The nurse grabs me.
“You have to check my patient now! She is screaming and bearing down.”
Without letting go of my hand, she leads me into the labor room. I don’t even consider saying no, I know not to question this nurse. She has been a labor and delivery nurse nearly as long as I have been alive — she knows much more than I about everything.
The room is dark, but …
Nurses made this doctor who she is today
Blockchain technology has the potential to dramatically transform health care delivery by facilitating data exchange between providers and electronic health record (EHR) systems. A decentralized and transparent platform, blockchain technology provides an authenticated platform that applies a consensus-driven approach to facilitate the interaction of multiple entities through a shared ledger. For the health care sphere, blockchain is simply the sharing of medical information through EHRs across numerous hospital systems that …
Blockchain technology can dramatically transform health care delivery
The ICU nurse positioned the mirror in front of my face.
“You look more like yourself now, Dr. Berk,” she said.
She was right! The nurse, whose name was Meghan, had just shampooed, dried and brushed my hair. Clean and coiffed for the first time in over a week, I appeared normal — except, that is, for the tubes sticking out of my left nostril and my mouth.
It was 2009, and my …
The best time to practice compassionate, attentive care is today
They say to be a good doctor, you have to leave everything behind when you enter the exam room. You walk in with a clean slate — shiny and sterile, crisp, clean and decontaminated. I wonder if that’s why we wear a white coat? To symbolize the unscathed, untouched and pristine figure who walks into the room and solves all the problems. The one who just woke up from a …
Does being a good doctor mean being superhuman?
It has been a struggle to get out of my own way. I’m sure many of you have the same feeling. My health and well-being have suffered mightily from the stress of taking care of others in my work as a physician. I have not taken care of myself. Period. My career does not make me unique in this situation, as the patients I treat every day suffer from similar …
What happened 33 years ago changed this physician forever
The words were like bitter candies that I had been sucking on, hoping to come to a sweet center. I had walked the hallways of the hospital holding them in the silky pocket of my cheek for weeks. Finally, afraid I would choke, I spit them out into the middle of the dinner table.
“I think I’m depressed.”
I stared down at the tablecloth, moisture collecting on the base of my water …
Fight depression during residency by fostering connections
My name is Lucy.
I have stage IV liver cancer. I wanted everything done — even though the doctors told me this disease is terminal. My family, my church and my friends were praying for “the cure.”
Though I believed in God and the hereafter, I wasn’t ready to go. 74-years-old with beautiful children, grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.
I woke up confused. In the background — wherever I was — I could hear …
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
I love to see the pure joy that floods over mothers as they hear their new baby’s first cry! The ability to help make childbirth safer for mothers and babies led me to a career in obstetric anesthesiology — in the high-risk, high-reward …
Obstetric physician anesthesiologists aim to provide a happy Mother’s Day to all patients
I’ve written in the past about how words are powerful — that they can have multiple meanings, how they can change depending on context. I am often reminded of how true that is in everyday oncology practice, especially when it comes to meeting new patients. Some are diagnosed with cancers that carry a relatively good prognosis, …
Words are powerful. Use them carefully.
A few months ago a nurse I know vented her frustration at a misperception she had received several times, unfortunately. She recalled a conversation in which someone had asked her in a condescending manner if she does anything else at work besides “handing out pills.”
I became visibly irritated at this, not only was this person purposely making disrespectful comments to bring her down but was also perpetuating her own biased …
Never undermine the work of a nurse
Doctors shouldn’t lie to their patients, even now when the parsing of words and the telling of white lies is common at the highest level of our government. But they do it all the time — sometimes for personal reasons but most of the time for what they believe is the good of their patients.
As …
Doctors sometimes lie to their patients. Is it ever OK?
A doctor is working down their long list of patients, powering through the day, striving to use their skills to get them better. Some of the patients will be follow-ups who they already know; others will be brand new patients, who they are meeting for the first time. Of course, the job of any doctor is first and foremost to heal their patient in whatever way they can. That’s what …
Your patient has judged you 7 seconds after meeting you
We’re all human beings, but we’re not all alike.
Each person experiences pain differently, from an emotional perspective as well as a physical one, and responds to pain differently. That means that physicians like myself need to evaluate patients on an individual basis and find the best way to treat their pain.
Today, however, doctors are under pressure to limit costs and prescribe treatments based on standardized guidelines. A major gap looms …
Why physicians should respect the pain patients report
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Many medical organizations have recently been promoting focused and individualized lab testing for routine screening or when pursuing a diagnosis. Research has shown that the “shotgun” approach to lab testing usually leads to further invasive testing which has not been proven to significantly alter morbidity or mortality.
Additionally, tests rely on pre-test probabilities and can have false-positive or negative results and …
A physician makes the case for some routine labs
A cup of black coffee — such an ordinary request. Behind this request is a mother of a dying son, who due to financial restraints, has slept on the same hospital recliner chair and eaten the same oatmeal and mashed potatoes made from a water kettle every day for months. What can we offer when there is no more chemotherapy, what can we do to alleviate this mother’s struggle? A …
Palliative care: My moral grounds were shaken and my beliefs challenged
I would like to give some tips to younger doctors regarding how to tell your patient that he is going to die. Your approach should also incorporate your unique personality, as well as published literature and other resources.
For your first case, watch someone more senior tell the patient. See what you think worked and what could be improved. When it is your turn, make sure to have …
As part of the interview for my book, I asked why it is difficult to be a doctor. Some of it has to do with integrating information and making decisions.
“The public thinks that we know more or can do more than we can. Ultrasounds don’t mean it’s a perfect baby. All of the tests and technology moves so fast that we don’t know what we see.” A doctor explained, “You cannot know …
Why is it difficult to be a doctor?
It was a twilight summer game, and I was parked as usual in right field among the weeds and snake holes. There was no outfield fence, so muffed balls could roll forever. Not gifted with athletic skills, I also had a secret problem. I was blind as an especially myopic mole rat and couldn’t even see the second baseman. This would be discovered five years later. I knew one thing …
Doctors, don’t be scared. Here’s why.
Take a moment to ask yourself the following:
1. Did I come to practice medicine because it was a calling, rather than a possibly lucrative career path?
2. Do I consider the practice of medicine primarily an art, a craft and the consistent application of evidence-based care?
3. Do I respond to inner measures of prideful work more than the appeal of external motivators?
4. Are there lines that cannot be crossed, even if …
Are you an artisan or just a medical professional?
The first week of residency of any program is usually comprised of several orientation sessions in which the new interns are introduced to various important aspects of the residency program. My orientation week was no different with a river of new information flowing towards me. Needless to say, I felt a bit overwhelmed and struggled to keep track of everything that was being introduced. Later on, I found out that …
Has patient-centered care gone too far?
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