The unintended consequences of population health algorithms

Health Policy
December 4, 2020

The results of a 2019 research article in the journal Science uncovered significant racial bias in commonly used population health algorithms used to identify and assign care to patients with complex, active health needs. Using a large clinical data set, the researchers showed that Black patients are considerably sicker than white patients at any given risk score. They demonstrated that remedying this disparity would more than …

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The unintended consequences of population health algorithms

Who are the doctors who end their own lives? [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 3, 2020
YouTube video

“Recently, a fellow physician mom ended her life. While outwardly, a very vibrant, lively, and happy woman, she fought her own internal demons for some time. From what we know, she struggled with depression but was still committed to being a good mom, physician, and wife. Sadly, a few days before …

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Who are the doctors who end their own lives? [PODCAST]

The other side of the curtain

Physician
December 3, 2020

Sometimes I forget. I forget what it is like to be on the other side of the curtain. I forget that what is just another day of work, another shift, another seemingly ceaseless night of call for me may indeed be the longest day of their life. Sometimes I forget that the waiting seems endless, that the seconds turn inexplicably into hours, the hours into the next day. Sometimes, while …

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The other side of the curtain

The potential for violence against health care workers during COVID-19

Conditions and Diseases
December 3, 2020

Recently, the FBI foiled an attempt to kidnap the governor of Michigan.  The entire story reads like a Tom Clancy novel: a group of disgruntled strangers meets and organizes through chat rooms online.  They conduct tactical training in the woods, do surveillance runs of the governor’s house, and even make plans to target law enforcement personnel and blow up a bridge to hamper any response to their attack. The individuals …

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The potential for violence against health care workers during COVID-19

Stuck between a virus and a cold place: A choice for homeless Americans awaits

Health Policy
December 3, 2020

Imagine having lost your sole source of income in June in the midst of a global pandemic. This is not a unique situation; after all, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on many families. And in the United States, life has irrevocably changed. But the worst is yet to come. Illinois is seeing exponential growth of patients with COVID-19, and winter is coming. With it, the homeless population faces …

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Stuck between a virus and a cold place: A choice for homeless Americans awaits

The myth of object permanence

Conditions and Diseases
December 3, 2020

I remember the sound of pure joy and laughter when playing peek-a-boo with my daughter.  She would look at me with her big blue eyes and giggle loudly.  One of the reasons this game is interesting to children is the psychological concept of object permanence.  In the abstract, object permanence is the realization that things exist, even when an object or person is out of sight.  Over the years, there …

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The myth of object permanence

COVID-19 highlights chronic oppressive job conditions [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 2, 2020
YouTube video

“In medicine, the guise of ‘professionalism’ is an example of how an oppressive system has led us to believe that we ought not to advocate for our rights. It would be ‘unprofessional’ to organize for a better health care system for both patients and workers. To work towards personal liberation, Boal …

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COVID-19 highlights chronic oppressive job conditions [PODCAST]

The coronavirus football double standard

Conditions and Diseases
December 2, 2020

It is Thanksgiving and, while many are counting their blessings, others are mourning the loss of family time, routine, turkey, big family gatherings, and football.   The Baltimore Ravens had to cancel their game today because of too many positive COVID-19 tests.  My logical question as a surgeon was, “So I guess they reschedule for 14 days when they all come off quarantine and isolation?”   My daughter, a college student, is …

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The coronavirus football double standard

Meet the doctor who really believes that laughter is the best medicine

Physician
December 2, 2020

So there’s this 60-year-old African American physician, and she is fed up. She’s working at a local hospital because she wants to sleep in her own bed rather than continue the life of a locum tenens. After a weekend call where she’s on her 29th hour in the OR in two days with only three hours of sleep, she refuses to do another case. “I’m tired,” She says, “I’m sleepy. …

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Meet the doctor who really believes that laughter is the best medicine

How to turn gratitude into a positive force

Physician
December 2, 2020

What a state of affairs – the impending cold winter, COVID, computer hell, loneliness, unemployment – so many negatives for us to focus our attention on. As the saying goes, what you focus on grows, especially in that massive galaxy of 100 billion nerve cells inside our skulls.

So, in anticipation of the holidays, I thought it might be of some value to focus on a bit of “monkey” business. The …

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How to turn gratitude into a positive force

Thanksgiving came early this year. I just didn’t appreciate it.

Physician
December 2, 2020

I retired on June 30, 2020, after 32 years of solo practice as a dermatologist. Due to the pandemic, some say I was smart to retire when I did. But if I was so smart, I would have retired on February 28th. My practice was simple: three full-time employees, 1,300 square feet, no fancy surgeries or cosmetic procedures, just a plain, old- fashioned medical dermatology practice.

I announced my retirement on …

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Thanksgiving came early this year. I just didn’t appreciate it.

We keep our sleep-deprived physicians in hospitals full of calorie-dense food

Physician
December 2, 2020

Medicine causes just as much disease as it solves. We must adopt the lifestyle to get through college, medical school, residency, and fellowship is nothing close to a healthy lifestyle. Previously, we discussed the long hours and the lack of exercise, but our food inhibits our desire for health.

This begins with what the hospital cafeteria sells. Despite promoting healthful eating, hospitals instead profit from diabetes-inducing food …

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We keep our sleep-deprived physicians in hospitals full of calorie-dense food

A doctor-centric approach to evaluating if a loan is the right decision

Podcast
December 1, 2020
YouTube video

This article is sponsored by Doc2Doc Lending. Find out more about personal loans for physicians from Doc2Doc Lending.

For the vast majority of us doctors, a career in …

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A doctor-centric approach to evaluating if a loan is the right decision

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Second victim syndrome: The pain of unexpected and tragic deaths lingers with physicians

Physician
December 1, 2020

You were a twenty-one-year-old Black man.
When we received you, your eyes were open
I asked if you could hear me
You whispered a phone number and “Mom.”

To the green sterile operating room
With your breaths of anesthesia,
Your final conscious moments
Your pain ceased.

We worked on you for hours, Terrell.
I swear we tried
With fourteen units of O negative
Surgeons explored your wounds.
They clamped your major arteries.

Until your heart failed
And we watched you leave us.
I was a …

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Second victim syndrome: The pain of unexpected and tragic deaths lingers with physicians

A day in the life as a medical assistant

Physician
December 1, 2020

We all go to work in the morning, looking forward to the day. I know I have about 26 patients and about 20 other tasks to do for the day. I know that my medical assistant has about the same ( or more ), and we are ready to go.

“Good morning Sophia,” I say to my medical assistant as I walked into the office. She has already roomed the first …

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A day in the life as a medical assistant

A female academic physician’s relationship with the remote meeting during COVID-19

Physician
December 1, 2020

The academic medical community has drastically changed how we educate and share our ideas since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020.  The remote meeting, often conducted via Zoom or a similar web-based platform, has gone from a rare occurrence to the default manner in which we conduct business.  As a full-time academic cardiologist with three children under six years old, to say evening meetings …

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A female academic physician’s relationship with the remote meeting during COVID-19

How physicians can find jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 30, 2020
YouTube video

“I’m now CMO at a private biotech company focused on developing therapies for patients with rare endocrine diseases. We are conducting a trial in the U.S., Europe, and Israel.  I mention this to raise the possibility of travel in pharma/biotech roles.  In most companies, roles are both ‘functional’ (i.e., clinical development, …

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How physicians can find jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries [PODCAST]

A moral imperative to heal the broken health care model in this country

Health Policy
November 30, 2020

One of the most salient issues in America has always been access to health care. As a medical student, I have seen firsthand the importance of strong health care protections for patients. I believe that the November election result is only a start toward better policies –  a future in which we, as medical trainees, must play an active role in. In recent history, with the passage of the Affordable …

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A moral imperative to heal the broken health care model in this country

5 questions to ask before you hire a financial advisor

Physician Finance
November 30, 2020

Many young professionals are quite busy and don’t want to spend what little free time they do have learning the ins and outs of investing. If you, or someone you know, plan to hire a financial advisor to handle your money, there are 5 questions you should ask before you entrust that advisor to your hard-earned cash.

1. How are you paid? Believe it or not, many financial advisors have incentives …

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5 questions to ask before you hire a financial advisor

Be grateful this holiday season

Physician
November 30, 2020

The holiday season is when we would normally be celebrating with family and friends, all coming together to eat way too much food and watch loved ones open gifts. The reality is COVID-19 has caused us to alter our holiday plans, and this year’s holiday season may look quite a bit different. That being said, perhaps this is the year to appreciate the true meaning of the holidays – to …

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Be grateful this holiday season

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