The future of whole-person care: high-tech holistic medicine

Tech
August 8, 2020

When we think about holistic medicine, many assume that it requires human-to-human touch points and, therefore, doesn’t lend itself well to technology and innovations such as artificial intelligence. In fact, holistic medicine and whole-person care advocates often view technology as manufactured or impersonal and therefore dismiss its utility for health care. This is because there is a perception that health care tech values the human experience only for the purpose …

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There is endless profit potential to treat chronic diseases

Conditions
August 8, 2020

I have noticed several articles describing how antibiotic development has bankrupted some pharmaceutical companies because there isn’t enough potential profit in a ten-day course to treat multi-resistant superbug infections.

Chronic disease treatments, on the other hand, appear to be extremely profitable. A single month’s treatment with the newer diabetes drugs, COPD inhalers, or blood thinners costs over $500, which means well over $50,000 over an effective ten year patent for each …

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The impact of COVID on the Hispanic community [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 7, 2020
YouTube video

“All of our patients, but especially our most vulnerable Spanish-speaking patients, need to hear concrete, meaningful, and practical instructions on how to care for each other when they live in large multi-generational families, and positive stories from people who have successfully managed infection with COVID-19. They need to hear that, as their physicians, we are here for them. I want them …

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A COVID-19 conversation with 2 cardiologists [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 6, 2020
YouTube video

“Trainees like myself travel great distances from home in pursuit of higher edification. Yet the coronavirus makes us worry about the aged family we leave behind – parents and grandparents. A WhatsApp message ensuring they’ve stocked up on acetaminophen, toilet paper and canned soup (low sodium, of course) the only assuage to our anguish.

The rigors of medicine often demand sacrifice, sometimes …

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Being a neonatologist and a mother

Physician
August 6, 2020

Today at work, a mother asked me what I would do if it was my son in the isolette and not hers.

It’s not the first time I have been asked this. I understand where the question comes from, and yet I’m at a loss of what to say every time. Not because I haven’t pondered it before. No. It’s because I have asked myself the question far too many times: …

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How medical students can contribute during the pandemic [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 5, 2020
YouTube video

“We do not have to continue to blame external forces for the stresses upon us now. By organizing, mobilizing, and finding solutions to the problems facing us and our adopted community today, we can meet the current challenge to be of help, however we can. Perhaps, in this way, we can stop making pandemics a future generation’s problem to solve, and …

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The key to physician job security

Physician
August 5, 2020

It’s something we are taught from when we are very young and is a core middle class belief: work hard, get a qualification, and then you’ll be able to find a good employer who will send you a nice paycheck every month.

On some levels, this seems like an attractive option. Yet on so many others, it falls apart. For physicians in the United States, the concept of “employment” is relatively …

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It is not OK for physicians’ anxieties to harm their patients [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 4, 2020
YouTube video

“It is OK to be scared, but it is not OK to let our own anxieties harm our patients. As we tackle the numerous crises created by the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s acknowledge our fear and draw on the logic and clinical reasoning that we have spent years cultivating. We can be scared and scientific, anxious, but courageous. Let’s not create two …

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Doctors shouldn’t feel ashamed for wanting to protect themselves or their family [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 3, 2020
YouTube video

“Although I personally hope to continue to be at or near the frontlines, I understand those that are in a compromised position, and they shouldn’t feel ashamed for wanting to protect themselves or their family. There is no portion of the Hippocratic Oath that implicitly or explicitly states that physicians have a duty to patients above their own safety. Even though …

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Don’t pick your specialty based on the potential income you might make

Finance
August 3, 2020

When I speak to medical students and residents, their number one question is, “Should I follow my passion or choose a specialty that pays well?” With so many students finishing their training deeply in debt, they are feeling a push to go into a specialty that pays better than average, thinking that it will solve their debt problem. But is that a good idea?

Since we can pick anything we can …

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Patient no-shows often have complicated reasons behind them [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 2, 2020
YouTube video

“I typed up a brief response to the no show memo, hit reply, and then deleted the original message. It’s not that I am a fan of wasting time and resources, but for now, I have a general personal policy to never dismiss pregnant patients. I’d have to try to address her barriers to care.  Again.  Our clinic tended to be …

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7 habits of highly resilient physicians

Physician
August 2, 2020

Before the pandemic, we had an epidemic of physician burnout, with many physicians caught in a cycle of exhaustion, cynicism, and loss of purpose. All the change and uncertainty the virus has brought certainly doesn’t help! It’s now more imperative than ever that physicians build resilience to all the pressures and stress of our careers.

In the decade I’ve worked as a physician coach, I’ve seen seven habits, thought patterns, and …

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The weaponization of professionalism

Physician
August 2, 2020

It’s not every day you see hundreds of doctors flooding Twitter with pictures of themselves in swimwear. The trending hashtag #MedBikini arose when health care professionals began posting in solidarity to demonstrate how maintaining a life outside of the clinic, shockingly, does not detract from one’s merit as a physician. In fact, it makes them more human.

This past week, an article published in the Journal of Vascular …

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Practice empathy and compassion for the critically ill and dying [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 1, 2020
YouTube video

“It seems as though the looming reality for many of us is that we will have patients who need ventilators, and none will be available. It seems like we might benefit from remembering that we can still succeed in practicing medicine by being present with those suffering before us, even when we know we cannot cure them of disease.

In a more …

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If you want to be a physician-inventor, here’s what you should know [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 31, 2020
YouTube video

“If you have an employment agreement with a provision on intellectual property, have it reviewed by an attorney before you begin applying for patents. A good attorney should be able to give you some clarity. Suppose, however, that your employment agreement has muddied the waters a bit. In that case, you have a few different options, and all of them will …

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Pain management’s painfully fine line [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 30, 2020
YouTube video

“I find that managing chronic pain can be a bit of a dance between myself and the patient. Sometimes a little bit of a compromise. I always tell my patients that pain is subjective but many things can contribute to pain — certainly stress, lack of sleep, any emotional issues can make pain worse. Your pain is different than my pain. …

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Wife swap: a physician’s toxic work environment

Physician
July 30, 2020

“It’s not my fault that you chose to have children.”

Years after leaving my job, I still hear my boss’s words in my head.  He did not want to get married and or have children. He made that clear during my interview. He was also clear that he did not want anyone to perceive that I got special treatment for having a family.  When I left, I did not sue. I …

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I challenge you to discuss death

Education
July 30, 2020

My medical school’s secondary application, like that of many other medical schools, asked me to describe a personal or professional challenge or conflict and to explain how I worked to resolve it. However, unlike other medical schools, my school specified that they did not want to hear about the MCAT or another academic challenge.

For this question, I wrote about a challenge that I have been facing for most of my …

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A physician embraces the power of the word, “and” [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 29, 2020
YouTube video

“I struggle for words to describe life in the season of COVID-19. Depending on the day, I need at least a few adjectives: ‘peculiar,’ ‘fine, all things considered,’ ‘terrifying.’ ‘Joyous’ and ‘anxious’ certainly make odd bedfellows in my brain.

As a mother and physician living this new reality, I’ve been extra thankful for Irene, who taught me the power of “and.” Irene …

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