The study of medicine can be overwhelming. We’ve simply discovered too much for one person to master completely. This is the challenge medical educators are tasked with – what’s so important that it must be allotted time in the brief 2 years of dedicated book learning doctors-to-be receive?Students face a similar time-management challenge – first, we must decide what’s important enough to focus on, but the real question I think ...
James Haddad
Steps you can take to prevent developing diabetes
In the past decade, the incidence of diabetes in the U.S. has nearly doubled – this is due in large part to the obesity epidemic. Currently, it is estimated that the lifetime risk of developing diabetes is around 1 in 3 for males an 2 in 5 for females born after 2000. When you consider that type II diabetes has a strong genetic component – the risk for a ...
Disease treatment progress will continue to be slow and painful
Recently, a friend sent me a text message with a rather conservative back-of-
Medicare patients should bring a companion to office visits
When a patient shows up for a doctor’s appointment with a companion, I often find myself studying (and later, interacting with) them as much as I do the patient. Most times, a quick review of body language is all I need to make an assessment – is this person looking out for the interests of the patient? Are they here begrudgingly, or out of concern? Are they indifferent, or ...
Grocery store tips to avoid poor dietary and financial decisions
Taking a trip to the grocery store can be more dangerous than you’d think.Waiting for you in each and every aisle are marketing ploys aimed at suppressing your better reasoning, the ultimate result being you making poor dietary or financial decisions – whether you know it or not (enter the 100 calorie pack, my arch nemesis, right behind diet soda). But it doesn’t have to be that way – ...
Reasons why medical students burn out and become depressed
As I finished my 24-hour call recently, I was reminded of a 2009 study revealing a decline in empathy as medical students transition from their mostly-didactic second year to third year, which is essentially an apprenticeship in the hospital with lecture as an afterthought. I began my third year with what most would argue is the most difficult rotation, surgery, and my experiences over ...
More healthy eating tips to add to the USDA food plate
The USDA has recently released it’s new concept, the food plate, to replace the iconic food pyramid it introduced in 1992 (and modified in 2005).At its release, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack criticized the food pyramid for being "too complex to serve as a quick and easy guide for American families" – I completely agree, and have always felt this way. The food pyramid ...
Osteoporosis Awareness Month, and how to prevent early bone loss
May is National Osteoporosis Awareness Month.Osteoporosis is a poorly understood concept amongst the general public, and perhaps the best way to explain it is the presence of an insufficient quantity of bone – the bone that is present, however, is normal (or properly mineralized). This can be contrasted with osteomalacia (or rickets, in children), ...
Myths about the HPV vaccine for boys
A vaccination policy statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics has already drawn fire from a number of anti-vaccine groups, specifically for its endorsement of vaccination against HPV infection in boys.First, let’s examine exactly what the AAP added to its guidelines regarding the HPV4 and HPV2 vaccines: “HPV4 may be administered in a ...
Why your doctor’s education is unique
What makes your doctor’s education unique from that of other health care providers?Recently, I was sitting in on a lecture by one of my favorite physician-teachers (certainly my favorite neurologist). I’ll call him Dr. Deeds (for his resemblance to a character from the movie, Mr. Deeds). He was giving a sort of broad, generalized lecture to prepare us for a series of lectures on neurodegenerative diseases ...
