Three years ago, I left the only path I had ever known to pursue uncertainty on the other side of the world. But let me back up. In July of 2011, five years into my career as an academic hospitalist, the residency work hours changed. Although the intent was obviously to benefit the well-being of […]
The trouble began when I needed to open the electronic health record (EHR) system for the tenth time that day. EHRs have significantly changed the way we practice medicine. They have completely eliminated the need for storage and transport of paper charts, reduced prescription errors secondary to illegible handwritings of physicians and provided an excellent […]
Mr. Smith was a sixty-eight-year-old man who came to the Veterans Affairs hospital where I was a medical student complaining of chest pain. “With chest pain, it’s all about the story,” my resident, the physician in charge of our team, said. We talked to him to find out what he was doing when it started, […]
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 77-year-old woman is evaluated for frequently fluctuating INRs (<1.8 to >3.5) while taking warfarin therapy. She has undergone INR testing every 1 to 2 weeks and frequent warfarin dose adjustments. She reports a consistent dietary intake. Medical history is notable […]
In the second week of April, I headed to San Francisco where I took part in the SWOG Semi-Annual Meeting. To those who might be unfamiliar with us, SWOG is a member organization of the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and is tasked in running clinical trials across disease sites and scenarios, from prevention to […]
American physicians dole out lots of unnecessary medical care to their patients. They prescribe things like antibiotics for people with viral infections, order expensive CT scans for patients with transitory back pain, and obtain screening EKGs for people with no signs or symptoms of heart disease. Some critics even accuse physicians of ordering such services […]
The most common hurdle that doctors have is overspending. The notion that good income guarantees great buying power not only delays building financial worth but also confines doctors to lengthier careers than needed. The solution, in a nutshell, is to make sure that we make prudent financial and career choices to complement our financial velocity. […]
With the transition to residency, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about next steps in my career. I even did a self-reflection exercise for a class in which I listed out professional decisions that will come up in the next few years (including choices like fellowship selection, type of practice setting, whether to pursue […]
What is it? Kratom is a powdered herbal supplement derived from the leaves of a tropical evergreen tree that is native to Southeast Asia and is usually taken orally but can also be brewed into teas. It is commonly used by consumers as an alternative medicine to self-treat opioid addiction and chronic pain. The leaves […]
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. I recently saw a new patient who came to our practice following a lengthy hospitalization. He is in his 80s with a fairly complex medical history typical of many in this age range. Yet, after carefully sifting through my first introduction to this […]
