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What is wrong with medical students today?

Education

March 28, 2016

This question has been circulating in the academic medical world for years. As an intern and resident, I would hear complaints about how “unready” they seemed. The grievances often include adjectives like ill-prepared, lazy, or uninterested. The complaints have burgeoned over time, and the examples are numerous in my institution: Students show up late to rounds with coffee in their hands; one med student had the gall to go directly to the attending and …

This doctor quit medicine. But she really tried to make it work.

Rebecca Reyes, MD, JD

Physician

March 27, 2016

It is exactly 49 steps from my bedroom to my garage. It is a 23-mile drive to the hospital and 75 steps to the unit. It takes 10 seconds to walk to the nursing station. I can measure what it takes to get me to work each morning with absolute certainty. I know because I have measured it a million times hoping something will prevent me from reaching my destination. …

This doctor orders pregnancy tests on men. You’re probably doing it too.

Dennis Bethel, MD

Tech

March 27, 2016

I order pregnancy tests on men. In fact, I do it pretty frequently.

Now before you go and question my professional competency, let me assure you that I went to a good medical school. I also completed a four-year residency in emergency medicine at a top-notch residency program. I was board-certified less than one year after finishing and have maintained that status ever since.

Despite this, I still order pregnancy tests on men.

Perhaps …

From volunteer to family physician: A medical student’s journey

Farrah Fong

Education

March 27, 2016

Sometimes, it’s difficult to recall that single defining moment or person that sends you on the path you’re meant to take in life. I was fortunate in that I found that experience halfway through my undergraduate career at the University of California, Davis. I had recently lost my grandmother; although I’d wanted to help, all I’d been able to do at the hospital was translate for her. That overwhelming sense …

Naturopaths should be restricted from treating children. Here’s why.

Britt Marie Hermes, ND

Physician

March 24, 2016

You may be aware of Ezekiel Stephan, a 19-month-old boy, who died in 2012, after his parents chose home remedies and naturopathy for the treatment of viral meningitis. The parents currently are on trial in Canada for failing to provide the necessities of life.

Over the course of many days, Ezekiel’s condition rapidly deteriorated, but his parents chose to “give him as much natural product as possible,” including syrup, frozen …

Why doctors kill themselves

Pamela Wible, MD

Physician

March 23, 2016

Pamela Wible, M.D., takes on physician suicide in her TEDMED talk (delivered on November 18, 2015). Learn more about Dr. Wible and her talk at TEDMED.com. Full transcription below:

I love the three things that people fear the most: death, disease, and public speaking. Here’s how it all started. At four, I was so talkative (and bossy) no babysitter would stay with me. So I tagged along with Mom, …

Read more…

Why doctors kill themselves

A medical resident commits suicide. Here’s how one colleague mourns.

Anonymous

Physician

March 23, 2016

In the hour after I heard the news, I experienced the full spectrum of typical reactions to a physician suicide.

One end of the spectrum came from the attending in a clinic, who when asked if the residents could go home and mourn their friend who just committed suicide, proceeded to tell me a story of how when her grandpa died before a final exam in medical school. She decided to …

Call people by their rightful name. It matters more than you think.

M. J. Harbert, MD

Physician

March 22, 2016

There are several Tumblr sites where people submit their actual name and compare it to the name the Starbucks employee writes on the cup. There’s “Starbucks Name Fail,” “The Starbucks Name Game,” “Starbucks Can’t Spell My Name,” and “That’s Not My Name, Starbucks.”

There aren’t Tumblr sites for calling out Starbucks when they biff your drink. “Starbucks F***** Up My Drink,” “Would You Just Look at This Beverage,” and “There’s No …

A gastroenterologist looks for his first job. Here’s his story.

Matthew Moeller, MD

Physician

March 22, 2016

An excerpt from What It’s Like to Become a Doctor: The Year-by-Year Journey From Medical Student to Practicing Physician, Greenbranch Publishing, 2016.

My third year of fellowship: June 2010 — July 2011

In July 2010, I began my third and final year of fellowship. This year was focused on honing all the skills we …

Why physicians need to interpret your lab results

Yul Ejnes, MD

Physician

March 21, 2016

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

More than ever before, patients are receiving laboratory test results, with some of their numbers in bold or with “H”s or “L”s next to them. In some cases they’re getting them straight from the lab, in accordance with federal regulations. If not from …

Learn multiple sclerosis with the power of comics

Jorge Muniz, PA-C

Conditions

March 20, 2016

This Medcomic highlights some of the main features of multiple sclerosis (MS). Although the exact cause of MS is unknown, the disease is thought to occur as an immune-mediated attack on the central nervous system (CNS). As you can see in the illustration, the white blood cells are attacking the neuron and causing inflammation, demyelination, and axonal degeneration that can manifest through …

5 tips for parenting a future surgeon

Anonymous

Physician

March 18, 2016

Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be surgeons.

Really. Don’t.

As the mother of a soon-to-be fellowship-trained surgeon, I know what I’m talking about. Listen to me. Ignore Willie Nelson. You don’t want your babies to be doctors; you want them to be cowboys.

Really.

Yeah, yeah, I know, your daughter is a whiz at all things mathematical and/or spatial. And your son is a science prodigy. Their eye-hand coordination is legendary …

Read more…

5 tips for parenting a future surgeon

How to talk with your kids about exercise

Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD

Physician

March 18, 2016

No matter how early I rise with the intention of getting my workout done before my children wake up, I’m rarely able to do it alone. Most days my 3-year-old daughter climbs out of bed and comes straight down to our home gym and watches me do my workout.

Often times she’ll sit quietly in the corner, but sometimes she’ll join in and follow the trainer on my workout DVD and …

Shame and stigma in patients with HPV-related oral cancers

Anne Katz, RN, PhD

Conditions

March 17, 2016

Every month or two I see a patient, usually a man with prostate cancer, who is concerned that if he has intercourse with his spouse, he will give her cancer. The question is asked with sincerity, and I can see the worry in the man’s eyes. His spouse is often equally worried but she often looks embarrassed too, almost as …

Why don’t patients pick up their prescriptions?

Alister Martin, MD

Physician

March 16, 2016

As emergency physicians, we write prescriptions for patients that we discharge home for all manner of presenting complaints. I used to believe that the overwhelming majority of these prescriptions would be filled by the patient after discharge.

It turns out I was wrong.

Research estimates that patients discharged from emergency departments (EDs) fail to pick up their high urgency prescriptions, like antibiotics, nearly 35 percent of the time.

This is problematic because failure …

Are essential oils safe for children?

Justin Morgan, MD

Meds

March 13, 2016

On January 5, 2016, emergency crews were called to Our Kids Daycare and Learning Center in Middleton, Idaho. The reason: concern for carbon monoxide poisoning. The daycare center’s director Robin Hagaman noted that some of the 12 toddlers in the classroom were acting strangely when they awakened from their naps and were also noted to have dilated pupils. In addition, two of the teachers were simultaneously experiencing headaches and …

Read more…

Are essential oils safe for children?

A routine heart exam. An unexpected problem.

Ralph Freidin, MD

Education

March 13, 2016

Every fall, medical schools welcome nearly 20,000 college graduates. They arrive anticipating endless hours of lectures, too much coffee, and infinite facts to memorize. There is one thing they do not expect, however. I know. Forty-nine years ago, I was one of them.

The first day I walked onto the wards was in spring of 1967. I was in St. Louis, doing my second year of medical school. Previously my presence …

Women may experience more pain than men, but receive less treatment for it

Padma Gulur, MD

Physician

March 12, 2016

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

That men and women are different has been discussed since Adam and Eve. That they experience and cope with pain differently has been consistently described in research studies.

It is concerning, however, to learn that women may experience more pain than men, but receive …

How to do a no hands-on physical in 3 minutes (or less)

Pamela Wible, MD

Physician

March 12, 2016

Step 1: Greet patient.

Step 2: While chatting, check all boxes in electronic medical record for a complete review of systems and physical exam. Copy and paste parts of previous chart note while looking at patient every once in a while. Smile if possible.

Step 3: Tell patient to do yoga.

Step 4: Bill insurance company for complete physical exam.

Welcome to big box assembly line medicine.

Ever wonder what …

This doctor quit medicine. It saved her life.

Errin Weisman, DO

Physician

March 11, 2016

I quit medicine. I was five months out of residency, and I was leaving medicine. I had dedicated my heart, soul, several years of my life along with weekends, holidays, special events, and my children’s first words to this honorable profession. Medicine was never suppose to “just be” my job. It was suppose to be my calling, and it had betrayed me.

I was finally a full fledged physician, and I …

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