“One of the calls you dread making as a doctor is telling a family member their loved one is dying. That was the call I received when my grandfather decompensated. We grow accustomed to making the call as clinicians, but we never expect to get it ourselves.
I felt for his pulse. Slow …
How coronavirus took my grandfather’s life [PODCAST]
A brief press conference at Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday sought to provide answers, but may only have raised more questions about President Trump’s clinical status since his COVID-19 diagnosis.
The main point of contention between White House physician Sean Conley, DO, and reporters was if the president ever received supplemental oxygen. Conley said the president’s last oxygen …
The Trump health update that raises more questions
As physicians, we know all too well how life can change in an instant. How tomorrow is never promised. This knowledge can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it is also a gift.
Because we know how precious life is.
I am a physician—but I am also a patient. An infertility patient, for whom each passing year can feel like a lost opportunity.
Because my eggs don’t have the perspective. They don’t see the privilege. …
Infertility as a physician: the gift of perspective
Walking through the sliding glass doors at 10:55 p.m. on a Monday, I found myself wondering if it would be a good shift or a bad shift. In emergency medicine, a “good shift” has to strike many delicate balances. It can’t be too busy, but it also can’t be too Q-Word-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. It should have some high acuity patients, but not so many that care becomes unmanageable. The staff and residents …
How to (almost) never have a bad shift
“Living the surreal experience of the COVID-19 pandemic challenges us on multiple levels. As a physician, I feel the responsibility to understand the magnitude of the situation and implement the best measures to protect my patients, trainees, my family, and myself. I experience the fear of getting sick or losing a loved one and the sadness and frustration of seeing millions …
COVID-19 through the eyes of my kids [PODCAST]
Explore why this general surgeon wrote a novel, and how writing helps with the stresses that accompany a surgery career. What is his #1 tip for those interested in surgery? What are the challenges facing the profession today? How can surgeons find that elusive work-play balance? And why should aspiring doctors start a journal?
Arthur Williams is a …
Inside the mind of the surgeon writer [PODCAST]
We have been discussing the importance of women’s health for decades without significant advancement for the issues at hand.
I propose a new perspective on the topic that focuses on the financial health of a business. As physicians, we do not even consider the full extent to which women’s health can impact our own business. The two aspects of business to be considered in this situation involve evaluating the cost of …
The business of women’s health: an economic burden with simple solutions
“To the people who say that wearing a mask perpetuates the conspiracy:
Tell that to the health care workers who have put their lives at risk to face firsthand an unknown disease. Tell that to the families of frontline workers who have contracted and succumbed to COVID-19 while their loved ones save everyone else.
To the people who say that COVID-19 does not …
This pulmonary physician has a message for you [PODCAST]
What is caregiver burnout? How can you recognize the symptoms? What are tips for new caregivers? What can caregivers teach clinicians?
R. Lynn Barnett is the author of What Patients Want: Anecdotes and Advice and My Mother has Alzheimer’s and My Dog Has Tapeworms: A Caregiver’s Tale. She can be reached on Twitter Read more…
My mother has Alzheimer’s: a caregiver’s story [PODCAST]
Doctors make bad entrepreneurs. I know I told you they make great entrepreneurs. But there are always exceptions. There are a couple of reasons why:
Perfection stagnation
Our GPAs had …
Doctors make bad entrepreneurs
As someone who graduated from medical school with six-figure student loan debt, I’ve looked into several different loan forgiveness programs that will help repay what I owe. One of the most popular loan forgiveness programs is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Through PSLF doctors can get hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans forgiven, tax-free. Although this seems great, when I attempted to …
9 things I learned when I signed up for public service loan forgiveness
I did a peer review once of an office note about an elderly man with a low-grade fever. The past medical history was all there, several prior laboratory and imaging tests were imported, and there was a long narrative section that blended active medical problems and ongoing specialist relationships. There was also a lengthy review of systems under its own heading.
In an over ten-page long printout, the final diagnosis was …
Where’s Waldo: Finding what’s important in the medical record
“Grandma Lilly is 87-years-old and in the ICU. She’s on a ventilator with her wrists restrained to the side of the bed. Grandma can barely see because her eyes are puffy: scleral edema. And her heart races: 140 beats per minute. Her blood pressure is low and Levophed and vasopressin drips are ordered.
Her family can’t talk to her as she phases …
Reflections of a critical care nurse [PODCAST]
If I had $100 for every time I walked into a patient’s room, introduced myself as the doctor, and was immediately asked, “Hey, how old are you?” I might be able to retire right now — at the age of 28. Of course, I am exaggerating, and yet this question echoes for my baby-faced colleagues and me constantly.
Whether it’s simple curiosity or blatant reverse-ageism, I find this question erodes trust …
Does your doctor’s age matter?
Each year, medical students across the country prepare to start the long-anticipated core clinical rotations. Suddenly, we’re thrust into a world of constant adaptation and evaluation, with many highs and many lows.
As I finish up the year and new students get ready to start, I’ve been asked time and time again for my advice. I decided to aggregate my key takeaways from the year, and what I wish I had …
13 tips for medical students starting their clinical rotations
“Lifestyle medicine equips practitioners with the tools to affect change. One of the biggest job satisfiers for physicians is positively impacting the trajectory of their patients’ lives. Having a parent tell you that their child is ‘a different person’ because of the time you spent with them is priceless.
This is why I believe if more physicians studied and applied the principles …
Lifestyle medicine is a prescription to treat physician burnout [PODCAST]
Taking a break from technology is a fine idea, but we don’t need a pseudoscientific new name for it: dopamine fasting. Launched with viral Silicon Valley memes, online reports, and articles in the New York Times and elsewhere, dopamine fasting is now a thing. Basically, the idea is to temporarily deprive oneself of the usual stimulations of life — largely …
Dopamine fasting, debunked by a psychiatrist
“As an oncologist, perhaps the hardest part I play is as witness. I am there to give a diagnosis that, more often than not, will alter someone’s life forever. For some, I see resignation—a sense that they’ve known something was wrong and that it’s what they thought they had. For others, I see an almost immediate acceptance and, with it, perseverance; …
Treating cancer patients in a pandemic [PODCAST]
You are doing all the right things: washing your hands frequently, wearing a mask when out in public, getting the requisite sunlight needed to reduce stress and maintain your health. And the reward you’re getting for all your diligence?
Dry skin, damaged nails, acne, and sunburns.
As we continue to live with the threat of COVID-19, more people find themselves wrestling with skin issues they never anticipated. Fortunately, there are easy and …
From a dermatologist: How to beat “maskne,” dry hands, and other safety-related skin problems
Despite the advances in modern health care, chronic wounds remain highly problematic. For the critically ill and those with mobility issues, missing just one routine repositioning could send them down a protracted path of intensive wound care therapies. Even our ambulatory patients develop non-healing ulcers from neuropathy and microvascular disease. For purposes of this discussion, the question of how the wound formed isn’t nearly as important as why it persists …
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