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Doctors are taking the blame for the opioid epidemic. It’s time to push back.

Physician

September 21, 2017

“The doctors who did this should be hanged.”

It’s a statement the came at me with a bang. It stood out in its thread, in the accusatory way of old courtroom scenes of black and white movies, where the heroine dramatically screams out at the jury, seated wide-eyed in their box nearby.

But it was merely a response to a Facebook post on the topic of the opioid epidemic, typed in nonchalantly, …

The next legislative battle for children’s health

Shetal Shah, MD and Heather L. Brumberg, MD, MPH

Health Policy

September 21, 2017

Twenty years ago, Congress made a commitment to its children when it created the Children’s Health Insurance Program, recognizing working parents who earned too much to qualify for Medicaid still couldn’t afford health insurance for their kids. For pediatricians who remember, the practice landscape was a great deal different then. So many children were uninsured that pediatric emergency rooms were filled with children who needed routine school physicals and regular …

What it’s like to follow a first-year physician in Mexico

Edward Briercheck, MD

Physician

September 21, 2017

It’s 8:45 p.m. in rural Chiapas, Mexico. A cool blanket wraps around the previously warm day in the small farming town of Honduras. With a syringe of medicine in his front pocket pasante, Dr. Ivan Martinez does a steady jog up a steep hill to see about a patient’s chronic pain.

Nestled in the Sierra Madre Mountains, there are few flat places. At the door, he’s immediately and warmly greeted by multiple …

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In this era of increased globalization, infectious diseases show no boundaries

Sarah Lawrence

Conditions and Diseases

September 21, 2017

Devastating. That alone cannot fully describe the extent of the destruction of property, the displacement of tens of thousands of residents, the injuries and loss of life in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. As Americans, our hearts ache for those affected by the flooding. As a medical student, former international development worker in Afghanistan and EMT in South Africa, I also lay awake thinking about the many infectious …

Advancing physician diversity and representation

Kirstin I. Weider

Medical Education

September 21, 2017

As I approach the end of my medical school training, I want to take a moment to reflect upon the invaluable education that my classmates — novices in medicine but rich in life experiences — have provided.

Nearly all of us identified with the common struggle of medical school: late night study sessions, difficult days, and the general balancing act of focusing on work as well as our own wellness. All …

Patients have more power than they may realize

Catherine Cheng, MD

Physician

September 21, 2017

A pediatrician husband recently wrote here in KevinMD about the stark differences in assumptions about work-life balance for men and women, in “What does your husband think of you being a surgeon?” Then I came across another article on Medscape by a male cardiologist, whose wife is also a physician, entitled, “The gender gap in cardiology is embarrassing.” Both men’s wives delayed their medical training, …

6 tips for medical students to get the perfect match

Bobbie Ann Adair White, MA, Vijay Rajput, MD, and Monica M. Garcia, MBA

Medical Education

September 21, 2017

It’s that time of year again, the dreaded, yet exciting, residency application season. Year after year, we have learned that securing a residency position extends beyond competitive scores. It involves planning, networking and putting your best foot forward to prove you are the perfect “match” for a program. To avoid having shock and stress of an unexpected scramble, we wanted to share five tips, which extend beyond some of the …

Gain time by slowing down with your patients

Josh Umbehr, MD

Physician

September 20, 2017

We humans can’t help but shove as much as possible into one minute, one hour, one day. We’re rewarded for doing it, too. Society says that the more you check off your list, the more productive you are. And by default, then, the more productive you are, the more successful you are. So, we rush. We search for ways to skip steps and still get the same result. We fill …

The story of how a hospital is being sacrificed for money

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

Health Policy

September 20, 2017

There is a 4,300-strong grassroots movement known as “Save Our Hospital” gaining notoriety in Albert Lea, Minnesota. This story is symptomatic of the fact that hospital consolidation has slowly become a national pastime. With declining revenue under the Affordable Care Act, mergers increased by 70 percent, leaving small communities scrambling for health care access. The latest casualty in the “hospital-consolidation-for-sport” trend is Albert Lea, a small …

An open letter about hate and how to fix it

Sudha Prasad, MD

Physician

September 20, 2017

Most parents have been deeply distressed by the rising violence and streams of hate as a keynote in our national discourse. For a constructive response, I encourage parents to write to their school administrators and partner with the adults in their children’s community to stem the tide of vitriol that has engulfed our views on race, religion, and the study of history in our everyday lives. Here is an edited …

When diagnoses come in threes

Robert J. Wagner, MD

Conditions and Diseases

September 20, 2017

We tend to like threes.

Hendriasis, in Greek — one through three, is a figure of speech used for emphasis in which three words are used to express one idea. For example: Veni vidi, vici. Location, location, location. Or one of the anthems of my youth — sex drugs and rock n’ roll. Monty Hall had three doors on “Let’s Make a Deal.” Even Uncle Junior, the patriarch in the “Sopranos,” …

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When diagnoses come in threes

Caring for your own wounds: Lessons from the burn unit

Emily Gorell

Medical Education

September 20, 2017

“Someone call for a body bag.”

These were words that I didn’t expect to hear on my final day of burn surgery at large metropolitan hospital. We had just planned on a routine burn excision and skin grafting. Our patient, Faith, was a seven-year-old girl with third-degree burns to 85 percent of her body from a house fire. We had been caring for her in the ICU for the past three …

The key to financial freedom: Live and work like a resident

Brad Brown

Medical Education

September 20, 2017

That first paycheck as a new attending means so much more than what is direct-deposited into the bank account. The emotions of finishing medical school and training to finally seeing the fruits of your labor positively affect the bank account is something to be proud of. As a medical student (like myself) and resident, it is the light at the end of the tunnel. You’re probably asking yourself, “Why should …

What your mother didn’t eat may determine your cause of death

Peter F. Nichol, MD, PhD

Conditions and Diseases

September 19, 2017

With the attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, it is a good time to educate our leaders on an opportunity to significantly reduce the incidence of the most expensive and common preventable, pre-existing condition: What your mother did or didn’t eat when she was pregnant with you.

Yes, it is a pre-existing condition that determines how you die.

Confused? Let me give you a little scientific context.

Recently I was …

How Hurricane Harvey changed this medical student

Ryan Jacobs

Medical Education

September 19, 2017

When Hurricane Harvey swept through Texas, devastating millions of people, I was lucky to be in an area of Houston where the flooding did nothing more than confine me to my apartment for a few days. It hurt to see so many people suffering after reading the news and social media posts about people losing their homes, many of their belongings, and in some cases, their lives. As the flooding …

This October, share the message of early breast cancer detection

Stephanie Graff, MD

Conditions and Diseases

September 19, 2017

I love breast cancer awareness month. As a breast medical oncologist, it gives me an opportunity to spread the message of how important early detection is for improving the success of breast cancer treatment. I am surprised regularly at the number of women who either are not doing mammography at all or who do it every couple of years when they remember. We know that women who are participating in …

How a doctor turns life into story

Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD

Physician

September 19, 2017

After almost fifteen years as a research physician, I grew tired of the relentless cycle of applying for grants, failing to obtain funding, and reapplying with variable success. Conducting clinical trials was rewarding, but the responsibility seemed endless. I began to feel burnt out, scorched. It was time for a change. I needed a hobby.

Around this time, I read Frank McCourt’s memoir, Angela’s Ashes. The author described it as a story …

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How a doctor turns life into story

Food allergies are a public health crisis we can no longer ignore

Jennifer J. Bute, PhD and Meghan Gutierrez

Conditions and Diseases

September 19, 2017

Nearly every American is touched by serious chronic illness, either as a patient or as a caregiver. The federal government recognizes the far-reaching effects of such conditions, and agencies like the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conduct surveillance of these diseases. Such research allows us to better understand the burden of different diseases, develop new treatments and prevention practices, and protect the public’s health. …

This doctor spends more time at a computer than with patients

Cherilyn Cecchini, MD

Physician

September 19, 2017

I find myself spending close to an hour on the computer each morning at the hospital. I spend this time dutifully looking up vital signs, labs, recent radiology or pathology results as well as many other valuable pieces of information about each of my patients. I watch as my colleagues frantically record values, while making sure to point out important trends and gross abnormalities.

When we round, there is always a …

It’s time to stop it with the “routine” labs

Fred N. Pelzman, MD

Physician

September 18, 2017

“So, I’m getting routine labs on her.”

Wait, what?

Statements like these often make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. One of our residents was seeing a healthy young woman for her “annual physical,” seen just a few days after a routine postpartum visit with her OB/GYN after the uneventful birth of her third child two months ago.

The resident was coming for his afternoon continuity clinic from an …

Real physician voices, twice a week

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