Children are getting fatter because they are not allowed to run around and play. This comes from parents wanting to wrap kids in cotton wool — also known as helicopter parenting.
There is a new push to get children to walk to school. This is something which previous generations just did but has largely disappeared over the last 25 years. There are many reasons for this but one of them …
Why children are getting fatter
Studies show that many people faced with home loss and housing uncertainty can take a tremendous hit to their health. If you’re going through difficult times, and worried you too may lose your home, what can you do to try to buffer or reclaim your health?
Here are some tips for ways to counteract some of the toll that constant stress (and the insomnia, distraction and desperation that go with …
How to take care of your health during difficult economic times
This past spring, I took the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) exam.
7 weeks later, I received my results. Thankfully, I passed.
This was not entirely a surprise, as the pass rate for first-time test takers was 88%. But it definitely requires some studying. It’s not a gimmie.
Considering that I last took my board exam in …
ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) internal medicine exam tips
Recently, I was in a meeting organized by the American Academy of Family Physicians in an effort to understand the lack of student interest in family medicine as well as to encourage brainstorming among those of us charged with facilitating interest on ideas that might work and be transportable.
I was with Bill Coleman from Alabama (among others) and was pleased to discover that we were ahead of the region. …
Students who are the evangelists of family medicine for tomorrow
My family doctor recently announced he’s retiring from medicine after 37 years, and my husband and I were his patients for more than 18 of those years. We had a lot of one-offs before finding him, but he was worth the wait. I want to explain why he inspired our loyalty.
He saved my husband’s mobility. A glass coffee pot separated from its handle and a shard went straight into …
Thoughts after your family doctor retires
As far back in history as in the day of Hippocrates of Cos, often referred to as the father of Western medicine, 460 BC – 370 BC, a physician was viewed in a paternalistic manner, one in which a physician’s opinion(s) were simply just believed and their recommendation(s) were followed without question. The prevailing culture was definitely one of passive, submissive acceptance.
Although there will more likely than not always be …
Reasons behind the image mutation of physicians
The Disease Management Care Blog attended a professional hockey game recently and it must say it was quite the spectacle.
While the athleticism on the ice was quite remarkable, the real wonderment involved the hometown fans. Questionable referee calls prompted thousands of all ages to chant phrases that the DMCB has not recently read in any medical journals, while the willingness of grown men to display, in stereo fashion, obscene gestures …
Should doctors be blamed for bad decisions by patients?
A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
There is said to be an old Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. As I wrap up my year traveling the country as President of the AMA, I can without a doubt say physicians are living – and practicing medicine – in interesting times. This can be a challenge, but does not need to be a curse.
There are …
AMA: Revisions, clarity needed before physicians form Medicare ACOs
Recently I was interviewed by a reporter about the effects of the newest baby monitors on parent-child relationships. A teddy bear with a camera in its nose hooks up to a TV, allowing parents to watch their baby’s every move.
One product called an exmobaby is actually worn against the baby’s skin and measures heart rate and respirations. A CEO of …
Baby monitors abuse the vulnerability of parents for profit
Regardless of the method of reimbursement, the importance and relevance of increases in local market demand for health care services, such demand being the major economic factor that creates opportunities for business growth, is often under-appreciated by busy physician practices.
The trigger for adding a physician to a practice is typically either a response to being unable to sustain the current workload with existing personnel or a desire to proactively add …
Market demands determine whether to add physicians to a medical practice
‘Twas the week before finals and all through the dorm, few students were sleeping, since Adderall is the norm …
What is the state of academic performance and achievement in the age of adult ADHD?
Recent media publications feature “neuro-enhancement” sought by college students and stressed professionals through the use of prescribed and non-prescribed medications, particularly stimulants, to guarantee focus, concentration …
Adult ADHD and academic performance in college
by Kimberly
Every one of us who practices family medicine has had to defend our chosen profession against a myriad of antagonists.
As mentioned in the post, Family Medicine is a Waste of Your Talent, we are sometimes told that we are too smart to pursue family medicine. Other topics range from salary comparisons between specialties to scope of practice. I’ve been told on many occasions …
Students interested in primary care must survive hazing
Most people agree — the best way to beat cancer is to prevent it. What can we do as a nation to help people live healthier lives today so they can avoid cancer tomorrow?
Major research findings and policy changes are steps in the right direction. Here are some important cancer prevention milestones we’ve reached in the past year.
1. Lung cancer screening is now a reality for selected patients
Smoking causes …
5 important cancer prevention updates
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Today, healthcare is criticized by the public as too high on technology and too low in touch. Computers take patients histories, provide differential diagnoses, and even supply educational materials to patients. A new specialty, tele-medicine, offers healthcare services to rural areas that were previously underserved or couldn’t afford the latest diagnostic technology.
A humorous story about technology occurred when a patient’s secretary called to say that her boss was too …
Patients could use more group hugs from their doctors
by Diane Shannon, MD, MPH
Errors in communication are widely recognized as an important cause of adverse events in health care. In 2010, communication problems were the most commonly cited root cause of sentinel events, according to data reported to the Joint Commission.
In fact, communication issues were identified as a root cause of two thirds of all the sentinel …
Closing communication gaps between providers
I’ve heard some physicians wonder out loud if their career has been “wasted” – either because they were on a path that wasn’t a good fit or they spent years focusing on accumulating and worrying rather than on contributing and enjoying. The question is one of personal value: Am I measuring up? And by whose metrics?
How do you measure the value of your physician career? Dollars earned? Lives saved? Honors …
What will be your legacy as a physician?
Part three of the three-part series, Let’s Pay Popular People More!
Perhaps you remember Sam, the chronic inebriate whose story I shared to discuss the pitfalls of basing doctor pay on patient satisfaction surveys.
Looking at his discharge papers, I wondered who helped Sam fill his survey out, and how much their “help” affected the results.
After all, millions upon millions of dollars are already now at stake for …
Why popularity based payment for doctors is not the answer
As I was getting my daily fix of ESPN recently, something a bit different than the routine scores and highlights came across my TV.
Two very talented men, both potentially bound for NFL stardom, were showcasing their talents for scouts, coaches, recruiters, and reporters – a panel of judges if you will. Although these players have certainly proved their talents in the past, these workouts will likely determine which player an …
What the physician hiring process can learn from the NFL draft
The following deceptive advertisement appeared in my church’s bulletin yesterday:
Life Line Screening, the nation’s leading provider of preventive health screenings, will offer their affordable, non-invasive, painless health screenings [in the church cafeteria] on April 9th. Five screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to: blocked arteries, which is a leading cause of stroke; abdominal aortic aneurysms, which can lead to a ruptured aorta; hardening of the …
Examining the evidence behind a community health screening
Have you noticed the recent trend against specialty physicians? Policy experts have determined that primary care needs incentives to attract medical students away from those “highly lucrative” specialties such as plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, interventional cardiology, and neurosurgery.
Our federal government believes in equal opportunity — if you wish to become a family doctor. There are incentives sponsored …
Health reform’s prejudice against specialist physicians
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