Category: KevinMD

The benefits of compassion always outweigh its risks

It was an ordinary afternoon in my outpatient internal medicine rotation. I prepared to enter a room for a congestive heart failure hospital follow-up patient. I mentally prepared myself. I was going to ask for his hospital records (particularly lookin…

Treating a VIP benefactor of a hospital

My local hospital has been petitioning the local city zoning board for permission to build an on-site parking garage for years now.  The city zoning board is very strict about the height of buildings and has turned the requests down repeatedly. This pa…

Why would adult children disapprove of their parent’s happiness?

Going through the process of diagnosis, treatment decision making, and often lengthy treatment without a partner can be challenging. While children, friends, and other family members are supportive, for the single individual, there is no one to talk to…

The new aspirin guidelines: The media does a disservice to patients

Much media attention has been paid to the new guidelines from American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Based on new clinical trial data, ACC/AHA no longer recommends that h…

Physicians: Don’t let administration intimidate you

One of the things I am most grateful for, as a doctor who has worked in at least a dozen different hospitals over the last decade, is the broad range of experiences I’ve had and the variety of physicians I’ve met and gotten to know. I enjoy hearing exp…

3 ways physicians can ensure an early retirement

Owning a medical business is like being a CEO, patient advocate, accountant, human resources manager, medical healer, and office manager all rolled into one.  One job title that most physicians put last in their ever-growing list of roles is that of re…

The problem of disbelieving doctors

All good doctors learn to filter what parents say to them during history taking, to examine each parental statement for reliability, likelihood, and sheer outlandishness. Parents of sick children are a cross-section of humanity and, like all of us, var…

Questions about physician disability insurance answered

As resident physicians with a tight budget, one of the last things on our mind is paying for added insurance. Trust me; I get it. However, as a [future] high-income earners, long-term disability insurance is essential. It may not be at the top of our p…

Are we making artificial intelligence biased?

The tale is told of a large realm, of 1.4 billion, the largest nation in the world. It has a culture that is old, rich and grounded. A citizen’s worth can be understood, determined, exalted or decried. In modern times said country has a visionary leade…

The brutal emotional challenge of medical training

I can vividly remember the day the phone call came. My cousin screaming over the phone, trying to make out words but unable to speak, disbelief, horror, the fear in her voice palpable even though she was thousands of miles away. It was barely 5:30 a.m….