"Nowadays, even scientific fact has been politicized. Even though many of us may wish to stay out of politics and stick to our “nobler” lane of medicine, the reality is even your clinical practice could be considered “picking a side.” Do the right thing. If you’re up for it, advocate for what is right too — for your patients, colleagues, yourself, your family, or this country. You are the face of the future, and your MD/DO/MBBS makes you more qualified to shape it than the many voices using thei...
Aug 28, 2022•16 min
"With schools closed, children spent hours upon hours sitting in front of a screen for instruction and homework. Non-academic screen time increased as well, with parents needing to work from home and thus relying more on screens to occupy the children. Parents also were unable to police screen time as much as they had in the past. Much built-in physical activity of school was removed: from the simple act of walking between classes to recess to physical education to field trips. I have started wo...
Aug 27, 2022•16 min
"'Doctor, it’s taken so long to get this appointment with you!' This is the opening line of so many medical visits, and I find myself constantly apologizing to my patients on behalf of our system. After the pandemic-induced lull in routine medical care, we’re right back where we started—doctors booked for months, patients struggling to get appointments. The difficulty with access to medical care is endemic to our entire medical system. Even before the pandemic, less than a fifth of American doct...
Aug 26, 2022•19 min
"It is uncomfortable to be publically vulnerable with my story. I wish the statistics and research were enough to change the field of medicine for patients and physicians. I want people to care about the experience of their patients and colleagues enough to examine their own implicit bias and privilege without having to hear my traumalouge, but we aren’t there yet. People often need to connect with an individual to reflect and consider change, so I hope you take this moment to consider creating ...
Aug 25, 2022•21 min
"Guess what? The mouth is attached to the rest of the body. And though dentistry and medicine are typically separated from the very beginning of professional training, they are irrevocably linked for patients and have an impact on each other. Here’s some foundational knowledge that will help set the stage for discussing the connection between overall health and oral health: Our mouths are teeming with bacteria – mostly the good, harmless kind – and when an appropriate hygiene routine is followed...
Aug 24, 2022•15 min
"Military physicians should also realize that not all employers are equal or treat their physicians equally. Military physicians entering the civilian job market are in a 'seller’s market.' They should get a reasonable employment agreement. It is important to remember that while you were serving your country, you also gained valuable experience as a physician. Do not sell yourself short!" Dennis Hursh is a physician contract lawyer. He blogs at Physicians Contracts Blog . He shares his story and...
Aug 23, 2022•18 min
"While the technological boom in the health care field is not a circumstance of the pandemic, the accelerated roll-out and adoption of digital features certainly are. And rapid innovation in the health care technology field is not a bad thing in itself. Health care technology discoveries improve health care access, quality of life, patient safety, and even save lives – for example, remote patient monitoring devices and robotic surgery. Although digital health innovations have significantly impac...
Aug 22, 2022•20 min
"I think we all have an inclination—at least from time to time—to judge others. No matter how experienced, compassionate, and professional we are as physicians, we’re still human. I can admit that I have indeed struggled with patients like the 65-year-old morbidly obese male who complains at every visit about how hard it is to control his blood sugar levels with the medications prescribed. I want to convince him so badly about diet and exercise, but I have tried, and often, these patients don’t ...
Aug 21, 2022•14 min
"It might seem odd to write about what high-weight patients would like when they meet with their doctors. Don’t they want what every patient wants? The answer is yes, but the fact is, they often don’t get it due to implicit anti-fat bias among health professionals. In my 30-plus years of practice as an eating disorders therapist, I’ve heard the same laments from high-weight clients: Doctors only want to talk about weight, blame every health problem on being large-sized, always want to put them o...
Aug 20, 2022•10 min
"Many health care professionals go into health care to help people, no matter their race, socioeconomic status, or other identities. Even as white health care professionals start to learn about the systemic nature of racism, something that our Black and other colleagues of color have experienced their whole lives, we may still see health care as “different” from all those other systems out there that are racist. Because we care for people of all races and we think of ourselves as good people who...
Aug 19, 2022•22 min
"I was working at an urgent treatment center, where a busy Saturday in January would be overwhelming. At one point, I hired a scribe. She was a bright young woman interested in medicine and some alacrity with computers. It was a pleasant change of pace for me. She would accompany me into the exam room under instructions to remain unobtrusive and abide by HIPAA. I found that she could record the pertinent negatives and positives on the physical exam and the review of systems. She could record the...
Aug 18, 2022•20 min
"What is currently known is that monkeypox is transmitted primarily through close contact with skin lesions, bodily fluids, and respiratory droplets. Men aged between 20 and 50 years, many of whom have sex with other men (MSM), are notably included in a majority of the cluster cases, thereby indicating that sexual contact may be a significant route of transmission. The correlation with sexual activity does not corroborate increased contamination or virulence; it simply highlights that close cont...
Aug 17, 2022•14 min
"Would you expect the chef at a restaurant to be told that they are not only required to prepare the food in the kitchen but also deliver it to each of the tables and manage the billing? What about sorting out the restaurant's finances or understanding the number of patrons that need to flow through per night to optimize income? If this sounds unreasonable, how did we end up asking physicians to undertake multiple roles in our health care organizations for which they have not trained? This expec...
Aug 16, 2022•22 min
"As I looked across the boxes on my screen, I saw the gleaming faces of my peers. Just as it did then, and as it has for countless of my peers since, involvement in the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) Advocacy Day showed me the difference that medical student voices make." Scott Landman is an osteopathic medical student. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, " Student advocacy through the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) ." Did you enjoy today’s epis...
Aug 15, 2022•14 min
"Are you a perfectionist? Did you know that perfectionists are actually some of the biggest procrastinators? Yes, really. In theory, perfectionism sounds like a good thing. Who doesn’t want to do and be their best? It can even seem like a harmless way to motivate yourself. But the reality is, nothing is perfect. What does “perfect” even mean? What does it look like? Who has the instruction manual? It’s different for everyone. What’s “perfect” in your eyes may not be perfect in someone else’s eye...
Aug 14, 2022•20 min
"Five days before this story begins, where everything is upside down, and the end is the beginning. Me, standing in my PICU, slowly approaching that cradle, then removing the medication, one by one, turning off the syringe pumps. Saying out loud the number of milliliters passed, where that line is trapped, that little division between the professional and me, the person. Where I stopped being a doctor and became a woman holding a baby." Sylvia Belda-Hofheinz is a pediatric intensivist in Spain. ...
Aug 13, 2022•17 min
"Ehlers-Danlos syndrome patients take an average of 10 years to be diagnosed. In that time, the pain from microtrauma and joint instability can become unbearable. “Just exercising more” can backfire, causing injury and disability and creating a cycle of added stress from chronic illness. But the biggest challenge is when our physicians are our opposition. It’s been more than 20 years since the first time I tried to convince a doctor to believe me. I was just a child, and the trauma of repeated d...
Aug 12, 2022•28 min
"Dying and introspection happening at the same time were a dual reality that I found impossible to ignore when Bill was not doing well. As Bill’s poor prognosis and impending death began to reflect on our life, it was getting harder to respond to the living as we had in the past. Bill seemed to be pulling away from everyone he knew, except for a handful of friends and me. As a dying person, he seemed to be concentrating on only one thing – dying. The truth is that nature is selfish and dying is ...
Aug 11, 2022•18 min
"Work dread. Even if you didn’t know it had a name, you know the feeling. It is that sensation in the pit of your stomach when you realize that the start of your workday or workweek is fast approaching, and you don’t want it to come. Sometimes it begins on Sunday afternoon when you want to be enjoying time with your family. Other times, you might find yourself sitting in the hospital or clinic parking lot, resisting the beginning of another busy day. Maybe you sit in your car for an extra 10 min...
Aug 10, 2022•17 min
"This is an important time to rise up, come together, and understand that it is our time to remove the confusing veil put on us. We are not delirious. We are not psychotic. We are physicians. We are the ones who took an oath to benefit patients according to our most extraordinary ability and judgment to keep pure and holy both our lives and our art. It is time to take back what belongs to us. It is ours. It is time to rise and start the revolution. Our title will not be taken away. You would nev...
Aug 09, 2022•21 min
"Physicians have terrible technology, but they refuse to recognize high-tech as a medical specialty. They must integrate technology as they do laboratory science. Physicians are certainly suffering from poorly-designed electronic medical records (EHR), but they are also guilty of wilful blindness in abdicating responsibility for technology in medicine. This must change. Physicians have a higher suicide rate than post-combat troops in the military. A lot of this is due to widespread burnout from ...
Aug 08, 2022•18 min
"Address the patient’s chief complaint first. In this case, the other symptoms were only side effects of the main problem. Pay attention to lab work. In this case, the elevated white blood count and the related blood culture results. Keep an open mind, broaden your differential and document your medical decision-making (MDM), especially when sending a patient home with pending blood cultures. Avoid anchoring bias and premature closure based on a patient’s self-diagnosis. This teen’s report of a ...
Aug 07, 2022•19 min
The word “resiliency” has been lauded, applauded, and buzzed about in talks about physician burnout. When I hear it, I tune out. My stomach churns. I feel sick. Why? Because physicians are resilient. We are, in fact, the walking, talking, breathing personification of the word. We cannot manage to get through medical school, residency, and boards, without being resilient." Dympna Weil is an obstetrician-gynecologist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, " Less resiliency may he...
Aug 06, 2022•20 min
"Amazing pediatricians are back where I was years ago, with their C-suite asking for business plans for the medical side of their adolescent bariatric surgery programs. The reality is corporate health care has infiltrated pediatric health systems, and the C-suite looks at the medical component as a necessary evil to drive adolescent bariatric surgeries. In fact, they are OK with medical treatment failing because it means more adolescent bariatric surgeries. The medical arm is what helps document...
Aug 05, 2022•21 min
"Nearly three-quarters of consumers say they prefer texting with a business if an actual human is the returning texts — no bots need reply. But the rise of artificial intelligence has led to further advances in smart texting, including the ability to answer simple questions — such as “when is my next appointment?” — without human intervention. Texts regarding certain actions like prescription refills or payment questions can be automatically routed to the correct department for follow-up. Becaus...
Aug 04, 2022•20 min
"I was first diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), on May 15, 2015, at 41 years old. I had my annual exam with my gynecologist and told him I felt a small, pea-sized lump under my right armpit close to my breast. He confirmed what I felt and said it was probably nothing but still wanted me to get a mammogram. I got an appointment the next day, and with much squeezing, because my itty-bitties measured as A minuses (in size), the technician couldn’t find or see any...
Aug 03, 2022•14 min
"Automation and technologies can enable adherence, but true change happens when physicians and pharmacists work together in collaborative teams to achieve common goals: Better managed chronic conditions, fewer complications, and improved experience for patients and physicians." Tony Willoughby is a health care executive. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, " Automatic refill and 90-day fill programs don’t improve medication adherence ." Did you enjoy today’s episode? Rate and ...
Aug 02, 2022•20 min
"I cry often enough that my kids almost gleefully expect it, checking me for tears during movies or shows, shaking their heads in mock dismay when they see that their prediction is correct. I’ve cried many times at home, watching screens, reading books, talking on the phone, and at work, where I am a doctor who cannot always suppress my emotions. And I’ve cried in front of health care providers as a patient or family member, something that I have the most trouble admitting because the tears were...
Aug 01, 2022•18 min
"In early 2018 when I started full-time telemedicine, I was quite reluctant about losing the physical hands-on evaluation, especially the palpation, percussion, and auscultation components in the physical exam, and the holding hands, hugs, and handshakes of in-person visits. But thankfully, I remembered one of my favorite medical school professors who said how important history is in a diagnosis. He said nothing else matters as much as a good history from the patient. I shed my trepidation and g...
Jul 31, 2022•16 min
"While you may not know exactly what your transition period will look like ahead of time, you can do your best to prepare for this change. By having a plan in place, you can make sure you are ready for the time between training and your new career so that you have financial stability in this uncertain transitional period." Shane Tenny is managing partner, Spaugh Dameron Tenny, LLC, and host of The Prosperous Doc podcast. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, " Transition plannin...
Jul 30, 2022•17 min
