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Foreign medical graduates get a raw deal. Here’s why.

Eric Beam, MD

Education

May 23, 2016

On my recent tour of residency programs, I had the pleasure of meeting many foreign medical graduates (a.k.a. FMGs; not to be confused with international medical graduates, who are U.S. citizens who go abroad for medical school).

Almost uniformly, they struck me as confident, mature and articulate. Many were older than me, some by as much as 10 or 15 years. Most had extensive research experience, and a few had even …

What I learned after 41 years of practicing psychiatry

Bruce Hershfield, MD

Physician

May 22, 2016

Now that I’m getting ready to turn 70, I thought I’d summarize what I’ve learned since I finished my residency, when I was 28. Of course, I didn’t learn all this only by being a psychiatrist, since I would hope that most folks have also learned lots in the last 41 years.

1. Psychotherapy is important, particularly if the patient is on the right medication. I won’t do “med checks,” since I …

With doctors losing respect, perhaps it’s time to expose medicine’s dark side

Ahmad Yousaf, MD

Physician

May 22, 2016

The following is paraphrased documentation, authored by a physician I know, regarding an intoxicated patient in the ER:

1 a.m.: Patient is telling nurse, “Before I leave, I need everyone’s name for my lawsuit. Tell the phlebotomist that if he’s good, he’ll get a cut.”

1:40 a.m.: Patient is making inappropriate sexual comments and is verbally aggressive with medical staff. He is advised to stay in bed.

2:02 a.m.: Patient (who had been sleeping comfortably) wakes up and …

Here are the limitations of virtual doctor visits

Joseph Kvedar, MD

Tech

May 21, 2016

Virtual visits are increasingly the rage amongst forward-thinking healthcare providers that want to jump on the telehealth band wagon. Extending the office visit across distance, using the same technology we use to keep in touch with loved ones (videoconferencing such as Skype and FaceTime), is a safe and logical way for providers to venture into a new tech-enabled world that may still be scary for some.

One way to think of …

Is it possible to be a Christian and practice emergency medicine?

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

May 20, 2016

Many young physicians in training have asked me, quietly or by e-mail, “Is it possible to be a Christian and practice emergency medicine?” I think that they ask a good question, and likely for good reasons.

In their rotations, they have witnessed, first hand, life in the ER. They are uncertain, perhaps, because they see the frustration that boils over in the words and actions of otherwise compassionate and caring doctors …

The inspiring reasons why this medical student wanted to become a doctor

Okechukwu Anochie, MD

Education

May 18, 2016

As a fourth-year medical student, I love introducing myself to patients as the “extra eyes and ears of the team, so feel free to tell me anything you forgot or would like to address, even if you think it’s irrelevant or burdensome. I will be your advocate.”

As I establish rapport with them, the walls come down, and they often provide important information that helps my team provide the best care …

It’s OK for medical students to make mistakes. Here’s why.

Anonymous

Education

May 18, 2016

Aristotle said, “To avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.”

Sometimes I wish I was nothing; surely, that would just be so much easier. I screw up all of the time. And I hate it. My latest gaffe was killing our simulated patient by causing him to aspirate. I’m sure no one in my group is still persevering on the events that unfolded during the sim. I also really …

A paralyzed surgery resident is told not to come back. She needs your help.

Pamela Wible, MD

Education

May 16, 2016

Svetlana

Meet Dr. Svetlana Kleyman, a powerhouse chief surgery resident with a heart of gold, who works 16-hour days and runs marathons in her free time. Just 18 months before she was to graduate from SUNY Downstate, she developed a spinal infection that left her paralyzed from the waist down. After months of rehab, she was cleared by her doctors to resume work …

Your patient should get a health coach. Here’s why.

Nicole Calloway Rankins, MD

Physician

May 15, 2016

We are all familiar with the statistics. Chronic conditions like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes are present in our population at unacceptably high and costly levels. More than 78 million American adults are obese, and more than 1 in 20 is extremely obese. About 70 million U.S. adults have hypertension with only 52 percent having the condition under control. Just over 29 million Americans have diabetes and an additional 86 million …

Why the 15-minute doctor appointment is dangerous

Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD

Physician

May 13, 2016

How would you react if you sent your sputtering car to the auto mechanic, and they stopped trying to diagnose the problem after 15 minutes? You would probably revolt if they told you that your time was up and gave back the keys.

Yet in medicine, it’s common for practices to schedule patient visits in 15-minute increments — often for established patients with less complex needs. Physicians face pressure to mind …

It’s time to formally classify pediatric intensive care units

Christopher Johnson, MD

Physician

May 13, 2016

There are over 400 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the USA, as most recently estimated by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. These units vary widely in size, from 4 or 5 beds to fifty or more. The smaller units are generally found in community hospitals; the larger ones are usually in academic medical centers, often in designated children’s hospitals, of which there are 220.

Given this size range, it is not …

What John Stossel gets right, and wrong, about health care

Kevin Wacasey, MD

Policy

May 12, 2016

I was saddened to hear that one of my favorite libertarians, the wonderful journalist John Stossel, has taken ill. True to form, however, he’s taking it in stride (he nonchalantly quipped, “seems I have lung cancer”), and I want to take this opportunity to wish him very well indeed. I enjoy his reporting and writing, and have learned a great deal from Mr. Stossel over the years.

But that doesn’t mean he’s always …

Let’s apply a little reality to the referrals from the ER

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

May 11, 2016

I remember seeing so many charts in my career on which the well-meaning emergency room physician wrote the following: “Follow up with your primary care doctor.” Or, if they didn’t have one, “Follow up in one week with a primary care doctor.” I laughed to myself. Usually, the people we say that to have either no insurance, inadequate insurance or inadequate motivation to even call the persons to whom we …

Not everyone can be a nurse

Gian-Paul Vidal, MD

Physician

May 10, 2016

Thanks to all the nurses who take care of my patients and every other patient. I may be a doctor, but you are the ones who deliver the care. You give the medications and hang the IV fluids. You wash the patients and turn them. You check their vitals and listen for bowel sounds. You walk with them. You talk with them. You fulfill their needs. And you provide comfort to …

Read more…

Not everyone can be a nurse

The story of a man who was a very good cook

Mark E. Williams, MD

Physician

May 10, 2016

Once upon a time, there was a man who was a very good cook. He was just an ordinary man, but he had real culinary talents. He could create the perfect meal for anyone who came to see him in his modest café.

His maître d’ and waiting staff were warm and well trained, and the menu was designed specifically for the clientele of his eatery. He gave each person his …

How a patient gave this doctor his first coaching session

Larry McEvoy, MD

Physician

May 10, 2016

In 1991, I took a sub-internship in cardiology with a clinically-minded attending named Eddie Atwood. One day he stopped me in the hall: “You have a few minutes toward the end of the day?”

“Sure. What’d I do?” I just knew some sort of defining verdict headed toward my Dean’s letter, to be shown to all residencies and preserved in an archive of medical student iniquities, was surely coming.

“You students are …

The proctor seized during a USMLE Step 3 test. See what this doctor did next.

David Pyle, MD

Physician

May 9, 2016

USMLE Step exams are a rite of passage in medical education. They mark the transition from pre-clinical years to clinical years, from medical school to residency and from intern to resident. One of the more difficult aspects of the transition to residency was convincing myself that I really was a doctor. The habits of explaining my role as a student, of hedging every statement with “I’ll need to ask the …

This pediatrician learned why it’s so important to listen to a parent

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

Physician

May 8, 2016

Medicine can wear down our hearts and souls. My journey in pediatrics has been filled with many rewarding experiences but haunting ones as well, like this one from my third year of residency. By that final year of training, I was no longer certain medicine was really the right choice for me. I was struggling with the notion that after almost 11 years of education, the destination was not quite …

Don’t be ashamed to receive an epidural during childbirth. Here’s why.

Cesar Padilla, MD

Conditions

May 8, 2016

Life as a resident doctor can bring some of the most memorable patients encounters of our career. After all, this is the time in our training when we are the most naïve, vulnerable and most importantly impressionable. There is a certain patient scenario, however, which has changed the way I view one the most important experiences a patient can have: labor.

Let me explain.

I get paged for an epidural. Once I …

Should white coats be only worn by physicians?

Anonymous

Physician

May 7, 2016

Maybe it’s just me, and maybe this is a regional/local phenomenon, but I have noticed a sharp increase in the number of non-physicians who sport their white coats on a daily basis around the hospital.

First, let me preface this piece by saying I have absolutely nothing against any person who partakes in the care of patients; in fact, I commend all the helping hands that routinely dedicate themselves to health …

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