The case for compassionate communication

Physician
August 3, 2020

A majority of physicians see between 11 and 20 patients per day, and among all practices, the majority of doctors spend between 17 and 24 minutes with each patient. Assuming a five-day workweek, this translates to more than 900 patient interactions per year and over 1,066 minutes spent communicating with patients. Today, many of these interactions fall short of effective communication so pivotal to building rapport, trust, and loyalty with patients …

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The case for compassionate communication

The culture of medicine forces us to ignore our health

Physician
August 3, 2020

It’s the first day of fellowship, and everyone’s getting to know each other.

“Oh, you won’t have time to work out here.”

I’m not the small, scrawny kid I was back in high school anymore, even if that’s the person I still see in the mirror. I’ve added roughly 50 pounds since college, and it shows with the things people say. Being told I won’t have time to work out has been …

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The culture of medicine forces us to ignore our health

4 ways to break the COVID-19 compassion walls

Physician
August 3, 2020

A few days after my dad flew to Salt Lake City from California, he developed a small cough and fatigue, and then started getting fevers. At that time in late February and early March, we were only testing people who had come from high-risk countries (like China or Japan). After a confusing trip to urgent care and an overnight stay at the University of Utah emergency department, he subsequently tested …

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4 ways to break the COVID-19 compassion walls

Don’t pick your specialty based on the potential income you might make

Physician Finance
August 3, 2020

When I speak to medical students and residents, their number one question is, “Should I follow my passion or choose a specialty that pays well?” With so many students finishing their training deeply in debt, they are feeling a push to go into a specialty that pays better than average, thinking that it will solve their debt problem. But is that a good idea?

Since we can pick anything we can …

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Don’t pick your specialty based on the potential income you might make

Patient no-shows often have complicated reasons behind them [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 2, 2020
YouTube video

“I typed up a brief response to the no show memo, hit reply, and then deleted the original message. It’s not that I am a fan of wasting time and resources, but for now, I have a general personal policy to never dismiss pregnant patients. I’d have to try to address her barriers to care.  Again.  Our clinic tended to be …

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Patient no-shows often have complicated reasons behind them [PODCAST]

7 habits of highly resilient physicians

Physician
August 2, 2020

Before the pandemic, we had an epidemic of physician burnout, with many physicians caught in a cycle of exhaustion, cynicism, and loss of purpose. All the change and uncertainty the virus has brought certainly doesn’t help! It’s now more imperative than ever that physicians build resilience to all the pressures and stress of our careers.

In the decade I’ve worked as a physician coach, I’ve seen seven habits, thought patterns, and …

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7 habits of highly resilient physicians

The quest for external worthiness is exhausting. The experience of internal worthiness is exhilarating.

Physician
August 2, 2020

We often think something will or someone can make us feel better. When the system appears broken, the culture toxic, the space unwelcoming, we are uncomfortable. To feel more comfortable, we seek to change the surroundings and, when that seems impossible, change ourselves to fit in. We quiet our inner voices to create an external voice that joins in with the choir around us. We shift our appearance to more …

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The quest for external worthiness is exhausting. The experience of internal worthiness is exhilarating.

My intersection of race and privilege with COVID-19

Conditions and Diseases
August 2, 2020

I am a 40-year-old Black, female pediatric psychologist, and I contracted COVID-19.  So did my 95-year-old grandmother.  This virus flourishes within the inequities, bred by historical and current racism, of social determinants of health, having a more negative impact on Black and brown individuals.  Nevertheless, we both survived.  Black Girl Magic persists, and with the privilege of education combined with the grit of advocacy, my grandmother and I became statistics …

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My intersection of race and privilege with COVID-19

The hidden danger to physicians in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Physician
August 2, 2020

acp new logo

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

Practicing medicine has always been hard, and as all of us have experienced over the past several months, living and working through a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime pandemic has only made it more challenging.

For those on the front lines of patient care, the added stresses …

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The hidden danger to physicians in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

We are women in academic medicine, and we are doing enough

Physician
August 2, 2020

A conversation with friends and family usually starts with, “How are you holding up?” My answer is not usually about work, but rather a response of …”Well, it’s going OK, but I wasn’t really meant to be a homeschool teacher.” As the pandemic marches on, many areas of the country have discussed the delayed reopening of schools, furthering the burden of at-home education.

Articles are being published commenting on …

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We are women in academic medicine, and we are doing enough

The weaponization of professionalism

Physician
August 2, 2020

It’s not every day you see hundreds of doctors flooding Twitter with pictures of themselves in swimwear. The trending hashtag #MedBikini arose when health care professionals began posting in solidarity to demonstrate how maintaining a life outside of the clinic, shockingly, does not detract from one’s merit as a physician. In fact, it makes them more human.

This past week, an article published in the Journal of Vascular …

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The weaponization of professionalism

Practice empathy and compassion for the critically ill and dying [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 1, 2020
YouTube video

“It seems as though the looming reality for many of us is that we will have patients who need ventilators, and none will be available. It seems like we might benefit from remembering that we can still succeed in practicing medicine by being present with those suffering before us, even when we know we cannot cure them of disease.

In a more …

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Practice empathy and compassion for the critically ill and dying [PODCAST]

The current COVID-19 testing climate is unnecessarily complicated

Physician
August 1, 2020

It’s 7 a.m. on a Monday morning, and my wife and I had canceled our family vacation to the beaches of Cape San Blas, Florida, where we had planned on spending our week off, relaxing on an isolated beach. My daughter wakes up at 7:15 a.m. on that Monday, and my wife immediately after nursing her thinks, “she feels warm.” Mom thermometer is almost always accurate, and with two different …

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The current COVID-19 testing climate is unnecessarily complicated

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A physician-parent’s thoughts on reopening schools

Health Policy
August 1, 2020

Spoiler alert: If you are looking for the “right” answer as to whether or not your school should reopen for in-person teaching or if you should send your kid to school (versus virtual learning), you will not find that answer below.  But you will find some factors to consider in making a decision for your family.

Given that I am in multiple Facebook physician groups and parenting/community groups, my Facebook feed …

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A physician-parent’s thoughts on reopening schools

Medical students are benched during the pandemic

Medical Education
August 1, 2020

Anyone who has ever played sports knows the feeling of being “benched.” I’ll recall my own experience participating in middle school football. I worked exceptionally hard during practice to prove myself to the coaches. A burning, incessant desire stirred within me to be chosen as a linebacker. When game day arrived, our coaches called out our lineup. I was not included, only to be relegated to the special teams instead. …

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Medical students are benched during the pandemic

A code in the time of COVID-19

Conditions and Diseases
August 1, 2020

The first time I had ever been present when a patient was in cardiac arrest, I was a medical student, spending a night in the emergency department of a small local hospital. An old woman was rushed in from home after she had fallen over at the dinner table; her heart had stopped – and maybe she had choked on something. It wasn’t clearly cardiogenic. But she was full code, …

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A code in the time of COVID-19

If you want to be a physician-inventor, here’s what you should know [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 31, 2020
YouTube video

“If you have an employment agreement with a provision on intellectual property, have it reviewed by an attorney before you begin applying for patents. A good attorney should be able to give you some clarity. Suppose, however, that your employment agreement has muddied the waters a bit. In that case, you have a few different options, and all of them will …

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If you want to be a physician-inventor, here’s what you should know [PODCAST]

My new normal moral injury

Physician
July 31, 2020

Whatever we call it—burnout, moral injury, disillusionment, work fatigue, hopelessness—these did not appear to apply to me before the COVID-19 pandemic. I tried to keep up on discussions about how moral injury is a pervasive and destructive force leading health care workers to feel helpless, leave medicine, or, at worst, become suicidal. I tried to educate myself about the forces behind moral injury, such as lack of control of work, …

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My new normal moral injury

International medical graduates are crucial in our battle against COVID-19

Physician
July 31, 2020

This past year, I served as an internal medicine resident at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, New York. And this month, I officially started my anesthesiology residency at Brown.

Working as a doctor amid the coronavirus pandemic has been surreal and challenging — particularly in what was once the epicenter of the outbreak. This public health crisis has proven that our country needs as many doctors as possible. Even before …

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International medical graduates are crucial in our battle against COVID-19

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