How doctors can help IBD patients manage symptoms between visits

Conditions
March 30, 2025

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is on the rise, there is an urgent need for physicians to arm their patients with tools and education to manage these conditions in between appointments.

IBD already includes nearly three million people in the U.S. who are diagnosed with either ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, which cause inflammation of the …

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How diversity transforms health care and patient outcomes [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 29, 2025
YouTube video

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Family physician Pamela Buchanan discusses her article, “Why diversity in medicine saves lives.” Pamela shares powerful stories from her career, like adjusting a biracial child’s treatment for a scalp infection and saving …

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C. Everett Koop’s fearless fight against the tobacco industry

Policy
March 29, 2025

An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General.

“I have learned that, when an idea’s time has come—and it is on your watch—you must seize the moment.”
– CEK, Glasgow speech

It would take C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D., just an hour—one very well-prepared hour—to overturn nine months of obloquy and ridicule. In the process, he re-ordered the public face of …

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Flying with food allergies: Combating misconceptions and advocating for safety

Conditions
March 29, 2025

Why do so many people share their harrowing airline experiences with me yet never document them or file complaints?

Some say they do not want to relive the trauma. Others feel embarrassed for having been ridiculed, either themselves or in front of their child. Many simply want to move on because, thankfully, nothing catastrophic happened.

But silence does not equate to safety.

If I …

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The business of medicine: How hospitals are putting profits over patients

Physician
March 29, 2025

When I first started my career in medicine, CT scans and MRIs were nonexistent. Scientific advancements and technology facilitated the development of these and many other diagnostic tools.

These changes have enhanced medical care, enabling physicians to diagnose and treat patients more effectively. The integration of computers has played a crucial role in this advancement by ensuring better continuity of care, whether at home or in the hospital, through improved communication …

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The disease of modern medicine: How a sick system is failing physicians

Physician
March 29, 2025

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
– Jiddu Krishnamurti

The American medical system is ill, and physicians are among its sickest patients. As a dual-boarded physician, an assistant professor of family medicine, and someone who has walked the halls of both academia and clinical practice, I have witnessed firsthand the symptoms of this systemic disease. It is a sickness that manifests in exhaustion, …

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Rebuilding after disaster: lessons in community resilience [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 28, 2025
YouTube video

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Pediatrician Derek W. Moss discusses his article, “How natural disasters reveal resilience and the power of community.” Derek reflects on the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which flooded his Hendersonville Pediatrics practice and …

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The emergency department crisis: Why patient boarding is dangerous

Physician
March 28, 2025

Last night when I came to work most of the beds in our 31-bed emergency department (ED) were full. There were more than 20 patients either in the waiting room proper or in the chairs that serve as “rooms” behind the triage area.

Much of the problem was the fact that we were boarding patients who were waiting on inpatient beds, psychiatric admissions, or transfer to higher levels of care elsewhere. …

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Physicians are feeling betrayed. How do we protect our peace when health care is under siege?

Physician
March 28, 2025

Many physicians are feeling profoundly betrayed right now.

We dedicated our lives to medicine, science, and healing. We sacrificed. We put our patients first, often at great personal cost.

The current political and public health landscape makes many of us feel disregarded, unheard, and deeply disrespected.

Health care, and we as physicians, feel under siege.

Public health policies are shifting in ways …

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How embracing uncertainty changed my life

Physician
March 28, 2025

I have felt anxious for most of my life.

Born into a poor family, my main goal has always been to become independent enough to support myself without needing to ask anyone for money to meet my basic necessities.

I witnessed my father frequently asking others for help whenever he faced significant challenges that his limited salary could not cover. For instance, he would reach out to people when it came time …

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How to hold ambulance chasers and hired guns accountable for frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits at little to no cost

Physician
March 28, 2025

Until now, when a lawsuit is frivolous, once a doctor who is the defendant prevails, the case concludes. However, there is a next step. Whether it is taken depends on this doctor.

Prevailing means there is 95 percent confidence that the lawsuit is frivolous. Not every frivolous lawsuit is malicious; however, every malicious lawsuit is frivolous. Malice is actionable.

As of now, malicious prosecution cases are difficult and expensive to prove because …

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Mastering the language of medicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 27, 2025
YouTube video

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Pediatric neurologist Paige Kalika discusses her article, “Learning the language of medicine: from student to fluent physician.” Paige compares mastering medicine to learning a language, from grasping basic vocabulary like anatomy to …

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The hidden bias young female physicians face every day

Physician
March 27, 2025

This story is dedicated to all my female friends in medicine.

Didi does not love her job. What started as a noble purpose of helping people made her feel as though she has become a glorified customer service representative. She focuses on her Hippocratic oath, all right. She’s an internist in her 30s, seeing about fifteen to twenty patients per day, and she’s fed up with the sense of disrespect.

It does …

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Adapting to survive: lessons from Blockbuster for primary care

Policy
March 27, 2025

Blockbuster was once a dominant force in the video entertainment industry, with thousands of stores and near-total market control. However, when digital streaming services emerged, Blockbuster was slow to respond, dismissing Netflix as a passing trend. By the time it recognized the shift in consumer preferences, it was too late – the company collapsed, unable to compete in the new era of on-demand entertainment.

Health care, particularly primary …

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Why doctors love AI scribes—and the risks they bring [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 26, 2025
YouTube video

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Urologist David Canes discusses his article, “Why AI scribes are changing medicine and the hidden risks you must know.” He shares insights from using AI scribes in over 3,000 clinical encounters, noting …

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How corporate greed and politics are destroying health care

Policy
March 26, 2025

In past decades, physicians practiced medicine. The majority were dedicated to patient well-being. They were paternalistic and decided what was in their patients’ best interests, and patients generally trusted their judgments. In the 1970s, ethicists concluded that patients and clinicians should make treatment decisions jointly. This position has been championed since then, despite multiple surveys demonstrating that more than 50 percent of patients prefer their physicians to be the decision-makers. …

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The silent grief of vanishing twin syndrome: Why words matter in health care

Conditions
March 26, 2025

Pregnancy loss is always a deeply personal and often devastating experience, but for those who experience vanishing twin syndrome (VTS)—where one twin or multiple fetuses are lost during pregnancy—the loss can be uniquely isolating. Unlike a traditional miscarriage, VTS is often discovered incidentally during an ultrasound, leaving many patients to process their grief in the absence of clear guidance, emotional support, or even acknowledgment from their health care providers.

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Normalizing male plastic surgery in Africa

Conditions
March 26, 2025

Aloma Isaac Junior, a Nigerian comedian popularly known as Zicsaloma, recently underwent rhinoplasty. This intervention exposed deep-rooted biases about masculinity, beauty, and body autonomy in Africa. Instead of curiosity or support, his decision was met with mockery, outrage, and accusations of self-hate.

This backlash reveals a cultural blind spot. Plastic surgery is often seen as an indulgence for women, while men are expected to accept their looks as they are. Medical …

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Protecting immigrant families: a pediatrician’s call to action [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 25, 2025
YouTube video

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Developmental pediatrician Fiorella Castillo discusses her article, “Advocating for immigrant children: a doctor’s perspective.” Fiorella shares her firsthand experiences supporting immigrant families as they navigate developmental disabilities like autism and ADHD in …

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