Category: KevinMD

The tide is turning: a pro-vaccine Facebook thread

People often say that they can die happy if … Well, I have no intention of dying, but one of my goals in life was achieved recently. Historically, Facebook moms groups have been the bane of existence for many physicians, particularly pediatricians. We …

Refuse to accept that burnout is a natural experience in health care

Burnout is a myth. Dedicated clinicians, working under circumstances that connect their skills and compassion with opportunities to impact patients, won’t experience burnout any more often than they might by doing other jobs. The story we tell — …

The story of an attending’s empathy

“Hey, you’re a med student. Right?” “Yes, I am. Do you need me to scrub in?” “That would be wonderful, yes! Everyone is either out on vacation or is sick. It’s just me and the resident.” “OK, I&#821…

America has seen medical marijuana before: This is what we learned (and forgot)

Very few things in the universe are 100 percent good or 100 percent bad. Cannabis is perfectly ordinary in having a mixture of good qualities (medical benefits) and bad qualities (medical risks). The people who want to make money – lots of money, by th…

“Doctor” or first name: Which do you prefer?

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com. “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.” So go the famous lyrics from the theme song for “Cheers,” the iconic sitcom of the 1980s. The name thing can get re…

MKSAP: 79-year-old man with headaches, nausea, visual disturbance, and difficulty speaking

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 79-year-old man is evaluated for a 2-month history of progressively worsening headaches, nausea, visual disturbance, and difficulty speakin…

What do the Challenger disaster and medicine have in common?

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff, resulting in the death of the entire seven-person crew. The subsequent investigation revealed that a joint in the right solid rocket booster failed during liftoff, w…

Understanding 6 trends shaping health care through gastroenterology

If you throw a pebble today, it’s likely to land on an article that talks about how artificial intelligence and its brother — machine learning — are changing health care. Yes, I get it broadly. But I was curious to explore how exactly health care…

3 tools doctors can use to prevent burnout

It was a beautiful warm mid-July morning in Minnesota. And I was taken by surprise by my feeling of complete and utter contentment. I was with my family bicycling around a lake on a smooth groomed gravel path surrounded by trees, ferns and so many shad…

A pediatrician’s tips for your kids’ snacking habits

Parents often ask me about snacks for their children once they are eating table food. Should they even give them snacks? If so, what kinds are good for them, and how often? In general, after age one I recommend three kid-size meals and 1 to 2 snacks to…