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How physicians can find jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries

Physician

August 18, 2020

Fifteen years ago, my career path took a detour. As a two-physician household, we were managing my husband’s match and my job interviews in the cities he was considering. Boston, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles – could you get any more diverse? Definitely, an awkward way to interview; hard to sell excitement when it was clear that it really depended upon “the match.”

Boston! As soon as we got the match results …

How psychiatry has changed over the years

Greg Smith, MD

Conditions

August 18, 2020

I grew up in a small mill village in northwest Georgia. When things did not go right, someone got sick, or we had an accident, or we needed a sports physical, we would head around the circle to the entrance to the mill complex, just across the grassy field from my house, and see Dr. Harry Dawson. Dr. Dawson was that old omnipresent breed of physician who had a small …

A psychiatrist’s telemedicine experience [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 17, 2020

“I propose Zooming while driving be added to the DSM criteria for ADHD. I have gotten a new glimpse into the world of some of my patients. One patient even mentioned it’s hard for them to come to appointments, even with transportation, and we were able for the first time to talk at length about those psychological factors that prevent them …

A physician’s work is hard. And it is sacred.

Andy Lamb, MD

Physician

August 17, 2020

In today’s increasingly technological, data-driven, depersonalized world of health care, I wonder if the concept of “a good death” is even possible. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has caused me to reflect on this. What does it look like? How do you define it? As I did, a patient came to mind. He was a retired minister in his 80s. I had cared for his wife as well until she …

Why it’s so important for medical students and physicians to write and share their stories [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 16, 2020

“I wrote a 55-word story in solidarity with my medical students and colleagues I had invited to share their lived experiences during COVID-19 on our Stories in Medicine blog. I wrote out of a need to “unmask” the guilt and angst of some of my colleagues and myself who, though practicing physicians, do not find ourselves directly on the front lines …

The next time you’re on call, please rethink what white and black clouds mean

Dante A. Mesa, MD

Physician

August 16, 2020

I distinctly remember one of many times I was reminded of “my place” in medicine. It was during the third year on a call day shift that had been lighter than most for our bustling hospital. As the residents were discussing who it was that had brought the good energy, I slipped in to mention that I often felt I had a white cloud energy myself. And the senior on …

How to recruit more students into family medicine

Kenneth Lin, MD

Physician

August 16, 2020

In 2019, a Policy One-Pager produced by the Robert Graham Center reported that the percentage of the active U.S. physician workforce in primary care practice declined from 32 percent in 2010 to 30 percent in 2018. Although family physicians represent 4 in 10 primary care physicians, in several states, a large percentage of family physicians are older than 55 years and anticipated to …

With COVID-19, a need to deregulate buprenorphine prescriptions [PODCAST]

Megana Dwarakanath, MD

Podcast

August 15, 2020

“With COVID-19, we have both the unique opportunity and need to deregulate buprenorphine prescriptions. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAHMSA) recently updated guidelines for buprenorphine prescriptions. There are new provisions for telephonic initiation of buprenorphine and scripts up to 28 days for stable patients. Unfortunately, this does not circumvent the major issue: redeployed providers will not be able …

4 ways to decrease your dread of being on-call

Katie Townes, DO

Physician

August 15, 2020

Have you ever been faced with an upcoming shift at work and felt an impending sense of doom? This type of anticipation can be a real killjoy. However, taking calls, working nights, weekends, and holidays is all part of the job, right?

Worst. Call. Ever.

I was just drifting off, entering the first phase of sleep when the whole body is relaxed, and you’ve entered that sweet twilight zone. …

What happens if you are both too rich and too poor for health insurance?

Vincent Fussell, MD

Policy

August 15, 2020

After being kept up all night responding to pages, I was still half-asleep walking into Mr. Jenkins’ room for what I thought would be a routine early morning admission for new-onset seizures. From scanning through the electronic medical record, I was not expecting to encounter the unfortunate and complex array of social factors underlying his condition.

Mr. Jenkins was in his late 20s and had three children to take care of. …

Medical education and engaging children in wearing masks [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 14, 2020

“Children are being encouraged to take on the superhero persona and help protect others. They do this in true average-person-as-the-superhero style by wearing a facemask alone, without any superhero powers or words. Just as wearing a facemask in public has been the norm for years in many Asian countries, it may become the norm worldwide. For this to happen, we need …

Imposter syndrome and COVID: a medical student perspective

Kimia Zarabian and Mai Hasan

Education

August 14, 2020

Shifting nervously in our seats amongst 180 of our fellow medical school classmates, we focused in on the front of the lecture hall as our deans began their annual orientation address. “Each of you has worked so hard to get here. No one has gotten to this point by mistake. But also be wary that each and every one of you will experience imposter syndrome during your time here. Everyone …

Palliative care during the pandemic [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 13, 2020

“We are health care workers. We are doctors, advanced care practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and so much more. We are on the frontlines. We are our parents’ children, and we are parents to our young children. For the first time, we are at an extremely high risk of being quarantined by the same beast we are trying to conquer. We …

Without cadavers in school, will doctors be the same?

Christopher Watson, MD

Education

August 13, 2020

The Kaiser Permanente’s Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine opened this summer, and its students will not learn anatomy by dissecting a cadaver. Instead, they will don virtual reality headsets and dissect virtual bodies. The school does have a collection of pre-dissected, “plastinated” cadavers, but according to the chair of biomedical sciences students will spend the majority of their time studying electronic …

The benefits of taking more time away from work far outweigh the consequences

James Turner, MD

Finance

August 13, 2020

Around 50 percent of physicians are burned out, and many feel trapped in their job. Yet, I have heard it countless times from doctors who were able to cut back to part-time work that when they had more time away from work, they fell back in love with medicine. Moderation in all things seems to be key here, and I’ve experienced some of that lately myself after a really hard …

Coronavirus exposes income-driven health inequality [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 12, 2020

“It’s maddening to see the differences in health outcomes between the rich and the poor. Even more unsettling is reflecting upon the psychological pain accumulated when living in a fad-obsessed materialistic comparison-creating society, the postponed dreams, and the day to day compromise that those with less have to endure – thoughts that may be far removed from the ruminations of the …

Lifelong learning through skillful self-reflection

Priti Golechha, MD

Physician

August 12, 2020

The dictionary definition of learning is “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught.” For leaders, the most crucial and common way of learning happens through experience, and as we often say, leadership is flying the plane while building it. Moreover, the onus of making the process of learning an active one is on the leader, and self-reflection is the key to it.

So, what’s self-reflection? …

How to manage pandemic anxiety [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 11, 2020

“Since the coronavirus outbreak, reports of anxiety have increased, especially among physicians. Physicians face numerous stressors, including fears of contracting the coronavirus, concerns about potentially infecting loved ones, PPE shortages, testing delays, and frequently making quick decisions with limited information.

Common symptoms of anxiety are increased worrying about one’s self and/or loved ones, difficulty sleeping, difficulty eating, poor concentration, increased heart rate, …

Fascia in primary care: When chest pain is not in your chest

Cathy Kim, MD

Conditions

August 11, 2020

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
– Albert Einstein

“Mr. Thomas, are you OK? Sir, are you OK?” It was a full clinic day, and I had just improvised a treatment on him.

I had met this patient, “Mr. Thomas,” only once before. After meeting me …

3 ways the wealthy increase their net worth

Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH

Finance

August 11, 2020

While the coronavirus pandemic has created financial strain for a lot of low-income and middle-class Americans, many wealthy people don’t seem to be as affected. The stock market is doing relatively well, and many of the world’s richest people are getting even richer. How is that even possible, you may ask? Here are three main reasons the rich are getting richer.

1. They create their own business. Instead of having a …

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