March 2009

All Stories

Half MD: How to fix the scramble before Match Day

in Education | 4 responses

The following is reader take by Half MD.

The third Thursday of March each year is Match Day for fourth-year medical students. There are many smiles and frowns made on this day when soon-to-be doctors discover where they will obtain their first job to continue their medical training. While Match Day is the most famous day of the week, Monday and Tuesday are the ...

False positive cancer screening tests doesn’t resonate in Congress

in Conditions | 5 responses

Criticizing cancer screening advocates can be a difficult thing to do.

Gary Schwtizer writes about the case of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who is introducing a new bill advocating breast cancer screening to begin earlier than the current suggested age of 40.

Ms. Wasserman Schultz was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42, and wants "to educate the public, particularly young women and their doctors, ...

Will gross anatomy soon be rendered irrelevant?

in Education | 8 responses

Dissecting a human body is messy, smelly, and expensive.

In fact, more medical schools are resorting to so-called "virtual" gross anatomy, using sophisticated imaging and computer programs.

This is a mistake, says psychiatry resident Christine Montross, in a NY Times op-ed. And she has a point.

"Someday, [doctors] need to keep their cool when a baby is lodged wrong in a mother's birth ...

The American Medical Association investigates JAMA, should Catherine DeAngelis resign?

in Social media | 3 responses

The water engulfing JAMA's editor-in-chief Catherine DeAngelis is getting hotter.

A recap is here, but the Jonathan Leo flap, and subsequent response, is not going away as JAMA hoped it would.

The WSJ reports that AMA, which normally does not interfere in the editorial decisions of the journal, has asked its Journal Oversight Committee to look into the matter.

Over at Respectful Insulance, academic surgeon-blogger ...

Nighthawks, dayhawks, and the demise of the American radiologist

in Physician | 9 responses

More hospitals are resorting to so-called "dayhawk" radiology services to read their x-rays.

It's modeled after the "nighthawk" model, where radiologists (via Shadowfax), in some cases as far away as India, remotely read films in the middle of the night.

Now, the phenomenon is happening during business hours as well, which according to radiologist Giles W. L. Boland, means that "some radiologists can no longer assume ...

Is banning industry-sponsored CME a good idea?

in Education | 2 responses

I wrote previously that pharmaceutical industry influence should be removed from physician continuing medical education courses.

The American Psychiatric Association is taking that recommendation to heart, announcing that it will end industry-sponsored seminars at its annual meeting.

Good for them.

But, I'd be interested to see how many of these professional organizations can survive the funding cut. For instance, the APA stands to lose ...

Why not a down payment for primary care, and problems with the medical home?

in Physician | 10 responses

Earlier this week, President Obama argued that we need to spend money now, in order to curtail the spiraling costs that Medicare and Medicaid will reap on future generations.

However, when it comes to primary care, the Congressional Budget Office is not so forward thinking: "Savings from some initiatives may not materialize because incentives to reduce costs are lacking. For example, proposals to establish a 'medical home' might ...

Are firefighters becoming too fat?

in Patient | 14 responses

A study showed that nearly all of recent Boston firefighting recruits were either overweight or obese.

And, of those who were classified as obese, nearly half failed the required treadmill test. Ordinarily, this probably wouldn't make news, as it's well documented how slovenly American society has become.

But, because firefighters do serve a public safety function, it should be noted that they "depended on one another ...

When will we have a safe and effective prescription diet pill?

in Meds | 8 responses

The first company that comes up with a effective drug for obesity is bound to make billions.

Prior failures notwithstanding, a trio of small pharmaceutical companies are trying to come up with the next great obesity pill. That means clinical studies are ongoing.

So, what's it like to participate in such a trial? Ed Susman, a contributing writer at MedPage Today, was involved in one, ...

A free colonoscopy contest, but what’s the catch?

in Conditions | 2 responses

CBS is promoting a free colonoscopy sweepstakes, which, I guess, is enough of a prize to pique a person's interest during the recession.

But, as Dr. Wes points out, there are serious issues with the contest. First, take a look at the extensive fine print, with not-so-subtly warns that any information given will be shared with advertisers third-parties.

He also wonders about the posh Center for ...

Most hospitals still use paper records, and why money alone won’t solve the electronic medical record problem

in Tech | 5 responses

New numbers have recently come out, highlighting how low the adoption rate is for electronic medical records in hospitals.

As reported by MedPage Today, the study from the NEJM found that only 1.5 percent of hospitals surveyed had comprehensive electronic medical record systems. That's a piss-poor adoption rate, and far lower than the dismal numbers in small office practices.

The reasons cited are no surprise to ...

Why can’t young doctors intubate patients correctly? Blame television

in Social media | 13 responses

It seems that residents and medical students are having trouble intubating patients these days.

Apparently, one of the biggest mistakes is positioning the head incorrectly, and the problem is traced back to the television drama ER. When surveyed, most young doctors and medical students cited television as the main source of tips on how to intubate correctly, specifically, ER.

But when researchers ...

Mid-levels for primary care, but not for surgery?

in Physician | 8 responses

Do most surgeons think mid-level providers can replace primary care physicians?

That much was implied during recent testimony by the American College of Surgeons' John Preskitt, who said, "With trauma care and surgical emergencies, there are no good substitutes or physician extenders for a well-trained general surgeon or surgical specialist."

The ACP's Bob Doherty took that to mean that there were good substitutes for primary ...

Why is Sweden allowing murderers and rapists to become doctors?

in Education | 7 responses

Should a convicted murderer ever be allowed to become a doctor?

Lawrence Altman writes about the strange situation in the NY Times, where, after a convicted murderer was expelled from Sweden's most prestigious medical school, was admitted to a second medical school.

Dr. Altman also points to another case, where a medical student, convicted of rape, was only expelled after exhaustive court action.

What's going on ...

Op-ed: Unbiased research for doctors is good medicine

in Policy | no responses

The following op-ed was published on March 26th, 2009 in the USA Today.As a primary care doctor, I am frequently faced with decisions where the choice is not always clear. Do the latest, more expensive drugs work better than the less costly, older medications? Will ordering an MRI help me treat a patient's lower back pain? Often, the answer to these questions is, "I'm not sure."Because ...

USA Today op-ed: Will comparative effectiveness research help patients?

in Policy | no responses

My latest USA Today op-ed was published this morning: Unbiased research for doctors is good medicine.

USA Today op ed: Will comparative effectiveness research help patients? I talk about comparative effectiveness research, which was recently allocated $1.1 billion in the recently passed federal stimulus package.

How will it help patients? What are some of the obstacles that may impede the ...

Death of the drug rep, and who will take their place?

in Meds | 5 responses

Representatives from drug companies are undergoing some hard times, as physicians increasingly are closing their doors to them, or seeing them only via an appointment.

Subsequently, the number of drug reps is predicted to fall from about 102,000 at its peak in 2007, to 75,000 by 2012.

There are a variety of reasons for this, including the fact that more doctors simply don't trust the information that's ...

Create and control your online presence, and I answer 10 questions about heath care blogging

in Social media | no responses

A couple of interviews I recently did have been published.

Over at Modern Medicine (via the Cosmetic Surgery Times, of all places), I talk about pro-actively creating an online presence, and how it can make or break the marketing of your practice:

"Patients are eventually going to find you on the Internet," whether or not you have actively established your Web presence, Dr. Pho points out. ...

Who’s ranked above a full professor at Harvard?

in Education | 4 responses

"God."

So says famed Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Biederman during a deposition investigating whether his drug research results were biased in favor of his funder's interests. Was his research supporting the use of antipsychotic medications in children with bipolar disorder tainted?

Certainly, in light of recent events, combined with the pressure on academic physicians to produce studies, established research is now being called into question.

Page 1 of 512345

Kevin Pho, MD

See all in: Pho

Physician

See all in: Physician

Patient

See all in: Patient

Policy

See all in: Policy

Tech

See all in: Tech

Social Media

See all in: Social media

Meds

See all in: Meds

Conditions

See all in: Conditions

Education

See all in: Education