Susan J. Baumgaertel is an internal medicine physician.
Well, it finally happened.
To me.
A physician.
I became an MD 30 years ago, long before the EMR existed. This was also well before Dr. Google appeared on the scene. A time when medical records existed only on paper.
I remember getting frustrated when I had to see a patient without their paper chart, as it was still in another physician’s office. I was griped about not being able to find a particular …
At the end of a year and the beginning of another, emotions tend to run high.
Whether it be the loss of a loved one or the tangled web of interactions with relatives, an unexpected illness or travel plan glitches, wonderful moments to cherish, or joyful connections – all are wrapped up like presents topped with emotional bows.
The opening and unraveling part often takes courage and creativity.
This is a series of …
You’ve been swallowing things your entire life: breast milk (or formula), food––maybe a marble or small Lego. But did you know that swallowing pills is different?
Let’s start with how not to swallow a pill.
Sorry, but Bruce Willis in all five Die Hard movies is incorrect. You don’t just take a small handful of aspirin, toss them into your mouth, and jerk your head back while swallowing.
Not to mention, if you have …
Getting a medical diagnosis can actually be a huge relief.
I know it may seem counter-intuitive.
Saying “I have cancer,” “I have Parkinson’s,” or “I have depression” definitely doesn’t belong in the same realm as being relieved.
Or maybe it does.
When was the last time you saw a GoFundMe for “gradually progressive neurologic symptoms for 20 years that numerous physicians in many different specialties still don’t understand”?
When did you form a Team Lucy …
Sometimes hiding things can work to our advantage: an early pregnancy, a disfiguring scar, public speaking anxiety … Easter eggs! But, more often, they are just temporarily hidden from public view, and, in the grand scheme of things, it can actually be a relief when they are “found.”
Enter the world of chronic disease, and things rapidly become much more complex. Chronic disease can often become manifest without any external visual …
With so much disconnect in our world right now, it can be a challenge for some to find ways to stay connected to meaningful things, people, places, and events. I won’t belabor my own list of disconnectedness, but I imagine many of your lists are much longer than you are accustomed to.
A recent medical experience motivated me to write about this …
You’ve got to understand that I don’t like anything being thrown at my face.
Seriously.
This fear goes back to my childhood in Ontario, Canada, when after school in the winter, the neighborhood kids got together to play hockey. Our back yards abutted on a park which had a big field that, come winter, was iced over by a local parent late at …
There have been countless references to the art and science of medicine over the years. I, for one, certainly have embraced both in my long career as a physician in internal medicine. However, I have always had a special connection to the art part.
My late mother was an artist, so I grew up with …
When I started my internal medicine practice in 1996, the medical arena was vastly different than it is today. Back then, having an MD after my name actually meant something.
A letter from me to an insurance company would get a needed medication covered for a patient––a time before preauthorization existed. Dr. Google was not yet born. “Provider” exclusively belonged to the insurance industry.
My patients called me “doctor” and referred to …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
