Women’s health

Crying when a patient suffers a devastating loss

Colette Charles, MD

July 10, 2018Jul 10, 2018

I was a second-year resident, doing a 24-hour shift on maternity care. I'd spent some arduous nights on call with my attending physician, Dr. Campbell. Now, we sat at the nursing station, joking about what this one might bring. "You…

I was a second-year resident, doing a 24-hour shift on maternity care. I’d spent some arduous nights on call with my attending physician, Dr. Campbell. Now, we sat at the nursing station, joking about what this one might bring.

“You must be a black cloud,” she teased, accusing me of being one of those unfortunate residents who seem to attract medical emergencies. I laughingly protested, but in fact, these quiet nights …

Come see for yourself why medicine rarely runs on time

July 8, 2018Jul 8, 20189

“Sorry, I’m running late … sorry, to keep you waiting.” How many times a day do I say that? Sometimes it is every time I walk into a patient’s room as if it is a normal greeting. Sometimes patients respond with: “Oh, you aren’t late” or “I haven’t been waiting long.” I can be so obsessed with not being late that I don’t realize I’m actually running on time! But …

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Don’t tell patients they look great, except in these cases

Brooks David Kimmis, MD

July 4, 2018Jul 4, 201812

One of my colleagues sat on a wheeled clinic stool at the end of the examination table and told the patient, which was in this case an actor, “Everything looks great.” After, he swiveled around to face the instructor and the small group of onlooking medical students behind him. Our instructor also turned to us and said, “Very good job. But can anyone tell me what he did wrong?” He …

Meredith D. Davenport, MD

When outcomes are tragic, doctors suffer too

June 9, 2018Jun 9, 2018

The vast majority of births and deliveries are joyful ones. Families celebrate the wonder of the new addition to their families, and clinicians go home at the end of the day with a sense of pride, deriving meaning from their…

But unfortunately, that is not always the case.

As an obstetrician, I know firsthand …

My patient, my friend: a sometimes stressful relationship

June 7, 2018Jun 7, 2018

Seeing patients in my OB/GYN office this morning, I try to stave off the mild nervousness rumbling inside of me. My good friend Monica is having a C-section this afternoon, and I'm performing it. We met ten years ago when…

Seeing patients in my OB/GYN office this morning, I try to stave off the mild nervousness rumbling inside of me. My good friend Monica is having a C-section this afternoon, and I’m performing it.

We met ten years ago when I walked my three-year-old daughter into Monica’s preschool classroom for the first time. Monica sat on the floor, a child in her lap and others playing around her. Like them, I …

The mental health implications of infertility

Samantha Saltz, MD

June 6, 2018Jun 6, 2018

While infertility may be a problem affecting nearly 7.3 million women in the United States between the ages of 15-44, it is a topic that women often don’t discuss. Rather, they suffer from the emotional pain that accompanies hormone injections, multiple procedures, and sometimes miscarriage. How is it best to treat this vulnerable population that rarely gets the attention it deserves? The answer lies in a team approach to medicine.

According …

The questionable ethics of ultrasound in pregnancy

Cory Michael, MD

June 6, 2018Jun 6, 2018

Having worked at both community hospitals and major medical centers, the issue of ultrasound in pregnancy has revealed itself to be more complex over the years. As a resident, I worked with an obstetrics office that only scanned their own patients who had private insurance and would send uninsured or Medicaid patients (often with a high risk of inadequate prenatal care) to the hospital late in the day to be …

Pregnant and in medical training? Here’s how to do it.

Arti Thangudu, MD

June 4, 2018Jun 4, 20184

We hear all the time that maternity leave in the U.S. is in shambles. Let’s clarify: There’s no such thing as guaranteed maternity leave. Some companies are obligated to give some leave to some employees — that’s as good as…

Medical training adds complexity to parental leave. Residents and fellows are expected to be deferential, the lowest on the totem pole …

MKSAP: 29-year-old woman is evaluated during a routine follow-up examination of multiple sclerosis

mksap

June 2, 2018Jun 2, 2018

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 29-year-old woman is evaluated during a routine follow-up examination of multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed 3 years ago. The patient says she wishes…

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.

A 29-year-old woman is evaluated during a routine follow-up examination of multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed 3 years ago. The patient says she wishes to discontinue her oral contraceptive and attempt to become pregnant. She has no other personal or family medical history of note. Medications are fingolimod, vitamin D, and an oral …

The struggles of women in recovery during pregnancy

Rachel Alinsky, MD

May 27, 2018May 27, 20183

“I just don’t get it,” sighed the young mother, who was propped up in a hospital rocking chair, nursing her beautiful two-day-old infant. Mary (not her real name) continued, “I’ve been doing everything right. I have a job, an apartment, I pay my bills, and look” – Mary nods towards a shiny new black and pink infant car-seat sitting in the corner, “I even have a car seat. I’m ready.” …

Nurses made this doctor who she is today

May 16, 2018May 16, 20189

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…

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 …

Social media in medicine

Beware of pseudoscience: The desperate need for physicians on social media

Valerie A. Jones, MD

May 14, 2018May 14, 201833

The power of social media is clearly evident in cases such as the Russian influence on our election and Mark Zuckerberg‘s realization of the need for transparency on his powerful platform of Facebook. However, maybe not so evident, is the…

A popular new term for the misinformation regarding medical topics has arisen: pseudoscience. It has run rampant on sites such …

American Society of Anesthesiologists & James Lozada, DO

Obstetric physician anesthesiologists aim to provide a happy Mother’s Day to all patients

May 11, 2018May 11, 2018

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…

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 environment of the labor and delivery department.

I first met the Tuckers, a couple …

A physician’s tribute to her father

A physician’s tribute to her father

May 6, 2018May 6, 2018

Sometimes it is a light breeze across my face, sometimes it is a flutter in my heart, sometimes it is a glimmer of a memory, and momentarily, you are with me dad. The sensation never lasts long, just a flash sometimes as I’m talking to a patient or writing notes in a chart, and as soon as I recognize it, you are …

Read more…

When preventive care becomes upselling in medicine

Hans Duvefelt, MD

May 2, 2018May 2, 201814

For many years, I’ve held a brief huddle with my team every morning to make sure we are ready for the day: Anybody with complex problems coming in today? Anybody who’s been in the ER? How is Mrs. Jones’s husband over at the nursing home, is she worried about his condition? Where can we squeeze in more add-on’s?

Now other people have tried to hijack the word “huddle” for a completely …

21 years later, a physician reflects on the changes in medicine

April 29, 2018Apr 29, 2018

Twenty-one years ago, I saved a life. Yes, I have helped many women over the years, perhaps changed their life in some way, but this one time … this one time, there is no doubt in my mind, I saved…

Now, 21 years later, this “baby,” a junior in college interested in marketing sits before me on an exam table, asking me ordinary questions about her birth control …

MKSAP: 19-year-old woman is seen for counseling regarding contraceptives

mksap

April 28, 2018Apr 28, 20184

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 19-year-old woman is seen for counseling regarding contraceptives. Medical history is unremarkable; she is nulliparous and has never taken prescription contraceptives. Her father…

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.

A 19-year-old woman is seen for counseling regarding contraceptives. Medical history is unremarkable; she is nulliparous and has never taken prescription contraceptives. Her father had a pulmonary embolism at age 47 years, which was associated with arthroscopic knee surgery, and her 23-year-old sister experienced a deep venous thrombosis 3 weeks after delivering her …

Empowering young women to use their voices in health care

Damian P. Alagia, MD

April 21, 2018Apr 21, 20183

Women’s voices are finally being elevated on a national level to the prominence they deserve on workplace, political, and social issues. But as a physician (and father of two adult daughters), I’m concerned that women may not feel empowered to…

Women’s voices are finally being elevated on a national level to the prominence they deserve on workplace, political, and social issues.

But as a physician (and father of two adult daughters), I’m concerned that women may not feel empowered to use their voices for their own health care. A 2015 survey found that only 22 percent of women in the United States possess health literacy skills, although health literacy is critical …