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Medical students: Welcome to the wards

Education

July 19, 2018

Dear third-year medical students,

Welcome to the wards.

I remember this stage — basking in the glory of completing pre-clinicals, in the excitement of finally switching heavy textbooks for living, breathing people, in the realization that medical education now lies in the hands of those I wanted to heal. I would be sleeping less, but living more, because this was my purpose.

Remember this moment because this will be the most difficult year …

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Medical students: Welcome to the wards

When attendings come to work rounds

Robert Centor, MD

Education

July 18, 2018

Learners value efficiency. As I recall my residency, nothing caused more angst than unnecessarily long rounds. In the 1970s just like in the 2010s, I had much to do after rounds ended.

As an attending physician, my responsibilities involve patient care and aiding learning. I have always worked hard to do that within a time constraint. The time constraint requires that rounds run efficiently.

Like many things in medicine, efficiency only works …

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When attendings come to work rounds

Reading the body language of your patients

Suneel Dhand, MD

Physician

July 16, 2018

When a patient is unwell and seeking help, a vast number of emotions could be going through their mind. Their whole life could have been turned upside down, they may have been fearing this moment for a while, and stressing over the implications of their illness. To physicians, it may sometimes feel like just another name on our list or almost become a routine mechanical interaction, but for …

How to thrive during your residency

Varun Verma, MD

Physician

July 16, 2018

Even though my own internship was a decade ago, I vividly remember the transition from student to resident. Residency was monumental in my path to becoming a physician. There were obvious changes: People now called me “doctor,” my misshapen short white coat was upgraded to a more comforting full length one, and I was often the first one paged to respond to patient problems. Coupled with the positive aspects though, …

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How to thrive during your residency

Restoring the trust in the medical profession

Philip A. Masters, MD

Policy

July 13, 2018

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

Trust is the belief that another person or entity will act in your best interest, and it serves as the foundation upon which the doctor-patient relationship and our health care system are built.

But we have a significant trust paradox in American medicine. As …

6 pieces of advice for graduating medical students and residents

Nisha Mehta, MD

Physician

July 13, 2018

My (sometimes solicited, but often unsolicited) advice for graduating medical students, residents, and fellows:

June is one of my favorite times of the year. One, because it’s summer, but also because it’s graduation season. I love seeing and hearing about everyone’s accomplishments, and seeing years of hard work come to fruition – although if I’m being honest, it’s bittersweet, because it’s also a reminder of how I’m getting older.

This year, I’ve …

8 steps to have those difficult conversations

Marlene Chism

Physician

July 12, 2018

An excerpt from 7 Ways to Stop Drama in Your Healthcare Practice.

Although the ability to initiate difficult conversations is part of good leadership, I’ve never met a leader who enjoys it. Whether your conversation is about body odor, rude behavior, dress code, personal conduct or performance issues, difficult conversations are …

10 ways to stay out of the DEA’s crosshairs

Dennis Wichern

Physician

July 12, 2018

No news attracts attention like a physician who’s in trouble with DEA or their state medical board. So, how does it happen, what are the common issues and what can a physician do to safeguard themselves?

First, let’s look at what the numbers and the research tell us.

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) tells us that 4,091 physicians were disciplined during …

A conversation with a doctor who was tired of feeling burned out

Nii-Daako Darko, MD, MBA

Physician

July 11, 2018

An excerpt from the Docs Outside the Box podcast, episode 1: When the going gets tough… MOVE!

Dr. Nii: All right, well thank you very much for joining us on the Doc’s Outside-the-Box podcast. You are our first guest — first victim, I guess. It’s the inaugural episode, so I just wanted to thank you for joining us. I know you are in New Zealand, which is roughly 18 hours away.

Dr. Brown: It’s …

What’s better: mentorship or sponsorship?

Julie Silver, MD

Education

July 11, 2018

Literature coming from business and human resource management suggests that women are over-mentored and under-sponsored. However, if you have been reading reports about women in medicine, then you likely have heard that women are both over-mentored and under-mentored. Where does the truth lie? That depends on various factors including the definitions of these terms.

What exactly do these words mean? In the business sector, mentorship is …

Prescription drugs are killing students and the educational system

Yasir Khan, MD

Meds

July 11, 2018

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 63,632 individuals died in 2016 as a result of drug overdose. Among these, 66 percent died from opioid overdose. The statistics are derived from in-depth research that was carried out by the research institute in 2016. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that cases of drug abuse are swiftly spreading geographically and increasing demographically. The …

A physician’s warning on the keto diet

Shivam Joshi, MD

Conditions

July 11, 2018

The keto diet has recently garnered much fame for its apparent ability to improve diabetes and obesity – results so impressive the Journal of the American Medical Association recently highlighted the diet and thereby christened it as something more than a low-carb craze. However, not all the evidence supports such a positive outlook, leading the diet to straddle the increasingly blurred lines between faddist snake …

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A physician’s warning on the keto diet

3 steps for doctors to move into the next level of career growth

Stephanie Wellington, MD

Physician

July 10, 2018

In medicine, this is the time when one season ends and another begins. New doctors graduate from medical school. They are excited and, at the same time, scared as they enter into residency training. Interns become residents. Senior residents celebrate moving into attending positions or look forward to subspecialty training in fellowship programs. It’s the excitement of completion combined with the uncertainty of charting a new course in medicine. Each …

Sleeping with your baby: Mainstream media gets it wrong

Karen Allen, MD

Conditions

July 9, 2018

Recently, a journalist with NPR asked her audience if sleeping with your baby is as dangerous as doctors say. In short, yes, it is very dangerous.

In the article, Michaeleen Doucleff repeatedly trivializes the danger of parents co-sleeping with their baby. She uses anthropological evidence to reassure parents that sleeping with their infant is safe if parents don’t drink, smoke, or use illicit drugs. She makes light …

The hidden issues of the “dancing doctor”

Joshua D. Zuckerman, MD

Physician

July 9, 2018

Over the last month, a dermatologist practicing in Georgia known as the “dancing doctor” was suspended by the Georgia Medical Board, which said she posed a “threat to public health, safety, and welfare.” At least ten patients have sued this physician with complications including disfigurement and brain damage, and reportedly there are another 100 former patients who …

What I wish my family had known about medical residency

Elisabeth Poorman, MD

Physician

July 9, 2018

I sometimes get messages from people who have lost physician colleagues and loved ones to suicide. It’s the specifics of these stories that wound me: a note left for an unexpected person; an insignificant fight at sign-out that in retrospect is full of meaning; the white coat that a woman wore when she jumped to her death. Each of these lives is complex, and each of these deaths …

Political polarization is harming America’s health

Kunal Sindhu, MD

Policy

July 8, 2018

On May 15, President Trump attempted to kill not just two, but three birds with one tweet, simultaneously denouncing the Media and the Mueller investigation, and crowing about his approval ratings. “Can you believe that with all of the made up, unsourced stories I get from the Fake News Media, together with the $10,000,000 Russian Witch Hunt (there is no Collusion), I now have my best …

Which of these patients should get a liver transplant?

Michael Kirsch, MD

Conditions

July 7, 2018

People with liver failure and cirrhosis die every year because there are not enough livers available. Who should receive the treasured life-saving organ? There is an organ allocation system in place, which has evolved over time, which ranks patients who need liver transplants. Without such a system, there would be confusion and chaos. How can we fairly determine who should receive the next available liver? What criteria should move a …

3 things patients really want from their doctors

Suneel Dhand, MD

Physician

July 5, 2018

The doctor-patient interaction is the absolute core of clinical medicine. Maybe I’ll go much further: it’s the core of health care in general. I always try to remember, whenever I’m ever feeling frustrated with the system, the crazy bureaucracy — and of course, the debacle of our clunky electronic medical records and their data entry requirements — to separate myself from all of that when I’m face-to-face with my patient …

Job security in medicine is a myth

Passive Income, MD

Finance

July 5, 2018

Imagine, if you will, that you’re an anesthesiologist. You’ve been part of a successful practice for over 10 years. You can walk down your neighborhood street and run into mothers whose epidurals you’ve helped place. You’ve established a home, a community, and your children are in a great school system.

One uneventful day, say Wednesday, you get an email from the hospital administrators announcing that there’s going to be a meeting …

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Job security in medicine is a myth