An excerpt from South Eight. There is little similarity between the stillness of the archer, or of Arkin’s former self on the rifle range, with the organized chaos of a dozen nurses and respiratory therapists and lab technicians pouring into Room…
Category: Conditions
How every doctor should address a patient’s pain
From medical school to residency, I’ve worked with colleagues who don’t prescribe pain medications for their patients who truly need them. Or they are just very hesitant about doing so. Some simply don’t believe in them. Others fear t…
A pervasive culture of time constraints in health care
Picture this. A patient in a hospital or rehab facility has just finished exercising with therapy. He is thirsty, and he thinks he might as well ask for a snack now because he will be hungry in 30 minutes. His therapist sets him up in his wheelchair (b…
Our Shakespearean love affair with BMI
I’m standing outside the exam room, reviewing Marcus, my 16-year-old patient’s growth chart, specifically his BMI. It’s up again, and my heart sinks. I feel that all too common rush of frustration and disappointment and, “Why am…
When a hospital unexpectedly closes
An excerpt from The Evening Hero. This was apparently not to be a Yungman-only meeting. It was in their conference room, same one where had their monthly morbidity and mortality conferences, and it was packed with doctors. In fact, there was just one c…
5 things I would never do as an allergy and immune system expert
Jumping on the recent TikTok trend of medical professionals sharing the things they would never do given their knowledge and expertise, I am sharing the five things I would never do as a board-certified allergist-immunologist. 1. I would never rely on …
Why you should add advance directives to your college freshman’s college checklist
Suppose you’re getting ready to send your young adult off to college for the first time. In that case, you’ve likely been spending the summer getting college dorm and apartment essentials lined up: bedding, storage cubes, first aid kit, ext…
Opioid-free orthopedic surgery: Why (and how) my patients go opioid free after surgery
Primum non nocere. First, do no harm. All doctors are familiar with this credo. From ancient precepts such as the Hippocratic Oath promising to abstain from doing harm to the modern bioethics principle of nonmaleficence, the calling of physicians invo…
The role of nutrition in rheumatology patients
Five years ago, I met a patient that changed my view on practicing traditional medicine, especially when it comes to rheumatology. For years, I was proud to be in a booming field that provided patients with a new therapy every few years. As a physician…
A nut allergy nightmare at 35,000 feet
A hungry college student was on a plane flying to Italy. She was alone, as her parents had bought her a ticket to join them on the trip, but their own flight had been sold out. About an hour after take-off, the flight attendants came down the aisle wit…
