"Taking stock of all these experiences, I feel like I have no answers. They lead me to a space of unrest and dissatisfaction for not having a pill that would instantly drop 10 kilos, cure hep E, curb food craving …
"Inaccurate patient records aren’t just an inconvenience. They’re a risk. The EHR might speak for the patient when they cannot speak for themselves, and if it’s wrong, it’s a serious liability. In lieu of any system-wide improvements to EHRs,...
"The reality of the last two years is that almost all of us have experienced some mental health disorder symptoms, and that mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health. We call these subclinical symptoms, or symptoms...
"A hundred years ago, women lived one year longer than men, but now they live five years longer than men. And things are getting worse. Currently, the lifespan of men in the U.S. is declining due to alcohol, opioids, and …
"Studies show that those physicians with negative online reviews were more often scored poorly due to non-physician specific causes. In my career, I’ve read comments from patients that said they were not satisfied with their provider because they...
"All the faceless young men who are brought to his operating table, prepped and draped, broken and bleeding, are finding their experience of war bears little resemblance to their reveries of war. They should have known better. At corner taverns …
"No matter what, your healing work matters. No one should tell you otherwise, and nothing can change that, not even a shortcoming. You provide healing in a way no one else can. Care for yourself, and you can be the …
Welcome to a special episode of The Podcast by KevinMD. In this 60-minute episode, I partner with , a pioneer in health IT for over 20 years. We bring together physicians with different backgrounds to explore information overload and physician...
"For me, my own personal stories of opioid patients come to mind, including one who keyed my car when I stopped prescribing his opioid after an acute injury. I think of some local opioid overdose deaths in my community. I …
"Advanced analytics can provide the insights needed to understand social determinants and help develop interventions that assist patients in overcoming some of the challenges and adverse environmental and social factors that are barriers to healthier...
"Guiding kindly illustrates mentorship, whether it be in the dojo or in an academic medical setting. Regardless of one’s stage in medical training, certain errors in patient management will be made … this is part of the learning process. It …
"For too long have gardeners allowed our food supply to be dependent on mysterious logistics. We have criminally allowed our own food growing capacity to be displaced. Growing something you eat and trading with people who grow what you don’t …
"The lack of diversity in academic medicine is a significant issue that can compromise our patients’ health and the education of our training clinicians. There is a vicious cycle in which there are few black academic physicians, leading to seemingly...
"Through empathy-based training, physicians and other health care providers learn the skills to have honest informed consent discussions without causing undo fear, while also preparing patients for all possible outcomes. Empathic skills make for...
"Today, more students are disclosing and speaking out about their disability and how their disability is an asset to their way of learning and what they can bring to their field. Across college campuses, more student-led organizations are forming to...
"The classic thinking has always been that a career in medicine is more than just a job; it is a passion, a calling, an anchor of identity. There is a pervasive stigma in medicine against the self-advocacy of the worker. …
"The weekend after Isabelle’s discharge, I take my shoes outside onto the driveway. The sky is a brilliant blue, and green tinges of leaves poke through shells of buds; the wind slips through my fleece. I scrub the spots of …
"The way to do this is by recognizing the power of words. I don’t mean fervently declaring one’s position and arguing why those who disagree are wrong. There has been way too much of this, and health professionals are no …
"Stress is just part of the alcohol con trick. And the truth is that every benefit we have ever imagined alcohol giving us it doesn’t. It is a drug, and it works the same way as all other drugs. Many …
"Crowdfunding models of paying for health care maximize the probability that all members’ eligible bills will be paid in full each month. These models come without the burdens of skyrocketing premiums and deductibles. Unlike traditional models,...
"Virtually everyone understands the importance of major medical insurance as it relates to unexpected high-dollar care for severe injuries and significant medical conditions, but the value equation for health insurance is quite different when applied...
"The data are remarkable and promising, though beyond the numbers is a bigger picture. Each data point represents a life – a mother, uncle, grandparent, loved one, friend. Technological advances in image guidance and therapeutic delivery are...
"The unvaccinated patient is the addicted person, the overweight patient, the smoker in the waiting room. Our antipathy toward them endangers their health, maybe their lives. The unvaccinated will not be convinced with stigma. They will be convinced...
"Physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, medical assistants, and other health care workers are a finite resource. They don’t grow on trees. And, though we all seem to deny it, they are human. The physicians I coach often wonder what they...