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Lessons from the psychiatric ward

Education

January 7, 2018

The specter of the psych ward looms large in popular culture: video games, horror movies, novels — the concept of a locked inpatient psychiatric ward is shorthand for a variety of terrors. This perception is driven by a complex cocktail of factors. Psych ward patients have struggled with historical and current abuses, which are compounded by misunderstanding and ignorance around mental illness.

During third year, I spent a six-week rotation in …

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Lessons from the psychiatric ward

Take a pill and stop aging. Really?

Stephen C. Schimpff, MD

Meds

January 6, 2018

Part of a series.

A pill to end aging.

Is there or could there be such a pill? Some researchers think so.

Many believe that rather than attack the causes and treatment of chronic illnesses one by one, it would be better to understand the biology of aging and from that learn how to slow the process and hence prevent or delay the onset of various …

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Take a pill and stop aging. Really?

Independent practice: Both nurse practitioners and physicians should be outraged

Rebekah Bernard, MD

Policy

January 5, 2018

The United States is facing a looming physician shortage, and some groups see this as an opportunity to promote an agenda of replacing physicians with nurses.

The nurse-as-doctor concept appeared in the Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing 2011 report, which called for a radical change to the nursing structure in the United States, including a goal of …

Do physicians make the best politicians?

Anonymous

Physician

January 4, 2018

Even though we have probably 20 years of work remaining as physicians, like a lot of you, I like to think about how we will spend our retirement years. After all, in twenty years we will still only be in our early fifties, hopefully with no dependents and a lot of financial security. Of course, my wife and I are interested in traveling, spending time with grandchildren (hopefully), gardening and …

Plastic surgeon quits and couldn’t get a job at Chick-fil-A

Pamela Wible, MD

Physician

January 4, 2018

I just got off the phone with Paul, a highly-sought-after plastic surgeon in New York.

“I don’t want to be a doctor anymore,” Paul says. “What else can I do? I have lots of restaurant experience. I’ve worked in 15 restaurants during my life. It’s not easy, but I could do it. I did research on chains and franchises, and I chose Chick-fil-A. …

Why the social history is important

Maria Yang, MD

Physician

January 3, 2018

From the notes I read, it seems that other medical specialties limit “social history” to whether or not someone uses tobacco, drinks alcohol, or uses drugs.

“Social history” is meant to get a sense of the context in which people live. Where do they live? Who do they live with? How did they come to live there? Where did they grow up? What sort of work do they do? How much …

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Why the social history is important

Why are so many doctors doing multi-level marketing?

Passive Income, MD

Finance

January 3, 2018

My goal with this post is to try to answer some of the more popular questions that we get asked about multi-level marketing (MLM). Why write about it? Besides the fact that my wife and I are involved in one, and it’s made a significant impact on our income, the number of physicians getting involved these days is huge.

My goal is not for everyone to go out and …

Surgeon suicide-homicide: What happened to Dr. Chris Dawson?

Pamela Wible, MD

Physician

January 1, 2018

Sometimes there are no words. Not even a eulogy.

Then one courageous family writes this obituary. (This obituary was written by Rachel Dawson, his wife, with the blessing of his parents.) In it, they share how their son lost his battle with severe depression. How he adored his children. How he sacrificed fun, free time, and relaxation to receive his medical …

Relative risk reduction is a troublesome way to convey the benefits of treatments

Peter Ubel, MD

Meds

January 1, 2018

How excited would you be about a medication that lowered your risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke by 1.5%? Excited enough to spend a few thousand dollars a year on the drug? I expect not.

What if, instead, the drug reduced those same terrible outcomes by 20%? That’s probably enough benefit to interest some in the drug.

Well, those statistics come from the same clinical trial, evaluating the same drug. …

What would you do if you won the lottery? Here’s one physician’s plan.

Dads Dollars Debts, MD

Finance

January 1, 2018

Yup, I won the lottery! $785 million dollars. Pinch me because I must be dreaming. I am a physician finance blogger; I would not recommend buying a lottery ticket. But I did. So screw all the people who said it was a waste of $2.

So here I am, the big time winner: What to do now? Well, that is what this post is about.

(In reality, I did not win the …

How to choose between a traditional and Roth 401(k)

Live Free MD

Finance

December 31, 2017

In my post, “Use it Or Lose It,” I talked about the awesome benefits of the Roth IRA. You do have to pay taxes on the money now, but it grows tax-free, and you can withdraw the money after age 59.5 without owing any taxes. It’s the only way to win the tax game. It is 100% your money, forever!

In comparison, money in a traditional IRA, traditional 401k, …

Learn pulmonary hypertension with a Medcomic

Jorge Muniz, PA-C

Conditions

December 30, 2017

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) refers to increased pressure in the pulmonary circulation. It develops when pulmonary vessels become constricted and/or obstructed, which can occur in a wide variety of conditions. The increase in pressure is measured by right catheterization, and is defined as a mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥ 25 mm Hg at rest.

PH leads to right ventricular hypertrophy and enlargement as the …

MKSAP: 64-year-old man with diabetes

mksap

Conditions

December 30, 2017

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.

A 64-year-old man is evaluated for his quarterly diabetes care follow-up visit. Point-of-care HbA1c level is not at goal for this patient, who has high function, long life expectancy, few comorbidities, good support, health literacy, and access to care. Medical history is significant for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. His family history is notable for type …

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MKSAP: 64-year-old man with diabetes

Safe pediatric dental anesthesia is the right of every child

Karen S. Sibert, MD

Physician

December 29, 2017

When you tell anyone in health care that “sedation” to the point of coma is given in dentists’ and oral surgeons’ offices every day, without a separate anesthesia professional present to give the medications and monitor the patient, the response often is disbelief.

“But they can’t do that,” I’ve been told more than once.

Yes, they can. Physicians are not allowed to do a procedure and provide sedation or general anesthesia at the …

The physician’s relationship with the beeper

Ben Gold, MD

Physician

December 29, 2017

If you’re thinking about a career in medicine, there’s a piece of technology you’ll come to know intimately. It’s small and sleek, with excellent battery life and remarkable durability. It’s not an iPhone; it’s not a Pixel. It’s a beeper. You will come to know, and to respect, this tiny black rectangular prism. It will govern your life. You will be at its mercy, yes, but it also offers you a chance at salvation. …

What to do if you have high expense ratio mutual funds

Wall Street Physician, MD

Finance

December 25, 2017

A common question from readers is what to do about an account that contains a bunch of high expense ratio mutual funds or individual stocks.

The reason for having such an account varies from person to person. Maybe it was the only funds available to them in their 401(k) portfolios. Perhaps they collected a bunch of individual stocks and actively-managed mutual funds over the years based on tips from magazines or …

How to create a household budget: a physician’s simple approach

Live Free MD

Finance

December 24, 2017

Learning to budget is scary. After all, it means you have to say NO to unnecessary purchases and keep your eye on long-term goals at the expense of short-term pleasure. There are a variety of ways to budget, ranging from the restrictive and somewhat impractical “envelope system” to the more vague and potentially ineffective “wing it” system. I’d like to present a balanced approach to budgeting that …

MKSAP: 63-year-old man with mid-upper back pain

mksap

Conditions

December 23, 2017

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.

A 63-year-old man is evaluated for severe mid-upper back pain following a minor fall 1 day ago. He also notes progressive fatigue of 6 months’ duration and a 6.8-kg (15-lb) weight loss. Medical history is notable for an 80-pack-year smoking history, although he is currently a nonsmoker.

On physical examination, temperature is 37.3 …

What it’s really like in a post-baccalaureate program

Neil Kondamuri

Education

December 21, 2017

More than 15 percent of last year’s new crop of first-year medical students completed a post-baccalaureate program. These programs exist in two flavors: one type helps students who want to improve their undergraduate academic record, and the other helps those who want to redirect their careers toward medicine, like me. Both are growing rapidly in number.

With so many future doctors launching …

End the resident physician abuse now

Anonymous

Physician

December 21, 2017

Let’s talk about the cycle of abuse. No, I am not referring to the very serious issue of domestic violence. Instead, I am talking about the graduate medical education system. No one is a resident forever: the duration of each residency is predetermined with a wide range of three to nine years. The self-limited nature of this experience decreases the incentive for participants to advocate for changes. And the attitude …

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End the resident physician abuse now

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