"In the majority of robotic-assisted cases I perform, automated movements are particularly helpful in delivering gear – I can easily get balloons and stents around the C-shaped curve in the right coronary artery from the cockpit just like I would be able to if I were at the table. In addition to ensuring precision, this means that I’m offered a level of protection from the radiation exposure that interventional cardiologists typically experience. Robotics is one of the many components that can c...
Jul 29, 2022•12 min
"A prospect seeking a career in medicine must start with their own awareness of boundaries and perfectionism before entering the field. This inner work must be indoctrinated in schools and encouraged through residencies and mentorships. Furthermore, administration must model this and valued it as highly as continuing education, credentialing, and skill training. In a profession that is innately human, we have to bring humanity back for it to be sustainable." Amanda Gwin is a nurse and physician ...
Jul 28, 2022•13 min
"He needed to be taken to the hospital to be pronounced, and he was put on a gurney. One frequently mouthed wish was to be taken from his home feet first. I stood beside him as he was placed in the ambulance. His soft, sweet smile told me everything I needed to know. His wishes had been honored, and we had done it together." Yvonne Caputo is a writer and author of Dying With Dad: Tough Talks for Easier Endings . She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, " What a good death looked l...
Jul 27, 2022•17 min
"As doctors, we are called to heal. We are called to serve. It’s in us. Our ability to heal and serve others does not have to be limited to the hospital and clinic walls. I want all our brilliant doctor minds to be part of the solution to the growing epidemics. However, many of us are caught in the epidemics ourselves right now. Living with passion is beautiful. It’s peaceful. It’s contagious. It will allow you to help at a larger scale and live a purpose-driven life. Healing ourselves first wil...
Jul 26, 2022•20 min
"If I knew back in training and practice what I know now, I would have looked for the support and mentoring that would have helped me to forge a path in clinical medicine. But I saw help as an admission of weakness. I felt too much shame and guilt to even consider asking for any. While I regret that I didn’t access help before leaving practice, I am grateful to have learned an important lesson early and had the chance to course-correct my life. I’m a happier, more balanced person because of it. ...
Jul 25, 2022•16 min
"I acknowledge that as a physician, I am overall financially secure. However, after jumping over multiple extra hurdles to prove myself throughout my medical career, I couldn’t help but feel I have been handicapped financially compared to my non-immigrant colleagues. While others are being celebrated for bridging the healthcare gap in rural areas, I have been “punished” to a later start in life. There is only one primary care physician for every 2,500 patients in rural America, compared to one f...
Jul 24, 2022•16 min
"Nineteen children were killed in a mass shooting in Texas. I have barely escaped the pandemonium of the pediatric emergency department to scarf down a bowl of pasta when I hear the announcement on the breakroom TV. My stomach drops. Again? How is it possible? I step back into the ED and immediately am called over by an agitated mother whose infant came in with respiratory distress 30 minutes earlier. Any moment they would be transferred to the intensive care unit – I hurry over, worried a crisi...
Jul 23, 2022•14 min
"Communication is both the sending and receiving of information. Data is as difficult to receive and act upon as the ingredients of a meal because much work is left to be done. Information is palatable, actionable, and leads to measurable results in the short and long term. Patient platforms ought to be intuitive in design and execution, utilizing pictures, animation, mapping, and data-point conversion into meaningful associations with body systems. Developers will be well served to learn from t...
Jul 22, 2022•18 min
"How would you like to see your career slip away from you as you gradually become less and less able to sleep, to rest, to feel awake, to feel like your memory is failing you, to be taking pills every night on call because your legs ache so badly, to become upset so easily you don’t trust yourself to handle stressful situations at work? How would you like to have to stop working because you can’t do it anymore? This would certainly be a catastrophe. But not one of your making. So, the next time ...
Jul 21, 2022•19 min
"So don’t give up your eating window just yet! The good question I am hoping researchers will answer next: who loses the most weight? Is it the human who eats three meals and no snacks that include protein, fiber, and healthy fats, or the human who eats two or three meals of that same formula in an 8-hour eating window? I recommend people eat healthy fats, like olive oil, at all their meals for good health and weight loss. We need more studies on intermittent fasting that do not include calorie-...
Jul 20, 2022•14 min
"Today, I’d like to tell you the story of one who was exemplary. He was never late to work. He never came in and insisted on finishing his breakfast at his desk before rooming our first patient. He was so personable that they would pour their hearts out to him while rooming patients. They would tell him all kinds of things about their personal or academic life that they were unlikely to tell me in just the 3 to 5 minutes he was there." Nanette Nuessle is a pediatric hospitalist and physician coa...
Jul 19, 2022•15 min
"From a place of personal accountability and commitment to system improvement, RaDonda Vaught’s conduct in the aftermath of this tragic event has been exemplary. She told what she knew, as soon as she knew it, to any stakeholder, for any purpose in hopes that understanding her actions, state of mind, priorities, omissions, and flaws could help her patient or any other. Much of what we have learned comes from the painful, candid narrative of RaDonda Vaught, at no small consequence to herself. She...
Jul 18, 2022•22 min
"When most health care professionals hear the word 'malpractice,' they want to run the other way. This is understandable—but also a missed opportunity. We can leverage malpractice data to target and drive investment in patient safety efforts. Malpractice data shows us that good communication and teamwork are vital to preventing adverse events and malpractice claims—while dramatically improving working conditions and enhancing patient safety. Malpractice data shows that communication-related fact...
Jul 17, 2022•18 min
"Medical advances can often stir up ethical issues, which ripple into two courts: the court of law and the court of public opinion. These news articles described a public relations nightmare brewing at the National Pituitary Agency (NPA), which operated with NIH funding. Founded in 1963, the NPA had been collecting 72,000 cadaver pituitary glands annually for research purposes. The intent was noble." Alfred Sadler is a physician. Blair Sadler is an attorney. They are authors of the book, Pluck: ...
Jul 16, 2022•20 min
"The federal 988 hotline represents a promising new approach to alleviating the nation's growing mental health crisis, but several key challenges loom that could derail this well-intentioned initiative. One significant information technology challenge the hotline will face involves how to uniformly store and interpret mental health data (more on that later) but the most immediate roadblock is a lack of awareness. Though the hotline is scheduled to debut in July, the program, which is federally s...
Jul 15, 2022•14 min
"We are busy people who have had much success; looking at our painful thoughts is not something we have had the need or opportunity to do. We may be a little anxious, neurotic, even, but we are respected, helpful, and successful. We tell ourselves that our anxiety is a small price to pay for all this success. Sometimes it takes a life-changing event to see that the truths we hold so close are not helping us. We are successful despite our anxiety, not because of it. Opposing counsel desperately h...
Jul 14, 2022•24 min
"The national physician shortage is an urgent issue that requires immediate attention. Otherwise, the next time you seek medical care, you might be treated by a non-physician for a condition that requires physician attention. This could be expensive and detrimental unless we solve the issue of training and retaining physicians. Physicians are uniquely positioned to advocate for solutions in three roles: trusted messenger, physician-administrator, and political officeholders. Surveys consistently...
Jul 13, 2022•17 min
"I know how different my experience is. I am not facing potentially debilitating treatment(s) or the fear of death. Still, I am experiencing a physical transformation, a redefining of my feminine self, yet I do not feel as if I have the 'right' to be scared, saddened or supported. This is a "me" problem but raises the broad need for inclusivity, acceptance, and support in general and by health care professionals. I no longer have breasts. Pathology confirmed for me that this was the right choice...
Jul 12, 2022•23 min
"Unlike my dad, I grew up with very different feelings about my own longevity. I have always believed that I would live to a ripe old age. This belief has colored my approach to career and finances. In many ways, I was able to delay my passions in order to build the appropriate amount of jet fuel to power my transatlantic flight. The urgency of now was replaced with a wholehearted wish to delay gratification now to benefit the future. Getting your financial house in order requires understanding ...
Jul 11, 2022•24 min
"To a reasonable degree of medical probability, it was my opinion that the long hours the client spent typing, in addition to the poor ergonomics of his workstation, contributed to him being pre-disposed to a cervical injury sustained after lifting heavy boxes for several days. I was able to back up my opinions with evidence from the medical literature." Armin Feldman is a medical consultant to attorneys. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, " An example of medical-legal consul...
Jul 10, 2022•17 min
"Allow yourself a moment to focus on yourself, not the next patient. Take a drink of cold water, go to the bathroom, and maybe take a lap around the room. Physically relax those tensed muscles. This will allow you to start the journey of healing. Instead of just pushing yourself deeper until the bottle of unprocessed emotions causes an explosion, notice each moment. The more that we are aware of what we are experiencing, the easier it is each time to ground yourself and process before moving on....
Jul 09, 2022•19 min
"Policymakers and educators can introduce incentives and new educational programs to recruit more physicians to fill the care gaps for elderly patients. Perhaps one solution is raising Medicare reimbursements to doctors at the same rate that private insurance pays. Another avenue might be recruiting doctors that are licensed in other countries offering citizenship opportunities. Health care professionals and pharmacists may help address the gaps in care for elderly individuals by using innovativ...
Jul 08, 2022•16 min
"It makes sense that the body’s reaction to the onslaught of perceived threats would have a detrimental effect on physical and mental well-being. Perceived threats trigger the exact same physiological response as actual threats, activating a fight, flight or freeze reaction. It’s the constant stimulating of these stress responses that can lock some people (and others, not) in a chronic state of stress, not the actual events that people experience. We all react differently—some more intensely tha...
Jul 07, 2022•17 min
"Certificate of need (CON) laws purport to lower health care costs, increase patient access and ensure quality by managing the distribution of private resources, but none of these gains has materialized. A joint report from two federal agencies—the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department—finds no evidence that CON laws achieve any public benefit. A supermajority of studies agrees. More importantly, decades of real-world experience show that CON laws do not w...
Jul 06, 2022•17 min
"My take on the Task Force statement is that clinical judgment should rule as to whether or not screening is indicated for glaucoma. Family history, race, diabetes, and other risk factors should be considered for such screening, especially in the face of potential asymptomatic damage. How often have doctors said, 'If you had only come in sooner …' To the Task Force, I pose the following question: If your mother, father, brother, sister, or child had known risk factors for glaucoma, wouldn’t you ...
Jul 05, 2022•16 min
“In my medical training, we were taught five ways to treat pain: lifestyle modifications, physical therapy, medications, injections, and surgery. Lifestyle modifications are positive changes in diet, exercise, sleep, and stress levels. This is the first-line treatment for painful inflammation. Yet we tend to overlook this option in favor of tools that produce quicker results. Passive treatments (medications, injections, some surgeries) can relieve acute pain or nerve damage but do not always pro...
Jul 03, 2022•16 min
“Very few are talking about workplace bullying, yet many are benefitting from it. It acts contrary to the principles of care at the heart of medicine — and we need to do something about it. How many physicians have wanted to leave medicine because they were subject to horizontal violence or bullying in the workplace? Who has felt undermined, belittled or humiliated when showing up to work on a daily or weekly basis? Are there those of you who have been used for skills yet have never been acknowl...
Jul 02, 2022•17 min
“Change is overdue. Physicians who need help for mental health issues or substance use disorders need to get it in a manner that is free of financial and other conflicts of interest. They need to be able to go to academic centers and/or the best clinicians possible and get unbiased opinions and advice. Boards of medicine need to stop giving PHPs carte blanche to dictate what physicians need if there is suspicion of a substance use disorder. Every physician in the U.S.—and, in fact, every patient...
Jul 01, 2022•21 min
“We are in an epidemic of gaslighting in medicine. The best definition I heard of gaslighting is transferring your authority on yourself from you to someone else. We give up our authority on ourselves to everyone else but ourselves. We leave our feelings of work ethic to our current culture: we are lazy if we don’t step in line and do everything asked of us. We are told we aren’t worth our salaries as physicians are replaced with less expensive nurse practitioners and physician assistants. We ar...
Jun 30, 2022•19 min
“I never thought social media hacking would offer such important reminders and lessons, but here we are. By the way, I am the first to admit that it’s easy to gloss over phrases and lessons because you’ve heard them a million times before, and we think we know. But in reality, we merely understand, but do not know. Because if we really knew, then there wouldn’t be the need for the lessons to appear. So while I would never have wished for this to happen, I am grateful to learn and for this opport...
Jun 29, 2022•16 min
