Category: KevinMD

The physician’s paradox of healing

Physicians across all levels of training are familiar with the widely recognized truth that our medical system is broken. This damage is evidenced by a paradox; perhaps it will become the great paradox of our time – physicians who were driven to a prof…

MKSAP: 52-year-old woman with osteoarthritis of the right hip

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 52-year-old woman undergoes perioperative evaluation. She has osteoarthritis of the right hip since sustaining injuries in a motor vehicle …

What Chernobyl can teach physicians about avoiding medical errors

I recently started watching the HBO series Chernobyl, chronicling the events surrounding the 1986 disaster. For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet—I’d highly recommend this excellent production (It’s already deservedly won multiple awards). The great thing …

Eradicate burnout with these 2 simple strategies

You’re at the top of your game. And you are perhaps thinking that this is not how you envisioned life at this stage in your career. Many successful physicians are frustrated that they can’t find the time or energy to be present with their family and fr…

Start with the students: Addressing the future of physician suicide

The first day I sought counseling, I felt like I was committing a crime. Our afternoon anatomy lecture had just ended, and the entirety of our first-year medical class—clad in hunter green scrubs and reciting the intrinsic muscles of the back—paraded i…

How artificial intelligence will affect brain surgery

Brain surgery is getting smarter. The journal Nature Medicine recently published a study that found a new imaging technique that allows pathologists to diagnose brain tumors faster and more accurately than ever before. The study focused on Invenio Imag…

How artificial intelligence will affect brain surgery

Brain surgery is getting smarter. The journal Nature Medicine recently published a study that found a new imaging technique that allows pathologists to diagnose brain tumors faster and more accurately than ever before. The study focused on Invenio Imag…

The impact of economic inequality on the incidence of mass shootings

Gun violence has become a public health epidemic. Despite countless deaths in mass shootings over the last two decades, the Dickey Amendment—a provision inserted into the 1996 spending bill which blocked federal funding for research on gun violence—rem…

A cardiologist’s advice to women: How to keep your heart healthy and happy

One of the most important things to understand about heart health is that a woman’s needs change over time. Risk factors for heart disease like high blood pressure and high cholesterol can become more important as a woman ages.  Hypertension and high c…

In the crucible of mistrust and health care

Trust has always been the foundation of any relationship between a patient and those of us in health care. Clinicians enter patient encounters with the presumption they will be trusted, based on their knowledge and good intentions. But medicine is chan…