Surgery

What’s life like after not matching? A physician’s story.

Physician

August 25, 2018

Match Day is the culmination of a medical student’s education: the day all graduating seniors and non-traditional applicants find out where they will spend the next three to seven years to train in a desired specialty. I fell in love with obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) as it was the perfect way to combine my passion for women’s health with medicine and surgery. I also liked that the patients were relatively …

Why doctors don’t call in sick when they should

Jennifer Weiss, MD

Physician

August 5, 2018

Recent research from Florida Atlantic University and Cleveland State University have found a direct correlation between preventative health care and the number of paid sick leave days a worker gets. Workers with more than 10 paid sick days annually access preventative care more frequently than those without paid sick days.

Preventative care, in turn, leads to better overall mental and physical health. Doctors that are in private practice function …

What personality type fits your medical specialty?

Eric J. Keller, MD

Physician

July 29, 2018

Both patients and providers realize that an internist is different from a surgeon, but specifically how they differ and how this affects their approaches to patient care is largely under-appreciated. Over the last four years, I have conducted over 250 interviews with physicians across specialties and institutions about what they do and why they do what they do. With each project, I continue finding remarkably distinct, specialty-specific values, perceptions, and …

There’s a fine line between stupid and clever in medicine

Raj Waghmare, MD

Physician

July 26, 2018

In the 1984 rock mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, a fictional band discusses the controversy surrounding one of their album covers. “There’s such a fine line between stupid and …” the lead singer says, realizing where they’d crossed the line of tastefulness.

His guitarist finishes his thought, “… and clever,” he says. In life, in rock and roll and in medicine, there is indeed a fine line between stupid and clever.

During …

The hidden issues of the “dancing doctor”

Joshua D. Zuckerman, MD

Physician

July 9, 2018

Over the last month, a dermatologist practicing in Georgia known as the “dancing doctor” was suspended by the Georgia Medical Board, which said she posed a “threat to public health, safety, and welfare.” At least ten patients have sued this physician with complications including disfigurement and brain damage, and reportedly there are another 100 former patients who …

Life as a doctor is selfless and selfish at the same time

Farah Karipineni, MD, MPH

Physician

June 20, 2018

It was 5:45 in the morning on a Monday after a full weekend of call. Thoroughly exhausted, I shuffled into the elevator and was met by the stench of stale clothing mixed with cigarette smoke. A painfully thin teenager exited, looking lost. I allowed him to wander out, grateful to be spared his odor. I was apathetic, overtaken by a weariness I vowed as a medical student never to have.

Morning …

Why do physicians publish in predatory journals?

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

Physician

June 19, 2018

A new study found several senior academic surgeons had published papers in what used to be termed “predatory journals.” The newer, gentler term is “solicited publishing,” but it defines the same pay-to-play, low-quality publications.

Surgeons from the University of California, San Diego examined 110 emails sent to the senior author from 29 publishers during a six-week period and early 2017. Nearly all were requesting manuscript submissions. The 29 publishers represented 113 …

When private physician groups get acquired: Who loses?

Bimal Massand, MD, MBA

Policy

June 1, 2018

In the recent years, there is a growing trend in the health care industry whereby private practitioners and independent groups are being acquired by larger companies. This trend is a result of growing complexities of running a private practice and increased expectations of hospital administrators from hospital-based specialists such as anesthesiologists, radiologists and pathologists.

I will concentrate on anesthesia as it is my area of specialization, and I have some relevant …

Residents should not be mandated to do research

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

Physician

May 29, 2018

In a 2012 blog post called “Things that puzzle me about surgical education,” I wrote the following:

There was the emphasis that still exists today on making sure every resident did research. At last, some are questioning the value of this for the average clinical surgeon. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, there is no evidence that a resident who is dragged kicking and screaming through a clinical research project or …

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Residents should not be mandated to do research

What could be worse than being sued for malpractice? Prison.

Skeptical Scalpel, MD

Physician

May 6, 2018

Kang Se-hoon, a surgeon in South Korea, operated on a popular rock singer and song writer in October 2014. According to reports, Shin Hae-chul had abdominal pain, and the surgeon performed laparoscopic lysis of adhesions. Without having obtained consent, he decided to also do a weight reduction procedure.

The patient was discharged a few days after surgery but returned a day later with fever and severe abdominal pain. Kang did not …

6 things this physician learned after retiring

Cory Fawcett, MD

Finance

April 20, 2018

In February 2017, I saw my last patient and left clinical medicine. Most people would say I retired. I have chosen to say I have repurposed. I no longer see patients, but I still work. I am writing the Doctors Guide series of books, keeping up a blog and working with physicians who need help with a financial makeover, usually to eliminate their debt, set themselves up for retirement or …

Push back on toxic behaviors from other doctors

Todd Rice, MD, MBA

Physician

April 13, 2018

“Don’t get tired! Don’t f*cking move! Don’t you f*cking move, or I’ll f*cking die!”

That’s an excerpt from an OR in St. Louis on March 12th. This is just one of the outbursts that was reported from a single, multi-hour surgery — an attending’s toxic mandate to her resident, who was poised in a precarious situation under the drapes. The rest of the OR staff caught plenty of its own abusive …

Why cataract surgery is more complicated than it should be

Brian C. Joondeph, MD

Policy

April 9, 2018

Eye surgery is a delicate business. It involves operating within an orb the size of a large marble to remove a cataract or repair a retinal detachment.

Not only is superb eye-hand coordination a must, but also an awareness of the myriad other medical issues in the elderly population most in need of eye surgery.

Traditionally, patients undergoing cataract surgery had a preoperative medical evaluation, including blood work, chest X-ray, and EKG, …

Is surgical training stuck in the past?

Justin Barad, MD

Physician

April 4, 2018

When we look back on the last century, the pace and number of advances in our ability to treat disease and injury is truly astonishing. The exponential growth of technology has contributed to this greatly, as we see new advances often come in the form of new technologies. Amazing innovations in the fields of endoscopy, catheterization, robotics, imaging, navigation, 3D printing and more allow us to do things that were …

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Is surgical training stuck in the past?

A physician is often the only person that sets the tone of hope, or despair

Joshua S. Jolissaint, MD

Physician

March 24, 2018

It was mid-afternoon in the ever-bustling surgical intensive care unit (ICU). The nurse, one of those experienced, battle-hardened savants of human symptoms, called me into one of the patient rooms. He was tachypneic on the ventilator with labored breathing and declining oxygen saturations; with each inspiration, his diaphragm would paradoxically elevate, his stomach bulge and the ventilator alarm with the dyssynchrony. Intubated, sedated and unaware, he was fighting for his …

The truth about plastic surgery chains

Jennifer Greer, MD

Physician

March 17, 2018

Over 17 million cosmetic surgery and minimally invasive procedures were performed in the U.S. in 2016. With the increasing popularity of cosmetic procedures, it seems nearly everyone is out to get a bite of the apple.

Cosmetic surgery chains are growing in size and popularity in an attempt to cash in on this market. Examples include: LifeStyle Lift in the U.S., which declared bankruptcy in 2015 …

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The truth about plastic surgery chains

Intern year is still universally hard. Intern year is also universally great.

Grace Faith Chao, MD

Physician

March 17, 2018

4:00 p.m. Right on time.

I am walking down the street with my brother on his first visit to me in residency; I’m only two weeks in.

I turn to him: “Wait a second.”

I place my hand on the cement wall next to us, and I start to heave.

“Um … are you OK?”

“Yeah. No worries. My body’s just adjusting.”

I go on to describe how every day at 4 p.m. after a 24-hour …

Is apathy needed to survive medical school?

Anonymous

Education

March 2, 2018

I’m about two-thirds of the way through my 3rd year of medical school, and I have hit my wall. I have become so fed up with the set up of medical school. I think a decent amount of this comes from the fact I am on my 6th week of an eight-week surgery clerkship (an area of medicine that I literally have zero interest in). I’m tired of waking up …

Stop opioid addiction where it starts: in the hospital

Blake Farmer

Conditions

January 29, 2018

Doctors at some of the largest U.S. hospital chains admit they went overboard with opioids to make people as pain-free as possible, and now they shoulder part of the blame for the nation’s opioid crisis. In an effort to be part of the cure, they’ve begun to issue an uncomfortable warning to patients: You’re going to feel some pain.

Even for people who’ve never struggled with drug abuse, studies …

What inspires this medical student

Jamie Katuna

Education

January 28, 2018

Someone who I care about deeply messaged me today: “I think I’m done with surgery.”

This person, a surgeon, feels like his potential is elsewhere. There are more opportunities, different challenges, and fulfilling experiences in other places and he is ready to explore.

I told him that he inspires me.

But I am in medical school. So how could someone leaving the medical field be inspiring to me?

Because inspiration does not come from a job description or a fancy …

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What inspires this medical student