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Lewy body dementia and a farewell to a physician’s father

Conditions

November 20, 2018

When I finished my training, I was taught that the vast majority of dementia was Alzheimer’s disease, with occasional cases of multi-infarct dementia as well as odd syndromes such as Kreutzfeld-Jacob disease and genetic, traumatic, toxic and tumor-related syndromes. Parkinson’s disease, we were taught, caused a tremor and freezing up of a person’s movements and only very rarely was associated with any kind of memory loss.

These teachings helped us modern …

The psychological impact of quitting medicine

Smart Money, MD

Finance

November 20, 2018

We talk about money on my website, and how to make sure that you have enough of it. In fact, that’s pretty much the entire strategy for the growing crowd of people in the world who are gunning to retire at an age that most neurosurgeons start their careers.

Those of us in the medical field who also have similar ambitions to work our finances intelligently are likely to have similar …

Everything you ever wanted to know about croup

Christopher Johnson, MD

Conditions

November 20, 2018

Imagine this scenario. Your two-year-old son has had a runny nose for a day or two and an occasional cough, but seemed no worse to you that everyone else in his preschool class. Two hours after you put him to bed you hear him coughing, only this cough is like none you have ever heard from him before. It sounds like a barking seal at the circus — a brassy, …

Suboxone for pain makes sense. Why don’t more doctors prescribe it?

Hans Duvefelt, MD

Meds

November 19, 2018

Many patients who end up in Suboxone treatment have chronic pain. They were originally prescribed other opiates and ended up addicted to them.

Skeptics argue that is just substituting one opiate for another. But that isn’t quite accurate. More on that in a bit.

In my seven years of prescribing Suboxone for opiate addiction, I have often observed how potent a pain reliever this medication is, even in fairly low doses. More …

Make sure your decision to leave medicine is not based on an emotional response

Lisa Herbert, MD

Physician

November 18, 2018

We know the statistics. More than 50 percent of physicians are experiencing burnout at the hands of EMRs, a nonexistent work-life balance and regulatory constraints to name a few. This is causing physicians to leave clinical medicine and find other work. Some are opting for nonclinical administrative roles, and others are leaving altogether for careers outside of medicine. This is adding to the shortage of physicians that we were already …

How technology removes the pain point from diabetes management

David Ahn, MD

Conditions

November 17, 2018

There is a wealth of information about your health circulating in your blood. For people with diabetes, accessing that information can be a matter of life or death.

For nearly 30 years, the prevailing technology for checking the blood sugars of someone with diabetes has been the fingerstick. People with diabetes are often asked to stick their fingers and check their blood multiple times a day to assess whether their blood …

The stories of rural physicians

Health eCareers

Physician

November 17, 2018

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com.

When George W. “Billy” Campbell, MD, walks down the street, he never knows who — or what — he’s going to encounter. Anything can happen when you’re the doctor at Foothills Family Medicine of Westminster, South Carolina, a small town with a population of only 2,500.

“I’ve had someone pull …

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The stories of rural physicians

The spirit of Santa Claus in medicine

Bernard Leo Remakus, MD

Physician

November 16, 2018

For longer than anyone could remember, he was the rural community’s pharmacist. A skilled compounder of prescriptions, he was conversant in chocolates, greeting cards, and how to obviate a trip to the doctor’s office by using an over-the-counter remedy.

A devoted family man, he was involved in many civic and church activities. Most have forgotten all the roles he once played in the community, but no one will ever forget that …

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The spirit of Santa Claus in medicine

The Osteopathic Oath vs. the Hippocratic Oath

Liz Hills, DO

Education

November 16, 2018

It was during the first few weeks of medical school that I realized that I was joining a secret society. Like many physicians, I was called to medicine at a young age. For me, it was Doctor Beverly Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I admired her — I wanted to be who she was and do what she did. (More or less, my dreams of space medicine transmuted …

Silence in health care is a crisis

Robert Van Boven, MD

Physician

November 16, 2018

I was moved when a family entrusted me to give a eulogy for their beloved. This great privilege highlighted a hallmark of a physician’s service to humanity: “to cure sometimes, alleviate often, but comfort always.” But I was horrified to learn that his death at the hospital may have been the result of a preventable error — one that was withheld from the family.

Sadly, that patient …

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Silence in health care is a crisis

The evolution of the stethoscope

Christopher Johnson, MD

Physician

November 13, 2018

The stethoscope. Nothings says “I’m a doctor” more than the stethoscope in a pocket or draped around the neck. Forty-five years ago when I got my first one, a gift from my physician-father, the former was more common. Then we were more likely to wear coats — white coats or suit coats — and pockets were available. I had suit coats in which the lining was worn out from the …

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The evolution of the stethoscope

The risks of co-signing PA and NP charts

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

November 13, 2018

We all know that there’s a remarkable shortage of physicians in America and that it’s growing worse. This is especially true in primary care but it’s present across all specialties. This shortage alone is a significant stress on practicing physicians. But when it is coupled with corporatization, the increasing complexity of medical care, unrelenting electronic charting requirements and the explosion of administrative tasks, physicians barely keep up each day.

This is one of the …

Meet the physician who became a financial advisor

James Turner, MD

Finance

November 13, 2018

If you can’t beat ’em, join them (and make it better). Am I right? This was some of the sentiment I felt as I registered with FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) to take the Series 65 exam. Passing this exam will allow me to register in my state as an Independent Advisory Representative (IAR) and function as a financial advisor. This begs the question: Why should I become a financial …

Doctors overcorrect too often

Hans Duvefelt, MD

Physician

November 12, 2018

Back when cholesterol target numbers ruled unopposed (before 2013), we all checked fasting lipids every three months. Before 2012, we also checked liver function quarterly in hapless riders on the cholesterol pill merry-go-round. That year the FDA announced there had not been enough reports of statin-induced liver problems to recommend routine monitoring.

I have many colleagues who still do this, and who also routinely monitor routine labs quarterly …

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Doctors overcorrect too often

8 tips to land the residency of your dreams

Cory Fawcett, MD and Eric Brown

Education

November 9, 2018

After countless hours of hard work and three demanding years of medical school, it’s now time to face the spotlight! If your interview invites have started rolling in and you are feeling intimidated by the thought, follow these tips to land your first choice of clinical residency.

1. Be prompt with your responses to interview invites

Be sure to set your inbox to automatically refresh every hour during the interview season so you …

The main difference between functional medicine and evidence-based medicine

Alex Lickerman, MD

Physician

November 8, 2018

Figuring out what’s actually true is far harder than most people realize. Our brains are both hypothesis-generating machines and incredibly credulous. As a result, most of the things we believe to be true turn out to be false. We don’t just mistakenly believe that vaccines cause autism, that the flu shot can give us the flu, and that astrology can predict our future. We also mistakenly believe that the salad …

How do health insurance companies harm patients?

Linda Girgis, MD

Physician

November 7, 2018

Health care policy has been a hotly debated political topic for many years now. In recent years, new laws passed the halls of Congress while others failed to gain any traction. Despite the rules that have rolled out, health insurance companies have been in the driver’s seat for decades.

While spokespersons for the health insurance industry will tell you that they do not make medical decisions. As a doctor, I can …

Why patients don’t do what physicians tell them

Philip A. Masters, MD

Physician

November 6, 2018

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

Those of us who provide clinical care inevitably have patients who simply don’t do what we tell them. And this isn’t limited to only primary care but is encountered in all specialties and by subspecialists and consultants alike.

Not only can this be frustrating …

Here’s what the third year of medical school taught me

Manahil Akmal

Education

November 5, 2018

The dawn of 2018 brought new hopes and new promises for me as I began the third year of my medical school journey. This marked the beginning of a challenging era, one that would test my capabilities to the fullest but also one that was the culmination of countless sacrifices and the fulfillment of years of yearning. After all, this was what I had come to medical school for.

Third year …

What kind of extracurricular activities do medical schools look for?

Yosepha Greenfield

Education

November 5, 2018

Preparing for medical school demands displaying your passion for both medicine and helping others. Like medical schools, other graduate school programs (think: business or law) require strong grades, test scores, leadership experience, and resumes. But medical school requires so much more than that. Good extracurricular activities for medical school are a particularly important part of the application process.

Through your application — personal statement, AMCAS experience list, secondaries, and interviews — you must …