The practice of medicine has always been difficult. In the best of times, physicians must make fast decisions under very stressful conditions. Every time a doctor navigates a crisis, they reflect on what decisions they made and how they might improve. At least the good ones do. This soul-searching often involves discussions with colleagues and staff on the events and decisions made.
Mortality and morbidity discussions, M&M as we say, are …
I met Dr. David Zylneck through a mutual friend when he was in the final year of his pediatrics residency. Even as a trainee, he was heavily involved in international relief work and had made several trips to Southern Africa. Over time, Dr. Zylneck and I lost contact as our careers took us in different directions. Several years later, as I was about to move to a new location to …
In a recent essay, I marveled at the qualities that will set apart tomorrow’s physicians from previous generations. And while everything I wrote I believed to be true, I suppose I neglected a major concern, a big blind spot as it were. In order to become clinicians, medical students must first enter practice. That seems obvious, but a recent report gives reason to pause and reflect on medical students’ …
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.
Put yourself in the anesthesiologist’s shoes. It’s 7:00 a.m., and you’ve just finished setting up the operating room (OR). You make your way to the preoperative unit to evaluate your patient and find a prescription pad note that says, “Patient cleared for …
My practice is about to change to a new electronic health record, and I can’t help but feel dread. The last time we did this, it was so stressful. I really don’t want to go through it again. What do I do? How do I prepare? Here is what I’m doing to get ready. I think it’s a good strategy for managing change in general, and I hope it helps …
The topic of the health care crisis has dominated the media in recent years and will likely continue to be of great interest. This issue must remain relevant. However, without united action, the health care crisis and burnout may end up like the topic of global warming – frequently discussed but often politicized and inadequately addressed.
The global warming crisis, as seen in headlines, has been described as scientists warning that …
Many surveys and reports have acknowledged that physicians are unwell, and their numbers have reached crisis proportion. “We aren’t going to fix this problem by noting that canaries are dying in the coal mine and … sending out for tougher canaries,” remarked Gary Price, MD, an attending surgeon at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut and president of the Physicians Foundation, a physician empowerment organization.
Price’s remarks were actually …
I never imagined I’d be crying on vacation in Hawaii, but there I was, overwhelmed with worry because my 71-year-old mother’s Medicare Part B enrollment had been denied. A naturalized U.S. citizen, my mom had been living overseas with a rare blood cancer for 20 years. By December 2021, her end-stage disease required bi-weekly blood transfusions; the only hope for cure was a risky stem cell transplant. Therefore, in …
It’s the early 1980s.
My homeland Iran is torn apart between a bloody revolution and a looming war. The militia of the Islamic regime raids houses overnight and arrests politically active people. We hear rumors that they’re tortured and pressured to rat out friends and family. Young people disappear one by one, and some of them never come back. People are terrified. We’re scared of our neighbors, friends, teachers, and each …
This is the story of an addiction, one that walks the fine line between construction and destruction. It’s a tale of work addiction, a cautionary tale for those who find themselves choosing work over home or self. But the narrative doesn’t end there, for it remains perplexing how work, while constructing livable lives for those ensnared by its allure, simultaneously dismantles their existence.
The addicted seek solace in mythologies that exalt …
I recently listened to the podcast mini-series The Retrievals. It was fascinating and absolutely worth a listen. It’s the story of a Yale infertility clinic where a nurse was stealing fentanyl and replacing it with normal saline. As a result, women ended up getting egg retrievals with only midazolam, no pain control. There were interviews with women who described the horrific pain of the procedures but didn’t feel that they …
According to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice, 37 percent of the people in prison have a history of mental health problems. This was not always the case. The United States at one time had state mental health facilities, where those with mental illness could be treated. From 1870 to 1955, these numbers increased until it peaked at almost 600,000. This was 0.36 percent of the then population …
“When and how much?” I tried to recall the list of questions for intoxicated patients. A middle-aged man, much older than the demographics printed on the documents I hold, was writhing in pain, vomiting, and sobbing. The paper stated: chief complaint – mouse poison pellet ingestion, attempting suicide. “How and why?” I kept asking. I was his first encounter upon entering the emergency room, a terrified fifth-year medical student at …
October 7, much like Pearl Harbor or September 11, 2001, is a day that will forever be etched in infamy for Israel and Jews worldwide. Not since the Holocaust have so many Jewish people been killed in a single day. This was not a random act; it was a meticulously planned and incentivized scheme aimed at obstructing the progress of peace in the Middle East. Brutality, depravity, and inhumanity were …
In my search for ever-obscure rock music from my generation – not the greatest generation but the flower generation – I came across a CD collection of rare songs titled “Brown Acid: The Seventeenth Trip,” appropriately subtitled: “Heavy Rock from the Underground Comedown.” The record review began as follows: “Lucky number 17? You better believe it. We here at Brown Acid have been scouring the highways and byways of America …
Four years ago, I (JEL) had just finished a fellowship and was elated to start my dream job in a physician-owned and operated group practice. The doctors in the group were tight-knit supporters of each other and the local community. Right away, I began building meaningful relationships with the patients and colleagues that I thought would be with me for decades. But without warning, in year two, the group’s senior …
I’m squished in an unnaturally upright seat. My elbows slowly develop pressure sores atop rigid armrests, with my wife on one side and a semi-uncomfortable stranger on the other. I stare at my lopsided gray tray table, sporting a Styrofoam cup of lukewarm coffee, the chalice special of Sky Chefs. My ears have become one with the perpetual background hum of engines, a prelude to the impending orchestra of jet …
We are human and we all make mistakes. It’s an inherent part of our nature. It’s easy to get caught up in the belief that our mistakes define us or determine our worth; however, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
As physicians, mistakes often serve as the uninvited guests in our otherwise meticulously planned professional lives. Yet, it is crucial to recognize that these errors are not stamps of incompetence …
If your conscious mind is asking, “Is this what burnout feels like?” your little voice already has the answer.
One of the things physicians ask me on our coaching discovery call is whether or not I think they are burned out.
They want a second opinion from a fellow doctor. That’s a natural instinct, and yet, my opinion is completely irrelevant in the arc of their life as a physician.
What matters is …
In today’s age, it’s common to encounter a myriad of protocols, often promoted by celebrity doctors or health gurus, each promising solutions for various health concerns, from thyroid and adrenal issues to immune system and gut health. But what exactly is a protocol in this context? It is essentially a set of guidelines or rules designed to address specific health issues or optimize well-being. These protocols often come with dietary …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
