Primary care physicians often have to see patients with a litany of issues. Often within a span of a 15-minute office visit.
This places the doctor in the middle of a tension — spend more time with the patient to address all of the concerns, but risk the wrath of patients scheduled afterwards, who are then forced to wait.
And, in some cases, it’s simply impossible to adequately address every patient question …
In 1905 William Osler gave his farewell address as he prepared to leave Johns Hopkins for Oxford and England. After speaking to the assembled medical students about the tragic side of medicine he said:
The comedy, too, of life will be spread before you, and nobody laughs more often than the doctor at the pranks Puck plays upon the Titanias and the Bottoms among his patients. The humorous side is really …
The Disease Management Care Blog received this posting from an experienced nurse with a background in clinical and administrative medicine.
We’ve all seen them. Those vacuous workplace posters exhorting teamwork, creativity and other forms of inspiration and accomplishment. A version has begun to creep into our nation’s health care facilities. reminding everyone of the need for privacy, how infections can be spread and the importance of patient service. And if my …
The holidays are a great opportunity to ask family members about their health history.
Learning about your family’s health history can help you answer your doctor’s medical history questions. It can even help your doctor determine if you may be at risk for an inherited cancer like breast, colorectal, ovarian, prostate or endometrial cancer, which sometimes run in the family.
Keep in mind that just a small portion of cancers – about 5 …
She was like … Superwoman. A strapping medical visionary probably in her forties. Gray long coat falling below the knees. She strode confidently down the hallway towards the elevator, a father hurrying beside her with his young lanky daughter cradled in his arms. The girl’s head nuzzled into her father’s shoulder. She was old enough to walk by herself…but clearly she was sick. Unable.
Undoubtedly they were headed from the medical …
by Dennis Fortier
More so than with any other major disease, our near-term progress in the battle against Alzheimer’s will be determined largely by our ability to improve awareness about several aspects of this encroaching threat.
Summarized here are five reasons why greater awareness about Alzheimer’s disease, and a deeper public understanding of risks and prevention strategies, will play a key role in the nation’s ability to triumph against the prospect of …
Folks across the country are paying hard cash for total body scans, abdominal aortic aneurysm testing, CAT coronary artery scans and carotid artery evaluations to prevent disease or find important lesions early. It’s a seductive argument, and it’s a scam.
Ordinary patients don’t understand about pre-test probability and positive and negative predictive values. Indeed, all physicians were taught to consider Bayesian theory when ordering diagnostic tests. This is very tough concept for …
by Winston F. Mitchell
I’m a 53 year-old male with no history of hypertension, no cholesterol problems and glucose count normal.
I was overweight but still in great physical shape. But over a period of weeks, walking to work, I started experiencing a shortness of breath. Finally I went to my doctor, he informed me he was going to admit me to the hospital immediately because a …
As a medical provider, while seeing a husband and wife, or a couple, regardless of gender, one comes across several situations that may be considered difficult to handle and that require a good deal of tact and confidentiality.
This is the case with seeing a husband and wife or (couple), together, for an examination. Ultimately, it depends on the rapport that the couple shares. If they …
What does your breast type say about your cancer risk? Quite a bit, actually.
Whether you have large, small or lumpy breasts, self-awareness is very important. Getting to know how your breasts look and feel can help you recognize possible red flags.
Large vs. small breasts
When it comes to cancer risk, size really doesn’t matter. But, size can affect your mammogram and clinical breast exam.
For example, women with large breasts may need …
by Joanna Fief
About two years ago in the wee hours of the morning, I found myself in a local emergency room with severe stomach pain, incessant vomiting and dehydration. It wasn’t pretty, and I was desperate for something – anything – to ease my pain and stop my vomiting.
Gratefully, within minutes of receiving an IV with medications for pain and nausea, my symptoms subsided. After a couple of blood tests …
NPR has a great blog on their website called Shots about current events in health care. Recently, Scott Hensley, the main blogger there, posted a recent article on treatment of prostate cancer from the Archives of Internal Medicine.
If you look at the article, you may notice a very small subheading above the article’s title. It reads “Less is More.”
Very telling.
The thrust of the article and the …
One of my docs was telling us about a patient’s experience at another practice. Apparently, the parent was at her wits end with her crying baby. She called the on call doctor to ask for advice and the doctor told the patient, “your baby has colic’s; turn on the vacuum and stop calling.”
It turned out the baby had some gastric condition (not colic) and needed treatment. The patient ended up …
Before he tells you how to get a straight answers from physicians, Doctor D is going to stall for time by explaining why doctors give vague answers.
Why would a good doctor give useless answers?
1. There is an answer, but your doctor doesn’t know it. Don’t be hard on doc for this one. There is no MD in the world that knows the entire breadth of medical knowledge. Some docs pretend …
Social anxiety refers to the fear of being around people due to the threat of embarrassment.
People who are socially anxious frequently freeze and are unable to seek the very company their hearts desire. They may make adaptations: they may decide that they “hate” being around people; they may isolate and play video games; they may absorb themselves in their work, but no matter what they do, this anxiety always exists …
There is no Alternative Medicine.
Thus sprach Phil Fontanarosa and me in a 1998 JAMA editorial in the famous theme issue dedicated to Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
So I went to Mr. Google in 2010 and entered … Alternative Medicine … and clicked — 41,200,000 results; entered Complementary and Alternative Medicine, click — 3,210,000 results; entered CAM, click — 191,000,000 results, but that’s not fair; CAM can stand for many unrelated topics.
Let’s …
I am a medical doctor. I am also called an allopath, someone who practices “Western medicine.”
We allopaths like data, proof, science, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. We want to know the “mechanism of action.” We want someone to prove that yoga or medication or some procedure actually helps your depression or blood pressure or back pain and that these treatments are safe before we prescribe them. We feel more confident about …
by Dennis Grace
So, you have to go to the hospital. You’ve had an accident and the doctor wants to keep an eye on you for a few days. Maybe you need major surgery. Whatever the reason for the stay, a lot a people think you should have an advocate with you.
Why? In my life, I’ve had lots of hospital stays. Why is this suddenly a big …
Eating right, exercising, avoiding the sun or using sunscreen, moderating alcohol consumption, abstaining from tobacco use, getting mammograms, Pap smears, colonoscopies—almost every measure we’re asked to take to safeguard our future health is difficult. It’s a strange paradox that we have to work in some way, to expend energy, and experience discomfort of some kind in order to gain benefit in life.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the most pleasurable things …
I was in a room full of Family Doctors – who call themselves everything but Family Docs: Family Physicians (FPs) Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) General Practitioners (GPs). It was the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Spring Conference, at a session entitled: “Language Matters: Women-centered talk during pelvic exams.”
Two men amongst 20 women, all interested in learning more about being Politically Correct (PC) whilst conducting a pelvic exam. Session leaders Drs …
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