Exploring the potential of Apple’s biosensing earbuds in health care

Tech
May 20, 2024

Apple’s recent patent application for a biosensing device integrated into their earbuds opens up numerous possibilities for health care. This innovative technology aims to measure various biological signals from users, including EEG, EMG, EOG, ECG, GSR, and BVP. Here’s how each of these technologies can be harnessed to improve health care:

1. Electroencephalography (EEG). Recording brain waves, EEG sensors in earbuds can monitor brain activity in real time. This capability can …

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Healthy hierarchy for patient safety, experience, and staff wellbeing

Conditions
May 20, 2024

The hierarchy must be healthy to achieve critical outcomes in patient safety, patient experience, workforce health and wellbeing, and cost-effectiveness.

In a healthy hierarchy, staff must have the right skills, education, and experience to direct and carry out clinical and care-related tasks. Clear lines of communication, roles and responsibilities, policies and protocols, and scope of practice are all important. We can think of such things in terms of the structure. We …

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Can weight loss medication interfere with ADHD meds?

Meds
May 20, 2024

Why bother going to work? If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t get paid, so there was that. But it seemed like a pointless exercise. I would stare at my monitor until it was time to go home. On some level I knew I should be, well, working, but I couldn’t collect my scattered thoughts enough to do it. I was also manic. Not the fun kind of mania where everything’s …

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Health care disparities: Navigating complex care [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 19, 2024
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We delve into the challenges faced by individuals who navigate complex health care systems with multiple chronic conditions. Our guest, Gary Marc Rothenberg, a podiatrist, shares his expertise and perspective on Maria’s journey, …

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The first time I walked again after a spinal cord injury

Conditions
May 19, 2024

Once upon a time, I’d imagined myself the Lone Ranger physician, self-sufficient and incapable of weakness, and when I had my spinal cord injury in 2008, I really felt alone, in the negative spiral of a victim mindset, my own worst enemy and in a dark space where my idea of myself felt entirely lost.

Then, one day, in December 2009, I heard about a center for spinal cord injury recovery …

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Secret support for this family caregiver  

Conditions
May 19, 2024

Last month, while spring cleaning my home-based office, I faced off with a bookshelf full of past writing journals.

Get rid of them (I coaxed myself). Whatever you wrote here is history now.

My inner packrat resisted. Couldn’t I just box them up and move them to the basement to join all those other journals that, together, chronicle my three-plus decades of living in the United States?

One gray-covered notebook with pink post-it …

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The voice that saved lives: a doctor’s pandemic hero

Physician
May 19, 2024

I would not recognize her if she crossed before me on the street. I could not pick her out in a staff photo of her and her colleagues. I do not know the color of her hair or skin; I could not even guess if she is short or tall. But her voice—I know her voice. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

I first met Julie sometime before the COVID pandemic, …

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Rethinking postpartum mental health [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 18, 2024
YouTube video

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Join Emily Little, a perinatal health researcher and founder of Nurturely, about the evolving definition of “postpartum” and its predominant association with postpartum depression. We’ll explore societal influences on this shift, disparities in …

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Breaking the stigma with science

Conditions
May 18, 2024

Oxford Dictionary defines stigma as “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.” In other words, it’s a state of being in shame. One of the most influential thought leaders in shame is Brene Brown. She describes shame as “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. We feel like something we have experienced, done, …

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Mastering prompt engineering to elevate AI in clinical practice

Tech
May 18, 2024

As health care professionals, we are constantly seeking innovative ways to leverage technology to improve patient outcomes. One emerging tool with immense potential is artificial intelligence (AI). However, to fully harness AI’s power in clinical settings, we must first master the art of prompt engineering.

Effective prompt crafting hinges on six essential elements:

1. Clear task definition. Precisely articulating the specific request or objective we have for the AI system ensures its …

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Is it ever too late to attend medical school? A nontraditional student shares her thoughts.

Education
May 18, 2024

In a world where the path to medical school is often depicted as a one-size-fits-all journey, my story is a testament to the fact that there is no cookie-cutter method for current or prospective doctors. I am now a third-year osteopathic medical student, but my path to get here has taken many detours.

A nontraditional medical applicant is anyone who has followed an unorthodox path to medical school. We exhibit qualities …

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Clean drug paraphernalia in harm reduction [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 17, 2024
YouTube video

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Join us for a discussion on harm reduction and the controversy surrounding the provision of clean drug paraphernalia in harm reduction kits. Our guest, Bonzo Reddick, a family physician, will shed light on …

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Health insurers are ignoring price transparency rules at the expense of private practice

Policy
May 17, 2024

Since January 1, 2023, the Transparency in Coverage Rule required health insurance providers and health insurers to provide price information to participants in a publicly accessible place. This means consumers should, in theory, be able to go to any payer’s website and see what different doctors, hospitals, and health systems are charging for the same services. The law was meant to allow consumers the ability to shop for health care …

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Pain management realities [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 16, 2024
YouTube video

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Join L. Joseph Parker, a research physician, as we delve into the biases and challenges faced by health care professionals in diagnosing and treating chronic pain, particularly in marginalized communities. Joseph sheds light …

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TV medical school: where doctors don’t need nurses and bullets heal themselves

Physician
May 16, 2024

Clearly, four years of college, four years of medical school, and three years of pediatric residency weren’t a complete medical education. There are so many things I didn’t know until I started watching action-packed TV shows, especially the ones with SWAT teams, detectives, and lots of blood.

My training was clearly deficient in neck jabbing. You know, when the bad guys sneak up on the good guy, jab him randomly in …

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Generation Z and implications for medical education

Education
May 16, 2024

Many Baby Boomers have been quick to point out that 2024 is not 1968. When students occupied buildings at Columbia University 56 years ago, at least their objectives were clear – to put an end to the Vietnam War. Do students today who have camped out at Columbia, and a multitude of universities across the U.S. and disrupted graduation ceremonies want to end the war between Israel and Hamas, …

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Big pharma ignores low-cost migraine solution

Meds
May 16, 2024

If you are a fan of pharma, you might want to skip this article. Some pharma enthusiasts will call it a rant. By pharma, I mean avaricious pharmaceutical (a pleonasm) companies collectively. On the other hand, those of you who treat acute migraines will learn of a highly effective, innovative, inexpensive, and relatively safe way to help many of your migraineurs. Those of you who believe that pharma is interested …

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Physician well-being in a corporatized health care system [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 15, 2024
YouTube video

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Join Wendy Dean, a psychiatrist with expertise in physician well-being and the intersection of medicine and corporate interests. Wendy shares insights into the challenges physicians face when their values clash with the corporate …

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Shifting gears: Navigating identity and role changes throughout a physician’s career

Physician
May 15, 2024

Physicians dedicate their lives to healing others, often at the expense of their own well-being. This intense focus on professional success can, over time, become a kind of addiction. As physicians progress through different stages of their careers, it becomes crucial to adapt and redefine their professional identity beyond the confines of clinical practice.

The evolving roles of physicians

The concept of a physician’s role is dynamic and ever-evolving. Early career stages …

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The hidden dangers of mislabeling pain patients: a medical crisis

Physician
May 15, 2024

I am very concerned about the mislabeling of patients who suffer from pain that is being carried out in a wholesale fashion by some in the American medical community. This mislabeling is the result of the most dangerous combination in the world: good intentions and avarice. These two have recently combined to create distortions that are now to the point of wholesale fraud. Calling something what it is not can …

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