Category: KevinMD

An emergency physician with no friends

Every time I call a friend, all I have for them is more work. I’ve never yet called to say: “I hope you’re having a great day. Why don’t you take a break and have some fun? You’ve worked enough.” Nope. I only call to give them extra work. Whether it’s …

The questions clinicians never think to ask

The chief complaint was belly pain. He described the pain as both dull and crampy. It came and went, but bothered him the most on the same night of each week. The notes from the primary care doctor show a thoughtful search for the underlying cause. The…

The folly of using money to improve health care quality

Imagine you’re a CEO in charge of a health care organization with thousands of physicians and 19 hospitals. Overall, the quality of care delivered is good. Prices and costs are low. But there is a problem: Patients rate your service below average. Maki…

Physicians: Don’t make these mistakes when looking for your first job

We all have either experienced the fears of starting our first job or will eventually do so at some point in our careers.  It only happens once for everyone.  Those of us who are in the market for a job change will end up reliving some of the challenge…

A physician who’s always in control

My friends and family used to say that I was born 30 years old.  I get it.  From the time I was young, I was controlled, risk-averse, studious, and polite.  In addition to the fact that I was naturally reserved, I learned over time to do my best not to…

Will the public be able to resist the pitch from 23andMe?

Just because something is legal, doesn’t make it right. Just because we enjoy a right of free speech, doesn’t mean we should be verbally insulting people. Just because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a treatment or a test, doesn’t mean …

Be careful of assigning the diagnosis of ADHD to young children just entering school

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common diagnosis in children today, and is increasingly a diagnosis assigned to adults, too. ADHD is a real thing, despite some having some skeptics and a few outright denialists; differences in brai…

Celebrate the contributions immigrants make to our health care system

Congratulations to ZDoggMD’s latest, One Sikh, an ode to all the immigrant clinicians who care for our most vulnerable patients.
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Why medical students need more continuity of care training

One of the major challenges of being on medical school rotations is the necessity of changing rotations every four weeks, and how adapting to each new specialty feels like going through the first day of school all over again. I want to share my experie…

Breastfeeding and newborn hospitalization rates: What should be done about it?

An August 2018 paper in Academic Pediatrics found an unsettling conclusion: Breastfed newborns have about double the risk of needing to be hospitalized in their first month of life, compared to babies who were formula-fed. The numbers are solid, and th…