Category: Hospital-Based Medicine

Is direct contracting an answer to soaring health costs?

Colorado’s ski resort areas in Summit County have a high cost of living, among the highest in the country. The people who visit these places — Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper Mountain ­— can afford it. Many of those who live and work there can’t, esp…

The medical record often doesn’t capture the care of the clinician team

While my forty-year parts warranty expired some time ago, leaving me with a snapped fibular styloid process not long after, the ensuing twenty-five years have not resulted in any serious medical encounters until last week.  Following a very pleasant ea…

Communicating honestly with patients about uncertainty

When looking at the way medical education and patient care is delivered, there is no question that there is a culture of “knowing.” From the moment a pre-med enters high school, they are bombarded with tests that assess knowledge. This extends througho…

Communicating honestly with patients about uncertainty

When looking at the way medical education and patient care is delivered, there is no question that there is a culture of “knowing.” From the moment a pre-med enters high school, they are bombarded with tests that assess knowledge. This extends througho…

Why millennials in medicine want a different dress code

The millennial generation is known for its desire and ability to change the status quo. As this group continues to enter and dominate the workforce, particularly as our current residents and medical students, employers are adjusting their long-held pra…

4 actionable tips for new medical interns

People often compare internship to drinking from a fire hose. Overwhelmed by new information and workflow, interns (especially international) usually do not have a clear direction about how to optimize their working/learning experience. Here are some t…

As a patient, I never understood the heartbreakingly human toll our system takes on clinicians

Let’s get right to it: This is an apology letter to frontline clinicians. And a call to action. I’m a patient advocate, and I’ve spent most of the last 20 years fighting for patient- and family-centered care in national laws and regulations, and in loc…

Becoming a doctor in India can be life-threatening

Recently, my niece gingerly confided that she was going to study engineering rather than medicine. I was certain she’d become a doctor – so deep was her love for biology and her deference to our family tradition. But she calculated, as would anyone wit…

The white coat serves as a daily reminder of the Hippocratic oath

My classmate and I looked at each other with amusement and embarrassment as we learned that all medical students would now be required to launder their white coats at the hospital. After several complaints that medical student’s white coats did not app…

What this medical student learned as a legal extern

As a law student, I recently was a legal extern at a hospital this summer. It’s a crazy thought because when I started medical school back in Fall 2015, my bus would pass through the pick-up/drop off zone at the hospital every single day at 7:43 a.m. I…