Category: KevinMD

A reflection of a physician’s firsts

Your first is always special. It is a mixture of youthful inexperience, awkwardness, anticipation, and giddiness that creates a cacophony of emotions and physical changes that is hard to describe unless you have experienced it yourself. Your repertoire…

Which retirement account is best for physicians?

Whether you are starting a new job, like me, or extending the contract at your current one, part of the process may involve signing up for retirement accounts. Most people have heard of a 401(k), but you may have other options available to you such as …

If you want something done right, have other people do it

The line, “If you want something done right, do it yourself,” is complete bull. To run a successful business of any kind — but especially to run a thriving medical practice — you have to make sure you’re using your time wisely and pro…

When physicians focus more on screens than patients

As Wei Wei Lee sat with her doctor to discuss starting a family, she felt a “distance” between them. The physician was busy on the computer and focused on the screen. “It just didn’t feel very personal,” Lee said. “I didn’t feel heard.” It seemed as th…

What to do when physicians get subpoenaed as witnesses

You’re a clinician. You had a patient die under your care, and now your hospital is being sued. You are not named in the lawsuit, but you are being asked to give a deposition. How much of your time is this going to take? If some lawyer sends you …

4 easy ways to combat toxic perfectionism

What was the first question that popped into your head last time you had an adverse outcome with a patient? If you’re anything like me, it was: “What did I miss?” As physicians, we tend to be very hard on ourselves. It starts as undergrads (we must get…

Primary Care First: CMS develops a value-based primary care program for independent practices

The monumental shift in health care from fee-for-service or a volume-based approach to value-based care will change health care delivery for the better in the United States.  When physicians do what is necessary and avoid over-testing and procedures of…

5 powerful words you can say to patients

Our job as health care professionals is not just to diagnose our patients by applying our scientific knowledge and clinical skills, but also to be the “communicator-in-chief,” “listener-in-chief,” and “reassurer-in-chief.” Any doctor who doesn’t fully …

Paltering: When the truth is used to deceive

One evening in the clinic’s bullpen provider office, a colleague of mine wondered aloud how to respond to a difficult question a patient asked via patient portal message. A physician within earshot responded, “Just because someone asks you a question d…

The re-education of a physician into the school of pain

Since childhood, I have suffered from severe stabbing headaches. Then in my first year of medical school in anatomy, as we peeled back the scalp of our cadaver, I saw a nerve poking out of a muscle on the back of the skull. With a flash, I knew that I …