Hospital color codes, and what they mean

Physician
February 9, 2017

Hospitals have lots of codes. The most famous one is Code Blue (medical emergency), but it turns out there are lots of color-based codes. This can be confusing, as the connection between the code colors and the situations they represent are usually tenuous at best. Today we explore all of the types of codes, and shed some light these arcane medical euphemisms.

Code Blue

What it sounds like it means: Aggressively-scented cologne from Armani.

What it actually means: …

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Should we stop burping babies?

Conditions
February 7, 2017

One evening this past week, after my wife finished feeding our 5-week-old daughter, I took over baby duty. I sat her up on my lap and gave her a few thumps on the back. Not hard enough to hurt, obviously, but just to make her burp.

She didn’t burp. So I gave her a couple more gentle-but-firm whacks, still without a result.

And then I remembered the phone call I got a …

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Should we treat anti-vaxxers with more respect?

Physician
February 7, 2017

Years ago, when I was less flexible, I took up Pilates. My instructor, Jim, a charming chap with an infectious laughter, was a 9/11 truther. I’d egg him on to hear about his conspiracy theories. Jim believed that 9/11 was concocted by Bush and Halliburton so that the U.S. could invade Iraq to capture their oil. He thought that United Flight 93 never took off. Whatever happened after 9/11 became …

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How running marathons helped prepare me for medical training

Education
February 5, 2017

It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

You often hear this analogy about the medical training process, but, having run a few marathons myself, I think it’s particularly apt. I’m working my way through my fourth and final year of residency now, and I can attest that running marathons was one of the better things that prepared me mentally for the challenges of med school and beyond.

26.2 miles is no trivial …

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The doctor fired for having cancer speaks up

Physician
February 3, 2017

I recently reported on Stephanie Waggel, the doctor fired by a prestigious U.S. hospital for getting cancer (story also the Washington Post). In a transcription of her whistleblower video, Stephanie describes how she nearly died due to obstruction of medical care:

It started during my intern year of residency. Which, bizarrely, was the happiest year of my life. And all my friends are …

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Have a mean patient? Don’t take it personally.

Physician
February 3, 2017

My brother-in-law, Ron, was a curmudgeon; grumpy, sullen, even downright mean at times.

By blood, he and my husband Bill were cousins. In the 1950s, when Bill was just a child, his mother died unexpectedly, and Ron’s mother took Bill in to live with her and her four children. They were an African-American family living in the midst of a middle-class, predominantly white Connecticut township. Their home, located on a wealthy …

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A physician’s first code. See how it turned out.

Physician
February 2, 2017

“CODE BLUE, 7 SOUTH. CODE BLUE, 7 SOUTH.” I’m up and out of my call room bed before fully regaining consciousness from my light sleep. It’s 4 AM. I should feel ready: I’ve trained with simulations labs, mock codes, and test questions. I passed my CPR and ACLS courses. I’ve done chest compressions as an intern. But this is different. I’m the resident on call, and if I get there first, I’ll be running the …

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A letter from doctors to our patients

Physician
February 1, 2017

Dear patients,

We are happy to have you in our lives.  We came into medicine to take care of you.  Some of us because we wanted to help you to win the fight against cancer.  Others of us because we love delivering your babies.   Others because we wanted to have the skill to make sure you survive that heart attack or that terrible accident.  Others because we wanted to do our …

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The curious case of a swollen scrotum

Conditions
February 1, 2017

It’s almost 7 p.m., and I’m handed the chart of a man in his sixties. “Can you see this one first,” the nurse says, “he needs an ultrasound.” I skim the triage note, which is often like reading the blurb at the back of the DVD. If it says “pain all over for eight months,” it’s not likely to be a hot new rental.

Frank Martin (name changed) has been sent from a walk-in …

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The story of a rare, serious complication of mononucleosis

Conditions
January 31, 2017

Thirteen years ago, I received a call from the mother of a college freshman who was concerned because her son had been diagnosed with mononucleosis during finals week.  She felt something was not quite right and asked me for advice.

“Trust your instinct, go get him, and bring him home.”

She brought him to my clinic the following day.  He looked mildly ill.  His vitals were stable; he was fatigued, slightly dehydrated, …

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Medicine is not destroying your marriage

Physician
January 29, 2017

Every medical couple knows that the lifestyle and career choice brings with it adjustments and sacrifices. Physician spouses and partners often take on more housework and childcare to accommodate long working hours. Physicians may work unusual hours that lead to late-night arrivals, missed bedtime tuck-ins, and less face-to-face time. This can lead many couples to blame medicine for their struggling relationship.

Take the example of a resident who has been working …

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The difficulty of maintaining relationships throughout medical training

Education
January 29, 2017

It was 1 a.m. on a Sunday night on call, and we were waiting patiently for admissions in the resident workroom. We were four near-perfect strangers, yet we had one thing in common: our challenges we faced in maintaining relationships. Was it truly because of our shared profession of medicine or because of our similar personalities that led us into the field? We realized we struggled preserving our current relationships …

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A young black physician’s letter to future black doctors

Education
January 29, 2017

Dear future colleague,

What a tremendous thing it is to know you are becoming a physician!  You are devoting your life and talents to the betterment of the health of your future patients, your local community, and our entire society.  You have responded to the call to serve in a profession that is hundreds of years old, steeped in tradition but vehemently progressive, always changing, and vowing to remain abreast of …

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Do patients with celiac disease need probiotics?

Conditions
January 28, 2017

One of the most common questions that I receive from patients diagnosed with celiac disease is if they should take a probiotic. The only available treatment for celiac disease, an autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of the absorptive surface of the small intestine which develops in genetically compatible individuals, is a gluten free diet. However, patients and providers often question whether supplementation with probiotics may hasten the healing process.

Probiotics are …

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Why this physician can’t be her family’s doctor

Physician
January 27, 2017

The day I got into medical school, my uncle said to me, “You are going to be a doctor!  We finally have a doctor in the family.  You are going to take care of your uncle in his old age.”  Other family members echoed the same sentiment.  First doctor in the family.  Now, we will all have free medical advice.

As I progressed through medical school, then internship and residency, then …

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Misophonia and suicide: Sound thinking is required

Conditions
January 26, 2017

If you Google “misophonia” you might be shocked to find numerous articles discussing the tragic suicide of 52-year-old Russian-born scholar, Dr. Michelle Lamarche Marrese. Journalist Joyce Cohen was the first to report Marrese’s suicide in the New York Post piece “She could hear everything and it cost her her life.” Cohen explains that she and Marrese had been corresponding about Marrese’s struggles with misophonia for over 14 months, and that …

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There is something rotten inside the medical profession

Physician
January 26, 2017

In the year it has taken for me to finish my medical residency as a junior doctor, two of my colleagues have killed themselves. I’ve read articles that refer to suicide amongst doctors as the profession’s “grubby little secret,” but I’d rather call it exactly how it is: the profession’s shameful and disgusting open secret.

Medical training has long had its culture rooted in ideals of suffering. Not so much for …

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Being a woman doctor in a man’s world

Physician
January 25, 2017

Last week I was in a session with one of my coaching clients, a successful black female physician who is the owner of her own practice. As we were concluding she made a statement to me “I feel like medicine has just sucked the feminine right out of me.”  Immediately I related.

As women in the professional world, we are always in competition with men whether we are aware of it, …

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Patient death by data: A poem

Physician
January 23, 2017

“Afternoon,” the doctor says. “What brings you here today?”
A cough? A cold? A belly ache? Some feelings of dismay?
Well, tell me just what ails you, and I’ll try to do my best,
To sort through all your problems and put your fears to rest.

But give me just a moment — my computer must get started.
Without attention to its needs, your visit goes uncharted.
You say your chest is hurting? And you’re really …

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There’s absolutely no way to stop a cough. Here’s why.

Conditions
January 23, 2017

Coughing is one of the most common reasons parents bring their children to see me. And I can understand why. Coughing is noisy and uncomfortable and gets kids dirty looks in schools and subways. Even worse, coughing keeps kids and their parents awake. We’ve all been there, and no one likes to cough.

But coughing is there, usually, for a reason. Almost all coughs are from upper respiratory infections (that’s fancy …

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