"The value of empathy in medicine is seldom debated. Just as the art of medicine is taught as the balance of knowledge and application, so has empathy been recognized as both a value to be fostered and a skill to be learned. Medical curricula have reflected this, and while didactics are increasingly filled with various conversational frameworks and behaviors that convey empathy, rarely do they include specific language to convey it." Varsha Venkatakrishna is a medical student. She shares her sto...
Oct 27, 2022•15 min
"The tech industry needs to invest in developing platforms and devices with active, consistent, and frequent input from the disability community. This input must reflect a range of individuals with disabilities. A variety of identities exist beyond disability status. Overlooking this diversity will continue to exacerbate telehealth disparities based on overlapping factors such as age, primary language, internet access, and more. Policymakers must welcome people with disabilities to voice their n...
Oct 26, 2022•15 min
"There is no temptation to go back to my old life. I hit rock bottom and have been enjoying a doctor's job. My future is bright. My income is growing. My schedule still has plenty of room. My patients are happy. How many doctors can say that?" Rob Lamberts is an internal medicine-pediatrics physician. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, " Meet the primary care doctor who’s happy with his job ." SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RATE AND REVIEW → https:...
Oct 25, 2022•20 min
"The clocks have flash forwarded, and here I am supervising incoming interns on the 1st of July (which for the past two years has fallen on a weekend). As a frenetic day has finally come to a close and a walk along a park where the trees have acquired a new color as the sun sets, I cannot help but reflect on my initial days of internship. I am glad for all the initial lessons, but I wish I had a head start to ensure a great initiation rather than relying on serendipity." Sam Kant is a nephrologi...
Oct 24, 2022•14 min
"I smiled, put the lamb curry in front of her, and instructed her granddaughter on how much time to heat it up in the microwave. Val wasn’t in a condition where she could have a long conversation with me, but she knew exactly what was going on. I saw her eyes smile for a moment, tearing through the pain otherwise displayed all over her face. She didn’t say much, but just enough when she said, “God bless you.” I left her house wondering when somebody is given the death sentence, they are asked ab...
Oct 23, 2022•20 min
"Health system leaders can master this 'chess game' by anticipating the next several moves well in advance with the assistance of AI-based predictive analytic tools. This adoption will lead to dramatically better outcomes than a purely reactive response with no appreciation for how unit capacities are likely to unfold. In managing the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, it will become evermore critical for health systems to invest in transparent, data-driven solutions that will optim...
Oct 22, 2022•20 min
"Modern parenting comes with challenges that only a modern parent can understand. As both a pediatrician and a mother, I dispense with the advice I wish I had when my daughter was born. While there may be no one way to raise your kids, there are still safe and realistic options that can guide you on your journey. The internet may have broken parenting, but I’m here to fix it." Rebekah Diamond is a pediatrician and author of Parent Like a Pediatrician: All of the Facts, None of the Fear . She sha...
Oct 21, 2022•16 min
"I was truly gutted when watching the recent Saturday Night Live that joked about nut allergies. My son Joshua, who is 16 years old, has an anaphylactic peanut allergy. I found the segment to be insensitive to the millions of people globally who live each day with food allergies, an invisible but potentially fatal disease. How do I explain to my son that it is OK to make fun of a kid’s throat closing from a nut and then laugh as he struggles to speak? Would this skit make it past the drafting bo...
Oct 20, 2022•17 min
"I learned the hard way what can happen when physicians—especially women physicians—lack personal boundaries. Before hitting my low point, I had no boundaries. I had been raised to give, give, give, and, when times became tough, to give more by working harder. In medical school and training, we were taught to not have boundaries, but rather to do everything in the service of our patients who should always come first. Now I realize that we physicians must put ourselves first. We are hurting ourse...
Oct 19, 2022•18 min
"The scenario is preset, and hence based on a lot of constraints, but when it is run, there is freedom for everyone to operate. This freedom to take part in the defined context is the same as the spirit of the rules. The constraints and rules that we set define every problem. How we leverage scope determines how we can position ourselves for success. The prioritization becomes more critical as we engage with more complex and overarching challenges. The goal is to understand without running into ...
Oct 18, 2022•13 min
"As an audiologist, treating hearing loss is a part of my everyday life. Even still, I’m sometimes amazed at the difference hearing aids can make in patients’ lives. For example, recently, when an older patient with longstanding hearing loss was fitted with a pair of hearing aids, he was suddenly able to participate in conversation with his son again. The smile across his face said everything." Amy Sarow is an audiologist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, " How hearing is ...
Oct 17, 2022•13 min
"I’ve started to understand many aspects of business, and although we’ve done some pretty amazing things in the past two years, we’ve also made people frustrated and mad while trying to care for them. And so, I still reflect on these basic questions frequently, like checking the vitals of one of my patients. Are we still meeting that goal? Are we still steadfastly patient-focused? Do we still show patients that we care in all our actions?" Allison Edwards is a family physician and founder, Kansa...
Oct 16, 2022•18 min
"I’ve consistently found that most of the doctors who want coaching help feel like I did when I struggled with my weight: They weren’t feeling like their lives were completely out of control or their problems were insurmountable. It wasn’t like the TV trope, wherein a woman turns to food because she’s alone and miserable and rejected by society—for the most part, the women who come to me for help losing weight aren’t clinically depressed or struggling to function normally in their lives. But the...
Oct 15, 2022•18 min
"In some ways, my diagnosis was the beginning of the rest of my life. I’m now a health coach, helping women struggling with chronic stress and anxiety. And I love what I do. I am able to use all of my healing skills and my personal journey to give back and help others along their path." Zarya Rubin is a physician and functional medicine coach. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, " How discovering trauma changed this doctor’s life ." SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevi...
Oct 14, 2022•18 min
"For the better part of two decades in medicine, I considered printed journals an old friend. Getting my latest medical journal in the mail, opening it, enjoying the feel, look, and even the smell of the journal was almost like getting a monthly present. During training, Journal club was the substitute I needed for the Book of the Month clubs I could not attend with other friends. To this day, I still consider reading them time well spent. Yet, I cannot ignore their environmental impact in an er...
Oct 13, 2022•15 min
"You can talk about Ukraine and the courage of the Ukrainian people as you talk to colleagues and patients and as you talk to family and friends in your community. The U.S. may be divided now, but we can speak as one people in support of democracy in Ukraine. When you speak as a clinician, you are a trusted voice, helping to unite your community and keep that community focused on values we share, values that give the patient care we do meaning." Michael Fine is a family physician. He shares his ...
Oct 12, 2022•18 min
In this special episode, KevinMD is on the other side of the microphone as he's interviewed by cardiothoracic surgeon Philip Ovadia and patient advocate Jack Heald, originally aired on the Stay Off My Operating Table podcast. He shares his perspective on the social media-health care intersection, the physician-patient relationship, entrepreneurship in medicine, clinician burnout, and the dynamic nature of health care expertise. Catch up with Dr. Ovadia and Mr. Heald on Twitter , Instagram , and ...
Oct 11, 2022•33 min
"There is silence, then the words from the family flow forth. Angry, accusatory, confused, dismissive, worried, ugly, personal. The words cut deeply, and when I pick up the next chart, I feel as though I am still bleeding." Alexandra Seabury is a pediatrics resident. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, " Let it go: A pediatrician reflects after a difficult conversation ." This episode is sponsored by the Nuance Dragon Ambie nt eXperience . With so many demands on their time, ...
Oct 10, 2022•17 min
"The consequences of making miscarriage management unsafe will land most heavily on the marginalized and vulnerable. Our appalling maternal mortality rate in people of color will increase by miscarrying while Black. Our country and health care system are rigged to assume criminal intent and withhold lifesaving treatment from these mothers. The bedrock of my professional relationship with my patients is compassion and trust. I need to be a safe harbor where my patients can share their deepest fea...
Oct 09, 2022•19 min
"We need to stop simply clapping our hands in support of health workers — and start planning to create better workforce conditions for them. Let’s make improved health workforce science in Canada a key legacy in support of our health care workers." Ivy Lynn Bourgeault is a professor of sociological and anthropological studies, University of Ottawa, and the lead, Canadian Health Workforce Network . She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, " The pandemic exposes critical gaps in Can...
Oct 08, 2022•18 min
"Neurodiverse individuals enhance our lives. Without neurodiverse people, we wouldn't have Ghostbusters (Dan Akroyd has Asperger's syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum), the theory of relativity (Einstein likely had dyslexia), or Microsoft (Bill Gates does have dyslexia). Who are the neurodiverse people in your life? How do their gifts enrich your life? Let's move away from the terms disorder and disability and see the true diversity." Krystal Sodaitis is a pediatrician and life coach. She ...
Oct 07, 2022•16 min
"More than anything, I want to help our physician colleagues build financial freedom. We work with so many talented and passionate individuals. I know each one of you has dreams and passions that drive you. You may find your pa within medicine; some of you will search elsewhere. But I guarantee that financial freedom helps all of us live happier and healthier lives. It will even make us better physicians as well." Cobin Soelberg is an anesthesiologist and financial planner. He shares his story a...
Oct 06, 2022•19 min
"In the dark radiology reading rooms, only the gentle hum of the computers and the quiet chatter of residents dictating radiology reads break the silence. Among the computers sits Dr. Exner, a senior radiology resident at Hospital Woeisme. He has recently become known for a peculiar habit – he has begun adding Rorschach interpretations into every radiology report he completes." Stephanie Benjamin is an emergency physician and can be reached on Twitter @stephbenjaminmd . She shares her story and ...
Oct 05, 2022•18 min
"To create a healthier, more just, and more equitable world, we must confront the truth, and that requires an act of collective courage. Perhaps there needs to be a whole new consciousness that abandons ideas of reforms and instead labors a social transformation toward liberation. There cannot be effective solutions that expand globally in the public health sphere if there isn’t an effort to shift the way we think about the kind of power that is needed to create a world worth living in." Ira Mem...
Oct 04, 2022•16 min
"Premature babies (a.k.a. preemies) and their families are increasingly becoming a powerful voice in society. Life in and after the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is like being dropped off a cliff. I support the preemie community from pregnancy to NICU to home and into the adult years because I had a preemie. My daughter’s story is a stunning example of a system gone wrong and why better outcomes research is key for these babies, their future and society as a whole." Deb Discenza is co-auth...
Oct 03, 2022•17 min
"It’s one of the hard things about anesthesiology. A window opens, you work like all get out, doing all sorts of things while the breeze blows in, then it’s shut again. Sometimes, you see your patient once more; sometimes, if things go awry, you might see them multiple times. Or your colleagues step in to help out if you are not there. Or the critical care or perioperative anesthesiologist work their magic for awhile. But basically, you welcome the orneriness in, and then, after the bustle and h...
Oct 02, 2022•16 min
"Securing prior authorizations is a daily ordeal for most doctors’ offices. Doctors report that, on average, they must get insurance company approvals 41 times every week. Of the authorization requests that are denied, fully 73% ultimately get reversed and approved, but the delays cause many patients to abandon treatment. More significantly, many contested prior authorization requests cause serious harm — even when they are ultimately approved. In surveys done by the American Medical Association...
Oct 01, 2022•18 min
"I think about my preeclampsia-specific and general knowledge gaps. I could not recall learning about postpartum preeclampsia in my prenatal classes. I wasn’t given any written instructions on what symptoms to expect with my blood pressure returning to normal. My husband and I also would have benefitted from a pumping tutorial (side note: the lactation consultant said not to just power up to top suction) and a quick lesson on making formula bottles. A more empowered mom and family might be less ...
Sep 30, 2022•15 min
"Despite these high numbers, we cardiologists often look to genetic screening last in our diagnostic workup. But without genetic screening, we can’t always see the whole picture in our cardiomyopathy patients. Once we’ve excluded coronary disease as an etiology, available diagnostic tools such as echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging provide great insight into the symptoms and consequences of these conditions but not the specific underlying causes. Epidemiology studies support this not...
Sep 29, 2022•19 min
"Lacking a supreme being in which to place our faith, my wife and I decided to make the most difficult decision of our lives and discontinue life support. I still wonder if we made the right decision, question whether fear made us give up too early, and these chronic doubts cut with the acuity of scalpels. But I also know that certainty is a fading flame in a failing body, and in a godless universe, sometimes a 'best guess' is all you have to go on." Mukund Gnanadesikan is a psychiatrist. He sha...
Sep 28, 2022•23 min
