Positive growth from the COVID-19 pandemic [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 11, 2021
YouTube video

“The pandemic has been difficult, but it has managed to change my perspective for the better. I mourn for the suffering and loss we have experienced as humanity, and moving forward, I have a new sense of appreciation. I am hopeful for the future, and I know we are in this together. We should try to focus on appreciation, resilience, adaptability, and self-discipline. This is the most difficult …

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Positive growth from the COVID-19 pandemic [PODCAST]

Recommending yoga to your patients? Consider this first.

Physician
February 11, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and highlighted many health issues, particularly those suffering from chronic pain.

An estimated 50 million people in the U.S. live with chronic pain, of which approximately 19.6 million experience high-impact chronic pain that interferes with life, social, and occupational activities. Regardless of the pathology of pain, chronic pain may involve Read more…

Recommending yoga to your patients? Consider this first.

Physicians need growth days

Physician
February 11, 2021

Physicians are overwhelmed and burned out. We have an epidemic of “too busy.” Many of us think we could get so much more accomplished if we had more time. Why aren’t we taking the time? Doctors need to start taking growth days. These aren’t sick days, mental health days or vacation days. Growth days are days strategically taken during the month that are specifically meant for personal growth. This could …

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Physicians need growth days

#ThisIsOurShot to end the pandemic [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 10, 2021
YouTube video

“Vaccines have been around as early as 1776 when Edward Jenner first pioneered the smallpox vaccine and Louis Pasteur produced a rabies vaccine. As a microbiologist’s child, I grew up hearing these stories from my father and thinking of these men as heroes. Vaccines have been proven so effective and safe …

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#ThisIsOurShot to end the pandemic [PODCAST]

Gun and health care workplace violence: Dr. Lindley Dodson’s tragic death

Policy
February 10, 2021

As a pediatric emergency physician in Chicago, I am no stranger to the effects of gun violence in our patient population and society.  But what do we do when gun violence is turned on our own community as physicians?

Recently a beloved pediatrician in Austin, Texas, Dr. Lindley Dodson, was held hostage and killed in a murder-suicide carried out by another pediatrician with whom she had no relationship. This senseless tragedy has …

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Gun and health care workplace violence: Dr. Lindley Dodson’s tragic death

What the PlayStation 5 can teach the vaccine rollout

Conditions
February 10, 2021

It’s no surprise that the PlayStation 5 (PS5) has been extremely popular since its launch in November, with over four million consoles sold since launch. However, what is surprising is that the PS5 has broken all launch month gaming hardware sales records ever, despite its steep prices at $500 for the full console and $400 for the digital edition, not to mention its launch in the …

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What the PlayStation 5 can teach the vaccine rollout

The attack in Buffalo, Minnesota: a primary care physician’s perspective 

Physician
February 10, 2021

You might be next.  

I began my career as a family physician in Buffalo, MN in 2002. I have been an extremely productive doctor for 20 years. For context, I can assure the reader that my ratings and reviews are excellent, and I  speak to the common primary care experience. I was a very green attending when I showed up in Buffalo for my first attending job. …

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The attack in Buffalo, Minnesota: a primary care physician’s perspective 

Nephrology and kidney care during the pandemic [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 9, 2021
YouTube video

“COVID-19 wreaks havoc on multiple areas of the body, and myself and my fellow frontline workers across the globe have been forced to quickly identify what tools work best in our quest to keep our patients alive.

While we’re working to identify which technologies can improve our patients’ outcomes, it’s encouraging that …

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Nephrology and kidney care during the pandemic [PODCAST]

After a stroke, a physician experiences true vulnerability

Physician
February 9, 2021

“I think I’m having a stroke.”

The words struggled to leave my mouth as I spoke to the 9-1-1 operator. Emotionally in disbelief, the words seemed so unusual to say in the first person. Ten minutes earlier, overwhelming nausea and drenching sweats woke me abruptly from sleep. Thinking it was something I ate, I immediately regretted the preceding meal that must have been responsible. My attempt to get to the bathroom …

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After a stroke, a physician experiences true vulnerability

Nursing home workers at catastrophic levels of burnout and trauma

Conditions
February 9, 2021

It’s been almost a year since nursing home workers began fighting on the front lines of COVID-19. They’ve witnessed and experienced extreme trauma. They’ve seen seniors they care for suffer in fear and loneliness during prolonged and repeated lockdowns.  They’ve seen residents fall catastrophically ill and too many of them die.

More than 17,000 seniors are dead from COVID-19 in Canada; Read more…

Nursing home workers at catastrophic levels of burnout and trauma

Reforming the peer review process [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 8, 2021
YouTube video

“The peer-review process is fallible, slow, and biased, and it takes advantage of the scientific community’s altruism. We need to keep pushing the conversation forward about making publishing more equitable, timely, accessible, and fair. An obvious and easy way to begin is to pay the experts who perform the peer reviews. …

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Reforming the peer review process [PODCAST]

How physicians can engage on social media

Physician
February 8, 2021

During a casual scroll through social media, I often hear the voice of my friend and fellow pediatrician warning, “Do not engage!”

Generally speaking, this is almost always the correct advice. The rise of various social media platforms, the ability to rapidly share information and disinformation, the growing culture of doing one’s own “research,” and the apparent difficulty in separating reputable from non-reputable sources online has created the perfect storm. In …

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How physicians can engage on social media

Why health care fails to deliver better value in patient care

Policy
February 8, 2021

There is a strong push for health care to move towards greater value-based care (VBC) arrangements. The prospect of VBC holds the opportunity to re-create partnerships designed to increase health care sustainability by strategically improving processes, care delivery, and patient outcomes to achieve higher quality output at a decreased cost. Furthermore, the held potential will not be optimized until providers, payers, patients, and communities are connected in this common goal …

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Why health care fails to deliver better value in patient care

Stop the us vs. them mentality in medicine

Physician
February 8, 2021

As a foreign medical graduate and a multiple-time career changer — from being a doctor to a hospital process improvement and leadership coach to a business professor to a transformational career coach for female physicians — I have closely examined the U.S. health care industry from various lenses.

The one thing that stands out for me is the us vs. them attitude. Us being physicians and them being administrators.

I have seen …

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Stop the us vs. them mentality in medicine

Doctors are killing themselves, and who is taking notice? [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 7, 2021
YouTube video

“I can do better. We can do better. Please partner with me and advocate for the ability for doctors and residents in our profession to receive medical and psychiatric care without fear of losing our licenses or having to face stigma and judgment. It can save lives. Please, we are more …

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Doctors are killing themselves, and who is taking notice? [PODCAST]

Why the preservation of the Affordable Care Act should matter to you [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 6, 2021
YouTube video

“Is the ACA perfect? Not by a long shot. In Kentucky, where I live, there are only 2 insurers selling individual policies on the exchange. A Silver plan for my husband and myself costs $1,800 per month in premiums, with a $13,600 deductible and an out-of-pocket maximum of $14,600.  Therefore, the total …

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Why the preservation of the Affordable Care Act should matter to you [PODCAST]

A physician’s mid-career and mid-life success

Physician
February 6, 2021

A mid-life crisis, re-assessment, re-envision. Hollywood’s cliché version epitomized by Chevy Chase driving the “family truckster” while flirting with Christie Brinkley and later trying to skinny-dip with her. Of course, it is more than that.

Researcher, Brene Brown, calls it the unraveling. It is a pause. Turning off auto-pilot. A re-evaluation of goals. Clinically, it is called a mid-life transition or stage of adult development. It can be midlife or mid-career …

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A physician’s mid-career and mid-life success

In the midst of our COVID crisis, we must learn to take care of ourselves. And each other.

Physician
February 6, 2021

Applause every evening, volunteers sewing masks, personal phone calls, and check-ins – these are a few examples of the support that helped us get through the initial, brutal onslaught of COVID in New York City last spring.

A year later, many hospitals across the country are full to bursting, the staff is exhausted, and medical science is still unable to save thousands of patients from dying in isolation. And we know …

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In the midst of our COVID crisis, we must learn to take care of ourselves. And each other.

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