When patients started showing up in doctors’ offices and emergency departments with coughs, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, chills and weight loss, physicians’ first instincts were that th…
After third-year medicine, I was required to withdraw for handing in an assignment late. It was a paragraph of self-reflection; I couldn’t believe I was being kicked out for something so seemingly inconsequential. My dealings with the faculty bec…
After third-year medicine, I was required to withdraw for handing in an assignment late. It was a paragraph of self-reflection; I couldn’t believe I was being kicked out for something so seemingly inconsequential. My dealings with the faculty bec…
Doctors need to be true to themselves, but at the same time, they must be chameleons. A doctor fills certain roles in the lives and stories of patients. It is a two-way relationship that looks different to each person we serve throughout every workday …
The doctor shortage across the United States is coming and has the potential to be painful to millions of Americans. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by 2023, the country may experience a deficit of up to nearly 122,000 physic…
Start at the origin. Over two, up four. Down three, right six. Left five, up one. Keep connecting the dots. Everything will take shape. I liked graphs. Plotting coordinates — whether it be for a parabola or ellipse — was always calming for me: numbers …
I’m a member of the ACR (American College of Radiology). One of their recent online postings is entitled: Choosing Wisely. Number three (of ten things physicians and patients should question) is: “Avoid admission or preoperative chest X-rays for …
I walk out my front door today to do my obligatory walk around the block with my pups. Two police cars with blue lights flashing, lead a caravan of over 100 motorcyclists to a funeral for one of their fallen brothers. They revved up their motors in the…
The family doctor used to be almost the only source of medical information patients had access to. Now, few people need us to bring them the latest news. It’s there for everyone to see. There’s even too much of it. Today, our role is to help make sense…
My 83-year-old patient had outlived peoples’ expectations on several occasions. Faced with a critical illness three years ago, she underwent emergency surgery and spent several months in the hospital with a series of complications, including sept…