Category: KevinMD

Fasting for Ramadan and being the on-call orthopedic trauma resident

A patient groans in agony lying atop a rigid spine board, carried by paramedics into the ER, his neck in a protective collar. The paramedics shout a summary of the accident. Monitors are attached to the man, flashing and beeping the cadence of vital si…

How is Alex Trebek doing with his pancreatic cancer treatment?

In a recent People article, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek shared some good news. Diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in March, Trebek said he was told that he has been responding very well to his chemotherapy regimen, and that he’s in “ne…

A medical student’s reflection of “firsts”

It is honorable to fight a battle in the face of an inevitable ending while not knowing when that end may come. First day of third year — the year most medical students take a sigh of relief as they put their Step 1 book on the shelf and prepare to fac…

What health care can learn from a robotic delivery service

Several weeks ago, as I was walking through the halls of our hospital, out from an intersecting hallway drove a robotic delivery cart. Unmanned and adorned with sensors so it could tell where it was in the world, it motored along on its way, heading so…

Being an emergency physician is magical

A great deal has been written about physician burnout, especially in emergency medicine. Inefficient electronic medical records, rapidly decreasing resources, increasing job demands, litigation risks, huge debt burdens from training, and on and on. But…

Being an emergency physician is magical

A great deal has been written about physician burnout, especially in emergency medicine. Inefficient electronic medical records, rapidly decreasing resources, increasing job demands, litigation risks, huge debt burdens from training, and on and on. But…

What happens when doctors discriminate against patients?

Physicians have a long history of discriminating against patients, and racial discrimination only scratches the surface of current problems facing patients who seek access to care. The Tuskegee Syphilis trials demonstrated how the medical community exp…

The problem with calling physician burnout a human rights violation or a moral injury

Our profession is in crisis, but “human rights violations” and “moral injury” are inaccurate terms to use. It may be surprising to some that I am writing this piece as I am viewed as a staunch physician advocate. In 2017, I was …

A new rule that could be a game changer for health care

As President Donald Trump was fighting with Congress over the shutdown and funding for a border wall, his administration implemented a new rule that could be a game changer for health care. Now, hospitals must publicly reveal the contents of their mast…

Should we change resident duty hours?

As I listened to my attending explain how during her residency training she was on call every third night, I realized how the definition of “call” had significantly changed since that time. For her, it meant her shift started at 6 a.m. and …