“You have the good cancer.” These are the most common words that spill out of providers’ mouths to patients just being diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. However, this statement does not make this diagnosis any easier to compreh…
Category: Oncology/Hematology
A holiday wish for lung cancer screening
In November, Mariah Carey defrosts for another holiday season with her iconic tune, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” and social media floods platforms with content about Black Friday and the holidays. November is also Lung Cancer Awarenes…
My 5-minute conversation with a suicide hotline expert
Sandy was sent to me by her primary care physician for evaluation of anemia. As I reviewed her chart, I explained to the medical student that the blood work showed a lifelong benign condition called alpha thalassemia trait that she was born with. It ha…
What it means to leave clinical medicine [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “Not too long ago, a circumstance occurred. I have experienced similar circumstances several times in my career. However, this time, my response was different. It was like a switch in…
Integrated care is the key to optimizing cancer outcomes
The American Cancer Society released its annual report on cancer statistics, showing that we have made clear and significant progress in treating numerous forms of cancer. The overall rate of death has declined steadily since 1991, translating to over …
Urging patience with patient self-advocacy [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “I have come to appreciate why doctors find self-directed patients challenging, if not downright difficult. I wish all docs would engage with us, hear us out, and offer an explanation…
Better guidelines that consider breast density are critical for women’s health
October 27th is the 30th anniversary of the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA). Congress enacted this law to safeguard nationwide access to quality mammography to detect breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. With this Act, the fed…
Say “I love you” often and mean it
I normally start October off by changing my Facebook profile picture to a pink survivor ribbon and celebrating my breast cancer survivorship, but this October was different. I slept on October 1st because I had spent 48 hours at Gulf Coast Medical Cent…
Doctors are like hamsters running on an exercise wheel to nowhere [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “No wonder doctors feel like hamsters running on an exercise wheel to nowhere. And this sense of futility is driving burnout. How much patient care will you get out of docs who have m…
When patients want their doctors to heal [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “I think it’s much more likely that my patients — some of whom are terminal and facing their own mortality; others who are suffering through a multitude of side effects from their can…
