 8, 2018

When we think of a brand, we usually think of companies such as Apple or Coca-Cola with their recognizable logos and colors. We may also think about celebrities, such as Beyoncé and the Kardashians, who have large-scale exposure and garner massive attention.

But, what is a brand? A brand is a particular identity or image that’s regarded as useful or valuable. And, a brand’s identity is how a business wants to …

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The story behind a cadaver: Fall down, get back up. Even after you’ve passed out

Education
February 7, 2018

I was taught anatomy and physiology by a pediatrician-turned-professor who found in academia an opportunity to meld his love of medicine with a propensity for the performing arts. His lectures were scripted and theatrical, and he gifted a generation of students with an awe and understanding of the human body that would serve as the foundation for hundreds of medical careers. Because he was a physician, ours was one of …

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Change the experience: a Muslim medical student’s story

Education
February 6, 2018

I watched the young woman across from me wrap the soft stretch of fabric around her face. She folded a part of it that hung close to her ears and loosened it slightly, put her fingers slowly under the fabric and experimented with how much room there was. Would a stethoscope earpiece fit through each side easily? She unwrapped it again. Repeated the same finger test.

She had chosen a light …

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Financial independence means nothing if you don’t have your health

Finance
February 6, 2018

Money is great.  It provides security, options, and freedom.  If you work hard, practice relative deprivation, and save enough money to become financially independent, you will have reached a commendable milestone.

However, financial independence means nothing if you don’t have your health.  It doesn’t matter that you have $5 million if you aren’t around to enjoy it, or if your health is so poor you can’t travel, start a business, teach a class …

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What I learned from the ICU (other than medicine)

Physician
February 5, 2018

This week I had some particularly emotionally tough cases at work, and it got me thinking about life in general and how, in spite of having a tough job, I have learned so much from it.

When I think of childhood diseases, there are the ones that are chronic, the ones that let you process that your baby is sick and has a potential life-threatening condition. You have weeks and months to …

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5 mistakes this doctor made when negotiating his contract

Physician
February 5, 2018

The final year of any residency is a time of accelerated independence, moonlighting, and an intense search for that first job as an attending. This decision is critical as one embarks on a life-long career in medicine, and it will undoubtedly blend a mix of analytics, emotion, and finance into the final analysis.

With a bit of candor, I want to share the mistakes I made when accepting my first contract …

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What to do when a patient wants to leave the hospital against medical advice

Physician
February 5, 2018

There’s an interesting article in the Journal of Hospital Medicine on what to do when a patient wants to leave the hospital against medical advice. After reading and rereading it, I had to disagree with the conclusion, but it took me a bit to get there because the article, with its confusing use of terms, is a masterpiece of obfuscation. The most obvious example is the oxymoronic use of the term “AMA …

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Should physicians pay off debts or invest? Here’s a detailed answer.

Finance
February 4, 2018

We’re going to address the most common question I see. Should you pay off debt or use your money to invest? Over and over again it is asked, always with slightly different details. 95% of the time, the answer is a simple “It depends.” So today, we’re going to talk about what it depends on. I’ve written about this topic before, but it has been six years. I …

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Concierge medicine sucks for specialists. Here’s why.

Physician
February 3, 2018

As a private practice specialist in an affluent metropolitan area, I am often inundated with requests for consultation by local residents and primary physicians. That’s fine — it’s what I do, and it’s what I enjoy doing. Hey, it pays the bills, and I won’t complain about that.

Concierge medicine has taken a foothold locally, and this means more referrals directly from doctors who insist we take care of their patients …

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MKSAP: 75-year-old man with very severe COPD

Conditions
February 3, 2018

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.

A 75-year-old man is seen for routine follow-up for very severe COPD. He has constant dyspnea and air hunger and spends most of the day in a chair. He has had no change in baseline cough and sputum production. He has had multiple COPD exacerbations that required ICU admission and intubation. He …

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Let academic physicians recover more of their clinical revenue. Here’s why.

Physician
February 2, 2018

I spent considerable time after college working in academic labs being indoctrinated with the theory that publication is the currency of academic value and that researchers should always want to have their work printed in the journal most cited by other journals. You are supposed to be impressed when somebody claims that he or she is from a highly ranked university or institution, as these well-regarded institutions are synonymous with high achievement.

That all changed for me during residency when I met …

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On mountains and miscarriage: a physician’s story of loss

Physician
February 2, 2018

I feel the mountain in my bones. The methodical plodding of feet over uneven terrain, a meditation, the grace of a single forward path, with no decisions, no guilt or what-ifs, no fear. Just forward movement, forward momentum. I hear Mary Oliver’s words at my core: “I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention … how to be idle and blessed.” It’s taken …

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Segregation in the medical school classroom

Education
January 31, 2018

“Are you a left-sider or a right-sider?” my classmate asked with a puzzled look during an end-of-the-year dinner among first-year medical students. I was confused. He repeated himself then answered. “Do you sit on the left or the right side in class … that’s right; you sit on the right.” He then mentioned that everyone present was a “right-sider.” Nearly everyone was white.

For the past 18 months, we sat in …

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It’s important to proactively manage your resident progress. Here’s how.

Physician
January 31, 2018

Physician training is an extremely high stakes business, not only for the patients that will be under the care of the eventual independent, fully-trained, board-certified doctor, but for the trainee herself. The financial and time costs of the entire training process are enormous. To become derailed from the board certification path can have significant and permanent career consequences. With so much at stake, what does a resident do when she …

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