Category: KevinMD

Telehealth education: What do we actually need for our clinical practice?

As we go through our careers, we are given the responsibility of educating the next generation of students and residents to become proficient and competent in medicine. In telehealth, which also requires training my colleagues, is it necessary? If so, …

Move quickly because Parkinson’s builds slowly

When a patient comes to me long after he or she suspects that something is amiss, I tell them, “I understand.” I know why they had ignored their tremors for too long. I understand why they had dismissed their balance issues as insignificant. Depictions…

A nurse willing to forgive others. And to forgive herself.

I was 5 years old on a busy New York City street with my mom, dad, and two sisters. A large man in shabby clothes holding a garbage bag in his hand stood on the corner waiting for the light to change. My dad reached into his wallet and handed the stran…

The problem with these specific words in health care

Words are powerful. So few symbols can evoke such deep feelings and rouse incredible emotion: “I have a dream.” Language is the achievement that makes us who we are. But while you, I and everyone else employ the same words to communicate sh…

Be mindful of the language we use in medicine

At LGBTQ health conferences, I am always impressed by how much care and consideration is given to providing a safer space for all who are present. For example, the check-in process typically involves a volunteer asking the attendee whether or not they …

Planetary health has become the major determining factor of human health

On the matter of climate change and global warming, the fuse is lit. The current epoch of Earth is the “Anthropocene,” meaning that for the foreseeable future, the destiny of our planet will be mainly determined by human activity. In the past half-cent…

How to choose the right rehab option after a hospital stay

This is the scenario. You (or your mother) were admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. On the third day a cheery continuing care nurse comes in and says, “You don’t have a fever, and the doctors feel you can be discharged to finish your course of ant…

A patient’s last 24 hours

There are those 25 minutes before my workday begins that I either drive in silence, or blare the radio and jam out to pop hits priming myself for the unexpected hours ahead. When the music is loud, and the tempo is upbeat, it transports me back to bein…

Senator Walsh: Thank you for uniting us

Senator Walsh … thank you. Because of your flagrant words against some of the hardest-working members of our medical community, we have united to stand against you and rally for our “card-playing” nurses. Like most of my medical famil…

Our work goes beyond the hospital

There is a species of jellyfish that exists only in one lake on this entire planet.  Every morning, before the sun rises, these jellyfish travel to the surface of the lake so that algae that live within them can photosynthesize and produce glucose for …