Is your partner a doctor? Be prepared for these destructive comments.

Education
October 29, 2016

If your partner is a doctor or medical student, prepare yourself for dozens — possibly hundreds — of conversations about their career. If you’re lucky, these conversations are pleasant moments in which you get to show pride about your partner’s accomplishments, discuss the challenges openly, or talk about something you have learned as an outsider looking into the medical establishment.

Unfortunately, many of us experience a far more frustrating reality when …

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Make a good impression on your patients. Here’s how.

Physician
October 27, 2016

Patients forming an opinion of your practice are doing so in a matter of seconds. And some of the latest research on first impressions, suggest that it may even be within the blink of an eye. Regardless of the length of time, first impressions are powerful and very difficult to reverse. So, if a patient has formed a bad opinion of you and your staff, during the first point of …

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Don’t use garlic to treat vaginal yeast infections

Conditions
October 26, 2016

Vaginal yeast infections are common, up to 75 percent of women will have at least one and 5 percent of women suffer from chronic yeast infections (meaning four or more a year). Many women out of frustration with allopathic medicine (preventing recurrent yeast infections can be challenging) or because of their beliefs turn to alternative medicine options. More and more I am hearing about vaginal garlic.

The problem with many alternative …

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This doctor stopped telling patients to lose weight. Here’s why.

Conditions
October 21, 2016

Several years ago, I was meeting a young woman in my clinic for the first time. She was healthy but had been obese most of her adult life, even though she had tried many methods of losing weight. We spoke for a few minutes about diet and exercise, and she agreed to see the nutritionist.

A few months later, she came back to check her progress. She had lost weight, about …

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11 things your psychiatrist wants you to know

Physician
October 21, 2016

There are a lot of misconceptions about psychiatrists and the way we practice, mainly because our sphere of medicine is so vastly different from that of any other medical specialty (and yes, I have an MD!) Here are a few thoughts I hope will help you understand us and our field a little better.

1. Yes, we all have clocks in our offices. We watch the time to pace ourselves, not …

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Stop the competition in medical school

Education
October 21, 2016

Medical school attracts very similar kind of people. Most of us are high-achieving, intelligent people with the common goal of helping others. It is beautiful to think of all of the potential patients we could serve working together. Applying to medical school and medical education often suppresses that potential.

Somewhere in between all of the courses one must take to enter medical school and the dreadful MCAT, it becomes a number …

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Don’t assume that you know what a doctor looks like

Physician
October 20, 2016

Recently, an African American female physician was prevented from providing help to a passenger in distress on a Delta airlines flight because she didn’t fit the flight attendant’s image of what a doctor looked like.

The racial and gender issues that this event highlight are readily apparent.    As a South Asian, I have to say I’ve never been told I don’t look like a doctor on a racial basis.  If anything, …

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Growing up in a medical family: The good and the bad

Physician
October 20, 2016

Modern families are an ever-changing nucleus of the pursuit of happiness, well-being, success and security. Medical families are no exception to that; in fact, I believe they are deeply centered on such values and aspirations. While some might believe that growing up in a medical family is a blessing, others may tell you it’s a bit of a bittersweet reward.

Growing up is a tough job, regardless of who your parents …

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Syncope at 35,000 feet: A physician’s harrowing story

Physician
October 18, 2016

I am sharing this account of a serious medical emergency on a transoceanic flight because I hope it helps other health care providers assist people in the future and learn from the difficulties I encountered.

About 8 1/2 hours into a 17-hour flight, a gentleman had a syncopal episode in the exit row I was sitting in. His face was bleeding, and he was having issues controlling his bowels afterwards. His …

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Why it’s important for physicians to have hobbies

Physician
October 17, 2016

During medical school, professors advised us to “have hobbies” and to “do stuff outside of medicine”:

  • “It’ll give you have something to talk about with patients.”
  • “It’ll help you maintain balance as you go through your training.”
  • “It’s important for self-care.”

Medical students, as a population, tend to be compulsive and there’s always more to read and learn. (Medicine, like many fields, entails lifelong learning, even when you are tired of …

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8 tips from my non-medicine friends that make me a happier doctor

Physician
October 16, 2016

Many of my best friends are in the medical field, and there are practical reasons for that.  That said, I don’t think I could survive without the perspective of my equally good friends outside of medicine.  In one way or the other, they are always reminding me of the following things:

1. Don’t take yourself so seriously. It’s true that at work we often deal with life or death situations.  But …

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Why we decided to “throw away our promising careers” and work part-time

Physician
October 15, 2016

After the birth of our second child, the two of us waved a white flag and started working part-time. We surrendered the notion that we could maintain two full-time health careers and still be effective parents and loving spouses. Not to mention sane and happy human beings.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Doors were opening to professional women, to two-career marriages, and to flexible work arrangements. Ours was the …

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Female physicians told to get out of the way during emergencies as patients nearly die

Physician
October 14, 2016

It’s true. Man nearly dies on plane because crew didn’t believe black woman was doctor. The medical fiasco on Delta Airlines has now gone viral after a Facebook post by Tamika Cross, MD, the physician who was turned away as a fellow passenger was unresponsive. Tamika joins a long list of female physicians who have experienced the same discrimination.

Meet a few of these doctors below.

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The sacrifices medical students have to make

Education
October 14, 2016

As a therapist, I have worked with medical students struggling with depression and anxiety, sometimes addiction but mostly desperate to save what is left of their failing relationships. They are torn by guilt and conflicting concerns that make them feel out of control. Medical school demands more than they can give, and yet they give, and give, and give until finally they are depleted. Ironically, this is when they need …

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Double booking patients is difficult and destructive

Physician
October 14, 2016

Not only have we shortened medical appointments to 15 minutes — we sometimes double book them.

I get the feeling that non-providers think of this as something fairly ordinary, and even reasonable. But it is often a very difficult and destructive thing to do.

The term “double booking” and the way it looks in an ordinary doctor’s scheduling grid suggest that the physician might possibly be expected to be in two places …

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Why do so many Americans hate their health care system?

Policy
October 13, 2016

There is lots to love about American health care. We have some of the best clinicians in the world, as evidenced by the huge number of people who come to the U.S. from other countries when they are sick. Yet the American people are less satisfied with their health care system than are citizens of the majority of other developed countries.

Why do people in the land of the Mayo Clinic …

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Did a prostate cancer test save actor Ben Stiller’s life?

Conditions
October 12, 2016

Ben Stiller—one of the few comedians on this side of the pond who can make me laugh—said prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing saved his life. I suspect he wasn’t being funny. Stiller had Gleason Grade 7 localized prostate cancer.

Is he right?

The honest answer is that we don’t know for certain. Before I get granular, we must visit proof, level of proof and burden of proof. The statement, “there’s …

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When naturopaths treat autism, children suffer

Physician
October 12, 2016

Another child has been severely harmed by a naturopath—this time, in the UK.

A four-year-old boy with autism received naturopathic treatments that landed him in the emergency room. The boy had severe dehydration and dangerously elevated calcium levels. A naturopath had prescribed a regimen of vitamin D, calcium, cod liver oil, zinc and a long list of other substances that included silver, enzymes, salts and trace minerals

As a …

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The honest reasons why this doctor chose internal medicine

Physician
October 11, 2016

As an internal medicine physician, the #3 question people most often ask me is why I chose to be an internist. (The top two being “What is internal medicine?” and “What’s this thing growing on my genitals?”) So I thought that I would pull back the curtain and show how I made my decision.

According to Wikipedia, “Internal medicine or general medicine (in Commonwealth nations) is the medical specialty dealing with …

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A story for those who pontificate about patient behavior

Conditions
October 8, 2016

I was offered my choice of bisphosphonates after breaking my shoulder and ended up with a diagnosis of osteoporosis. I initially opted for Reclast, a drug that only requires one dose a year albeit by IV infusion. I made an appointment to get the drug several weeks later. I wanted to have time to research my options. After reading as much as I could during that time, I made an …

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