What if I told you our children were being exposed to a known carcinogen, and it was increasing with successively younger kids? If that carcinogen were a preservative in packaging or chemicals from industrial waste, there would be widespread outcry. But it’s neither of those things. It’s something far more dangerous, but that we’ve somehow accepted as no big deal. But the risk is very real. The carcinogen is excess …
The carcinogen of excess weight
I wish the best of luck to everybody applying to medical school. As somebody who was in this position five years ago, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the things I wish I had known before I started medical school.
1. Look beyond the first two years, because the clinical years are the meat of the training
Many applicants focus mostly on the preclinical curriculum of a …
3 things I wish I had known before starting medical school
I dedicate this to each of you who have cared for or are currently caring for an ill parent or family member.
Recently, due to the stress that several of my dearest friends have been experiencing in caring for their elderly parents, I am even more appreciative and respectful of my privilege in caring for elderly patients who have attentive and loving adult children who accompany them to our ER.
Although this …
Appreciative and respectful of my privilege in caring for elderly patients
Superhero movies have long been my favorite. When I used to have a hobbies section of my resume, action adventure, thriller, and superhero movies were always listed. During one of my interviews for a medical residency position, the female interviewer asked me about that hobby.
“Why have you listed action adventure and superhero movies as a hobby, and why do you enjoy them?”
“Because they help me see that the impossible can …
Superhero movies: a perspective from a woman in medicine
Matt was 40, my sister’s age. He was training for a marathon and trying to talk his many friends into joining. He lay in bed with his three-year-old son every night to help him fall asleep. It’s hard to sleep train a toddler with a newborn to nurture at the same time, but he loved spending this time with his two kids and being the dad everyone counted on.
Matt’s best …
A tragic Fentanyl story without redemption
Many physicians are looking for alternative sources of income and are looking for ways to diversify their investment portfolio from the volatility of the stock market. Some have heard of real estate syndications, but what exactly is a syndication? For those who have not heard of it, real estate syndications can be an attractive investment vehicle for busy professionals who do not have the time or experience to actively manage …
Real estate syndication 101: a physician’s guide
I’m a graduating fourth-year medical student, and as most physicians know, this has been one of the best years of my life. I just matched into my top choice residency and am one step closer to becoming a primary care sports medicine physician, my dream job. Many of my classmates have capitalized on this time of excitement by making the controversial decision to buy a home before they start residency. I have not. …
I don’t plan to buy a home after medical school. Here are 12 reasons why.
During my time in practice, I had at least eight patients who came to me sure they had systemic lupus erythematosus, also commonly called SLE or lupus. This is an autoimmune disease, characterized by joint pain, that can affect almost any organ, including skin, kidneys, brain, and heart, and can even be fatal. In every case, they had been given this diagnosis because of a blood test called an ANA, …
Do not take medical tests as gospel
As a surgeon who has been practicing for more than 20 years, I have had a front row seat to both positive and negative changes that have taken place in our evolving medical field. As a community hand surgeon who values many of the recent advances in hand surgery, there is one piece of tried-and-true advice that I still find helpful in my practice to this day: Remove your own …
Why it’s important to remove the sutures you place
“Hi, Doctor Kamajian! I finally got health insurance that I can use to come to see you with my son.”
I looked at the chart and realized it had been three years since I had seen her very familiar face. So, before the exam, we chatted and got reacquainted. It is remarkable what family doctors remember about their patients. This is not an unusual conversation.
Patient: I have a new job. I took …
What caring for 6 generations can teach new doctors
I met the medical criteria for infertility one week before starting my journey to becoming an abortion provider. In my second year of residency as a family physician, my husband and I began trying to have a child. At six months without success, we impatiently embarked on an early laboratory workup that was normal. After one year of failing to conceive, we were officially infertile — and I was simultaneously …
Navigating infertility while training to perform abortions
This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com.
Even the best of careers must end sometime. Sure, most doctors look forward to retirement, but not every retired physician wants to sit back collecting sea-shells for the rest of his or her life. Whether driven by financial constraints or by that persistent longing to change the world, any physician …
Best jobs for retired physicians: What are the options?
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 60-year-old man is evaluated for constant low-grade epigastric pain radiating to his back that worsens after he eats fatty foods. He has a 2-year history of chronic pancreatitis. The pain has progressively worsened over the preceding 6 months. His weight is stable. He has a normal bowel movement …
MKSAP: 60-year-old man with constant low-grade epigastric pain radiating to his back
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Three years ago, I received a letter in the mail informing me that my driver’s license would be expiring. Almost immediately, I felt a sense of dread because I knew I would have to go to the DMV to renew my license. As a full-time, practicing orthopedic surgeon, running daytime errands isn’t exactly something I like to do, or better yet, have the time to do.
However, along with the DMV …
Surprise! Health care can learn a lot from the DMV
I’ve noticed a frightening trend in the latest research on patients taking prescribed opioids: whatever the negative outcomes, researchers attribute them to the opioid medications instead of the underlying pain.
The many detrimental outcomes these studies find are exactly what you’d expect from a person suffering long-term chronic pain. They don’t recognize or calculate into their studies that opioids were prescribed to ease intractable pain.
It’s like stating that …
Blame the pain, not the opioids
“Seriously, do you often/very often reflect on how your work helps make the world a better place?”
I was recently involved in an email exchange with a colleague when she sent me this line. We will get to the answer to that question at the end. I was disappointed, but not surprised because until about three years ago, I probably would have answered, “No.” However, I have had a paradigm shift …
How physicians can find meaning in their work
In a recent talk I gave for colleagues, I ventured outside the box.
I searched for a metaphor to make cancer treatments easy to understand. Around the same time, it so happened my kids decided we needed to re-watch all of The Avengers movies at home. (In order, of course).
Here’s where you get some insight into an oncologist-mom’s brain. While we watched the movies, another part of my brain cogitated on my upcoming …
Using the Avengers to explain how cancer treatments work
While winter is traditionally the busiest time of year for pediatricians, this winter has been particularly difficult in the Midwest with not only a larger number of ill visits, but a late and heavy flu epidemic hitting at a point where most of us were already wearing out. With this flu epidemic, our urgent cares, same day sick clinics and ERs have been setting all-time highs for any particular calendar …
A physician’s empathy in urgent care makes a big difference
If you think you are the only one being threatened by the chief medical officer (CMO) and/or the medical executive committee (MEC) think again.
If you’re thinking it is going to get better or that they have your best interests in mind, also think again.
You are in an unfortunate and common situation happening throughout the country. If you have been called into an abrupt and unannounced meeting and been told to …
Don’t sign anything: Advice when hospital administration has you against the wall
In May 2018, it happened. The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) opened its floodgates. As we wrapped up our last years in undergrad, we felt a twinge of excitement as we finally began applying to medical school.
But we quickly found one thing that wasn’t all-too-exciting: the bill. In 2018, the AMCAS charged $170 for the first school applied to and $39 per additional school. Like most medical school applicants, …
The financial barriers of applying to medical school
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