Emergency Medicine

The shocking impact of incivility in health care: Are your team’s behaviors putting patients at risk?

Physician

October 10, 2024

Continuous quality improvement undoubtedly contributes to the ongoing honing of best practices in medicine. This health care-specific parallel of total quality management programs in business helps us daily inch closer to the ultimate goal of eradicating patient harm. Health care professionals familiar with these variation-reducing processes are likely well-versed in the popular Ishikawa fishbone diagram. While the focus is intended to be spread across materials, processes, equipment, and …

After Hurricane Helene: How Asheville rose from the floodwaters stronger than ever

Victoria Goodheart, DO

Physician

October 7, 2024

The floods came and we were not ready. Miles from the ocean, flanked by mountainous sentinels, we never thought to build an ark.

The skies darkened and the deluge commenced. Rapturous winds splintered ancient oaks and rent open the heavens. Barbarous gusts cleaved power lines, fractured telephone poles, brought a power grid to its knees. The lights went out in the west. Feeble candlelights flickered to life as the rivers swelled. …

The little boy who taught me the power of education in the Guatemalan highlands

Oscar A. Leyva, MD

Physician

September 14, 2024

Walking through the narrow alleyways and past artisanal businesses in the Lake Atitlán region of the Guatemalan highlands, a swarm of children followed us as if we were a parade or a moving tourist attraction. As a global fellow through the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI), I served as an interpreter and interviewer in this underserved region with extreme poverty a few …

Rising ER wait times signal larger health system challenges

Aiden Feng, MD, MBA

Policy

September 5, 2024

Emergency department (ED) wait times are on the rise across the United States, a troubling trend that reflects deeper systemic challenges in the nation’s health care systems. According to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the median time spent in the ED has increased from 2 hours and 15 minutes in 2018 to 2 hours and 40 minutes in recent years. Data from …

Changing the narrative: medicine and resilience in Israel

Karen B. Rosenbaum, MD and Frank Rosinia, MD

Physician

August 25, 2024

Since the massacre on October 7, 2023, there have been misconceptions of Israel as a country and of the medical consequences of the terrorist attack. There have been charges against Israel of “colonization” and “genocide.” These accusations are accompanied by a rise in antisemitism in our communities, universities, and medicineRead more…

Changing the narrative: medicine and resilience in Israel

How these doctors overcame ethnic conflict to unite in medicine

Dr. Dinesh Palipana

Physician

August 25, 2024

In 2024, I met a Tamil doctor at an event. We spoke of memories from our childhood in Sri Lanka. We had one stark memory to share: burning bodies in stacks of tires, with beheaded human beings nearby. This was life in the Sinhalese-Tamil ethnic war in the eighties, nineties, and beyond, coupled with a Marxist-Leninist insurrection in the country.

Yet, there we were, two doctors, one born a Tamil and …

A game-changer in methamphetamine treatment

Roneet Lev, MD

Meds

August 22, 2024

The standard treatment for methamphetamine poisoning is “sedate and wait.” There is no antidote to methamphetamine; instead, we typically aim to cover up the unwanted symptoms. We prescribe our favorite sedative, Ketamine or a B52 cocktail (Haldol 5, Ativan 2, Benadryl 50), and often multiple dosages are required to control the agitation and ensure the safety of both the patient and …

Balancing values and metrics: the modern physician’s dilemma [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

August 19, 2024

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Join us for an insightful podcast episode featuring Shideh Shafie, an emergency physician. We’ll delve into the profound values that drive physicians to serve humanity and alleviate suffering, and discuss the impact of …

Breaking barriers: the urgent need for disability inclusion in medicine

Dr. Dinesh B. Palipana

Physician

August 13, 2024

Diversity and inclusion—we talk about them. Some organizations have targets. Some even have communication campaigns on them. Yet, in medicine, like many other professions, we lag. According to American Medical Colleges (AAMC) data, “Only about 3 percent of doctors in the United States have a disability.” As an emergency department doctor with a spinal cord injury who uses a wheelchair, this data is thought-provoking.

Why are we not moving the …

ER doctor’s adrenaline-fueled night: from life-saving procedures to unpredictable chaos

Veronica Bonales, MD

Physician

August 8, 2024

From the beginning of medical school, you are taught the rules of patient assessment; you are taught the “ABCs” – airway, breathing, and circulation. You don’t move on to B until you have established A. You don’t move on to C until B is established. If at any time you lose A or B, you go back to the beginning. Emergency medicine doctors are all about A. My first patient …

Medical heroes of October 7: the story of Dr. Amit Frenkel and Soroka Hospital staff

Yael Dreznik, MD

Physician

August 2, 2024

An excerpt from Battles in White: October 7 attack: The story of the medical, nursing, and rescue teams.

Dr. Amit Frenkel is an intensive care physician at Soroka Hospital. He is married and a father of three, his wife is a psychiatrist, and his eldest son is a soldier serving in the south of the country. The family lives in Meitar, a small pastoral settlement a fifteen-minute drive from Soroka. In times of …

Uncovering hidden challenges: Women in medicine [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 6, 2024

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Join Hala Sabry, an emergency physician and the founder of the Physician Moms Group. We will dive deep into the multifaceted challenges faced by women in medicine beyond the often-discussed issues of childcare …

Improving equity and population health through social determinants of health

Calum Yacoubian, MD

Tech

June 25, 2024

Social determinants of health (SDoH) have a strong potential to positively and negatively affect health outcomes, but providers have traditionally faced substantial roadblocks in identifying patients who need SDoH interventions.

The result of this gap is often missed opportunities to improve patient health at the individual and population levels.

SDoH factors are responsible for up to 80% of health outcomes, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, yet patients and providers …

From ER to wallet: Understanding medical expenses [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 22, 2024

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Join us as we welcome Neill Slater, an emergency physician, to discuss the critical issue of patient compliance and the hidden costs of health care. We will explore why patients often don’t take …

Mistakes make us better doctors [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 11, 2024

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Join us for an insightful exploration of the complexities of managing mistakes in health care with our guest, Josh Schwarzbaum, an emergency physician. Together, we’ll discuss the importance of embracing errors as opportunities …

How compassion can fix the health care system [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 7, 2024

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Join Drew Remignanti, an emergency physician, as we delve into the intersection of compassion, health care, and spirituality. Explore the vital role of compassion in medical care, the challenges of balancing health care …

Burned out doctors, compromised care: a doctor’s story

Ariam Mathusek, MD

Physician

May 29, 2024

Physicians are often seen as pillars of strength, guiding patients through their most vulnerable moments. However, behind the white coats and the stethoscopes lies a troubling reality: an alarming rise in physician burnout.

In the U.S., data from the American Medical Association and the Mayo Clinic found that physician burnout has reached 54 percent, compared to the 45 percent reported in a similar study conducted in 2011; this translates to an …

TV medical school: where doctors don’t need nurses and bullets heal themselves

Ann F. Beach, MD

Physician

May 16, 2024

Clearly, four years of college, four years of medical school, and three years of pediatric residency weren’t a complete medical education. There are so many things I didn’t know until I started watching action-packed TV shows, especially the ones with SWAT teams, detectives, and lots of blood.

My training was clearly deficient in neck jabbing. You know, when the bad guys sneak up on the good guy, jab him randomly in …

911 call turned deadly: It’s time we invest in our community

Ashlee Guzman

Policy

May 13, 2024

“Shoot! Shoot in the heart,” local Miami resident Donald Armstrong screamed while waving around a screwdriver on his front porch during the peak of a mental health episode. Despite pleas from his mother not to kill her son, Armstrong was tased and shot over a dozen times. A 911 call tragically escalated into a perilous encounter with the very people tasked to help.

Our …

Boundaries in health care: Navigating personal and professional balance [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 4, 2024

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Join emergency physician Shideh Shafie as we delve into the crucial topic of setting boundaries in the medical profession. Shafie shares her personal experiences navigating the delicate balance between personal and professional life, …

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