An excerpt from Born to Be Wild: Why Teens Take Risks, and How We Can Help Keep Them Safe.
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America Poll of 2014, 75 percent of children in the United States have at least one electronic device in their bedroom, with a television being …
A cautionary tale of the dangers of a delayed sleep phase in adolescents
American physicians deserve to be paid well for their work. As a physician, myself, I know what it takes to become a doctor in the U.S. Four years of late nights in the college library in hopes of achieving a GPA commensurate with medical school admission; then four years of medical school, which makes the college work load feel light in retrospect; then, in my case, three years of residency …
Doctors should be paid well. But how much is enough?
This week is National Primary Care Week, an opportunity to engage medical students and healthcare stakeholders in a national discussion around the tremendous role that primary care plays in our health care system.
With so much debate about the high price of health care in the United States, too often one of the most effective methods of controlling costs is overlooked: primary care. A wealth of research continues to show that …
Primary care makes a difference for patients and the nation
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The news cycle over the last several days has been dominated by President Trump’s interjection into the row about NFL players refusing to stand during the national anthem. The media went into hysteria following his curse remarks, and a full-blown row has gone on to develop. Turning this issue into a national political one is a great shame on so many different levels, including not least the reality …
Why this physician thinks everyone should stand for the national anthem
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
– William Shakespeare
I learned about the Dunning-Kruger effect at a medical conference recently. It certainly seems to apply in medicine. So often, a novice thinks he or she has mastered a new skill or achieved full understanding of something complicated, but as time goes on, …
Having a medical license doesn’t mean you’ve mastered the art of medicine
Starting a new job is always stressful — the move from one institution to another, getting hospital credentials, obtaining provider credentialing for various insurances, meeting new staff, and adjusting to a new work “culture”. Having done my share of moves, these are nearly universal experiences. However, as I find myself walking around the hallowed halls …
Saying goodbye shows how strong doctor-patient bonds can be
An eleventh nursing home resident has died after an air conditioning failure following last week’s Hurricane Irma. The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, located outside of Fort Lauderdale, was one of 160 nursing homes that had no electricity and no air conditioning, as power lines across the state were decimated by the storm. Yet, it was the only nursing home facility in the state of Florida where multiple deaths occurred …
Poor leadership and disastrous decision-making are to blame for Florida’s nursing home deaths
The day drags on; you hang in there until the job is finally complete. You are exhausted, tired, and sure something is clearly wrong. Arriving in the emergency department is never one of those moments you expect. Staff greetings are quickly followed by people taking your vital signs, pressure on various parts of your body, and placing you under X-ray machines. Symptoms come and go, and verdicts are read. Good …
How the nurse makes it possible
Fatal police encounters can engender PTSD in non-white communities and forever impact interactions with police. In the last few years, we have witnessed in horror the erosion of trust between public servants charged to protect the community and the non-white communities they serve. The killing of Philando Castile and Charleena Lyles compounded the horror, as their violent deaths were witnessed by their young children, spouses and, for Philando, social media. …
Philando Castile, Charleena Lyles, and PTSD: The consequences of fatal police encounters
The main character in the popular film Groundhog Day is caught in a time loop where he must repeat the same day over and over again.
The U.S. Senate is now having its own Groundhog Day moment as it debates (yet again) a law to replace the Affordable Care Act. To add to the drama, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is promoting his single payer alternative popularly branded as “Medicare for All.” In a recent …
What’s the greatest threat to health reform?
As someone who talks to many physicians about burnout and life in medicine, I find myself having a lot of discussions about the circumstances of people’s jobs. Almost inevitably, there comes a point in the conversation where someone expresses dissatisfaction about an aspect of their contract or an additional responsibility that was placed on them.
As physicians, we’re groomed to take care of patients. During training, we don’t talk about compensation, …
5 things physicians can do to protect themselves
Replace like with like — that is the basic principle of reconstructive surgery since its conception in the mid-1500s. Borrow from the healthy part of the body to rebuild the damaged part … But what do you do when you have run out of places to borrow? What if there simply isn’t anything like it anywhere else on the body? How do you reconstruct something as complicated as the human …
Face transplantation is the new frontier of plastic surgery
RRegardless of specialty, no physician can truly provide patients with the care they deserve if they practice in isolation. In recent years, the health care system has acknowledged this reality by embracing greater collaboration and team-based care. With an aging population increasing the prevalence of chronic disease and life-threatening conditions, the timing couldn’t be better.
For the field of dermatology, the American Academy of Dermatology’s recent Burden …
It’s time for teamwork in dermatology
A few weeks ago, my program hosted a lecture series that focused on patient safety. One lecturer truly caught my attention. He chose to highlight the fact that medical professionals have been trained since medical school that perfection, as a practicing physician, is necessary. We have been held to high expectations during our training, and we hold ourselves to these impossible standards as we continue our courses in residency and, …
Dismiss the ideal of perfection
As many was in the health care world, I was shocked by the unlawful arrest of nurse Alex Wubbels. In health care, there is a brotherhood and camaraderie between our law enforcement officers and health care workers, especially nurses. We all are literally on the front line of public service on a daily basis, making this story even more disturbing.
Although the situation initially happened on July 26, …
Here’s how the unjust arrest of one nurse inspires all nurses
Quality-based Medicare payment is far from a new concept. However, the Quality Payment Program (QPP), created by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), introduces a new vocabulary, complex requirements and fast-approaching deadlines. Physicians have little time left to successfully navigate the program and avoid penalties for 2017.
A recent survey by the American Medical Association (AMA) …
Last call for MIPS reporting: 6 steps to be prepared
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 57-year-old woman is evaluated in the emergency department for an episode of hematemesis that occurred 1 hour ago. She had previously felt well except for a recent knee injury, for which she has been taking ibuprofen. She currently is experiencing lightheadedness and weakness. Medical history is otherwise unremarkable. She does not …
MKSAP: 57-year-old woman with hematemesis
Although I am now working part time, I still get my academy’s monthly newsletter. I pretty much ignore the ads and any clinical studies that do not directly affect the work I am doing now, but I still find myself drawn to stories with a political bent. Namely, those stories that reflect the latest health reform controversy. The vast majority of these stories do not mention anything really new, just …
9 reasons you shouldn’t expect health care to change
With summer vacations over and school back in session, I should have gotten up earlier. The usually tough morning commute into Columbus was downright brutal, and I found myself getting repeatedly annoyed as I rushed to make it to clinic on time. Somehow, legally, I managed to make it right at 8 a.m., the start of my weekly asthma clinic. Though I arrived a bit later than usual, I still …
Don’t to forget to walk in your patients’ shoes
1. This is a calling. Physicians do not typically start out undeclared, drink through a couple of semesters and randomly apply to med school. For many, they started dreaming in grade school. They started pushing themselves for straight A’s in third grade, fought for valedictorian, turned down frat party invites to study, and then essentially gave up four years of their lives to med school incurring an average debt of …
10 things a doctor’s spouse wants you to know
