Nearly three decades ago, David Hilfiker, a family medicine physician in rural Minnesota, authored an essay in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Facing our mistakes.” In the piece, he chronicles three major medical mistakes he mad…
Category: Hospital-Based Medicine
From intern to witness: Working in a resource-limited health care system
A little anecdote The year was 2022, and it marked the first month of my initial rotation at one of the largest tertiary care hospitals in Punjab, Pakistan. After having assisted with several procedures in the ENT operating room one morning, I found my…
Inside the heart of a hospital: love, loss, and resilience
“Airports have seen more sincere kisses than wedding halls and the walls of hospitals have heard more prayers than the walls of churches.” – Anonymous It’s 1 a.m. in the night. I am on call duty, which starts at 8:30 a.m. in the morni…
Sham peer review epidemic: A doctor’s career destroyed
An excerpt from The Medical Matrix: One Physician’s Story Maneuvering the Minefields of Medicine. It was a routine Monday morning in the middle of May 2011. I had custody of my boys that day, so I dropped them off at school and headed to work. As…
Discover the physician who made a village his family
I finished my residency training on June 30th, 2000, in a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency program at Ohio State University and Columbus Children’s Hospital (before it was renamed Nationwide Children’s Hospital). One mont…
Surviving my nephrectomy nightmare: the night I’ll never forget
My first post-op night after my nephrectomy was a mix of fantastical and almost devastating. I woke up in the PACU after my surgery, extremely confused and disoriented. I felt like I was trapped inside a video game, desperately trying to escape. Upon e…
Clinicians and management at odds in health care
In a survey conducted by a University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing team led by Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, of 21,050 physicians and nurses at 60 hospitals, it was found that more than 40 percent of clinicians were not confident that hospital management …
How religious freedoms impact patient care
An excerpt from The Catholic Church and Its Hospitals: A Marriage Made in Heaven? The ability of Catholic hospitals and physicians to withhold some medically accepted care from patients based on their own religious and moral beliefs is made possible by…
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 …
The challenge of seeking joy: Navigating the current health care maze
Before delving into the heart of joy’s pursuit, it’s essential to grasp the complexities faced by medical professionals in today’s health care environment. The modern health care system, with all its advancements, presents unique chal…
