Medicine is an area of study that is bursting with countless gut-wrenching ethical debates. Throughout our medical training, even in some medical school interviews, we are asked and tested on how we would personally navigate the delicate tightrope of right…
Medicine is an area of study that is bursting with countless gut-wrenching ethical debates. Throughout our medical training, even in some medical school interviews, we are asked and tested on how we would personally navigate the delicate tightrope of right and wrong.
Trying to maintain equilibrium between our personal beliefs and those that are best for our patients can often be difficult. On one side of our acrobatic act, we are …
Lifetime has an unscripted series, Born in the Wild, which documents couples’ decisions to forgo birth in a hospital and instead give birth in nature on their own terms without assistance: In this new series, families take one step beyond…
Lifetime has an unscripted series, Born in the Wild, which documents couples’ decisions to forgo birth in a hospital and instead give birth in nature on their own terms without assistance:
In this new series, families take one step beyond home birth and make the powerful choice to experience childbirth in the great outdoors. No inductions, no epidurals … just expectant mothers facing
I am relieved and proud to report that I passed my boards: I am officially a diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. While the oddly formal “diplomate” is a term in common use with physicians, I didn’t…
I am relieved and proud to report that I passed my boards: I am officially a diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. While the oddly formal “diplomate” is a term in common use with physicians, I didn’t understand what “diplomate” and its sister phrase “board-certified physician” meant until I undertook my own board preparation.
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a memorably stressful element of applying to …
Purvi Patel was found guilty of both feticide and child neglect in Indiana in February and now faces 70 years in jail. A jury deliberated for about 5 hours, even though there are no facts supporting either the feticide claim…
Purvi Patel was found guilty of both feticide and child neglect in Indiana in February and now faces 70 years in jail. A jury deliberated for about 5 hours, even though there are no facts supporting either the feticide claim or the neglect, never mind the travesty that child neglect and feticide are incompatible charges. It’s hard to neglect a baby you have already been found guilty of killing as a fetus. …
The preferred route for a hysterectomy is vaginal. This means the entire surgery is done through the vagina with no incisions in the abdomen of any kind. The joke among surgeons is that it is a bit like taking a…
The preferred route for a hysterectomy is vaginal. This means the entire surgery is done through the vagina with no incisions in the abdomen of any kind. The joke among surgeons is that it is a bit like taking a car apart through the muffler. While doing surgery entirely through the vagina may sound highly complex, it’s really just like any surgery. A vaginal hysterectomy done correctly it is an …
We want to make sure that we stop it before it starts. It’s so much easier to prevent bad medicine than it is to stop it after it’s started. – Arkansas Rep. Julie Mayberry (R-East End) speaking on Arkansas Public…
We want to make sure that we stop it before it starts. It’s so much easier to prevent bad medicine than it is to stop it after it’s started.
– Arkansas Rep. Julie Mayberry (R-East End) speaking on Arkansas Public Radio about SB-53, a bill that restricts medical abortions by preventing them via telemedicine — an unfortunate development for the 78 percent of Arkansas women who don’t …
Recently, Ohio became the 20th state to pass a law mandating that hospitals and clinics performing mammography screening to notify a patient in writing if results suggest something known as "dense breast tissue." Standard mammography creates a 2-D image of…
Recently, Ohio became the 20th state to pass a law mandating that hospitals and clinics performing mammography screening to notify a patient in writing if results suggest something known as “dense breast tissue.” Standard mammography creates a 2-D image of breast tissue. In general, this is sufficient for screening purposes. However, especially in younger patients, the presence of dense breast parenchyma can lead to higher false negative readings and …
I saw this little news item from Shape Magazine about “vagina facials.” First of all, the post means vulva. The vagina is inside and the vulva is the outside (where your underwear touches your skin). The vestibule is in between.…
I saw this little news item from Shape Magazine about “vagina facials.”
First of all, the post means vulva. The vagina is inside and the vulva is the outside (where your underwear touches your skin). The vestibule is in between.
This what Shape Magazine had to say about it:
Created by Lisa Palmer, the facial came about after she “looked downstairs” and realized her
Most women report some painful or discomfort with their period. However, some women have killer cramps (the medical term is severe dysmenorrhea) and for many of them life goes on a 3 to 5-day hold once a month. Period pain…
Most women report some painful or discomfort with their period. However, some women have killer cramps (the medical term is severe dysmenorrhea) and for many of them life goes on a 3 to 5-day hold once a month.
Period pain is due to release of a substance called prostaglandins from the lining of the uterus during menstruation. Prostaglandins help the uterus contract …
A patient story tonight, from Jackie: It was one of those days. I had been to the gynecologist the week prior because I somehow knew the sporadic bleeding, which I had experienced, was not a simple urinary tract infection for…
A patient story tonight, from Jackie:
It was one of those days. I had been to the gynecologist the week prior because I somehow knew the sporadic bleeding, which I had experienced, was not a simple urinary tract infection for which I had been treated three times. My doctor did the scrapings and biopsies and had me run down the hall for an ultrasound. I’d had lots of ultrasounds during my pregnancies — …
Water births, delivering a baby so it is born underwater, are controversial medically because while they are promoted as safe and natural by some midwives and lay midwives they are not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the…
Water births, delivering a baby so it is born underwater, are controversial medically because while they are promoted as safe and natural by some midwives and lay midwives they are not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Congress of OB/GYN. (Laboring in a tub in an entirely different thing.)
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 32-year-old woman is evaluated as a new patient. She is planning to attempt conception with her partner. She has a history of systemic…
A 32-year-old woman is evaluated as a new patient. She is planning to attempt conception with her partner. She has a history of systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by chronic kidney disease that has been inactive for several years off of treatment. She has had borderline blood pressure elevations since the …
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP, pain in the pelvis that is present for more than 2 weeks a month and has been there for more than 6 months) affects 15 percent of women and accounts for upwards of $2 billion a…
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP, pain in the pelvis that is present for more than 2 weeks a month and has been there for more than 6 months) affects 15 percent of women and accounts for upwards of $2 billion a year in direct medical costs. To say it is a significant health burden is a gross underestimate at best. My entire practice is devoted to the treatment of pelvic pain …
Preventing infection after surgery is very important as not only are these infections often uncomfortable and make you feel very sick, but they also increase the risk of more serious complications. For example, if you are less mobile because of…
Preventing infection after surgery is very important as not only are these infections often uncomfortable and make you feel very sick, but they also increase the risk of more serious complications. For example, if you are less mobile because of an infection after surgery you are at higher risk for a blood clot or if you need a prolonged hospitalization because of an infection in your surgical wound you are …
I chose to become an OB/GYN because I love delivering babies and bringing joy to expectant parents. It is by far the most rewarding part of my job. Seeing the sense of pride on a new dad’s face, the joyful…
I chose to become an OB/GYN because I love delivering babies and bringing joy to expectant parents. It is by far the most rewarding part of my job. Seeing the sense of pride on a new dad’s face, the joyful tears in a happy mother’s eyes, or the inquisitive look of a young big brother or sister is priceless and makes my “job” feel more like a privilege. Bringing a new …
The reports from India read more like the review of a horror movie rather than a detailing of a government funded surgical program: 83 women receiving a surgical sterilization leaving 11 dead and another 50 hospitalized, 20 of whom (as…
The reports from India read more like the review of a horror movie rather than a detailing of a government funded surgical program: 83 women receiving a surgical sterilization leaving 11 dead and another 50 hospitalized, 20 of whom (as of this posting) are seriously ill. And all of this happened in six hours with one surgeon at a government sponsored sterilization camp.
As an OB/GYN I want to tell you how bad this actually is.
I have fertility on my mind -- and it’s definitely not personal. And it’s really fertility preservation that has me thinking. I recently completed the manuscript of my 10th book -- a text for oncology care providers about the provision…
I have fertility on my mind — and it’s definitely not personal. And it’s really fertility preservation that has me thinking. I recently completed the manuscript of my 10th book — a text for oncology care providers about the provision of psychosocial care to young adults with cancer
.
Writing the book was at times frustrating due to the paucity of research and …
Dear Dr. Oz, I know the #OzsInBox question on Twitter didn’t exactly go the way you or your social media team expected. You told Sen. McCaskill when she asked you about the so-called miracles and medically baseless products that you…
Dear Dr. Oz,
I know the #OzsInBox question on Twitter didn’t exactly go the way you or your social media team expected. You told Sen. McCaskill when she asked you about the so-called miracles and medically baseless products that you promote on your show that you view yourself as a cheerleader, but consider #OzsInBox a wake-up call that …
Mrs. C was used to my quiet knock every morning at 6 a.m. She smiled as I turned on the overhead lights, but began to grimace when she realized that today was dressing-change day. The rustling packages of bandages in…
Mrs. C was used to my quiet knock every morning at 6 a.m. She smiled as I turned on the overhead lights, but began to grimace when she realized that today was dressing-change day. The rustling packages of bandages in my overstuffed coat pockets had given it away. Mrs. C had stage four metastatic endometrial cancer; a malignancy of her uterus that was not responding well to chemotherapy and had …
I've waited to address this sensitive topic until after the midterm elections, when political slogans such as the phony "war on women" and trumped-up threats to religious liberty were discarded like so many campaign posters. It was curious to see…
I’ve waited to address this sensitive topic until after the midterm elections, when political slogans such as the phony “war on women” and trumped-up threats to religious liberty were discarded like so many campaign posters. It was curious to see the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and Planned Parenthood attacking Republican Senate candidates for supporting over-the-counter birth control pills without a prescription — a position that, if …
