A thank you to all artists on behalf of the health care community

Physician
November 1, 2020

Amid the pandemic, when the world quieted to the sounds of our own breathing when the stillness of our isolation felt dark, who did the health care workers on the frontlines battling COVID-19 turn to, earnestly and urgently, for comfort and meaning? The artists.

The skin on my face was weathered and raw from my tightly fit N-95 mask and goggles. As an infectious disease physician, I spent my day treating …

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A thank you to all artists on behalf of the health care community

Traumatic brain injury, race, and economics: the unpleasant reality

Conditions and Diseases
November 1, 2020

I have observed with impunity, a silent form of racism that exists in our society and in just about every American health care delivery system against people of color.

If you are on Medicaid, without health care coverage, or have a low cost/low premium insurance plan, you are more likely than not to be an ethnic minority. After a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or trauma, as an ethnic minority, you have …

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Traumatic brain injury, race, and economics: the unpleasant reality

Election anxiety? Here’s a guide to practicing medicine in Canada.

Physician
November 1, 2020

Oh, Canada! Every presidential election cycle, my colleagues joke that if the election result is not to their liking, they will move to Canada. On election night 2016, “move to Canada” trended on Google, and the Canadian immigration website crashed. This election cycle America is having an existential crisis. What does America stand for? Who is American? What are American values? This time around, my colleagues …

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Election anxiety? Here’s a guide to practicing medicine in Canada.

In the burnout epidemic, is mindfulness the new opioid?

Physician
November 1, 2020

At a recent annual exam for one of us (Walter), the medical assistant had checked heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen saturation. Inquiring cheerfully about the Fifth Vital Sign, she flashed the 10-point pain scale of emojis ranging from beaming to grimacing. The only mention-worthy pain was an occasionally aching meniscus from a forgettable high school football career.

It was refreshing that she didn’t ask about burnout. Everyone else was. …

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In the burnout epidemic, is mindfulness the new opioid?

The confluence of coronavirus and chronic illness

Conditions and Diseases
November 1, 2020

During the global pandemic, we count the numbers of hospital admissions. Of respirators.  Of deaths.  Days of quarantine.  Days since our last morning swim.

We count how many armfuls of laundry we do at dawn. We count how many dishes we wash, how many toilets we clean.   After all, home is the only sacred space remaining where we live unmasked, where smiles are exposed.

We count the number of rolls of toilet …

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The confluence of coronavirus and chronic illness

Depression vs. burnout: A physician goes through both [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 31, 2020
YouTube video

“I have been depressed.

I have been burned out.

I have been both.

I have been neither.

How do you know if you are depressed vs. burned out when your chief complaint is, “I feel like crap?” It’s time to call a consult. I don’t mean curbsiding your colleagues to fill your medications off the record without evaluation. I mean, ask for real help, from …

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Depression vs. burnout: A physician goes through both [PODCAST]

Interstate licensure for telehealth can fuel medical practice growth

Health Policy
October 31, 2020

When it comes to using telehealth to treat patients out of state, most physicians are mindful about licensure issues. But some are not aware that if you don’t have a license to practice medicine in a given state, it isn’t just malpractice: It’s a criminal offense.

Licensing restrictions have been eased to facilitate care during the pandemic, and the new normal of greater state-to-state cooperation for access to care may persist …

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Interstate licensure for telehealth can fuel medical practice growth

Can physicians live wholehearted lives?

Physician
October 31, 2020

Brené Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection, has recently been re-released with a new cover and subtitle: 10th Anniversary edition, Including New Tools to Make the Work Your Own.  I’ve had my original paperback copy for 8 years. It’s dog-eared, highlighted in three different colors, with lots of hot pink Post-It notes sticking out of all sides. Brené has published five other books, yet The Gifts of Imperfection continues to …

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Can physicians live wholehearted lives?

Understanding critical care in the ICU: then and now

Conditions and Diseases
October 31, 2020

Late one evening, an ICU physician calls a family to say Dad’s breathing rate had slowed to such an extent that he did not believe Dad would survive the night without life support. This seasoned doctor added that he had never seen patients come back from this condition on their own.  Although Dad had do not resuscitate orders and his children had agreed with his wishes to forego extraordinary measures …

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Understanding critical care in the ICU: then and now

Think deeply about ways you can use your power as a physician to make change

Health Policy
October 31, 2020

I’d cried all the tears I owned, so when I heard about hospital administrators serving pancakes, I walked down to the cafeteria hungry for comfort. A dear friend served me and asked if I was OK. She knew I wasn’t. She couldn’t stop to eat pancakes with me just then, but as I poured on the syrup –thick like all the emotions I’d felt that morning – I knew that …

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Think deeply about ways you can use your power as a physician to make change

Let us not forget that patients were young once and have stories we need to hear

Physician
October 31, 2020

He reminded me of a pit bull, this sometimes cantankerous but always fascinating World War II veteran. We first met in 1992, shortly after I arrived in Burlington following my years in the Army. Chronologically he was in his early 70s, but physiologically he was years younger. Square-jawed, short and stocky with broad shoulders, and muscular, tattooed arms, I easily envisioned a once physically imposing, rakishly handsome, young man. For …

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Let us not forget that patients were young once and have stories we need to hear

Telemedicine in COVID-19: Disparities still exist [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 30, 2020
YouTube video

“An increasing number of institutions are relying on telemedicine to continue delivering care to patients in lieu of typical outpatient visits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine has been lauded as a potential equalizer in health care access. Indeed, it allows for safe and easy access to medical professionals. It especially benefits patients with transportation issues or those seeking specialty …

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Telemedicine in COVID-19: Disparities still exist [PODCAST]

Give flu vaccines a shot

Conditions and Diseases
October 30, 2020

As pediatricians who care for kids infected with influenza every winter, we look to fall with some degree of trepidation. As pumpkin spice hits the stores and leaves change, our first influenza cases emerge, ultimately affecting thousands of children throughout the season. This year, the flu season will overlap with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with the potential to cause more illness, missed days of school and work, and hospitalizations. While …

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Give flu vaccines a shot

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To my health care colleagues in South Dakota

Physician
October 30, 2020

I see you, and I am honored every day I get to work alongside you.

To the frontlines: As the hospital gets busier and busier, I can feel the anxiety.  People are sicker than ever with COVID and non-COVID illness alike.  Seeing the new diagnoses going up every day and knowing that portends an influx of increasing COVID cases 1-3 weeks later feels like watching an advancing onslaught you are powerless …

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To my health care colleagues in South Dakota

Film and television continue to depict psychiatrists as heartless swindlers

Physician
October 30, 2020

Have you ever watched a movie, television show, or read a book where the villain is a medical doctor? If you are a psychiatrist, you will be alarmed by how many times the villain in these stories turns out to be a psychiatrist. In all fairness, psychiatry has had its share of blunders. However, in recent years psychiatry has made a significant effort to enhance the use of evidence-based medicine …

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Film and television continue to depict psychiatrists as heartless swindlers

#MedBikini and medical professionalism [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 29, 2020
YouTube video

“While our bodies have been a bastion of the heart and soul of medicine, a group of our peers thought it was acceptable to diminish the capabilities of our bodies to pictures on social media. They thought our ability to be exceptional physicians was inversely proportional to the number of pictures that showed us holding a drink or wearing a bikini.

Our …

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#MedBikini and medical professionalism [PODCAST]

Physicians choose love, science, and healing

Health Policy
October 29, 2020

Physicians dedicate their lives to serving their patients and the communities in which they reside.  We work tirelessly to educate and protect people, regardless of their background, political affiliation, immigration status, or gender.  Most of us have worked to educate our local and state governments, schools, and patients about this pandemic to empower them to take safe measures to protect their families.

We are fighting a war to control this virus, …

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Physicians choose love, science, and healing

Medical brutality, social media, and collective activism

Health Policy
October 29, 2020

George Floyd’s murder magnified attention to police brutality and inspired collective activism leading to structural reforms and demands for abolition. His death provoked a national reckoning with the racism infecting all major American institutions, including American medicine. Health care providers (HCPs) have since called for diagnosing and treating systemic racism and promoting antiracism in …

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Medical brutality, social media, and collective activism

The evolution of the “doctor visit”

Physician
October 29, 2020

Years and years ago, I wrote a novel called The House of God, based largely on my experiences as an intern at what was then known as Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. At its core, the book was about the injustice in medical training.

A lot has changed in medicine in the ensuing 40-plus years, not all of it for the good. In fact, all of us — doctors, nurses, patients, hospitals …

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The evolution of the “doctor visit”

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