Hospital medicine

5,188 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 59

To err is homicide in Britain

March 6, 2018Mar 6, 20182

A single error oft inters the good that doctors do. The case of Dr. Hadiza Bawa-Garba, a trainee pediatrician in the NHS convicted for homicide for the death of a child from sepsis and hounded by the General Medical Council…

A boy in shock

Friday, February 18th, 2011 was not a typically unusual day in a British hospital. Dr. Bawa-Garba had recently returned from a 13-month …

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To err is homicide in Britain

Physician voices

Is your spouse experiencing physician burnout?

Sara Taylor, MD

March 5, 2018Mar 5, 2018

Many things in life can only be truly appreciated once reflected upon — like the onset of dementia, depression, and cancer, just to name a few. This got me thinking about the onset of burnout and how the true presentation…

The term “burnout” is often thrown around loosely but is an actual syndrome comprised of the progression of “exhaustion, cynicism and reduced …

Physician voices

#MeToo: Tactics for fighting harassment

Torree McGowan, MD

March 5, 2018Mar 5, 20186

When I was two years old, I ran naked through my living room. Mom reached out and playfully swatted my rump. I skidded to a stop, planted my fists on my little hips, and faced off. “Don’t touch that! It’s mine!” Everyone who knows me and hears the story just laughs and says my sassy started early.

Now, I read story after story of inappropriate comments made to women, and I …

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#MeToo: Tactics for fighting harassment

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Medicine systematically disadvantages women physicians at every stage of their careers

Elisabeth Poorman, MD

March 5, 2018Mar 5, 20189

When my friend was in her fourth year of medical school, she and her boyfriend sat down with their dean to discuss their residency applications. Both have since gone on to have successful academic medicine careers, but on that day…

“I’m sure it will all work out,” she recalled the dean saying. “After all, in 20 years …

Physician voices

Leaders can bring doctors out of burnout

Maiysha Clairborne, MD

March 5, 2018Mar 5, 20183

As physicians, we are seen as leaders whether we like it or not. And as such, we are charged with modeling greatness. But do we? Our training, while teaching us to be experts and authorities, does not teach us how…

One thing our training does teach us: self-neglect, self-sacrifice and unrealistic expectation. This is where I believe our training has failed us. For most of us, our training …

Conditions and diseases

Who knew I went to medical school to save my own life?

Leonard Zwelling, MD

March 4, 2018Mar 4, 2018

When I was an intern the Durham VA Hospital, there was a sign taped to the ceiling of one of the workrooms. It said in big, bold letters: SUBDURAL HEMATOMA/PULMONARY EMBOLUS. This was to remind all house officers, at work in the middle of the night, about likely diagnoses for mysterious or confusing diagnostic puzzles. When you slapped your head in desperation and looked up, you would see the answer. …

Health policy

The unjust prosecution of physicians is not unique

David Markus, JD & Mona Markus, JD

February 28, 2018Feb 28, 201812

Dr. Pramela Ganji had just finished her lunch when she was told that the appellate court had reversed and vacated her conviction. At first, she didn’t believe it. After all, this whole experience had been surreal. Dr. Ganji, a 68-year-old…

Dr. Pramela Ganji had just finished her lunch when she was told that the appellate court had reversed and vacated her conviction. At first, she didn’t believe it.

After all, this whole experience had been surreal. Dr. Ganji, a 68-year-old well-respected medical doctor and married mother of 3 children, had practiced medicine for 40 years without incident. Her patients loved her, and she had dedicated her life to helping others. …

Physician voices

A “stat” palliative care consult: cognitive dissonance meets cognitive ignorance

Michael A. Salvatore, MD

February 28, 2018Feb 28, 2018

It was a perfectly comfortable morning when suddenly it was discomforted by a request for a stat palliative care consult. A stat consult is disquieting because "stat" is a dissonant adjective for the compound noun, "palliative care." "Stat" is the…

It was a perfectly comfortable morning when suddenly it was discomforted by a request for a stat palliative care consult. A stat consult is disquieting because “stat” is a dissonant adjective for the compound noun, “palliative care.”

“Stat” is the medical abbreviation for the Latin adverb “statim” meaning “immediately.” Stat orders always imply the necessity of an immediate response to an emergency: an inadequate blood pressure, an erratic hear rate, a …

Medical education

Physicians don’t know everything, and that’s OK

Kristin Puhl, MD

February 27, 2018Feb 27, 20183

Physicians face a host of challenges in practice, but the one that looms largest is often this — they don't know everything. It would be tempting to think that they do. As patients, we want them to. We want our…

Physicians face a host of challenges in practice, but the one that looms largest is often this — they don’t know everything.

It would be tempting to think that they do. As patients, we want them to. We want our doctors to tell us that they know what’s wrong and how to fix it. Medical mysteries are fun on television, but in our real lives, they’re profoundly unsettling and can have …

Physician voices

The case of Dr. Hadiza Bawa Garba is a tragedy

Dr. Sonia Henry

February 27, 2018Feb 27, 20184

I was sitting in the tea room out the back of the country hospital where I occasionally work as an emergency doctor, and we started to discuss the case of Dr. Hadiza Bawa Garba. Dr. Garba is a pediatric registrar from the UK who has been all over the news after being struck from the medical register for doing almost exactly what any one of us would …

Physician voices

Radical realism: A hospice doctor prepares for death

Shola Vaughn, MD

February 26, 2018Feb 26, 20182

Bruce Wilson, MD, is a hospice doctor and former cardiologist who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February of 2017. In the months that followed, he publicly discussed events as they unfolded on a CaringBridge blog. The irony of the situation was profound: a hospice doctor being handed what some consider a death sentence. A physician who dedicated his career to changing the conversation about end of life care now …

Physician voices

When a patient dies, do you cry?

Jasmine Toor, MD

February 24, 2018Feb 24, 2018

Apparently, I wanted to become a doctor since I was four. My mother tells the story of me getting ready for bed and simply saying: "Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a doctor so I can make…

Apparently, I wanted to become a doctor since I was four. My mother tells the story of me getting ready for bed and simply saying: “Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a doctor so I can make people better.”

This notion stuck with me, and, luckily, I took a liking to biology, anatomy and all the sciences throughout school making my little four-year-old dreams come true. And now, …

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When a patient dies, do you cry?

Physician voices

5 lessons every woman doctor must learn

Sasha Retana, MD

February 24, 2018Feb 24, 2018

Recently, I wanted to find some inspirational articles for female doctors. This letter to the young female physician by Dr. Suzanne Koven was one of the first things I came across. I wish someone had written me a letter when I was young and dumb and entering internship. Maybe it would have been a good warning. I mean, I was clueless about what lay ahead. I …

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5 lessons every woman doctor must learn

Physician voices

In tragedy, practicing medicine both an honor and a privilege

Molly M. Murray, PA-C

February 23, 2018Feb 23, 2018

For the past four years, this is James Beck’s routine: After a morning spent guzzling $5 vodka, he stumbles into a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot, lying on the cement with his dusty oversized coat splayed open to reveal a cachectic chest. A concerned patron (cigarette and coffee in hand) will call 911 and, in accordance with protocol, an ambulance will deliver him to our emergency room.

Upon his arrival, we unpredictably …

Medical education

The irony of me observing death on a day celebrating my birth

Johnathan Yao, MD, MPH

February 22, 2018Feb 22, 2018

As part of my medical school’s inter-professional learning, I shadowed a hospital chaplain this afternoon. While physicians principally attend to the physical healing of patients, chaplains also fulfill an important role in health care: meeting the spiritual needs of patients. When faced with disease, patients often grapple with deeper questions about their illness beyond just what the diagnosis and treatment plans are.

Immediately upon arriving at the hospital, there was a …

Physician voices

A physician sees end-of-life care through a religious lens

Chiduzie Madubata, MD

February 22, 2018Feb 22, 2018

In my second year of residency, I was on the hematology/oncology service where we were taking care of a pleasant lady in her 80s who was admitted with pancreatic cancer. It was apparent that the disease had spread rapidly, and when we discussed her at rounds, we knew that she likely had a few months to live, at best. We also knew, however, that there were life-extending treatment options we …

Physician voices

You’ve prescribed an opioid: Now what? 5 key strategies to prevent addiction

Caroline Carney, MD

February 22, 2018Feb 22, 2018

After being prescribed opioids for just one day, individuals can face significant challenges with addiction, with six percent continuing to use opioids a year later, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The likelihood of long-term use…

While much of the discussion around the opioid epidemic has centered on the challenges of opioid use and recovery, to get …

Physician voices

What if we treated physicians in training the way we want to be treated?

Stephanie Wellington, MD

February 22, 2018Feb 22, 2018

What if each doctor who interacts with medical students and residents acknowledges that they are a diverse group with their own inherent strengths and weaknesses? Some residents will have mastered the knowledge within the pages of the textbook and can…

What if each doctor who interacts with medical students and residents acknowledges that they are a diverse group with their own inherent strengths and weaknesses?

Some residents will have mastered the knowledge within the pages of the textbook and can easily recite it during attending rounds. Others will have a natural bedside manner, making patients feel comfortable so that the admission history and physical exams are more complete. Others will be …

Health policy

The CVS-Aetna merger is still the one to watch in 2018

Leah Binder

February 22, 2018Feb 22, 2018

Lots of mergers have been announced lately, but there’s still one transformative merger that will define and reshape the U.S. health care market in 2018: the CVS/Aetna $69 billion deal announced last December. CVS is best known for its 9700…

CVS is best known for its 9700 retail pharmacies and 1100 walk-in clinics, but its most significant profit driver is its pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) enterprise — a middleman between pharmaceutical manufacturers and dispensers like drugstores. The company …

Medical education

Influencing your resident evaluations for success

Todd Rice, MD, MBA

February 21, 2018Feb 21, 2018

Performance appraisals are an integral part of an organization's assessment of employee and trainee standing. Management and human resource literature is full of analysis and debate regarding how to best rate subordinates. Regardless of evaluation system utilized, some of the…

Performance appraisals are an integral part of an organization’s assessment of employee and trainee standing. Management and human resource literature is full of analysis and debate regarding how to best rate subordinates. Regardless of evaluation system utilized, some of the common goals of individual appraisals are to monitor progress, identify areas for growth, set goals, guide development, provide and elicit feedback through open communication, and document issues that may require …

Hospital medicine

Articles, page 59

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