Beeeeeeeeeeep. The unmistakable long beep of my bright-red code pager broke the rhythmic sound of my trusty breast pump. I grabbed the pager silently praying it was a “test page.” No such luck. As I read the Code 45 message, I heard the overhead announ…
One time, I applied for an emergency department (ED) nurse manager position. I thought I had the job locked up until I was asked during the interview how I would “enforce metrics.” “Enforce.” My holistic, qualitative research-based response to this aut…
This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com. Wide open spaces. Fresh, clean air. No people for miles around. The advantages of rural living are plentiful, but there are disadvantages, too, especially when it comes to health care; being way out …
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 25-year-old woman is evaluated during a follow-up visit for an 18-month history of ankylosing spondylitis. She has minimal lower back pain …
My 81-year-old patient came in several weeks ago and disclosed that he had stopped taking his aspirin after watching a news report on television. “They said I didn’t need it anymore,” he told me. I gently informed him that this news didn’t apply to him…
About two months ago, a 15-year-old Native American male was riding around in a stolen car on the reservation. “M” and the driver were drinking. And somehow, after he exited the vehicle at 4 a.m., the car struck him. Hours later, it became clear that s…
May 2016, Kijabe, Kenya I arrived in casualty (the emergency department) to see a minimally responsive Kenyan boy with a body wasted from malnutrition. His mother stood at the bedside cradling his head, her eyes full of fear. His parents had traveled f…
There has been a profound deterioration in the education of our medical students. I only make this contention after having taught over a hundred medical students across five continents, often one-on-one and for extended periods. Although the majority o…
Among modern industrialized nations, only the United States endures the current public health epidemic of firearm-assisted injury and death. In 2017, nearly 40,000 people were shot to death in the U.S., while proponents of the Second Amendment continue…
My dad flew to California in the spring to meet his grandson, who was about five months old at the time. He wasn’t that interested in baby care. He mostly wanted to sight-see and spend the evenings watching TV. One weekday morning, he ventured out on a…
