It was a simple chief complaint: sore throat and fever. As expected, the little girl’s rapid Strep was positive. Instructions given. Antibiotics sent. This was Peds 101. But for some reason, before mom walked out the door, she made mention of their sta…
Since starting medical school, I have struggled to answer this question. Because medical school is everything. It’s amazing, challenging, soul-sucking, life-giving, exhausting, dream-fulfilling, anxiety-provoking, interesting, and, dare I say, fun? How…
The science of complexity lays a conceptual foundation for understanding “complex adaptive systems.” What all complex adaptive systems have in common is that they are all bound by the same set of physical laws. Their “behavior,”…
One question I get asked a lot lately is this: “Is it OK for me to use CBD oil?” First of all, CBD oil and associated preparations are types of alternative medications, medicines that might not be mainstream or readily prescribed by doctors, but are n…
For more than 30 minutes, Robert Findley lay unconscious in the back of an ambulance next to Mercy Hospital Fort Scott on a frigid February morning with paramedics hand-pumping oxygen into his lungs. A helipad sat just across the icy parking lot from t…
What has the medical community, once thought of as the “ultimate team,” finally come down to in 2019? The “back in my day” sigh I often hear from more senior physicians has inspired me to read several books about the history of medicine. As I devoured …
Take one-half tablet three times per day with meals, increasing by half each week until reaching a maximum of three tablets three times per day. Did you get a new prescription from your doctor? If so, there is a 50 percent chance you will not adhere to…
Back in 2006, I settled into my career as an emergency room physician. It was then when I started working in multiple hospital groups in several cities in Arizona and Texas to maximize my earning potential. The strategy worked. I was able to make enoug…
I was a 22-year-old intern, just about to finish my public health internship. I had an ambitious career ahead of me. I was trained as a public health educator. I was doing wellness fairs, writing newsletters, and excited to get to the next stage of my …
Toward the end of my clinical rotations, I met Salma, a 34-year-old woman who came from Egypt with her family to the U.S. two years ago. Wearing a latte-colored hijab, she was here at the hospital to care for her father, who had a case of congestive he…
