Primary Care
Curing ailing health care: Embracing ethical traditions and prioritizing patient care
The cure for ailing health care lies in returning to ethical traditions, prioritizing patient care over profits, holding physicians accountable, and reforming existing oversight bodies and professional organizations. The ailing health care is curable. To be made whole again, it requires obvious but drastic steps. The crux of the problem is that medicine largely abandoned its own traditions and time-tested modus operandi in favor of the seemingly efficient and shiny …
A family physician’s burnout journey [PODCAST]
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Join Tomi Mitchell, a family physician, as we tackle the pressing issue of physician burnout. This episode delves into the stark disparity between perception and reality in medical careers, exploring strategies to combat burnout and prioritize well-being. …
The struggle of a computer-based doctor
I saw shocking photos from Northern Italy and New York City, reviewed my life insurance, and thought about my three kids. I didn’t chicken out, but I thought about it long and hard as I sat, sipping tea through trembling lips, preparing—whatever that meant. In the end, I got COVID twice while working the frontlines. A few scars, disorders of my hearing, smelling, and tasting. I am dealing. Today, COVID …
Leaving medicine behind: a quest for purpose and well-being
In April of 2022, I decided to leave medicine after 18 years of practice, 13 of which were spent working with electronic medical records. During my final visit with a patient and her husband, as I informed them of my decision to retire from medicine, I noticed a peculiar look on the husband’s face. He was a quiet man who rarely said much during their visits, but I could tell …
It takes a village to strengthen patient-provider relationships
A recent study in Annals of Family Medicine confirms what many providers have long believed: stronger patient-provider relationships can yield better patient health outcomes.
It only stands to reason. Patients and providers can better understand and manage health conditions when communicating regularly and sharing information openly. This is especially beneficial when patients have multiple chronic conditions.
Enhanced relationships and communication also help providers identify barriers to care, so they can serve …
“YES AND”: a vital, versatile, and visionary leadership tool
Patient safety, patient experience, workforce health, and cost-effectiveness are critical outcomes that share important common roots. They are all impacted by our ability to communicate effectively and respectfully. This can be challenging, in part, because communication involves underlying emotional intelligence, which is hard to develop and practice, especially in high-stakes, high-stress work environments or toxic cultures.
Furthermore, our ability to communicate affects our capacity to establish healthy professional relationships, collaborate in …
Patient respect in medicine: Ensuring well-being and trust
Treating patients with respect and dignity is essential to the medical profession. This is true even when the patient lies unconscious in the operating room. It seems unnecessary to stress the importance of creating a secure and comfortable environment to ease the patient’s anxiety and stress and develop confidence. Respect is also crucial to promote successful outcomes. By prioritizing these values, medical professionals can ensure that patients feel valued and …
A love letter to the doctor I was
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, …
The case for ABIM’s maintenance of certification program
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 …
Discovering healing through storytelling
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 …
Embracing the Asclepion: a call for authenticity in medical symbolism
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 …
Painful physician burnout truths
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 …
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Examining the changing definition of medicine in health care
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.” …
A physician versus his state medical board [PODCAST]
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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 …
Transform your life with 10 powerful tips for health and happiness
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. …
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The impactful relationships of female physicians
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 …
Inside the world of family medicine: a patient’s eye-opening account
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 …
The wisdom of words: Thank God it’s Friday!
“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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Understanding the hidden effects of burnout on physician families [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!
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 …
Past Week
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The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care
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Why medical students are trading empathy for publications
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Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?
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The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective
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Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty
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If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol
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What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
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A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how
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How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care
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Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check
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If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol
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Past Week
-
The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care
-
Why medical students are trading empathy for publications
-
Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?
-
The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective
-
Physician patriots: the forgotten founders who lit the torch of liberty
-
If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol
-
Past 6 Months
-
What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how
-
How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care
-
How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship
-
Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check
-
The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
-
Recent Posts
-
If I had to choose: Choosing the patient over the protocol
-
How a TV drama exposed the hidden grief of doctors
-
Why adults need to rediscover the power of play
-
How collaboration across medical disciplines and patient advocacy cured a rare disease [PODCAST]
-
5 cancer myths that could delay your diagnosis or treatment
-
When bleeding disorders meet IVF: Navigating von Willebrand disease in fertility treatment
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