Five months ago, “little kids” started visiting my father-in-law, stealing things. The hallucinations and dementia progressed, and we were forced to move him to a memory care unit. Memory care unit is the polite term for a lockup unit for p…
Category: KevinMD
This pediatrician gives her kids candy on Halloween. Here are 7 guilt-free candy tips.
I’m a pediatrician, mom of three. And to many, this may come as a surprise, but yes, I give my kids candy on Halloween. And I don’t mean the organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, no artificial colors or flavoring, good for you “treats.”…
Why developing new antibiotics is a losing battle
“We believe that the current entrepreneurial development model for antibiotics is broken and needs to be fundamentally transformed.” This provocative opinion is from a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine. The introductio…
Why your doctor may be concerned about prescribing benzodiazepines
As an academic psychiatrist who treats people with anxiety and trauma, I often hear questions about a specific class of medications called benzodiazepines. I also often receive referrals for patients who are on these medications and reluctant to discon…
The bedside nurse is under siege
Nurses are the very heart of health care. These wonderful professionals work tirelessly for the good of their patients, spending the most time with them and often being their biggest advocates and best friends during what is a frightening experience in…
An appreciation for a hospital volunteer
Did I ever get to thank you for helping me? I am one of the pediatric residents you see running around like a headless chicken. We first met over a year ago when I was just a wee intern. You helped me calm an anxious boy who was about to get stitches. …
A guide to couples matching
I consider myself one of the lucky ones because my wife and I couples matched to the same institution for residency. At the time we put our residency match lists in, we were just boyfriend and girlfriend, and the decision to couples match felt like a b…
The stigma of motherhood in medicine
Women who become doctors must often choose between motherhood and medicine. I’m a mother and a surgeon. I never thought of choosing between the two, even though my employers often asked me to. Today I work as a trauma surgeon in a busy practice. It’s b…
The “heart” way to victory
An excerpt from Heart To Beat: A Cardiac Surgeon’s Inspiring Story of Success and Overcoming Adversity―The Heart Way. What if we approached life’s challenges and setbacks like our own hearts continuously strive to meet the demands of our body—unrelenti…
An analysis of Joe Biden’s health plan
If the Democrats capture the White House, keep the House and take over the Senate, no matter who they elect as president, this Biden health care outline, not Medicare for all, will likely be the plan Democrats embrace in 2021. The Biden health care pro…
