I have been installed as President of the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians. The work should not be too hard and on occasion should be rewarding (or at least ego-boosting). Such was the case the other day when the executive director asked me to recall a patient from “my early days” that had made an impact so he could publish my thoughts, thus officially making me an old geezer. I …
Lessons I’ve learned from a colon cancer patient
I don’t like selecting colleagues through the Match. The process was established to allow students to get the best opportunity available and I feel that our program (and our patients who rely on our trainees to provide care) is in jeopardy every year. It always turns out better than I anticipate, so I shouldn’t complain. However, we have to interview 60 prospective residents to fill our six slots so …
Advice to prospective family medicine residents
One of the reasons cited for our expensive health care system is that drugs cost more in America (part of our capitalistic system). In June of 2003, a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine about the use of a form of progesterone to delay the birth of certain preterm infants. This particular hormone is found in the human body, but the formulation …
How the price of preventing a preterm pregnancy went up
Recently, I was in a meeting organized by the American Academy of Family Physicians in an effort to understand the lack of student interest in family medicine as well as to encourage brainstorming among those of us charged with facilitating interest on ideas that might work and be transportable.
I was with Bill Coleman from Alabama (among others) and was pleased to discover that we were ahead of the region. …
Students who are the evangelists of family medicine for tomorrow
I interview approximately 60 prospective physicians for medical school over the course of the year and 40 physicians who are applying for the residency program. The pre-med students (almost all of whom are the age of my children) tend to have pretty good interview skills and are trying very hard to get into medical school (“I’ve wanted to be a doctor for as long …
3 resident interviews for family medicine
I visited my parents this past week. The are both in their 80s and in relatively good health although my mother received a diagnosis of diabetes while having a medical exam for an unrelated problem. I spent some time educating her about Type 2 Diabetes, the causes (genetics and weight gain) and the options (medication and/or weight loss and exercise). I stayed with my brother-in-law and sister and the conversation …
Personal responsibility and societal structure changes that reduce obesity
As I have written before, the Teaching Health Center is seen as a way to move education into the community (using Community Health Centers as a training resource) and out of the Academic Health Center.
Currently, 20 million Americans receive care in a CHC. They serve Americans who are unable to obtain access through more traditional means, either because of location (the community will not support traditional healthcare) or socioeconomic …
Will primary care be saved by the community health center?
My wife and I were invited to dinner at the home of one of my daughter’s friends. My daughter is a graduate of the International Baccalaureate program of Murphy High and her friends tend to be interesting.
This particular friend is majoring in pre-med and has parents who immigrated from Vietnam following the fall of Saigon. As is usual when one has a physician dinner guest (and perhaps when one doesn’t) …
Our love affair with technology holds primary care back
I have lived on the Gulf Coast for all but 5 of my 50 years. I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and now live in Mobile Alabama.
I was educated in the public schools during the height of the desegregation battles and my experiences were colored by those battles in a number of ways. I ran track in high school and was in the racial minority on that team (as …
Southern states may block the government from delivering health care
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