Why this immunocompromised doctor wants you to stay home

Conditions
March 21, 2020

I am a middle-aged gastroenterologist almost 15 years out of training. I have a chronic medical disease and had a bout with lymphoma two years ago, both of which require me to stay indefinitely on immunosuppressive drugs.

I am certainly not the only health care worker who is scared. Most winters that I will contract the flu or another illness from patients who want their screening colonoscopies performed while sick, from …

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Why this immunocompromised doctor wants you to stay home

Be the physician who supports other doctors

Physician
March 20, 2020

Medicine is a difficult calling. You already know the sacrifices. As an undergraduate, you gave up time with friends and family so you could be accepted into medical school — where you worked even harder.

You understand that the practice of medicine requires you to take responsibility for the care of others … and the emotional toll that comes with it.

In this profession, it’s easy to feel like you’re alone. Our …

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Be the physician who supports other doctors

A physician leaves concierge medicine after 13 years

Physician
March 20, 2020

Much is written about the advantages for primary care physicians and patients of working within a retainer model, direct primary care, concierge-type care model. Little is written about the downside or disadvantages. It is time to shine a light on the benefits and challenges of concierge and standard models through an experienced lens, particularly as drivers of burnout and the primary care shortage loom so large. The phase of a …

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A physician leaves concierge medicine after 13 years

4 injuries all physicians face

Physician
March 20, 2020

For weeks, the news has been all about COVID-19 and its impact beyond Wuhan, where it emerged. Just two days ago, in fact, the first case reports surfaced in the county where I live. Overnight, preparations have leapt a notch. Many will work from home. Students will learn online. Even the gym where I climb with my son e-mailed regarding steps to minimize transmission. Like most of you, however, by …

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4 injuries all physicians face

Riding the hospital common elevator

Physician
March 19, 2020

The elevator area on the ground floor of our hospital is split. As you enter, the common elevators are on the left, and to the right is a set of double doors, with a sign posted reading, “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.” And behind those doors are the employee elevators, elevators for hospital beds, and large elevators where we can run a code while traveling up or down.

The employee elevators are private, …

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Riding the hospital common elevator

What is human-centered health care and why is it important?

Physician
March 19, 2020

An excerpt from Health Design Thinking: Creating Products and Services for Better Health.

Design is the ancient practice of shaping materials to achieve goals and express beliefs. Human beings and other creatures make tools and build structures in order to survive, thrive, and dominate their surroundings. Unlike …

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What is human-centered health care and why is it important?

The worst-case scenario for our hospitals in a severe pandemic

Conditions
March 19, 2020

I wish that I didn’t have the experience of working 34 years as a nurse. I know the big picture in a hospital. A recent article stated that the Twin Cities, where I live, has 500 ICU beds, 450 ventilators. As of last Friday, those were 95 percent full.

Apparently, there are new CDC guidelines stating that healthcare workers can wear surgical masks when N95 masks are not available, but the …

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The worst-case scenario for our hospitals in a severe pandemic

7 ideas for an alternative Match Day

Education
March 18, 2020

As a cardiologist, a mom of three school-aged kids, a physician’s wife, and associate dean of student affairs, I am acutely aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our communities. In this time of constant change and concern, it is important to find joy in whatever we can. This week is Match Week. Instead of our senior medical students celebrating their accomplishments together, they are social distancing and foregoing …

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7 ideas for an alternative Match Day

7 reflections on grief and personal loss as told by a medical student

Education
March 17, 2020

Being a medical student during your clinical years imparts a certain feeling of invincibility. For many of us, this is our first-time taking care of patients. Our history-taking and physical exam skills are being honed like superpowers. Our clinical knowledge is growing. We begin to take ownership of patients as our own.

With all but two clinical rotations left in my third year, and at the peak of my own feelings …

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7 reflections on grief and personal loss as told by a medical student

5 steps to improve your diastolic dysfunction of life

Physician
March 17, 2020

I recently attended a cardiology conference where a dear friend of mine was presenting on the topic of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She discussed how fibrosis within the ventricle causes diastolic dysfunction, an inability of the myocardium to relax. My ears perked up. Just the week before, while on vacation, I personally experienced the inability to relax.

Though I was free to lounge around New Orleans while my husband attended the annual CHEST …

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5 steps to improve your diastolic dysfunction of life

As society shuts down, hospital workers continue to fight the pandemic

Conditions
March 17, 2020

Collectively across our country, as society shuts down, physicians, along with our brave co-workers in the hospital, will be going to work to combat the largest pandemic we have seen in our lifetimes. While such a crisis frightens us all, it has also served as a soul-renewing time for medicine. Over the next several months, our tribe worldwide will be risking their health and lives to serve and treat patients …

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As society shuts down, hospital workers continue to fight the pandemic

Medicine is hard work but there are ways to do the job more effectively and efficiently

Physician
March 17, 2020

The first step on any journey is having a direction to follow. When you decided to become a physician, you no doubt sought out advice from trusted mentors: advisors, other physicians, even peers who had traveled that road before you.

Becoming a physician likely started as an abstract thought that became all-consuming. Somewhere along the line, your everyday life revolved around school, training, procedures … you get the picture. Now that …

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Medicine is hard work but there are ways to do the job more effectively and efficiently

This pediatrician says no coronavirus break playdates

Conditions
March 16, 2020

Strange times right now, huh?

The spread of COVID-19 is expected to be massive because the virus is sneaky

I live in Maryland, and our schools are shut down statewide due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

That means that since I’m a pediatrician, I’ve been peppered with questions from patients, family, and friends wondering what they’re going to do with the kids for at least two weeks (and, realistically, probably four or more).

They’re all asking …

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This pediatrician says no coronavirus break playdates

Closed-loop communications: Good for codes and for marriage

Physician
March 16, 2020

Recently, I realized that something needed to change in my family life. With three busy daughters at three different schools who participate in multiple activities along with my full-time job as an anesthesiologist, my life depended on accurate and concise communication. However, this was the third time in a week that a ball had been dropped between my husband and me.

This time it resulted in my middle daughter, Laini, being …

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Closed-loop communications: Good for codes and for marriage

A pathologist’s message to the public

Conditions
March 16, 2020

14 years ago, I recited the Hippocratic Oath, and two sections have always stuck with me:

“Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick” and “I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment.”

The events over the last couple of weeks have affected me deeply.  Of course, I’m concerned about a novel virus that is infecting and killing people.  But, I’m more …

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A pathologist’s message to the public

I thought COVID-19 was overblown. I was wrong.

Conditions
March 16, 2020

I’ll admit that a month ago, I thought COVID-19 was going to be another overblown SARS or MERS or even H1N1. I talked about it with my friends in the medical field, and we had a bit of a “been there, done that” attitude. But I was wrong, and in the time since, I’ve educated myself as much as possible. This strain of coronavirus is more contagious than the flu, …

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I thought COVID-19 was overblown. I was wrong.

A COVID-19 physician pep talk

Conditions
March 16, 2020

All hands on deck! No one sits this one out. We are all MD/DOs. We all took the same oath, and in unison. Year after year, we graduate as our parents and grandparents shed tears of joy. In those years of sleep-depriving, relationship-straining, self-confidence-trying medical school and residency: We dissected everything.  The human body, the human heart (the non-anatomical one), and even what it means to follow that damn oath. …

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A COVID-19 physician pep talk

Side gigs medical residents can consider

Finance
March 16, 2020

It’s 2020, and many of us are more motivated than ever. We want to get fit, eat healthier, and continue to survive residency. While these are noteworthy goals, consider one more thing: making money doing something you love … outside of medicine. A.k.a., start a side hustle. If you’re unsure of where to start, here are a few side gigs to pursue as a resident.

Start a blog

For those who love …

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Side gigs medical residents can consider

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