Now that states have decided what they are going to do about health insurance exchanges—those new shopping carts created by Obamacare to help consumers find health insurance who do not get it through their employers—the really tough part begins. State and federal governments need to make sure that consumers understand their health insurance choices.
You probably thought that the tough part was behind us. You see, states had a difficult decision ...
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Lung cancer causes more deaths in the United States, 160,000 estimated in 2012, than the next three most common cancers, colon, breast, and prostate, combined.
More than 1.6 million people worldwide were newly diagnosed with lung cancer, comprising 13% of all new cancer diagnoses, and 1.4 million died of lung cancer, which was 18% of all cancer deaths ...
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1. FDA Wants Cancer Warnings on Tanning Beds. Indoor tanning beds must must carry prominent warning labels indicating that children younger than 18 should not use them and that people who do use them need regular cancer screening.
2. Religion Powers End-of-Life Care. Terminal cancer patients with strong religious support were more likely to receive invasive treatments ...
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With gratitude to Doctors Rafael Espada and Michael Madani, for fixing my father’s heart, twice.
When Michael Phelps was interviewed during the Beijing Olympics, the world first learned about the extraordinary amount of food needed to fuel the swimmer with the wingspan of a pterodactyl. He said that he ate 12,000 calories a day, and no one believed him except for me. I believed him because I too was a swimmer ...
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I recently spoke at the Student National Medical Association’s (SNMA) Annual Medical Education Conference in Louisville, KY. Accompanying me was former SNMA President Bryant Cameron Webb, MD, JD. We covered three main topics in our workshop: medical education, the practice of medicine, and the underserved.
Medical education
Many people believe that there is, or soon will be, a physician shortage. There are nearly 1 million physicians scattered across America representing a ratio ...
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The shortage of primary care physicians in the U.S. has become a national theme. A common proposed solution to this shortage – and a central component of the patient centered medical home – is team-based care that utilizes various non-physician health care professionals as well as electronic communication. The idea is that many functions carried out by physicians can be done by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and others on ...
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The use of ultrasound has had a large impact on health care in resource poor countries. This article details some of the research that has been done overseas to look at the impact on bedside ultrasound by caregivers to deliver more appropriate care for injured and ill patients in Africa, Asia and Mexico.
Using an ultrasound to determine how dehydrated a child ...
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If I were asked “Why should a clinician prescribe an app?” I would answer as follows: Because it’s likely to help the patient reach his or her most important health goals, and is a good fit within an over-arching medical management plan. In other words, if the goal is to provide sensible medical assistance to patients and families, the use of an app should be likely to:
When I was growing up in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, there was always some smart aleck boy on the playground who had "facts" to share about the Soviets. His recitation was meant to emphasize how weird, how different, how other our arch enemies were. "They make you wear all brown and gray there." "They eat only boiled cabbage and potatoes." "They tell you what to ...
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After a terribly painful and debilitating illness, Steve died. He had been treated for Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Disease with a series of intense therapies including German enzymes, American antineoplastins, Mexican naturopathy and Chinese herbs, complemented by focused meditation, innumerable vitamins, extreme diet modification and acupuncture for severe pain. He fought the cancer with every ounce of his being, doing everything to survive, except the one thing that had an 85% ...
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1. Docs Need to Speak Up on Gun Control. Physicians need to do a better job at promoting the data that supports stronger gun-control laws.
2. Most Adults Ignore Fitness Recommendations. Just over 20% of U.S. adults get as much aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise as recommended in government guidelines.
3. Chaotic Home Impacts HbA1c in ...
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I've been a family medicine residency faculty member for nearly 5 years, and I've come to observe the yearly cycle of a residency over that time. Reminding myself of that cycle helps me weather and celebrate the peculiarities of each time of year.
July-September: Adjustment
Every resident's role changes on July 1. For the first-years, it's their first day of being called "doctor." Second- and third-year ...
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In recent times, it seems as though every newspaper or magazine with a dedicated health section has a focus on the perils of gluten and the benefits that come along with adhering to a gluten-free diet. Or better yet, each week brings a new celebrity touting the dangers of gluten, and how it is an unhealthy ingredient that should be avoided religiously. Is this truly sound advice?
As a practicing academic ...
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Every primary care doctor has been faced with this situation. A patient reports vague symptoms and is very worried that they are a sign of a catastrophic illness. The symptoms aren't even slightly suggestive of the disease the patient is worried about, but the patient's neighbor's brother-in-law was just diagnosed with the same disease, and so the patient is pretty sure that ...
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In the past, neither hospitals nor practicing physicians were accustomed to being measured and judged. Aside from periodic inspections by the Joint Commission (for which they had years of notice and on which failures were rare), hospitals did not publicly report their quality data, and payment was based on volume, not performance.
Physicians endured an orgy of judgment during their formative years – in high school, college, medical school, and in ...
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Recently, I was having a discussion with a colleague about being a doctor. She confided in me that if someone asked her about becoming a doctor, she would tell him or her to become a nurse practitioner. After reading the emotional open letter to our policymakers in Washington DC, it may sound like a reasonable suggestion. After all, why go into this much debt and spend so much ...
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I have found that many physicians have a strong desire to serve, yet often don’t know where to begin or if it is the right move for them both personally and professionally. I believe that by answering a few simple questions, a physician can decide if a mission is right for them.
1. Decide where you want to help. Hailing from Africa, I wanted to return to the poorest regions such as ...
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I saw a thoracic surgeon in the doctor’s lounge today. I have read his cases and frozens for a year or so, but never introduced myself. I still get intimidated in that man’s world of the doctor’s lounge. It's not just me, my female partner was urged by her male recruiter to eat with him every morning in the lounge when she started seven years ago, and chit chat with ...
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I am affiliated with the institution where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is currently hospitalized. I am friends with people who have treated him. I’m trying to stay away from those people; I would be unable to help asking them about him. They might be unable to help talking about him.
There has been a flurry of emails and red-letter warnings cautioning people here not to talk about Mr. Tsarnaev or look him up ...
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Emergency physicians experience burnout at a rate of more than three times that of the average doctor and more than anyone else inside or outside of the medical field, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study surveyed over 7000 physicians in more than two dozen specialties and compared them with almost 3500 working adults ...
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"A comprehensive and extremely useful roadmap for doctors."
-Eric Topol, MD, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine
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Past 6 Months
Dear lawmakers: This is what it’s like to be a doctor today
Matthew Moeller, MD | PhysicianA gun owner responds to Sandy Hook
Edwin Leap, MD | PhysicianIs Chris Christie too obese to run for president?
Jeffrey Parks, MD | PhysicianIf I’m wrong about guns, can you please explain why?
Claire McCarthy, MD | PhysicianPrimary care doctors may no longer be needed
Doug Olson, MD | PhysicianWalgreens moves into primary care, and it’s our own damn fault
Kevin Pho, MD | Kevin's Take