Should your practice hire a physician assistant or nurse practitioner?

Physician
October 4, 2018

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are both advanced-practice providers with considerable autonomy, but they’re not interchangeable. Each brings something slightly different to the table, and if your practice is considering hiring an advanced-level practitioner, it’s important to understand the differences so you can hire appropriately for your need.

Because medical facilities are …

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Should your practice hire a physician assistant or nurse practitioner?

It’s the physician’s job to think of worst-case scenarios

Conditions
October 3, 2018

I saw two patients with a chief complaint of bubbles in their urine this month.

One middle-aged woman had eaten some wild mushrooms she was pretty sure she had identified correctly, but once her urine turned bubbly a few days later, she came in to make sure her kidneys were OK.

Even though she was feeling quite well, they were not, and she ended up going straight to Cityside hospital for IV …

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It’s the physician’s job to think of worst-case scenarios

My future as both a mother and a physician

Education
October 2, 2018

My parents were married at the College of Physicians.

They picked a location that was not tied to either of their family’s religions but still sated a ceremonial need. A justice of the peace filled the role of a rabbi or priest, and they got married under the only doctrine they both held sacred: the Hippocratic Oath.

I never knew that this was an unconventional wedding location. I used to watch their …

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My future as both a mother and a physician

Dealing with prejudice as a cancer patient

Physician
October 2, 2018

I sat in seat 23F next to the window, took out my leftover dinner from my backpack, and furiously started eating. A few minutes later, a man wearing an Astros baseball cap sat next to me with a puzzled look.

“You sure look hungry.”

“I am, can’t beat fried noodles with chicken. My name’s T.J. Pleasure to meet you.”

“My name’s Mike, Mike Jordan.”

“Are you related to the Michael Jordan?”

“Ha ha! I sure …

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Dealing with prejudice as a cancer patient

One of the biggest lessons medical school can teach you

Education
October 1, 2018

I spent my first two years of medical school collecting stories. I journaled about my thoughts in the anatomy lab. I wrote about what it was like to learn how to interview and examine patients, about the immense honor and privilege I felt just being able to don a white coat with a stethoscope around my neck. I wrote about the patients that touched my heart – the patient with …

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One of the biggest lessons medical school can teach you

Don’t sign off on fat acceptance. Don’t normalize obesity.

Conditions
October 1, 2018

I cannot get behind fat acceptance, or better stated in medical lingo as “normalizing obesity.” As a physician and as someone who has been obese or morbidly obese my adult life, I know first hand what it’s like to hate my body and feel ashamed of it. I still do this very moment as I type this, that’s something I have to work on.

Funny thing is, I am much more …

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Don’t sign off on fat acceptance. Don’t normalize obesity.

The answer to your prior authorization problem is simpler than you think

Meds
September 30, 2018

Prior authorizations (PAs) have become increasingly burdensome for providers — they contribute to 92 percent of care delays and an estimated 77 million are submitted manually each year. In fact, the process has become so burdensome that many physicians get fed up with the process end up writing for less-effective prescriptions because they know the preferred drug will require a prior …

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The answer to your prior authorization problem is simpler than you think

A breakdown of your pathology report

Conditions
September 27, 2018

I’m a pathologist and the main way I communicate to the outside world — to your doctor and ultimately to you, the patient is via the pathology report. But the short missives I send from behind the microscope lack any excitement and can fall short of full communication.

Here’s the usual story:

Skin left scapula, biopsy

Nodular basal cell carcinoma

Negative for perineural invasion

Margin status: Positive

Doesn’t sound real interesting, does it?

How about a more …

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A breakdown of your pathology report

Here’s why you wait in the ER

Physician
September 26, 2018

All have to wait. As is normal with the busy ER, the ambient noises of machines, alarms ringing, painful moaning, and loud drunken outbursts permeate the department. It’s a controlled chaos.

But, a woman’s scream pierced my soul. Her baby eight-month-old boy laid limp in her arms. He’s already pale, lips blue, his chest not rising as it should with breathing — he is not responding at all. We wasted no …

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Here’s why you wait in the ER

Why historically black colleges and universities matter

Education
September 26, 2018

Every few months, there happens to be another breathless news story about racism in health care. Mass media seems shocked, progressives angrily tweet, while conservatives claim that somehow it was all President Obama’s fault.

Meanwhile, the four relatively unknown and certainly underappreciated historically black college or university (HBCU) medical schools in the United States (Howard University, Meharry Medical College, Morehouse School of …

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Why historically black colleges and universities matter

10 things wealthy doctors won’t tell you

Finance
September 25, 2018

Guess what? You’re surrounded by rich doctors. You probably didn’t even know it. You know why? Because doctors don’t talk about that filthy lucre known as money. So while you’re assuming that all the other doctors in your group, office building, and hospital are in the same position as you, you’re wrong. Some of them are rich. There are ten things they’re not telling you, but which …

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10 things wealthy doctors won’t tell you

The influence of a physician’s father

Physician
September 25, 2018

Because of my father

When you lose a parent during childhood, it effects just about everything you become.  Decisions about life naturally stem from enduring this trauma.  Some try to form families early and replace that which they feel has been lost.  Others spurn close connections and create a wall so firm that no one else can encroach.  An attempt to protect against pain.  Because of my father I …

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The influence of a physician’s father

When should insurance companies be held responsible for medical malpractice?

Physician
September 25, 2018

In July, 2009, the family of Massachusetts teenager Yarushka Rivera went to their local Walgreens to pick up Topomax, an anti-seizure drug that had been keeping her epilepsy in check for years. Rivera had insurance coverage through MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid insurance program for low-income children, and never ran into obstacles obtaining this life-saving medication.

But in July of 2009, she turned 19, and when, shortly after her birthday, her family …

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When should insurance companies be held responsible for medical malpractice?

It’s really hard to make money in the stock market

Finance
September 24, 2018

No, I’m not saying that the process of investing in index funds is difficult. In fact, it’s actually quite simple to build a diversified index portfolio, whether your money is invested at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, or Etrade.

What makes investing in the stock market so difficult is tolerating its high volatility. Many investors are unable to stick with the stock market in the long run because of the ups and downs.

But those who stay invested …

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It’s really hard to make money in the stock market

10 financial tips for physician maternity leave

Finance
September 22, 2018

Let’s be real here. Women make babies. Women also kick butt working. Sometimes women need to make babies while kicking butt working. So, you know, the human race can survive … no big deal. But, all too often, families are unfairly burdened by our dismal maternity support system. Bleary-eyed and bloody, new mamas emerge from childbirth facing a mountain of medical bills and no income.

For my first pregnancy, my family …

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10 financial tips for physician maternity leave

Why doctors can’t take sick days

Physician
September 21, 2018

I learn all manner of interesting things from the information sheets posted on the walls of the employee bathrooms at my hospital. I learn, for example, about upcoming CME offerings for advance practice providers, how many seconds one has to scrub the hub of a central line, and what the new process is when nurses need to call in sick. They call a specific phone number and state that they …

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Why doctors can’t take sick days

A physician with congenital heart disease

Conditions
September 21, 2018

Everyone always jokes with doctors, “What happens if you get sick?” Some of us laugh off the question. The busy schedule of health care often means our own health comes last. However, what happens when it’s a chronic disease that requires treatment? Then the answer to this question is a little different.

I am a family medicine physician dealing with congenital heart disease (CHD). Saying that someone has congenital heart disease …

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A physician with congenital heart disease

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