I walked into the room and said: “Hi, Jason.” “Do you think it’s deep enough to need stitches? I am really scared of needles,” was his reply to me. I said, “Why don’t you let me take a look, and we can both com…
Category: Conditions
To reduce suicides, follow the data
On Kimberly Repp’s office wall is a sign in Latin: Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae. This is a place where the dead delight in helping the living. For medical examiners, it’s a mission. Their job is to investigate deaths and learn from th…
MKSAP: 40-year-old man with a flesh-colored lesion
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 40-year-old man is evaluated for a firm, flesh-colored lesion that has been growing on the back for several months. Foul-smelling material …
The mystery illness of Kim Kardashian West
Reality star and meta-celebrity Kim Kardashian West made the rounds on the network news and talk shows last week to promote her new line of shapewear. But she also talked about the recent health scare that was revealed on the latest episode of “K…
The unexpected people who’s listening to your conference speech
Do you ever wonder what the staff in hotel conference rooms think about what we talk about in presentations and lectures? I talk about sensitive stuff — sexuality, fertility, etc. — and I use words that many people have not said out loud in…
Is it physician burnout or perimenopause?
I am an experienced OB/GYN, well-versed in obstetrics, infertility, gynecology, surgery and — yes — menopause, or so I thought. So why was I so blindsided by my own menopause transition? I thought I was going through burnout, with anxiety, anger, mood …
MKSAP: 52-year-old woman with chest pressure
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 52-year-old woman is evaluated for a 6-week history of chest pressure. The symptom occurs when she walks up an incline on her daily 2-mile …
Health care facilities are difficult to navigate for older adults
A month ago, during a visit to her doctor’s office in Sequim, Wash., Sue Christensen fell to her knees in the bathroom when her legs suddenly gave out. The 74-year-old was in an accessible stall with her walker, an older model that doesn’t have brakes….
My patients teach me, guide me, and remind me that I am here
It’s an odd thing doing what I do sometimes. Dichotomies of highs and lows, life and death, joy and sorrow. In the past 15 years that I have been in health care — a nurse’s assistant, to registered nurse, to now pediatric nurse practitioner …
Overcoming the challenges prosperity can bring to teens and young adults
They received a call that their 19-year-old son had been transported to the local hospital, extremely agitated and intoxicated, with a blood alcohol level of .245. What they learned over the next few days was that this wasn’t the first time their son h…
