The pitfalls and opportunities of rural health care

Physician
December 2, 2018

My medical school is located in Harrogate, Tennessee, a town of 4,000. That’s considered rural. My residency is located in Casper, Wyoming, a city of 60,000. There were some community attendings there that considered that rural. I live and practice in a town of 200. The closest hospitals to me are 40 minutes to one hour away. The roads are dangerous and frequently close in the winter, and winter lasts …

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The pitfalls and opportunities of rural health care

Why this physician never considered any specialty other than family medicine

Physician
November 27, 2018

I never considered any specialty other than family medicine. I always saw the other specialties as necessary but supportive adjuncts. I always thought that the other specialties were all fascinating in their own way but saw them more as a part of a library that I could access when needed rather than ever feeling the need to delve deep into any specific subject. Specialists were the masters of the marvels …

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Why this physician never considered any specialty other than family medicine

The Osteopathic Oath vs. the Hippocratic Oath

Education
November 16, 2018

It was during the first few weeks of medical school that I realized that I was joining a secret society. Like many physicians, I was called to medicine at a young age. For me, it was Doctor Beverly Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I admired her — I wanted to be who she was and do what she did. (More or less, my dreams of space medicine transmuted …

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The Osteopathic Oath vs. the Hippocratic Oath

Explaining what osteopathic medicine is

Education
October 17, 2018

First of all, many osteopathic medical schools are located in underserved areas — or as underserved as possible while still having enough of a medical community to make training possible. My school, LMU-DCOM is located in the middle of Appalachia, for example. Osteopathic medical schools generally encourage students to specialize in primary care, at least as much as they can, considering that our health care system is not …

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Explaining what osteopathic medicine is

Let’s heal the health care community

Physician
October 4, 2018

“Wisdom is nothing more than healed pain.”
–Robert Gary Lee

One of the recurring expressions I heard throughout training, from preceptors and attendings to doctors ignoring a lowly medical student/resident eating lunch in the doctor’s lounge, was: “I’m living the dream.” It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was a code meaning anything but. In the last few weeks, I’ve discussed what steps I’m taking towards personal healing and …

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Let’s heal the health care community