Adil Shahzad Ahmed, MD
Health Policy
A familiar ding echoes from blue scrub pants. My conditioned frontal cortex reflexively shoots my hand to the back pocket. Fingers encircle a black smartphone. A ricochet of notification vibration still tickles my right buttock. Several semi-autonomous thumb swipes ensue.…
A familiar ding echoes from blue scrub pants. My conditioned frontal cortex reflexively shoots my hand to the back pocket. Fingers encircle a black smartphone. A ricochet of notification vibration still tickles my right buttock. Several semi-autonomous thumb swipes ensue. The joy of Microsoft Outlook’s blue glow reveals a new email—one of nearly a hundred emails jostling for self-importance that day. But this one is different. The ominous phrase “Effective …
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Academic medical centers under threat: the impact of funding cuts
Physician
I'm squished in an unnaturally upright seat. My elbows slowly develop pressure sores atop rigid armrests, with my wife on one side and a semi-uncomfortable stranger on the other. I stare at my lopsided gray tray table, sporting a Styrofoam…
I’m squished in an unnaturally upright seat. My elbows slowly develop pressure sores atop rigid armrests, with my wife on one side and a semi-uncomfortable stranger on the other. I stare at my lopsided gray tray table, sporting a Styrofoam cup of lukewarm coffee, the chalice special of Sky Chefs. My ears have become one with the perpetual background hum of engines, a prelude to the impending orchestra of jet …
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A surgeon without health care
Physician
Bunnell. Colles. Dupuytren. Erb. These and countless other names litter the lexicon of orthopedic surgery. Eponyms abound from the moment one enters residency, providing prime "pimp" fodder for senior surgeons to accost trainees. Besides striking fear into the hearts of…
Bunnell. Colles. Dupuytren. Erb. These and countless other names litter the lexicon of orthopedic surgery. Eponyms abound from the moment one enters residency, providing prime “pimp” fodder for senior surgeons to accost trainees.
Besides striking fear into the hearts of residents in morning conferences, eponyms do serve another purpose. They preserve our history.
Contributions of giants in the field are immortalized, perpetuated every time one glimpses a characteristic X-ray or particular pathognomonic …
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Orthopedic eponyms: Where are the women?
Physician
A rocket launch. The tall vessel, akin to a solitary skyscraper, stands alone on the launchpad. The thunderous roar of thrusters travels across miles of empty concrete. The ground shakes. The audible roar in your ear and the palpable vibration…
A rocket launch. The tall vessel, akin to a solitary skyscraper, stands alone on the launchpad. The thunderous roar of thrusters travels across miles of empty concrete. The ground shakes. The audible roar in your ear and the palpable vibration underfoot steadily rises, in unison with the overhead countdown. Hundreds of on-lookers stand in excitement, witnessing the launch at a safe distance.
Seated in the capsule, confined by restraints, are the …
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Bezos and Branson: a cautionary tale for space exploration
Physician
When you flick a domino, a chain reaction is inevitable. Joseph Epstein succeeded in creating such a reaction. His inflammatory Wall Street Journal op-ed deriding Dr. Jill Biden’s academic title has become a call to arms across the social media…
When you flick a domino, a chain reaction is inevitable. Joseph Epstein succeeded in creating such a reaction. His inflammatory Wall Street Journal op-ed deriding Dr. Jill Biden’s academic title has become a call to arms across the social media landscape. The armies of Twitter and Facebook have assembled across the pixelated landscape. Hasty battle plans in forum posts are drawn, ignoring the decorum of discourse …
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A surgeon’s take on the WSJ’s Jill Biden doctor debacle
Physician
A patient groans in agony lying atop a rigid spine board, carried by paramedics into the ER, his neck in a protective collar. The paramedics shout a summary of the accident. Monitors are attached to the man, flashing and beeping…
A patient groans in agony lying atop a rigid spine board, carried by paramedics into the ER, his neck in a protective collar. The paramedics shout a summary of the accident. Monitors are attached to the man, flashing and beeping the cadence of vital signs. Nurses and physicians swarm. Gloved hands comb through brown hair for bumps or lacerations. They remove his clothes, feeling for pulses in the neck and …
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Fasting for Ramadan and being the on-call orthopedic trauma resident
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