The COVID-19 tragedy in India: a caution to other countries

Conditions and Diseases
May 3, 2021

You have seen those harrowing pictures. Patients dying outside the hospitals while waiting for a bed. People on oxygen masks gasping for air-sharing beds. Dead bodies piling up in morgues. Overstretched crematoriums and burial grounds. COVID-19 hit India very hard in April 2021. This is the second wave of disease in the country. They largely escaped the first wave and were confident by the end of 2020 that they had …

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The COVID-19 tragedy in India: a caution to other countries

A pediatrician’s approach to vaccine hesitancy in a pandemic

Conditions and Diseases
May 3, 2021

I feel privileged to have received both of my COVID-19 vaccine doses. Although, despite the COVID-19 pandemic killing over 562,000 Americans, 37% are hesitant about receiving this vaccine themselves. The World Health Organization defines vaccine hesitancy as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccine services” and in 2019, named vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 …

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A pediatrician’s approach to vaccine hesitancy in a pandemic

Falling in love during a pandemic: a medical scribe’s story [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 2, 2021
YouTube video

“Nowadays, I go on long walks through the city alone. I make dinner for one. When I go on bike rides, it’s a solo activity. I find comfort in myself, slowing down and making every small occasion a simple, peaceful one. I have a stronger sense of self, and through that, I …

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Falling in love during a pandemic: a medical scribe’s story [PODCAST]

I’m a doctor who had COVID. Did I deserve this? Does anyone?

Physician
May 2, 2021

During this pandemic, do we blame people for acquiring COVID or do we empathize?

I wonder this as I read a message from my senior, who mentions that people are suffering or in isolation due to COVID because of their own negligence.

My mind reflects back on all the dying doctors who caught the infection while treating the virus. And then, there was the ophthalmologist in Wuhan who diagnosed the virus, the …

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I’m a doctor who had COVID. Did I deserve this? Does anyone?

I may be damaging my brain this year, but it’s not from masks

Conditions and Diseases
May 2, 2021

I’ve been limiting my COVID-19 related engagement with social media because this has been a rough year. I like being a resource for my loved ones about COVID-19 stuff, but it feels never-ending.

A friend of mine asked me to weigh in on a letter sent to our local school board. It claimed that masks in school were a direct assault on human rights. This letter listed …

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I may be damaging my brain this year, but it’s not from masks

An acupuncturist’s take on the doctor-patient relationship [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 1, 2021
YouTube video

“Every professional I have done the exercise with admitted that their ideal patient was inspired by someone they were close to in their personal life. It was usually a family member, a best friend, or themselves. The ones who carry the most unbearable sufferings-the kind that reminds us of ourselves and …

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An acupuncturist’s take on the doctor-patient relationship [PODCAST]

A step forward: a way to advance the mental health of health care professionals

Health Policy
May 1, 2021

On April 26, 2020, the nation was shocked by the suicide of Dr. Lorna Breen, a New York City emergency physician who was recovering from COVID-19 in Virginia. Dr. Breen is one of an unknown number of health care professionals who have experienced mental illness or taken their lives over the past year. Although this issue is longstanding, Dr. Lorna Breen’s tragic death has galvanized many in the health care …

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A step forward: a way to advance the mental health of health care professionals

Even during a pandemic, I focus on living

Physician
May 1, 2021

Lately, I ask myself, “Where is my focus?”

Is it on what’s in my inbox, where I receive daily emails about COVID-19, the vaccine, what’s working, and what’s not?

Is it on the news, the trial, the verdict, police shootings, and the state of unrest in our country?

And if my focus is on what’s outside of me, then who is focused on me?

Focusing on me is my job. It’s the most important …

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Even during a pandemic, I focus on living

Love is the strongest medicine

Physician
May 1, 2021

An excerpt from Love Is the Strongest Medicine: Notes from a Cancer Doctor on Connection, Creativity, and Compassion.

For nearly two decades, I’ve been telling my oncology patients, with only a little irony, Welcome to your new normal. There’s no getting around the fact that a cancer diagnosis—for you or someone you love—is life-changing. Sometimes those changes are temporary (even …

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Love is the strongest medicine

What role does the science of complexity play in medicine? [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 30, 2021
YouTube video

“The science of complexity lays a conceptual foundation for understanding “complex adaptive systems.” What all complex adaptive systems have in common is that they are all bound by the same set of physical laws. Their “behavior,” i.e., growth, maintenance, and death, can all be described using the same set of mathematical relationships. …

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What role does the science of complexity play in medicine? [PODCAST]

Understanding the link between reflux and cancer can save lives

Conditions and Diseases
April 30, 2021

People who find themselves reaching for antacid several times a month, might consider reaching out to their doctor instead.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the same condition that causes heartburn, is also linked to a deadly form of esophageal cancer, adenocarcinoma. Lack of awareness about the link between reflux and cancer has contributed to a 733 percent increase in adenocarcinoma in the last 30 years. That’s not a typo. Adenocarcinoma of the …

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Understanding the link between reflux and cancer can save lives

When an attending was canceled by a resident

Physician
April 30, 2021

I am a psychiatrist who volunteers his time on the clinical faculty of the local medical school. This is a role I have valued over the years that has allowed me to give back and mentor young residents as my senior colleagues did for me during my training.

Recently, I had a chilling experience that has caused concern and pause. I was supervising a first-year resident who was presenting a patient …

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When an attending was canceled by a resident

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By jeopardizing privacy, did this physician meet patient satisfaction goals?

Physician
April 30, 2021

An excerpt from Under the Collar: Frank Conversations about Healing that Harms: Simply Speaking.

Hospitalist Nigel admitted elderly Ms. Mann who had developed dehydration after several days of unrelenting nausea and vomiting. Respecting patients’ privacy, Nigel asked Ms. Mann to name the individuals with whom the team could disclose her medical course and treatment. Ms. Mann designated only her …

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By jeopardizing privacy, did this physician meet patient satisfaction goals?

Type 1 diabetes in transgender children and adults

Conditions and Diseases
April 30, 2021

In the face of genetically engineered therapies for many cancers and the incredibly rapid development of effective vaccines for COVID-19, it’s easy to lose sight of the breadth and depth of unsolved puzzles in medical science. Many of these remaining mysteries may be at least partially resolved as we overcome the mind/body dichotomy. A fascinating example of this issue has emerged with recent evidence of the excessive prevalence of Type …

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Type 1 diabetes in transgender children and adults

What medical professionals can do to take climate action [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 29, 2021
YouTube video

“As health professionals, we have the platform to enact change within our own institutions, as well as local and federal governments. We must elect leaders and officials who spearhead climate action. We must reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare. And we must educate our colleagues and our patients about the impact of …

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What medical professionals can do to take climate action [PODCAST]

A secret for my $40,000 health care bills

Health Policy
April 29, 2021

On Twitter @jpegjoshua recently posted about a staggering health care bill for going to the hospital for a life-threatening condition and then receiving an outrageous statement, which reminded me of a similar story that I had.

I also received a bill for nearly $40,000 but luckily managed to have it cleared through an unmentioned secret. For me, it all started the second …

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A secret for my $40,000 health care bills

Don’t push harsh health care realities under the rug

Physician
April 29, 2021

On a recent call with a small health organization in rural Uganda, I asked the director about the C-section rate in the community. In some private maternity centers, this procedure is performed far more often than one might expect. I’ve learned that while this practice may be financially motivated, the extra fees also pay for staff and encourage doctors to maintain practices in these remote areas. This, in turn, keeps …

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Don’t push harsh health care realities under the rug

Health care as an uncommon good

Health Policy
April 29, 2021

American medicine is facing an identity crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to socioeconomic health disparities and turned up the heat on the question of whether health care is a right or a privilege. The financial strain on hospitals resulting from the temporary postponement of scheduled surgeries exposed a vulnerability caused by an inherently flawed payment system.

The answer to the right versus privilege question has much more significant implications …

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Health care as an uncommon good

A medical ethicist asks questions about CPAP

Conditions and Diseases
April 29, 2021

About a year ago, I was referred to a sleep clinic and was diagnosed with “very mild obstructive sleep apnoea” (OSA). A continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device was recommended with a litany of disorders that would occur (heart disease, CVA, HTN, decreased mortality, motor vehicle accidents, etc.) if I did not use the apparatus consistently and properly.

I assiduously used it for two test periods. Though the physician reported improvement, …

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A medical ethicist asks questions about CPAP

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