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Reducing death from COVID-19 pneumonia before widespread vaccination

Conditions

January 11, 2021

When the pandemic hit the U.S. – we were caught off guard. We were uncertain about how COVID-19 spread or how it killed. But amidst the chaos, health care providers have learned how to better care for infected patients today. Since March, we’ve learned that surprisingly simple actions can make a significant difference in both containing COVID-19 and improving patient outcomes.

For example, we now know mask-wearing, social distancing, and limiting …

How this surgeon beat a medical staff disciplinary action [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 10, 2021

“I recently represented a physician in a noteworthy peer review case at an academic medical center. The medical staff president initiated a complaint against a surgeon, who would later become my client. The complaint was that the surgeon inappropriately collected cash payment from an uninsured patient at the hospital’s point of …

How transparent were the COVID vaccine trials?

Daniel Hopkins, MD

Conditions

January 10, 2021

On March 2nd, 2020, as New York State announced its first proven case of COVID-19, a federal court there handed down a stunning decision. For 10 years, according to the court, the United States government illegally failed to hold drug companies accountable when they did not report, or inaccurately reported, crucial data about their drugs’ safety and efficacy.

Between 2007 and 2017, the court held, the Food …

When an epidemic of violence against health care workers meets a pandemic [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 9, 2021

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated factors that cause violence in the workplace. At no time in recent history will you find clinical health care workers under this degree of stress. Physicians and nurses are operating under high alert in hospitals and clinics while facing COVID deniers and abusive treatment (name-calling such …

Why states need to develop rural health outreach programs

Ashok A. Jagasia, MD, PhD

Policy

January 9, 2021

Disparities in rural health care have been well established with respect to socioeconomic status, race, and geography. COVID-19 brought these disparities to the surface within most rural communities in the United States, highlighting the limited access to health care specialists and subspecialists.

As an otolaryngologist, I have had the privilege and unique opportunity of serving two different communities: Chicago’s city dwellers and …

The side effect of the COVID vaccine that no one is talking about

Tuere Hughes-Kapenzi, MD, MBA

Conditions

January 9, 2021

7:42 a.m.: I got my first COVID vaccine today. I don’t feel a thing and almost wonder if I really got the injection. Then, within the first few minutes after receiving it, I feel a little lightheaded. But I realize I haven’t eaten yet for the morning. Luckily, the employee health staff had given me a water bottle, which I quickly down (after sanitizing my hands) and waiting my 15 …

Thriving in residency: tips for your personal, financial, and professional lives

Devesh Vashishtha, MD

Physician

January 9, 2021

The reality is just setting in: I’m months away from finishing my family medicine residency! I want to yell it from the mountaintops, but let me also channel my elation into some advice. This is for the next generation: all you phenomenal DO and MD students who are on the cusp of becoming physicians.

In deciding where to rank highly, I cannot overstate the value of being …

When your institution has a less than 1% hiring rate for Black residents [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 8, 2021

“As soon as I realized we had so few Black residents, I began to ask around to find out if there were reasons why. One person brought up the fact that we happen to be the smaller institution between 3 other larger universities within an hour away and even bigger world-class …

The dangers of selective empathy

Anonymous

Education

January 8, 2021

I go to medical school with a girl who is universally disliked, perhaps more than anyone I’ve met before. It began innocuously enough: She was too active in the group chat, too pushy about ordering class jackets, this and that.

In lecture, she barked out obscure answers like “Saturday Night Palsy” with physical force; her petite body careening forward in her chair, her class-jacketed hand spearing into the sky. But did …

Read more…

The dangers of selective empathy

Medicine is failing rural Americans

Michael McCarthy

Policy

January 8, 2021

In recent years, the divide between rural and urban areas of the United States has become more pronounced, with sharply divergent views on both social and economic policies. The results of this latest election show starkly that the divide persists, and indicate that the institutions that shape our nation are not successfully representing all portions of society.

One of those institutions appears to be medicine. A sign of this is how the public …

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Medicine is failing rural Americans

Medicine must create inclusive clinical trials [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 7, 2021

“Researchers should make clinical trials more accessible by providing patients with simple explanations of studies at a variety of locations, including community clinics and medical centers. Increased flexibility regarding transportation and visit timing is essential. Researchers should also allow the participation of people who do not speak English and those living with …

The R-word takes away people’s humanity

Al Etmanski

Conditions

January 7, 2021

Some of you may have heard it on the playground. Others might have used it in jest. I’m not going to write it. I’m just going to call it the R-word because it’s that disgusting.

It’s a slur against people with intellectual disabilities that you will see peppered in many news stories.

NFL player Janoris Jenkins was cut from the New York Giants for using the word; Khloé Kardashian promised to “do …

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The R-word takes away people’s humanity

It’s time to revisit the 4 R’s of the doctor-patient relationship

Gerald P. Corcoran, MD

Physician

January 7, 2021

“We have met the enemy in medical education, and he is us!”

My paraphrase of the “philosophy of Pogo” is pertinent to today’s crop of graduating medical students. We have inserted them into the most toxic environment for learning medicine, ever.

Dr. Michael Halberstam once stated that the most powerful treatment the ER had to offer (after CPR, of course) was “the sight of your own doctor at the bedside.” Yet look …

Beyond the medical lessons learned from COVID [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 6, 2021

“I am thankful to you SARS-CoV-2 virus as you allowed me to be human again, to make mistakes, and learn from them. You taught me to slow down so that I could reset and redefine my goals. You allowed me to have time for myself, to dream again, and plan my …

Knowledge is power: Why science and health literacy matters

Tista S. Ghosh, MD, MPH

Physician

January 6, 2021

As a physician epidemiologist and former public health official, I’m constantly struck by the sheer amount of disinformation that spreads related to COVID-19. I’ll routinely encounter myths about how masks actually cause viral spread. Or I’ll be told that drinking alcohol or raw, unpasteurized milk combats the virus or that putting hot pepper in food wards off viral illnesses. Meanwhile, conspiracy theories about 5G networks …

Care is no longer personal. Care is political. [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 5, 2021

“To care for dependents, the carer must be cared for, both for the sake of her charge and for her own sake. Without such basic infrastructure, we have anxiety, confusion, and chaos.

Contagion knows no independent individuals. Its boundaries are not the boundaries of our skin. It relies on the inevitable sociality of human …

The historical medical significance of carrots

Michael Hefferon, MD

Conditions

January 5, 2021

An excerpt from Medical Myths: A Sceptic’s Journey.

Most people have heard the joke about rabbits and vitamin A: “Are carrots good for your eyesight?”

Well, I never saw a rabbit wearing glasses!

Vitamin A, one of the essential groups of vitamins, is …

Unpacking the timely need to address the lack of diversity in medical media

Trisha Kaundinya

Education

January 5, 2021

Multifaceted diversity continues to be a challenge to achieve in medicine, which is concerning given the irreplaceable value that a diverse community of clinicians provides to research, patient care, and medical education. Current initiatives to expand diversity are centered around academic mentorship models, in which striving to teach more students the life sciences and frontiers of biomedicine as early as elementary or middle school can provide critical exposure and pique …

A medical student’s 100 days of COVID [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

January 4, 2021

“The first 100 days of COVID made me confront and reflect on a lot of aspects of myself and life, as philosophical as that sounds. Often times, I’m exhausted talking about COVID every single day and frustrated because we should be in a much better place right now as a nation. The …

Why COVID PCR tests aren’t as accurate as you think

Balram Khehra, MD

Conditions

January 4, 2021

Recently, I started suspecting that RT-PCR testing was not foolproof at ruling out COVID disease after seeing a fair number of patients with typical signs and symptoms but a negative PCR. I have encountered some patients hospitalized with typical COVID pattern pneumonia, thromboembolism with multiple negative PCR tests. Some of these folks even had exposure history and the signature hallmarks unique to this virus, like multiple peripheral opacities on CT …

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