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A perk of Medicare for all: More time for doctors and patients

Rani Marx, PhD, MPH and James G. Kahn, PhD

Health Policy

December 6, 2019

Health care reform dominated the past three democratic presidential debates: twice as much time was spent as on foreign policy or climate change. Yet discussions of health care financing miss one critical issue that patients and providers desperately care about: sufficient time to communicate with each other.

Presidential candidates focus on cost, policies, and logistics of implementation. But no one talks about how proposed plans will fix …

Misogyny in this physician’s medical career

Cristina Carballo-Perelman, MD

Physician

December 6, 2019

As a woman physician, practicing for over 31 years, I have faced many misogynistic occurrences as well as misperceptions about my career choice. This blatant devaluation of women within medicine may be similar to what other women have had or continue to face daily. At large, these experiences resulted in a journey not always easy, nor welcomed, but in the end, accepted for the maturity obtained.

My hope is that by …

4 strategies for success as an aspiring physician

Charles Wesley and Eric George, MD

Physician

December 6, 2019

Becoming a physician in 2019 presents its share of challenges.

Providers must deal with reimbursement rates that remain a fraction of their previous levels, adapt to a fee-for-value model, adopt ever-advancing technology as an integral part of care delivery and accommodate a patient-provider dynamic that favors patients — who now demand choice, autonomy, affordability, and transparency.

These developments starkly contrast conditions at the turn of the century. Still, they don’t seem to …

Most new cancer treatments haven’t been proven to help patients live longer or feel better

Mary Chris Jaklevic

Conditions and Diseases

December 5, 2019

Most new cancer treatments haven’t been proven to help patients live longer or feel better. Instead, they delay the growth of tumors — which may be faster to measure but doesn’t necessarily indicate a tangible benefit for patients.

But you wouldn’t grasp that sobering fact from some recent news coverage:

A headline in the UK’s Telegraph about the drug olaparib (Lynparza) read: “Revolution’ in prostate cancer care as off-label …
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Most new cancer treatments haven’t been proven to help patients live longer or feel better

What would an optimal government-run health care system look like?

Taylor J. Christensen, MD

Health Policy

December 5, 2019

Next in a series.

The Healthcare Incentives Framework helps show how to fix incentives in health care systems. It starts by enumerating the five jobs we expect a health care system to do for us and then identifies which parties in the health care system (providers or insurers) have a natural incentive to fulfill each of those jobs. Those incentives arise naturally, but the big challenge …

Female voices: Achieving the lovely therapeutic range

Lauren M. Kuwik, MD and Shreya P. Trivedi, MD

Physician

December 5, 2019

“She is too direct.”

“She sounds overprepared.”

“She is just not that lovely to hear.”

These are just a few pieces of “feedback” that podcast producer Dr. Shreya P. Trivedi has heard about women’s voices over the years. And then suddenly it occurred to her, she had never heard any comments on a man’s voice or the way he speaks.

Though women have come a long way from …

There’s no place like labor and delivery for the holidays

Rakhi Dimino, MD

Physician

December 5, 2019

It’s that time of year when the weather outside is growing colder, the evenings seem to kick off way too early in the day, and the decorations around town remind all of us all of the fast-approaching holiday season.

But for many of us obstetricians, this can often translate into anxiety over how often we’ll be pulled away from long-scheduled holiday activities to rush to the hospital …

Can rural health care be saved?

Edward Hoffer, MD

Physician

December 4, 2019

There are many disparities in health care. Black mothers have a much higher rate of maternal death than do white women. All women are less likely to get guideline-advised cardiac care than do men. Among the many such examples, perhaps the hardest disparity to solve is that of the poorer access to health care faced by rural communities. People living in rural counties have higher death rates from cancer and …

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Can rural health care be saved?

There is a profound lack of self-esteem in the medical profession

Vincent M. Proctor, PA-C

Health Policy

December 4, 2019

I have noticed a profound lack of self-esteem in our profession. I am concerned. Concerned for us, and for our patients.

We are the most noble of professions. However, we have compromised our morals, values, ethics, and virtues. We are now living, operating, and existing in a constant state of contradiction. It is tearing us apart from within.

We continue to work for less, with fewer resources and ancillary staff, all while …

My patients are America

Timothy Dempsey, MD, MPH

Physician

December 4, 2019

Dear Congress:

For the vast majority of you, I am not your constituent. But you should listen to me anyway. I am writing to show you that health care in America is not a political issue; it is a human one. The same can be said for immigration or education or any other issue that you work on. Let my patients explain this for me.

I walk into clinic to a full …

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My patients are America

Why abortion care is women’s health care

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

Conditions and Diseases

December 4, 2019

On January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade established a woman’s fundamental right to abortion nationwide. Roe v. Wade should not be overruled because women having universal access to abortion services means women have the right to choose what is best for their health care. This is how health care should be in that if there is a viable medical option for the patient to pursue, the patient should have the …

What challenges do you see yourself facing as a doctor?

Eric Tian

Medical Education

December 3, 2019

“What challenges do you see yourself facing as a doctor?”

I’m sitting in a suit, facing a young Asian woman with black, round glasses across a desk. On the desk in front of her is an iPad, and she sits cross-legged, hands resting on her legs. I’m in my interview for medical school, and the woman across me, who introduced herself as Angela, is awaiting my response.

I pause and mentally check …

Mindfulness training should start as soon as kids can grasp the concept

Heather Krantz, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 3, 2019

An excerpt from Mind Bubbles: Exploring mindfulness with kids.

I am not a pediatrician. My training as an OB/GYN taught me to care for mothers-to-be and bring their babies safely into the world—and then hand them over to the waiting pediatrician. I am also a mom and mindfulness teacher, however, …

3 lessons physicians can learn from adversity

Stephanie Wellington, MD

Physician

December 3, 2019

This time last year, I took the podium at conferences as far away as Dubai to deliver my keynote speech entitled, “On The Cusp Of Life And Death, Choose Life.” My talk highlighted the professional and personal development opportunities that show up as doctors, nurses, and parents navigate the challenges in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) caring for preterm and term newborns on the cusp of viability due to …

The unintended consequences of #MeToo in medical education

Elizabeth Gaufberg, MD

Physician

December 3, 2019

Harvard Medical School student Chloe Li typically dressed in scrubs or an efficient, professional outfit as she went about learning to care for patients in the intense, year-long clerkship program where I teach.

For her capstone presentation on graduation day, though, she wore a cream-colored wrap-around dress of luscious silk, tasteful jewelry, and an up-do hairstyle. She had clearly put a lot of care into these preparations. She …

Finding a mentor to replace a medical student’s parental support

Tasnim Ahmed

Medical Education

December 2, 2019

Despite growing older, the contents of my phone calls back home have remained the same. However, the contents of my life have not.

Conversations with my parents consist of what I plan to cook that week or how I’m feeling about my workload, but rarely do I share the details of my research project or my struggle to conceptualize the nephron. This is not because I don’t want to share these …

How to overcome the gaps in behavioral health

Michael Consuelos, MD, MBA

Conditions and Diseases

December 2, 2019

National attitudes have greatly shifted over the last 25 years towards the idea that mental and emotional well-being are vital to a person’s overall health. Today, nearly six in ten Americans have sought or want to seek mental health care for themselves or someone they love. While stigma and costs persist as primary barriers to progress for solving the mental health crisis, the key issue—as we have increasingly come to …

There is always that one patient

Elizabeth Rubin Ribak, MD

Physician

December 2, 2019

There is always that one patient. The one with the over-attentive, aggressive family member, who writes a complaint. The one you tried to help, but no matter what, the wait was too long, the nurse too unfriendly, you didn’t sit enough, you didn’t reassure enough, pain meds took too long, you didn’t make them feel important. That one patient who has the time, negative energy, and physical health to write …

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There is always that one patient

When physicians deviate from evidence-based medicine

Michael Kirsch, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 1, 2019

From time to time, patients ask my advice on colonic hydrotherapy, vigorous sessions of enemas that aim to cleanse the body of toxins that are reputed to cause a variety of ailments. The logic sounds plausible to interested patients. Over time, toxins accumulate and leech into the body, wreaking havoc. Indeed, using the label “toxins” already suggests that these are noxious agents. If one accepts this premise, it is entirely …

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