“Yes, there is a pay gap. Female physicians do not work as hard and do not see as many patients as male physicians. This is because they choose to, or simply don’t want to be rushed, or they don’t want to work long hours. Most of the time, their priority is something else … family, […]
I’ve been river rafting just one time in my life. We paid for a guided trip down Idaho’s famous “River of No Return — the Salmon,” and spent the day traveling stretches of rapids and stretches of calm. It was exhilarating enough for a newbie but not enough to ever feel like my life or […]
Do you ever wonder what compels someone to walk away from their current life to leave all they worked for — jobs, spouses, kids — behind? The community around them are caught off guard of how unhappy or unfulfilled or the silent suffering that made their life so hard. We say it is shocking and […]
Recently, a patient came in around 11 p.m., just as the chaos of the day had settled, and I was thinking of rest after 16 hours of work. He was an older gentleman with vague and concerning complaints that would demand a thorough workup. I suspended my thoughts of self-preservation and stepped in to evaluate […]
The pay gap between men and women has been a subject of interest recently, particularly in 2018 reports by Doximity and Medscape. Notably, the gap favors men, is not explained by obvious factors such as hours worked or choice of specialty, and does not seem to be improving. In-depth studies published in the medical literature have examined the relationship between […]
Will physicians go extinct? Artificial intelligence, legislation, profit motives in the health care industry, and clever lobbying by non-physician providers may all contribute to our demise. However, I believe the existential threat to our profession stems from the ranks of physicians themselves. 1. Unwillingness to embrace activism Pathologist and writer Rudolph Virchow once said: “The […]
“I give up! I can’t help these people.” Emily was completing the final month of her emergency medicine residency and flopped into her chair with exasperation. “What’s up?” I asked. We were on the final two hours of our shift together. And I, as her attending, was already feeling apprehensive about the patient encounter that […]
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 49-year-old woman is evaluated during a follow-up visit. She is overweight and has hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus, both of which are well controlled. For several years, she has attempted to lose weight through various commercial diets; dietician-monitored, calorie-restricted […]
Physicians are overwhelmed by patient loads, 10-minute visits, the wealth of documentation dictated by health insurance requirements and the overwhelming overtaking of medicine by non-physician personnel. Wellness programs abound, which addresses the symptoms of a problem. As medicine changed from patient to profit-centered, it marked the beginning of the end. We see articles on physicians […]
While hundreds of doctors have submitted (mostly unfavorable) comments to CMS on the proposed evaluation and management changes, there are other issues which seem to be receiving much less attention than they deserve. And one of those may hit physicians who perform procedures in the wallet. In 2015, Congress asked CMS to analyze the global […]
