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Here’s why health insurance is different from other insurance

Joseph Crisp

Policy

February 19, 2018

Anyone who has ever tried to buy health insurance in the open marketplace knows how difficult and expensive it can be. I spent years working at jobs that did not provide health insurance, and I remember the annual feeling of dread when I received notice of the new premium increase. The only way I could keep the cost affordable was by continually raising the deductible until eventually, I was paying …

Pick the right target-date mutual fund. Here’s how.

Wall Street Physician, MD

Finance

February 19, 2018

Many physicians don’t want to think too hard about investing. There are a lot more fun things to do in life than worry about the minutiae of index funds.

One of the best investments for beginner investors are target-date funds. It’s a great way to get started with investing, while you learn more about the principles of asset allocation.

But there are literally hundreds of target-date funds available. How do you pick …

In medical school, everything is a zebra

Jake Eggett

Education

February 18, 2018

As a medical student, I have big shoes to fill. I feel that void in my foot-space at all times. These shoes are expensive, and they are monstrously huge. We’re talking circus-clown, Shaquille O’Neal, Andre the Giant shoes. I feel awkward in these size 24s. I’m stumbling and scuffing them, but I’m not even close to calling it quits. These shoes are staying on. I am trying as hard as …

Are all of those morning labs really necessary?

Kunal Sindhu, MD

Physician

February 18, 2018

After a complicated stay in the hospital, my patient was finally ready to be discharged. After all he had been through, I was excited to tell him the good news.

“You will be leaving this afternoon,” I said, heartened by the smile I saw spreading across his face. He thanked me, and then said something that made me cringe.

“Finally! I thought you guys were going to keep sticking me with needles …

Why do medical students kill themselves?

Nahda Harati

Education

February 16, 2018

“I can’t do this anymore,” Mary* said to me after morning rounds.

As third-year medical students, this could have been in reference to a number of things: 5 a.m. rounds, practice sutures, 14-hour days, the list goes on. Though I later learned Mary was simply referring to living.

An article recently published by JAMA showed depression or depressive symptoms among medical students was as high as 27.2 …

How to get back into the medical workforce if you’re a mom

Virginia Thornley, MD

Physician

February 16, 2018

As women in the medical workforce increase, women physicians are faced with the unique position of training the hardest they ever had in their lifetime cutting into precious childbearing years. Many women physicians seek time off or engage in part-time jobs to address the dilemma of fulfilling the obligations of their careers while enjoying the tender years of their babies. Others pursue non-clinical routes such as medical chart reviews or …

Poor communication between EHRs is unacceptable. Let’s fix it.

Yoo Jung Kim, MD

Tech

February 16, 2018

The third year of medical school is when a student experiences the frustrations of medicine firsthand. Once, my team admitted a transfer patient from another hospital to treat a condition that was ravaging the patient’s lungs. But before we could act, we needed to rule out a dormant infection; if our patient was unknowingly infected with tuberculosis (TB), giving our first-line therapies could lead to a disseminated infection — even …

Why are there vending machines in hospitals?

Jered Haynor, DO

Policy

February 16, 2018

Why are there vending machines in hospitals? This seems like an odd question to ponder, and it certainly would seem to have nothing to do with the current state of medicine and health care in our country. But it is a question that I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around. Certainly, most hospitals do have vending machines that sell snacks and soda, and they are by no …

The challenge of the worried well

Philip A. Masters, MD

Physician

February 15, 2018

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

I recently saw a 35-year-old patient of mine who came into clinic requesting brain imaging. Although she had no specific symptoms, she had a friend who was diagnosed with a brain tumor several months ago and is concerned about the possibility that she …

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The challenge of the worried well

A kiss changed this doctor’s life

Lee David Milligan, MD

Physician

February 15, 2018

As a boy growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, I never gave much thought to the concept of a kiss. My family gave and received kisses without hesitation. I continue to give and receive kisses from my wife and kids in the same nonchalant manner.

Until one night — on shift.

I work in the ER of a medium-sized town in southern Oregon. It was late into my shift. The …

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A kiss changed this doctor’s life

What’s the cost of being a doctor in recovery?

Luther Philaya, MD

Physician

February 15, 2018

I am a physician in recovery and just celebrated my fifth-year anniversary on October 11, 2017.

While in active addiction, my drugs of choice were benzodiazepines and opioids that I washed down with top-shelf alcohol. Near the end of my usage, I was diverting scheduled drugs in order to feed my addiction. After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, I finally admitted myself for treatment.

As part of the treatment process, I enrolled with …

How doctors should think: Heuristic thinking isn’t heretical

Craig Bowron, MD and Michael Cummings, MD

Conditions

February 14, 2018

Doctors are intelligent people, but are we good thinkers? And how should we think?

There are two basic kinds of thinking: analytic and intuitive. (And maybe good and bad, so that’s four.) Within medicine, analytic thinking can perhaps be best exemplified in the evidence-based movement, which began in the early 1990’s. It was a gilded age, full of promise, and bolstered by the reality that computers would give physicians instant access to the …

Have you set up the safety nets in your life?

Passive Income, MD

Finance

February 14, 2018

We all know that life is unpredictable. In fact, the only thing that’s certain is that things will be uncertain. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, I think the majority of people are risk-averse. We’re concerned about future and its potential for unfortunate circumstances. If we weren’t, there would be no such thing as insurance–and there’s insurance for just about everything.

While it’s important to think optimistically, knowing you have …

Dear Mom and Dad: Are you calling your pediatrician’s office too often?

Anonymous

Physician

February 13, 2018

I work as a pediatrician in a bustling metropolis, in an outpatient setting of a world-renowned academic center. One of those non-profit hospitals you see in television ads. For the last three years, our outpatient encounters have plummeted, and the mothership has put all efforts into recuperating financial losses. Meanwhile, our office phones are ringing off the hook, and we cannot seem to hire enough nursing staff to deal with …

In defense of FOX’s The Resident

Rohin Francis, MD

Physician

February 13, 2018

The public’s apparently insatiable appetite for medical drama continues unabated as yet another prime-time TV show set in a hospital has hit our screens. FOX’s The Resident has generated discussion like no other. This may simply be due to the fact it’s the first major launch in the era of widespread social media, but it seems to have enraged a vast swathe of our ranks. Has The Resident crossed a …

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In defense of FOX’s The Resident

To aspiring physician-writers: It’s time to write that book!

Robert Allan Bear, MD

Physician

February 12, 2018

In 2011, my first novel was published. It is a medical novel, and, unsurprisingly, since I practiced as a nephrologist for many years, it takes place in a dialysis unit. I learned a lot from writing this book, seeing it published and living with the consequences. Since its publication, many professionals have confided to me that they harbor a secret desire to write a book. I want to share my …

Medical school admissions: Patience is a virtue

Joshua Newman

Education

February 11, 2018

For patients, being patient can be the most difficult part of receiving health care. For some, this ends in the waiting room, but others, unfortunately, anxiously await insurance approval, test results, surgery, transplants, and sometimes — even death.

However, in medicine, patients aren’t the only ones who need patience. It’s important that physicians learn to be patient as well; something that is much easier said than done for many type A …

Think twice before you give a hug

Rabbi Chaya Gusfield, BCC

Conditions

February 10, 2018

I’m usually a hugger. When I see people I haven’t seen for a while or want to acknowledge someone in an open-hearted way, I often will automatically reach for a hug. Physical acknowledgment is usually perceived as a sign of warmth. But not always. In the last few years, I have noticed that this automatic hug can actually cause harm or insult even though my intent is not to.

I learned …

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Think twice before you give a hug

Learn to see beauty in death

Jo Ann Gates, MD

Physician

February 9, 2018

We physicians stand witness to countless tragedies in our careers.

At some point, as we stand by the bedside of a dying patient, comfort a heartbroken relative or officially call a death. We learn that love and loss, sorrow and joy are intertwined. They depend upon each other. They are two sides of the same coin. Dealing with loss after loss, we learn to look for the beauty in all of …

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Learn to see beauty in death

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