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A journey from security guard to nurse, and why nurses don’t get the credit they deserve [PODCAST]

Podcast

September 4, 2020

“The pharmacy department plays a vital role in hospitals. They prepare and dispense medications. Sometimes the pharmacist will receive an order from the doctor on a med whose written dosage he is not sure of. In some cases, the pharmacist will call the nurse in order to get clarification on this. The problem here is that …

Now is the time for postpartum home visits

Sonal Patel, MD

Conditions

September 4, 2020

I ring the doorbell, waiting patiently outside. I hear a weak “coming” and some shuffling. Who greets me is a mother in her robe, hunched over at the waist, supporting her protruding postpartum belly. Her hair is disheveled. Her mask is revealing exhausted eyes with attempted mascara to look a “little freshened up,” she confesses a little later.

“My husband is just getting the baby; please come in.”

I …

Blowing the whistle on health care fraud [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 3, 2020

“Fraud in the health care industry is a fact of life. In 2016 alone, the federal government estimated that improper payments by Medicare and Medicaid totaled about $95 billion. And that’s only a single year’s amount for just two of the government’s many health care programs. With an aging population, increased health care spending, the passage of the CARES Act, and …

Direct primary care: Great for some doctors, but challenging for patients

Ken Terry

Policy

September 3, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent drop in patient visits have led some observers to conclude that primary care physicians would be better off financially if they were capitated than if they were paid fee for service. If they received a fixed amount of money per health plan member per month, they’d have a guaranteed income stream regardless of how many patients came to their offices.

However, a growing number …

2 tales of physician assistant burnout

Hope Cook, PA-C

Conditions

September 3, 2020

For the first 12 years as a physician assistant, I thought provider burnout only happened to wusses, those better suited to working in health insurance or doctoring at a summer camp. Sure, I felt overwhelmed at times, but I planned to soldier on in clinical practice, happily serving my patients until retirement.

That was before. Before dreading Sunday nights, feeling heaviness in my gut, a tightness in my neck, and bouts …

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2 tales of physician assistant burnout

The transition from resident to attending: Setting the stage for your new life and career

Todd Skertich

Physician

September 3, 2020

You’re finally at the point in your career that you’ve been waiting for! Training has been strenuous, and you have spent many years of your life readying yourself professionally for this moment. It is now time for you to transition from a resident to an attending physician.

At this time, you may be tempted to jump right in and start working. I recommend taking a little time off for yourself first. …

An infectious disease physician says: Wear a F-ing mask [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 2, 2020

“In honor of one of the great classic novels, Go the F**k to Sleep, I would like to present to you my literary work: Stay the F@$k at Home.

To the healthy 20 year old who asks, “Why should I stay the F@$k at home, COVID-19 is not going to kill me?”

I ask: Do you want to kill your nana and grand-pops?

No?

Then …

The hospital CEO who made a surgical incision. What happened?

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

Physician

September 2, 2020

Recently on Twitter, I asked this question above.

The 130 (2.5 percent) of 5,213 respondents who said they would allow a CEO to make a skin incision highlight the unscientific nature of Twitter polls. Restricting voting to surgeons only is not possible. Many people asked me why I asked the question because surely no surgeon would ever have allowed it. Here is …

Virtual care needs to be designed for equitable usage and accessibility [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

September 1, 2020

“Although technology and disruptive innovation theoretically diminish systemic barriers and geographic isolation, in practice, they frequently widen chasms in access for vulnerable populations. The reality is telemedicine disproportionately caters to younger, wealthier, and more educated patients.

Hospital systems need to ensure every patient has access to remote health care services, whether through offering landline phone visits, examining pitfalls in digital skill requirements, …

Hassle-free real estate investing for busy doctors

Jeff Anzalone, DDS

Finance

September 1, 2020

A few short years ago, I started to worry about my family’s financial future while vacationing. During our annual ski trip, I took a nasty fall, landing on my wrist. The pain in my arm made me take notice of just how fragile our financial situation was.

As a self-employed periodontist, I asked myself:

What if I was injured while playing sports with my kids?
What if I became permanently disabled?

If …

A letter to my first patient

Lindsay Fleischer

Education

September 1, 2020

It was only my first week in the hospital as a third-year medical student when we met. I entered your room early Tuesday morning. Only knowing your chief concern, I knocked on your door and entered the room. You didn’t complain when I awakened you. You didn’t complain when I asked many questions about a story you had already relayed multiple times to others. You didn’t complain when …

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A letter to my first patient

Making a career change for better work-life balance [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 31, 2020

“Is it possible to have it all? Can you have a job that you love, helping people and using your brain and hands all at the same time; plus, a family, with a spouse and children, that you are always there for? Is it possible to have a balance between your work and your family live while working as a medical …

Where is the line between faith and medicine?

Moses Anthony

Education

August 31, 2020

The long debate about rationality and conformity in both medicine and religion has been intense on many levels. Some people claim science requires certainty, validity, and reliability; others believe faith and optimism are essential for scientific advancement. Some reasons for this argument might include the enormous prosecution of scientists Read more…

Where is the line between faith and medicine?

Estate planning and personal finance tips for physicians [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 30, 2020

“With COVID-19 raging through the nation, and limited supply of PPE at hospitals, doctors and other critical care personnel are at high risk due to their increased and daily exposure to the virus. For health care workers, the need to plan for a possible worst-case outcome for themselves and their families has become an immediate concern. Doctors are spending limited weekend …

An ode to hospital cafeterias

Yoo Jung Kim, MD

Physician

August 30, 2020

I have been nourished by cafeteria food since elementary school. I remember the public school pizza squares with its melted artificial cheese, the fruit cocktail drenched in sickeningly sweet syrup, and 2 percent chocolate milk pints—costing $1.65 per meal. In college, I enjoyed access to a wider selection, including $6.50 custom omelets and midnight mozzarella sticks to fuel late-night study sessions. However, nothing came close to the quality and …

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An ode to hospital cafeterias

Can what you eat worsen your ADHD?

Uma Naidoo, MD

Conditions

August 30, 2020

An excerpt from This Is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods that Fight Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and More.

Suzy was a bright and hardworking student. However, even though she was conscientious and generally cheery, her grades began to fall during …

Read more…

Can what you eat worsen your ADHD?

I am tired. But I still love emergency medicine.

Catherine Agustiady-Becker, DO

Physician

August 30, 2020

I love being an emergency doctor. I loved my residency, my co-residents, and my attendings.

I love my training: watching, learning, treating.

I love the emergency department, the vastness, and the variability of emergency medicine.

But I am tired.

I am tired of feeling like a workhorse, a production line made to just churn patients in and out.

I am tired of being told that my worth as a doctor is based on my time …

How to help families struggling to find their way in a foreign culture [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 29, 2020

“We are blessed to work in a clinic that has a very large immigrant population. Over the years, we have cared for those who speak over 80+ languages with an even higher number of unique countries and regions represented. Arabic and Spanish are our two most commonly spoken non-English languages. We also have patients who speak unique languages such as Kurdish, …

Why is the government so scared of directly negotiating drug prices?

Robert Laszewski

Meds

August 29, 2020

President Trump recently signed two executive orders directly related to prescription drug prices in the U.S.

One order would allow the “reimportation” of prescription drugs from Canada. This longstanding idea would allow U.S. pharmacies and drug wholesalers the ability to pay generally much lower prices for their prescription drugs by getting them from Canadian suppliers who benefit from government management of the system. Many consumers have been buying direct from Canadian …

The impact of COVID-19 on human kindness

Cristina Carballo-Perelman, MD

Physician

August 29, 2020

Human kindness is a trait that, though inherent within our genetic make-up, can also be a learned behavior.

The absence of human kindness is blatantly visible to others when a lack of compassion and/or empathy permeates within an interaction with another human being.

As our daily life responsibilities continue at a steady state: mundane things such as paying bills, holding down a job and successfully interacting with co-workers, our ability to respond …

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