“Each patient I have seen over these four decades has made me a better doctor. Books do not impact long term memory the way a real patient can. I once heard the chair of medicine at a teaching hospital say that the worst thing about being on call every other night as an intern is missing half the patients. I now …
A medical educator shares his love for medicine [PODCAST]
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the structure of many people’s households has changed dramatically. Young adults who were away at college had to return home when schools closed, and many will still be at home this fall as schools continue to limit on-campus classes. Some people chose to move in with family after job loss strained their finances. And some families chose to temporarily move older relatives out …
Living with extended family? Try these tips for better mental health.
A quarter of the physician workforce in the United States consists of international medical graduates (IMGs). This year 4,222 non-U.S. citizens matched in first-year residency positions. I am an IMG from Guatemala, where I completed medical school. In March of 2014, I matched to an internal medicine residency in the United States. The road has been both satisfying and challenging, with all kinds of uncertainties. I have always been attracted to …
The uncertainty of an international medical graduate during the COVID-19 pandemic
“We know that the past two months haven’t been easy. We know about the sleepless nights, anger, tears, depression, and anxiety. We know all of this because we know what trauma does to a person, and you are in the middle of experiencing a repeated trauma. The trauma of watching patients die in ways you’ve never seen, the trauma of watching …
A psychiatrist explores the mental health of physicians [PODCAST]
Born in the United States of America to Nigerian parents, I was raised in Nigeria and returned to the U.S. after medical school for residency training. I have practiced medicine in Chicago, IL for 25 years, and like many others, have had to deal with microaggressions and racism within and outside the workplace. However, this article is not aheabout outlining my personal experiences. This is a call to action to …
Immigrant physicians: Acknowledge our privilege and move to action
The warm rays of the sun serenade me as I drive to work eager to begin another shift. I find a parking spot on the first floor of the garage don my N95 mask and walk towards the hospital. First, I must stop by at the neighboring building and have my temperature checked. Today it is 97.3. I am awarded the sticker for the day; my boarding pass into the …
A few intense hours with a cardiothoracic surgeon
“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended health care, with telemedicine emerging as a strategy to reduce risk exposures for patients and clinicians. Video visits, in particular, can be effective for many types of clinical care and offer convenience and savings for patients. As care shifts to this virtual modality, however, there is a risk of jeopardizing the meaningful human interaction that is …
Strategies to foster meaningful connection during telemedicine visits [PODCAST]
One of the last things my dad said to me before he passed was, “remember to always look at the big picture.” He said this many times throughout my childhood and teenage years, but it never quite resonated until I was thinking about it in retrospect.
As I near the end of my intern year, my dad’s words hold true. As an emergency medicine resident, I am often running on adrenaline. …
Why it’s so important to look at the big picture
“Faced with the prospect of not being able to provide all COVID-19 patients with the life support that they may need, physicians and nurses are working in conditions that have been described as ‘hell.’
How are providers to cope with the trauma they are experiencing in New York and Italy, and presumably other nations as well? How are they to cope with …
What we can learn from a palliative care chaplain [PODCAST]
In a market economy, business leaders take every opportunity to shrink the cost line of labor on the balance sheet to boost profits and shareholder/investor value. It’s the metric on which they are evaluated, and left unopposed; they will do it more and more.
The core strategy for shrinking labor costs (along with automation and offshoring) is to drive increased “efficiencies” by demanding more and more work from the same number …
3 reasons why doctors don’t unionize
No matter who pulls the plug, divorce sucks.
It does get better, and eventually, you get to a new normal — but the process sucks. I know this because our two-physician marriage ended 15 years ago when our daughters were six and seven years old.
Divorce can be especially hard on physicians, and during these COVID times, additional challenges have surfaced for many divorced physicians. Some on the frontlines have been unable …
10 reasons why divorce is hard for doctors and 5 tips to make it easier
As hospitals everywhere have been using every health care provider available to them in response to COVID-19, the specialty of hospital medicine has shown itself to be uniquely suited for coordinating the effort, to be the front of the frontline responders. I suspect that many people don’t understand what “hospital medicine” is, even though it’s larger than almost any other …
Why COVID-19 is a threat to hospital medicine
“After almost 30 years in this profession, I have come to the conclusion that there is some truth to that, as no day or week passes that I do not have a depressed, anxious or suicidal teen on my ‘to see list.’ Could it be my own personal history of depression and suicidal ideation? Could it be my own history of …
The physician who treats depressed, anxious, and suicidal teens [PODCAST]
I look out at the world through bright blue eyes. Blonde hair. A skinny but shapely 19-year-old’s body. I know six languages. I am educated. I can prescribe medicine that saves lives. I am in love. I am a person.
I look down at the tattoo on my arm. A number— like cattle. My family is gone. My home destroyed. I am living in a small room— …
I always hope that a sense of humanity will supersede the status quo
On the morning of George Floyd’s funeral less than ten miles from our medical center in Houston, I was avoiding the word “Black.” Despite wholehearted pride in the strong Black presence in our community health center’s physicians, staff, and patients, I felt a loss of words that Tuesday morning. There was simply too much pain, grief, and rage in our community.
I was thankful …
Don’t be afraid to say “Black” when asking about someone’s culture
The Podcast by KevinMD shares the stories of the many who intersect with our health care system, but are rarely heard from.
Fifteen minutes a day, seven days a week. Each episode packed with information, insight, and inspiration.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast app.
The Podcast by KevinMD: 15 minutes a day, 7 days a week
Transitioning from the classroom to the wards is an uncertain and anxiety-provoking time for many medical students. Schedules are constantly changing, as are expectations and learning objectives. Mentorship and advice from upperclassmen, residents, and attendings was an essential tool in my MS3 toolbox. I would go so far as to say that these pieces of insight are the toolbox. The 2020-2021 academic year will provide its own degree of obstacles …
Pearls and pitfalls for medical students entering their clinical years
“Where did the myth of vampires come from? Like many myths, it is based partly in fact. A blood disorder called porphyria, which has has been with us for millennia, became prevalent among the nobility and royalty of Eastern Europe. A genetic disorder, it becomes more common with inbreeding. Porphyria is a malfunction in the process of hemoglobin production. Hemoglobin is …
The medical basis of vampires and other medical myths [PODCAST]
Recently, a few colleagues and I sat down with our six incoming interns during a welcoming round-table discussion. Being the closest member of the faculty to these residents in age and time from residency, I was best able to relate to them and their current feelings.
I, too, sat in those chairs in a conference room that was last used for graduating our outgoing chief residents. I, too, remember the feelings …
6 tips for success in residency training
An excerpt from The Surgeon’s Obol.
July 1, 8 p.m.
“Isabella Isaksen,” I said with an arm extended. “Most people call me ‘Izzie’.”
“Mike Gunderson,” came the reply. Most people called him Gundy, but he didn’t feel the need to let me, the goddamn intern, in on this. And …
The first night on call as a surgery intern
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