Episodes

Oct. 15, 2020

A medical student volunteers with the medical corps

"An email arrived inviting med students to join the State of Georgia’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). The MRC is an organization of doctors, nurses, PAs, EMTs, and med students who are the first medical boots on the ground for disasters …

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Oct. 14, 2020

Free speech, cancel culture, and taking down statues

"History cannot be changed and should not be erased. The First Amendment was placed first for a reason. It is the bedrock of our nation’s ability to overcome despots like Hitler and to abolish slavery. However, it comes at a …

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Oct. 13, 2020

A physician receives a derogatory email. Here's what she did next.

"The disparity of women physicians in research is a systemic issue that should be mitigated appropriately. Women, especially minorities and immigrants, need institutional support to succeed as clinician-investigators. Medical institutions should...

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Oct. 12, 2020

How physicians can be activists

"We dealt with the death, uncertainty, and fear of COVID-19 with a stiff upper lip. But our hearts broke when George Floyd was murdered by the police on May 25. George is a symbol of an immense problem. A study …

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Oct. 11, 2020

COVID-19 misinformation is a public health crisis

"Government officials, regardless of political affiliation, should seek sound medical advice before communicating with their constituents. Appropriate public health information should be shared so that constituents are not harmed by following...

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Oct. 10, 2020

What is the future of telehealth?

"Almost overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely disrupted how we deliver primary care to patients. Before the pandemic, telehealth seemed to be a way to deliver urgent care for acute issues to a select group of tech-savvy patients. Now, at...

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Oct. 9, 2020

Medical students are benched during the pandemic

"There is no single culprit responsible for this shift in medical education. However, two, in particular, should be noted. The first is the culture of defensive medicine, or more bluntly, CYA (cover-your-ass) medicine. This culture has been...

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Oct. 8, 2020

How to minimize virtual medicine liability risk

"Telehealth has come into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic as physicians face an immediate need to reduce exposure by providing care—or at least triage—remotely when appropriate. Under usual circumstances, telemedicine is comparatively low risk....

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Oct. 7, 2020

Human trafficking survivors and trauma-informed care

"As a physician working with human trafficking survivors, I have become accustomed to those with a history of surviving violence. But the patient in question is in my general primary care practice. This should highlight to care providers that there...

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Oct. 6, 2020

A message from a pediatric emergency physician: Be kind

"As I read about Dr. Breen, saddened by the fact that we have been robbed of yet another young, promising, motivated physician, I am reminded that as bad as this pandemic is — and truly believe it is awful — …

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Oct. 5, 2020

Patient advocacy is more important now than ever

"In the best of times (and these are certainly not), all patients need advocates all the time; now more than ever, vulnerable patients need them more but don’t have access to them. Vulnerable populations have more at stake when visitors …

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Oct. 4, 2020

It's so important for medical students to share their stories

"As a medical student, you find potential patients everywhere. Whether you’re on an airplane or on a romantic dinner date, we’ve all heard those famous words, 'Is there a doctor in the house?!' Here are some of my favorite 'patient' …

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Oct. 3, 2020

How coronavirus took my grandfather’s life

"One of the calls you dread making as a doctor is telling a family member their loved one is dying. That was the call I received when my grandfather decompensated. We grow accustomed to making the call as clinicians, but …

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Oct. 2, 2020

COVID-19 through the eyes of my kids

"Living the surreal experience of the COVID-19 pandemic challenges us on multiple levels. As a physician, I feel the responsibility to understand the magnitude of the situation and implement the best measures to protect my patients, trainees, my...

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Oct. 1, 2020

Inside the mind of a surgeon writer

Explore why this general surgeon wrote a novel, and how writing helps with the stresses that accompany a surgery career. What is his #1 tip for those interested in surgery? What are the challenges facing the profession today? How can …

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Sept. 30, 2020

This pulmonary physician has a message for you

"To the people who say that wearing a mask perpetuates the conspiracy: Tell that to the health care workers who have put their lives at risk to face firsthand an unknown disease. Tell that to the families of frontline workers …

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Sept. 29, 2020

My mother has Alzheimer’s: a caregiver's story

What is caregiver burnout? How can you recognize the symptoms? What are tips for new caregivers? What can caregivers teach clinicians? R. Lynn Barnett is the author of and . She can be reached on Twitter . She shares her …

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Sept. 28, 2020

Reflections of a critical care nurse

"Grandma Lilly is 87-years-old and in the ICU. She’s on a ventilator with her wrists restrained to the side of the bed. Grandma can barely see because her eyes are puffy: scleral edema. And her heart races: 140 beats per …

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Sept. 27, 2020

Lifestyle medicine is a prescription to treat physician burnout

"Lifestyle medicine equips practitioners with the tools to affect change. One of the biggest job satisfiers for physicians is positively impacting the trajectory of their patients’ lives. Having a parent tell you that their child is 'a different...

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Sept. 26, 2020

Treating cancer patients in a pandemic

"As an oncologist, perhaps the hardest part I play is as witness. I am there to give a diagnosis that, more often than not, will alter someone’s life forever. For some, I see resignation—a sense that they’ve known something was …

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Sept. 25, 2020

Incremental risk amid COVID-19 re-openings: What do we value most?

"Grocery shopping is not optional; it’s necessary. But if you go every day and to multiple stores, you are increasing the chance you will be exposed. From my informal survey, this practice is extremely common. Yet, experts advise to consolidate...

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Sept. 24, 2020

Essential health messaging tips for physicians

"Advocacy by moms is not new, but advocacy by physicians has been less common. Moms have been fierce advocates on a variety of causes ranging from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to Moms Demand Action, the anti-gun violence mom activist...

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Sept. 23, 2020

A new approach to Medicare for all

Why should we reform the health care system to a physician-led approach? How will that look like? Would a Medicare for all system cure what ails the system? What are some obstacles to implementation? is a journalist. He shares his …

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Sept. 22, 2020

In the age of misinformation, here's how physicians can help

"There are two battles waging from the COVID-19 virus this year: the obvious fight for human life but also the attack on science. During philosophical and political debates, one steadfast weapon has been the scientific method. Opinion doesn’t...

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