Hospital medicine

5,188 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 37

Dealing with the pressures of learning as a physician-in-training

July 22, 2019Jul 22, 2019

The other day, I happened across a YouTube video called the “Try Not to Look Away Challenge.” There were some obvious video clips, such as a person vomiting, a spider, and a spooky video game. What struck me was a clip from a movie in which a middle-aged woman forgets where the restroom in her house is located. After letting her husband know that she was headed to the restroom, …

Physician voices

4 Beatles playlists for your residency emotions

Maureen Miller, MD, MPH

July 20, 2019Jul 20, 2019

I recently graduated from residency and fellowship. The last week in-house was a second adolescence. My moods have been up and down. I’d giddily return a parking pass, then surrender IT access in tears. No one could feel this — my — moment as deeply, specifically, or correctly as I could. What word is there for that? There’s song.

Influenced by the new film Yesterday, I melodramatically equated my break-up with …

Medical education

How to rekindle your love of medicine

Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD

July 18, 2019Jul 18, 2019

Recently, thousands of new residency and fellowship graduates have earned their wings and will be, mostly metaphorically, hanging out their shingles. Sadly, though, as the excitement of finally finishing training after decades of schooling wears off, even great work can…

There is a parable about three men laying bricks. When asked what they were doing, the first man said, “Laying bricks.” The second man said, “Building a church.” And …

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How to rekindle your love of medicine

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Physician voices

Here’s what I wish I knew as a resident

Irene Tien, MD

July 17, 2019Jul 17, 2019

When I decided to become a doctor, little did I know that medical school and residency would be like a hazing for future physicians. We are broken down mentally and physically and then remade in the image of the “strong” doctor and to admit to being sick is equivalent to being weak. We are publicly shamed for admitting we don’t know the answer to daily pimping on morning rounds. We …

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Here’s what I wish I knew as a resident

Health technology

Patients: Take back your health information. Here’s how.

David M. Mitchell, MD, PhD

July 16, 2019Jul 16, 20192

Have you ever wondered why your personal health information essentially belongs to your health care provider or institution? I mean: why do they keep your information under lock and key, and you have to sign a release to get it? After all, it’s your blood that they just pulled out and tested, it’s your body they just shot up with X-rays or operated on — and you paid for these …

Physician finance

Considering locum tenens? Think about these factors first.

Cory Fawcett, MD

July 16, 2019Jul 16, 2019

Locum tenens is a great way to make a living or earn some extra income. But frankly, there are some groups of physicians who should not even consider doing locums work. When you pair the right person with the right job, you can get employment bliss. But when the wrong person takes a job, both the employer and the employee are often unhappy.

I believe everyone should enjoy the work they …

Physician voices

Are hospitalists to blame for the fragmentation of medical care?

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

July 14, 2019Jul 14, 20199

“What About Recovery” is a provocative essay by Yale professor Lenore Buckley, MD, in JAMA. She writes in detail about the death of her 68-year-old brother in a hospital. She felt his doctors did not do enough to help him…

“What About Recovery” is a provocative essay by Yale professor Lenore Buckley, MD, in JAMA.

She writes in detail about the death of her 68-year-old brother in a hospital. She felt his doctors did not do enough to help him recover because his nutritional and physical therapy needs were not met.

However, there’s more to it. She calls out the system existing in every hospital I’m aware of writing, …

Physician voices

Why you’re an unhappy physician

Suneel Dhand, MD

July 13, 2019Jul 13, 20194

Health care is a tough job to work in -- whether you are a doctor, nurse or any other professional. We are dealing with matters of life and death, our patients expect (and deserve) the best from us, and we…

Health care is a tough job to work in — whether you are a doctor, nurse or any other professional. We are dealing with matters of life and death, our patients expect (and deserve) the best from us, and we always have a hundred-and-one things to do at the frontlines of medicine. I remember reading somewhere when I was a teenager that a career in medicine would be a “mentally, …

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Why you’re an unhappy physician

Medical education

Why medical writing is essential to medicine

Steven Zhang, MD

July 11, 2019Jul 11, 2019

I wasn't as happy as I expected to be when I walked out of the hospital on my last day in medical school. But then again, there was little to celebrate -- my last few patients had terminal cancer, a…

I wasn’t as happy as I expected to be when I walked out of the hospital on my last day in medical school. But then again, there was little to celebrate — my last few patients had terminal cancer, a stroke, and end-stage liver disease from alcoholism. I signed off my patients to my resident, and so, my medical school career came to an unceremonious end. I thought to myself …

Medical education

The tension between learning and the illness of others

Nathaniel Fleming

July 9, 2019Jul 9, 2019

Every doctor and doctor-in-training has a particular thing that drew them toward a career in medicine. Whether it is an interest in science, a passion for service and helping others, a family role model, or a combination of the above, there are many ways to spark interest in the field. From my own experiences and conversations, I’ve found that finding inspiration to enter a career in medicine is rarely a …

Physician voices

Despite the talk about team-based care, physicians today are isolated

Hans Duvefelt, MD

July 9, 2019Jul 9, 20193

My first job after residency was in a small mill town in central Maine. I joined two fifty something family doctors, one of whom was the son of the former town doctor. I felt like I was Dr. Kiley on…

Will was a John Deere man, wore a flannel shirt and listened to A Prairie Home …

Physician voices

A physician family’s enraging experiences with the U.S. health care system

Judith Graham

July 9, 2019Jul 9, 20194

Dr. Hasan Shanawani was overcome by frustration. So, last week he picked up his cellphone and began sharing on Twitter his family’s enraging experiences with the U.S. health care system. It was an act of defiance — and desperation. Like…

Dr. Hasan Shanawani was overcome by frustration. So, last week he picked up his cellphone and began sharing on Twitter his family’s enraging experiences with the U.S. health care system.

It was an act of defiance — and desperation. Like millions of people who are sick or old and the families who care for them, this physician was disheartened by the health care system’s complexity and its all-too-frequent absence of caring …

Physician voices

The truth behind the care at a skilled nursing facility

Steven Reznick, MD

July 7, 2019Jul 7, 20199

Reuters recently published an article on skilled nursing facilities and post-hospital stays. They discussed the often-lengthy time between hospital discharge and the patient being seen by a physician or “an advanced care practitioner.” Older, more infirm and cognitively impaired patients…

Older, more infirm and cognitively impaired patients tend to be seen later than other patients. The later you are seen, the more likely it is that you will be sent back to the acute care …

Physician voices

The problem of physicians and nurses connecting patients with hospital fundraisers

Michael Kirsch, MD

July 3, 2019Jul 3, 20192

Many organizations solicit private donations from benefactors and philanthropists. Is there a stadium in the country that does not bear the name of a prominent donor? There are also anonymous donors who are not cursed with egos that require their names to be emblazoned in giant font on a building’s façade. But, most donors want recognition which is often used as an incentive when soliciting the donation.

Donors understandably receive perks …

Medical education

The sigh of relief on Match Day quickly changed into a sobering reality

Steven Zhang, MD

June 30, 2019Jun 30, 2019

The residency interview trail quickly becomes a lonesome journey, so when I was on it this winter, I’d usually have the hotel room television turned on for some background noise and often find myself watching ESPN’s SportsCenter. On my last interview in Philadelphia, the show was featuring the high flying phenom Zion Williamson, who’s set to be drafted this year to the NBA. When I finally returned to home in …

Physician voices

10 tips for success after you finish residency

Michael Javid, DO

June 28, 2019Jun 28, 2019

If you’re done with your residency or fellowship, you’ve paid your dues. And I am excited for you. Life is about to get better. A lot better. If you read my prior article about going unmatched, you know that things…

If you’re done with your residency or fellowship, you’ve paid your dues. And I am excited for you. Life is about to get better. A lot better.

If you read my prior article about going unmatched, you know that things have not always gone smoothly for me. But now, after a reasonably good first year out of training, I feel compelled to reflect on why things are going well, and also—to offer any …

Physician voices

Physicians: Do not be intimidated by administrators

Suneel Dhand, MD

June 28, 2019Jun 28, 20196

A piece of advice I would give to any younger physician, especially one who is just graduating residency, would be to expect a whirlwind ride into the realities of frontline medical practice. It’s something that you are totally not prepared for in the controlled environment of education and residency training. A steep learning curve awaits you once you start practicing medicine. And one of the biggest things you will have …

Physician voices

Don’t ask caregivers to be data entry clerks for the Joint Commission

Steven Reznick, MD

June 27, 2019Jun 27, 20193

I received an email from our hospital accreditation coordinator/quality coordinator in a manner that wasn’t clear if it was directed to me personally or if it was sent to the entire medical staff. It said that she was reviewing the Joint Commission’s recent survey which found that the charts did a poor job of reflecting the patient’s “code status.” The institution only received a 40 percent rating.

Some patients were listed …

Physician voices

Discrimination against doctors is costing us

Sheila Ramanathan, DO

June 26, 2019Jun 26, 20196

“I want to see the doctor. Not you. I don’t like your kind. I want to see a white doctor, a man,” a patient gasping for air in an emergency room says to the dark-skinned resident assessing her vitals. “Speak…

“Speak slowly, I don’t understand you people,” a male patient says as an ethnic attending discusses a complicated procedure to obtain consent.

“Are you sure you are old enough to be a doctor?” …

Conditions and diseases

How to have an exciting death: 5 tips from a palliative care physician

Christi Bartlett, MD

June 25, 2019Jun 25, 20192

We're all gonna die. It's a simple truth that an astounding number of people neglect to acknowledge or accept. Some people die sudden, unexpected deaths, but most eventually fall victim to chronic or terminal conditions like COPD, heart failure or…

We’re all gonna die.

It’s a simple truth that an astounding number of people neglect to acknowledge or accept. Some people die sudden, unexpected deaths, but most eventually fall victim to chronic or terminal conditions like COPD, heart failure or cancer. As a palliative care physician, I often meet patients who have had conversations with their families about their end of life wishes and have completed supporting legal documents.

While I appreciate …

Hospital medicine

Articles, page 37

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