I recently returned to the hospital where I had first worked as an attending. Everything felt different. It seemed darker and smaller, reminiscent of the feeling when you revisit your elementary school, and the water fountains appear almost touching the ground, making you feel like a giant.
I walked through the same door I had used countless times over ten years, yet it now seemed more like a portal. The floor, …
A recent post on KevinMD put forward “the case for eliminating recertification by the ABIM,” in which the author expressed a number of concerns about the relevancy, time commitment and cost of maintaining certification. I have good news for the author: His concerns have already been addressed by ABIM over the last several years.
Allow me to share my case for ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.
Like the author of …
Many arise each day with a scenario of expectations to be achieved. For those individuals of working age, some of these expectations revolve around our jobs, put into place by our employers over which we have little to no control. But what about those narratives, those stories, that we tell ourselves in the middle of the night or the ones that pop into our heads in the middle of the …
At the heart of the City of London sits an imposing building with massive brass front doors. Emblazoned and embossed on both doors is a symbol – the Caduceus, which in the U.S. is associated with medicine and health care. But why is it on the doors of the Bank of England, the second-largest repository of gold in the world?
Historically, the Caduceus was the staff of Hermes/Mercury, the patron of …
Every week, there is a new article or blog about physician burnout. According to Business Wire, nearly half (49 percent) of U.S. physicians reported burnout in 2023, up slightly from 2022 (45 percent). It’s the same ideas rehashed repeatedly – doctors are worn out, drowning in paperwork, suffering due to insurance restrictions, and considering early retirement. Even more tragically, some doctors are dying by suicide. It is estimated that …
An excerpt from Imposter Doctors: Patients at Risk.
On December 17, 2020, television network WGN America featured the book Patients at Risk: The Rise of the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant in Healthcare in a news segment entitled, “Families sound alarm on medical transparency after deaths of their children.” …
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Alan Lindemann, an obstetrics-gynecology physician, exposes the overlooked side of state medical boards. Join us as we shed light on the damage done to physicians and patients. Discover the need for transparency, accountability, and improved oversight to …
Separately, we discovered many of the same helpful tips that neither of us learned in a combined fifty-six years of education and training; we have each found comfort, sustenance, and direction from them. When we recently discussed wellness in our department, Alicia shared resources she had found useful in navigating the stressors of physician life. Christine was reluctant to talk about the subject at all, and together we found commonalities. …
An excerpt from The Game Plan: A Woman’s Guide to Becoming a Doctor and Living a Life in Medicine.
Relationships are complicated for many women and can have an even greater complexity for the female physician whose life and time is scheduled for upwards of a decade during medical school and …
Today’s health care system is in a state of drastic flux. Gone are the days of private practice family doctors, the “Marcus Welby, MDs,” who stood ever-ready to heal the sick and comfort the disillusioned. They were the sole decision-makers in the care of their patients and had the welfare of their patients at the forefront. Now, the corporate blanket has fallen upon the field of medicine, oftentimes blurring the …
“Thank God it’s Friday.”
So many of us say it often. This resonates with many, as there is even a restaurant franchise with that name that has $2.5 billion in sales. Clearly, they are tapping into something that echoes what many think (even if they have what feels like a 73-page menu which, on Fridays when you are especially tired, can seem overwhelming, but I digress).
However, if we dig a little …
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Join Amna Shabbir, an internal medicine physician, as she shares her personal journey and reflections on physician burnout and its impact on family dynamics. Amna opens up about her early exposure to burnout through her mother’s experiences …
The call came in during a busy workday. My comprehensive primary care clinic had been built over a decade of hard work and had a general practice clinic staffed by a very capable former surgeon and several nurse practitioners, as well as a pain management program and an addiction treatment clinic. We also had several counselors on staff. I immediately recognized the voice on the other end of the line …
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If you are a patient, we all are at some point. Undoubtedly, you have experienced some of the difficulties patients face today in getting approved for and receiving medical care in a timely fashion. From scheduling doctor visits to undergoing tests, procedures, obtaining medications, and even surgeries, the process can be challenging.
It’s easy to be tempted to blame your doctor for the long wait times to schedule an appointment, the …
The visit is winding down. You’re getting ready to go, hand on the doorknob, saying goodbye. And then you hear, “Doc, one more thing.” Or perhaps you’re more familiar with the patient who has a laundry list of issues all to be addressed in the fifteen-minute appointment slot.
These visits have in common that they are both certain to back you up. Have multiple in the day, and you are …
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Few problems in health care are more vexing or persistent than physician burnout. It’s a problem that poses a serious threat to patient care, no different from the spread of a virus or the impact of cigarette smoke. And it has only gotten worse since the pandemic.
Burned-out physicians are less effective as healers. They don’t connect as well with patients, undermining the therapeutic benefits of a close clinician-patient relationship. They …
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has long been responsible for setting standards and ensuring the competence of internal medicine practitioners. However, the practice of mandatory recertification has faced increasing scrutiny and debate within the medical community. This article explores some of the key reasons why eliminating recertification requirements imposed by the ABIM could have significant benefits for physicians and patient care.
Lack of evidence for improved patient outcomes
One of …
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Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, with 18.9 million currently in the U.S. and a projected 35.8 million by 2060 with many Asian Americans being immigrants. A study of over 6,700 Asian Americans, Hispanics, African Americans, and Caucasians revealed that Asian Americans were least likely to feel that their physician understood their background and values, and compared to Caucasians, Asians were less …
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