Category: KevinMD

When should you be tested for vitamin B12?

Two recent patient experiences prompted this post. In the Wall Street Journal, Dana Hawkins-Simons described several years of being seen by specialist after specialist for her complaints of tiredness, dizziness, ringing in the ears, palpitations, short…

How families maintain hope of improvement, regardless of logic and science

I’ve always thought that I’ve understood illness and mortality very matter-of-factly. You live your life, you’ll most likely end up with some medical conditions along the way, and ultimately everyone’s life will come to an end because the body is not d…

MKSAP: 35-year-old woman with constipation

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 35-year-old woman is evaluated for constipation. She reports passage of hard stool every 3 to 4 days and associated bloating. Her symptoms …

MKSAP: 35-year-old woman with constipation

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 35-year-old woman is evaluated for constipation. She reports passage of hard stool every 3 to 4 days and associated bloating. Her symptoms …

The journey from hand surgeon to entrepreneur

An excerpt from We: Ditch the Me Mindset and Change the World. We use them to greet friends, congratulate acquaintances, and embrace loved ones. To lay bricks, perform surgeries, and sculpt artwork. Everyone uses them thousands of times a day in a vari…

The journey from hand surgeon to entrepreneur

An excerpt from We: Ditch the Me Mindset and Change the World. We use them to greet friends, congratulate acquaintances, and embrace loved ones. To lay bricks, perform surgeries, and sculpt artwork. Everyone uses them thousands of times a day in a vari…

The journey from hand surgeon to entrepreneur

An excerpt from We: Ditch the Me Mindset and Change the World. We use them to greet friends, congratulate acquaintances, and embrace loved ones. To lay bricks, perform surgeries, and sculpt artwork. Everyone uses them thousands of times a day in a vari…

In our health system, who “owns” patients?

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. When talking with patients – particularly those with multiple, complicated medical issues – it often doesn’t take very long to hear about their increasingly sub…

PTSD changed how this physician cared for pregnant women

Appointments with my doctor make me nervous. That’s highly ironic, because I’m a doctor, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who regularly deals with high-risk pregnancies. But ever since developing preeclampsia during my first pregnancy eight years a…

Bringing hospitality back to the hospital: lessons from a bartender

It was a beautiful day in southern California as I made my way along Interstate 5 en route to San Diego from Los Angeles. Seeking a venue near the ocean to get some work done on my computer and maybe a snack with my iced tea, I turned off the interstat…