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Patients need an advocate at the bedside

Physician

September 14, 2018

Being a hospitalized patient is perhaps one of the most disempowering experiences an individual can face (besides being in war, or a prisoner). Patients face constant uncertainty; having no idea what time their physician will visit, when they will be taken for their tests, or who will suddenly interrupt them again with a demand – perhaps an early morning blood draw, or yet another round of interrogation and uncomfortable examination …

The existential benefits of ginger ale

Emily Haines

Conditions

September 14, 2018

On a curiously warm morning last February, the minister arrived at my childhood home to guide my father to the other side. When he approached the bedside where all of us were gathered around with the Eagles Pandora radio humming in the background, my dad emerged from a semi-conscious state and sat up as best as he could. “Listen. I am not dying,” he declared. As an early-career researcher focused …

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The existential benefits of ginger ale

I’m sorry about what happened to your son under anesthesia

The Traveling Resident, MD

Physician

September 13, 2018

It was a sunny morning in July, and I was scheduled at the outpatient center with the oral and maxillofacial surgeons for teeth extractions. One of my patients was your son, an athletic teenager, whose only medical history was asthma. According to you and him, he had not experienced any recent asthma attacks and had never been hospitalized or intubated. In terms of breathing, he said he felt “perfectly fine” …

Moving beyond National Women Physicians Day

Lisa Sieczkowski, MD

Physician

September 11, 2018

The supervising resident’s Voalte phone dinged: “Dr. Mel: Please meet Dr. Rosemond at room 514 for Cardiology rounds.”

She scrolled up a few texts and saw that her male counterpart who had rounded the previous day had been addressed as “Dr. Stearnes.”

When Mel mentioned the discrepancy to Jacob Stearnes, he just shrugged and said, “The cardiology nurse probably doesn’t even know my first name.”

When Mel mentioned the discrepancy to her husband, …

Why “happy” doctors commit suicide

Pamela Wible, MD

Physician

September 10, 2018

He was the go-to sports guy in Washington, DC. A masterful surgeon with countless academic publications, he trained orthopaedic surgeons across the world and was the top physician for professional sports teams and Olympians.

Dr. Benjamin Shaffer had it all.

Yet Ben was more than a stellar surgeon. He was a kind, sweet, brilliant, and sensitive soul who could relate to anyone—from inner-city children …

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Why “happy” doctors commit suicide

The foundation of medicine is love

Dr. Eunice J. Minford

Physician

September 10, 2018

What do you think of when you hear the word medicine?

Perhaps it includes doctors, nurses, pills, prescriptions, operations, surgery, wounds, illness and disease, curing and healing, science, study, university?

But whatever your picture of medicine — does it include love?

I’m not a betting person, but I reckon for most who work within the profession that love is not top of the list, or even near the top. In fact, it probably …

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The foundation of medicine is love

6 things wrong with hospital medicine

David M. Mitchell, MD, PhD

Physician

September 10, 2018

In 2002, when I began my first hospitalist job, I was a dyed-in-the-wool hospital medicine convert, convinced that the transfer of inpatient care to true specialists in hospital medicine (hospitalists) would dramatically improve the quality and efficiency of inpatient care, increase patient satisfaction and decrease costs.

By 2008, I had developed serious doubts, which prompted me to publish an editorial in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, entitled “The Expanding or Shrinking …

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6 things wrong with hospital medicine

A physician’s return to the ivory tower

Side Hustle Scrubs, MD

Physician

September 9, 2018

I started internship July 1, 2008, as a terrified 25-year-old blank slate. Most days started with a combination of nausea and dread as I pumped myself up in the resident parking lot — conveniently located a mere 1/2 mile from the entrance to the ivory tower I called home.

The days were long. The nights were longer. Every month I had the chance to be a brand new idiot as a …

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A physician’s return to the ivory tower

The one patient that drives physicians to burnout

Patrick Wu, DO

Tech

September 9, 2018

We all have that one patient. That one patient who can always find a way to turn a good day bad, who just knows how to push your buttons in all the wrong ways.

Who’s that patient for me? Let’s just call him Elton Reed.

Oh, Mr. Reed … where to begin with him?

When we first met, I remember being so excited and energized by him. He just had this fresh feeling …

An immigrant physician’s journey

Uchenna Umeh, MD

Physician

September 9, 2018

My name is Dr. Uchenna Umeh, and I am an immigrant (physician).

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an architect. My journey to becoming a physician started somewhat as a dare. I was born in Nigeria, the first child of six children from middle-class parents. My father served in the Nigerian air force; my mother was a banker.

Towards the end of my secondary education (I …

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An immigrant physician’s journey

The paths to homelessness are more complicated than we think

Max Bergman

Policy

September 8, 2018

To me, my white coat symbolizes a willingness to care for my fellow man, and every day I strive to fulfill that challenge. But even the brightest white coat has a few stains. Growing up in a small Midwestern town, I just didn’t “get” the homeless community. They were completely isolated from my day to day life. Surrounded by my local community, I just assumed that the homeless were either …

I want to learn how to love medicine

Trisha K. Paul, MD

Physician

September 7, 2018

“Tell me something you love.”

I love warm chocolate chip cookies — straight out of the oven.

“Thank you. Tell me something you love.”

I love to read, to write, to dance. I don’t know yet if I love medicine.

We were gathered in a ballroom, a group of doctors and dancers, to explore the art of medicine through movement. I sat cross-legged, looking into the eyes of a person I did not know, …

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I want to learn how to love medicine

The problem with extreme social media challenges

Dr. Abhishek Gupta

Conditions

September 6, 2018

Trends or challenges have been a part of the fabric of social media for a long time. They have ranged from the benign ice bucket challenge (which raised millions for research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) to the highly dangerous Tide pod challenge (which involved eating laundry detergent capsules). All of these internet phenomena involved videotaping an individual who performed a bizarre physical action for the …

The unintended consequences of free medical school

Anonymous

Education

September 5, 2018

I’m probably in the minority on this, but I’m not a fan of the NYU School of Medicine free tuition program. Now I’m all for debt relief for medical students who start their careers with a mortgage. I was one of them. After 13 years, I’m still one of them! I’m also for any initiative that drives more medical students to career paths like primary care, where massive debt makes …

The effect of private equity in medicine

Thomas Black, MD

Physician

September 4, 2018

The landscape of health care has changed nearly beyond recognition in the past decade. If you’re a veteran of the profession, you’ve seen the other side of things — you once had the chance to live the dream, to swim in the pool of autonomy and self-employment, to call the shots and act on behalf of the patient without the constant supervision of bureaucracy. If you are new to the …

These are the stories of how physicians are bullied

Rosalind Kaplan, MD

Physician

September 3, 2018

Nobody punched me in the face. Maybe I would have preferred being punched in the face, though. And yes, I was bullied. I’m not going to talk about my own experience in this post however, because I already have post-traumatic stress disorder from the experience. I’m not ready to revisit it in detail yet.

I don’t need to talk about myself to tell you about bullying in the medical arena. I …

We’re doctors, but we’re humans too

Elham Raker, MD

Physician

September 2, 2018

We are human, we are not indestructible. We have feelings and emotions that can get hurt, probably more than the average person based on the careers we have chosen. Yes, we will pass up on our well-being (such as sleep, hygiene, exercise, relationships with family and friends) to be there for our patients. To receive our critical training to be able to care for others. This is our sacrifice, and …

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We’re doctors, but we’re humans too

4 reasons why physicians will become extinct

Varun Verma, MD

Policy

September 1, 2018

Will physicians go extinct? Artificial intelligence, legislation, profit motives in the health care industry, and clever lobbying by non-physician providers may all contribute to our demise. However, I believe the existential threat to our profession stems from the ranks of physicians themselves.

1. Unwillingness to embrace activism

Pathologist and writer Rudolph Virchow once said: “The physician is the natural attorney of the poor.” Like most physicians, my goal is to provide evidence-based …

MKSAP: 49-year-old woman with obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus

mksap

Conditions

September 1, 2018

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

A 49-year-old woman is evaluated during a follow-up visit. She is overweight and has hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus, both of which are well controlled. For several years, she has attempted to lose weight through various commercial diets; dietician-monitored, calorie-restricted diets; and physical activity. She has worked with a behavioral therapist, and …

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