As I stepped into the hospital waiting room, the anxious eyes of family members greeted me, their worry palpable as they awaited news about their ailing patriarch. Quickly, I introduced myself and delved into the heart of the matter. “I wanted to…
Category: Critical Care
Exploring pulmonary and ICU insights through cartoons
I’ve created cartoons using DALL-E, each with its own humorous caption. They’re all original ideas from me, but I used the AI to visualize them. Although they mostly touch on topics related to pulmonary and ICU medicine, I think they could …
The burden of choice: Navigating the complexities of surrogate decision-making in medicine
“I could have saved him,” the intensivist murmured, reflecting on a recent patient’s death. His silhouette was framed against the fading evening light that spilled into the ICU. His words, heavy with regret and resignation, floated ov…
NICU tragedy: How new nurses’ nail choices led to a newborn’s heartbreaking fate
A small, cliquish bevy of nurses was working their way through orientation in the NICU straight out of nursing school. They were happy and thrilled to be accepted into this specialized nursing unit: the NICU. Practicing good hygiene, washing hands up t…
From devastation to inspiration: my journey through three cancers
A solid mass silently grew on my kidney. An unwelcome addition. Asymptomatic. Discovered haphazardly during a CT scan of my lungs … And it revealed itself. At first, I was devastated. Will cancer ever leave me alone? It has already visited me twi…
From 8-hour to 12-hour shifts: Exploring health care’s changing landscape [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Bruce L. Davidson, a pulmonary and critical care physician. We delve into the transformation of health care work conditions, from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts, and how this impacts …
Intensive caring in palliative care [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join guest Harvey Max Chochinov, a psychiatrist, as he delves into the profound concept of “intensive caring” in palliative care. Inspired by Dame Cicely Saunders’ powerfu…
Intensive caring: Reminding patients they matter
Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement and palliative care, famously said, “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life.” This quote has become the central philosophical tenet of …
Doctors’ emotional struggles in the medical field
Most humans, especially doctors, are completely disconnected from their bodies. This conditioning starts in childhood, escalates through teenage years, and peaks in residency where we are trained to completely detach from our body. Our emotions are hel…
Prayer in the COVID ICU [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! We sit down with Robert Raschke, a critical care physician and the author of One Hundred Prayers: God’s Answer to Prayer in a COVID ICU. We explore the power of prayer in the midst of…
