<span itemprop="author">Philip A. Masters, MD

Author's posts

The hidden danger to physicians in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. Practicing medicine has always been hard, and as all of us have experienced over the past several months, living and working through a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime pandemic h…

Why physicians must speak out about social inequity

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. The recent occurrence of widespread civil unrest in the context of the coronavirus pandemic has challenged us as physicians about our appropriate role in dealing with both. The…

Medical heroism in the age of COVID-19

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the signs have been everywhere – celebrating the heroism of health care workers. It’s a wonderful sentiment that as a physic…

Physician risk during COVID-19: reflections from the AIDS epidemic

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. If nothing else, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought crystal clarity to something that all physicians are aware of but don’t often think about  – that because we deal clo…

Reclaiming the future of health care

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. Although I work for the American College of Physicians, I’m writing this as a general internist who has practiced both primary care and hospital-based medicine for over 25 year…

Treating the patient, not the disease

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. Engaging personally with our health care system either as a patient or family member is usually an eye-opening experience for most physicians.  It provides a glimpse of what th…

What doctors can (and should) learn from patients

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. In many ways, the patient-physician relationship is seen as being mostly one-sided, with doctors possessing medical knowledge and wisdom, and patients with less medical inf…

Seeking mastery in medicine

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Regardless of specialty, medical practice is challenging in today’s health care landscape. Increasing demands related to workload and job inefficiencies, an ever-increasing…

How the administrative burden contributes to physician burnout

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. The administrative burden associated with caring for patients in today’s health care system has emerged as a primary driver of the loss of joy in the practice of medicine a…

How internal medicine got its name

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Of all medical specialties, perhaps the most difficult to understand is internal medicine. While the name suggests that those who practice internal medicine focus primarily…