Category: KevinMD

It’s OK if doctors can’t memorize everything

The storage capacity of the human mind is amazing. One estimate of the size of the brain’s “RAM” is as high as  2.5 petabytes (a million gigabytes). The number is based on the total number of neurons in the brain and the total number of possible connec…

Gender bias in medicine: What can women physicians do to overcome it?

The United States has been a slow brewing cauldron of gender bias for years. With increasing tensions and an unspoken, formidable energy in most workplaces and educational institutions, women have grown restless. The culmination has and is resulting in…

We are healers and advocates. The two roles are inseparable.

In my urban primary care clinic, creativity and advocacy are some of our most basic tools. Recently, one of our residents brought up a homeless patient’s social barriers to colorectal cancer screening: no companion to escort her home from a colonoscopy…

A mercy killer in the ER

An excerpt from Mercy. I love kids. Pretty kids. Nice kids. Normal kids. Not this. This is not a kid. This is thirty pounds of human flesh kept alive by devices. Peg tube, tracheostomy, ventilator. He’s got contractures everywhere. He’s so folded he’d …

An American doctor in Rome

An excerpt from Dottoressa: An American Doctor in Rome. When I migrated from the banks of the East River to the Tiber shores the path was strewn with bureaucratic boulders, land-mines, and pitfalls. I offer the tale of my odyssey as an object lesson to…

Should the government regulate hearing aids as consumer electronic products?

As a pharmacy technician, I watched countless individuals speak with a pharmacist about how different drug therapies work, and what they should know before taking any pharmaceuticals. But I also have a hearing loss, and as a patient myself, I am struck…

The orthopedic objectification of women

A recent uproar in Twitterverse regarding the publication of certain images has sparked further debate after the response from publishers. The images represent scantily clad women with socially “ideal” body-types, seductively eyeing the cam…

It takes a village to be a physician today

After my second child was born, I realized a harsh truth: I could not be everything to everyone. It took me almost 30 years to understand this. I was working as a full-time physician with unpredictable hours. I was trying desperately to make it all wor…

Vapers may be using more nicotine than they realize

Lucas McClain started smoking cigarettes in high school but switched to vaping after he heard e-cigarettes were a safer alternative. His vape of choice became the Juul, the king of electronic cigarettes — which comes with a king-size nicotine hit. Now …

A parent shares health care lessons with my son as he begins medical school

Dear Alex, As you realize your destiny, I want to share the lessons I have learned in my 45 years on the front lines of health care. I am hoping they will serve you well on your journey. First and foremost, love what you do. Have fun with the people wh…