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4 ways doctors put themselves last

Physician

October 12, 2017

As physicians, we are conditioned to put ourselves last. This long-standing tendency likely began way before we hit medical school. But certainly, our training reinforces it. Think about it: the personality type that goes into medicine is typically a caretaker. And while medical school reinforces this personality pitfall, It doesn’t end there. Residency brings a whole other dimension of self-neglect. We think, “If I can just get out of residency …

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4 ways doctors put themselves last

3 signs that you’re ready to leave your job

Ben Levin, MD

Physician

October 12, 2017

Medicine is a calling. And almost all of us went into this profession for altruistic reasons. Unfortunately, it’s no secret that the health care landscape has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades, and practicing medicine is undoubtedly getting more difficult for most doctors.

Fortunately, I’ve found myself in a better place than most. But after hearing feedback from physicians at various stages of their career, there are a number …

A medical student in therapy

Kristen Lee

Education

October 11, 2017

On TV shows, therapists decorate their rooms with leather lounge chairs, throw pillows and organza curtains that let in the light.

But Dr. Hassan’s office is in the clinic basement. The fluorescent lighting is sterile. She has a gray metal desk — I think every doctor I’ve shadowed as a medical student has had that same desk.

But I’m not here as a student.

I’ve been anticipating this appointment for a month. In …

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A medical student in therapy

The problem with prescribing sleeping pills for older patients

Lea C. Watson, MD, MPH

Conditions

October 11, 2017

It seems that everyone has advice about sleep these days, and we have become immune to it. “Avoid naps, caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime. Get exercise. Get out of bed if you can’t sleep. Turn off the TV and any electronic devices hours before bedtime. Enjoy a relaxing ritual. Keep to a routine.”

Please do all of these, because they actually work! Shifting your bedtime later to achieve sleep consolidation …

This is who’s to blame for the opioid crisis

Steven Reznick, MD

Physician

October 11, 2017

“Do not get caught” seems to be the real rule of the law in South Florida, where I live.

I was trained to limit the use of controlled substances, narcotics, hypnotics and sedatives. Their use can affect consciousness, ability to drive a car and work. More severe consequences include respiratory depression and overdose from too high of a dosage or mixing too many medications and over the counter items.

The Joint Commission, …

A missed diagnosis haunts this physician

Anonymous

Conditions

October 10, 2017

Eighty percent of diagnoses can be made based on the history and physical. Take the subjective and objective; throw in some medical history, family history, social history and you can figure out your assessment and plan. Doctors are the detectives of the body and the more facts, the easier it is to solve the mystery.

This is the fictional note that I wrote in my head concerning a fellow physician friend …

The loss of testosterone and how that affects the partner

Anne Katz, RN, PhD

Conditions

October 9, 2017

I see these couples quite often: the man has been prescribed androgen deprivation therapy and his partner is distressed. He no longer has erections, although for some that had been a problem for years. But even then, they tell me, he at least tried occasionally. Now there is nothing. No hugs, no kisses, no hand holding, no touch. The partners are …

How the pain scale and patient satisfaction leads to death

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

October 9, 2017

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re well aware that the United States is in the grip of a really big epidemic of opioid abuse. The epicenter of much of this has been my beloved Appalachia. My home-town, Huntington, WV, might as well be re-named “Oxycontin,” or maybe “Heroinville.” It’s ugly.

Enormous amounts of ink have been spilled on this topic, and …

Why managing physicians is like herding cats

Hans Duvefelt, MD

Physician

October 8, 2017

One cold winter night many years ago, someone dropped off a calico cat and her two kittens in our snowy driveway, and we went from a two cat family to a five cat household. I learned a few things from that.

When I was a resident, two thirtysomething family docs had an office upstairs from the residency program. Ned and Peter precepted us, and they sometimes ran downstairs to ask the …

5 ways doctors can cope when natural disaster strikes

N. Bande Virgil, MD

Physician

October 5, 2017

The ice storm of 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia made headlines for weeks described as “snowpocalypse” and “snowmageddon.” It looked like something from a sci-fi movie — the end of the world, an alien invasion. It was the subject of social media memes and discourse for quite some time. In the midst of all that human frustration, there were ice-trapped cars, parents who struggled to reach children trapped at elementary schools.

Physicians, …

Want to change medicine? Work in finance.

Ryan O’Keefe

Education

October 5, 2017

Traditionally, many medical students use the proverbial “last summer of their lives” to conduct basic/clinical research, shadow or go abroad. If you want to be a leader in health care or are simply unsure of what to do over the summer, you should try something more exotic and unexpected — work in finance or industry.

Wall Street, big pharma and private insurers have long been the moral punching bags of clinicians …

The demise of the physicians’ lounge is symbolic of the decline of the profession

Suneel Dhand, MD

Physician

October 4, 2017

I recently read an article about how the physicians’ lounge, which was once present in every hospital and an important congregating area for doctors during the day, is now mostly a thing of the past. Although the article was not a new one, it peaked my interest because I’ve witnessed the demise of the physicians’ lounge at close quarters over the last several years.

Speaking too as someone who has …

5 things physicians can do to protect themselves

Nisha Mehta, MD

Physician

October 1, 2017

As someone who talks to many physicians about burnout and life in medicine, I find myself having a lot of discussions about the circumstances of people’s jobs. Almost inevitably, there comes a point in the conversation where someone expresses dissatisfaction about an aspect of their contract or an additional responsibility that was placed on them.

As physicians, we’re groomed to take care of patients. During training, we don’t talk about compensation, …

It’s time for teamwork in dermatology

Henry W. Lim, MD

Physician

September 30, 2017

RRegardless of specialty, no physician can truly provide patients with the care they deserve if they practice in isolation. In recent years, the health care system has acknowledged this reality by embracing greater collaboration and team-based care. With an aging population increasing the prevalence of chronic disease and life-threatening conditions, the timing couldn’t be better.

For the field of dermatology, the American Academy of Dermatology’s recent Burden …

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It’s time for teamwork in dermatology

10 things a doctor’s spouse wants you to know

Charity Williams

Physician

September 29, 2017

1. This is a calling. Physicians do not typically start out undeclared, drink through a couple of semesters and randomly apply to med school. For many, they started dreaming in grade school. They started pushing themselves for straight A’s in third grade, fought for valedictorian, turned down frat party invites to study, and then essentially gave up four years of their lives to med school incurring an average debt of …

Here’s what happens when the doctor becomes the patient

Lucy Guevara, MD

Physician

September 29, 2017

What is a doctor? Technically speaking, a doctor is a person that dedicates his or her knowledge and skills to the prevention and treatment of diseases, while maintaining and even enhancing human health.

The majority of physicians enter into the profession of medicine because they are committed to helping others. It is this mission-driven spirit and dedication that makes us grateful for the opportunity each to care for others during a …

Want to stay in shape during residency? Here’s how.

Alex Robles, MD

Physician

September 28, 2017

How many times have you heard resident physicians say that they do not have time to exercise and get in shape? When looking at the numbers, it’s hard to blame them. An 80-hour work week is enough to make anyone realize that time is a precious commodity.

Take away six-to-eight hours for sleep each day, plus a couple of hours for eating, showering and studying, and you are left with approximately …

Physicians and magicians are not as different as you think

Robert Baker, MD

Physician

September 27, 2017

We all know what, in 1888, Rudyard Kipling pronounced to be the world’s oldest profession. But what’s the world’s second oldest? Hunter-gatherer? Nah, everybody did that. Primitive politician? That’s a tautology. Neolithic attorney? Nope. Too similar to the oldest.

I strongly suspect that the second oldest profession was healer/magician. Fire up Mr. Peabody’s Wayback time machine, and you’d probably find that the first healers were regarded as magicians, and the first …

Before you say “I’m sorry,” I challenge you to think

Sasha K. Shillcutt, MD

Physician

September 26, 2017

We as women have to stop saying “I’m sorry” for things out of our control. When we apologize for things we are not responsible for, we take a step backwards in the advancement of women in the workplace.

I am a cardiac anesthesiologist, which means I care for patients who are undergoing open-heart surgery. I work in an academic medical center and train doctors to become anesthesiologists. The operating room (OR) can …

It’s time to ban productivity from medicine

Robert Centor, MD

Policy

September 25, 2017

According to Wikipedia, “Productivity describes various measures of the efficiency of production. A productivity measure is expressed as the ratio of output to inputs used in a production process, i.e., output per unit of input. Productivity is a crucial factor in production performance of firms and nations.”

Please tell me how this relates to being a physician or a patient. We do not produce anything. Rather we work with individuals to …