Category: KevinMD

Doctors need to vote. And doctors need to help them.

Doctors need to vote. Everyone should vote, of course, but doctors have a unique perspective on some of the most important issues of the day, and it’s time we express that perspective in the one place it matters most: the ballot box. Whether it’s the a…

Prescribing unnecessary antibiotics is the path of least resistance

During my urgent care shifts, I see 20 to 30 people with viral upper respiratory infections. They are all feeling miserable, and they just want to feel better. They want an impressive-sounding diagnosis to justify their suffering to themselves, their s…

When Western medicine fails patients and clinicians

It’s a common scenario: a patient shows up to my office lugging a bagful of over-the-counter supplements, defiantly informing me that they “don’t believe in prescription drugs.” In the very next breath, they present a lab slip with a list of bloodwork …

Physicians are more than their jobs

I had a strange thought that both delighted and frightened me in my intern year: I was sitting in my parent’s living room, exhausted. I had been fortunate enough to complete residency near my parents and visited with them pretty regularly. I realized t…

6 ways to better work with physician recruiters

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com. When searching for a new job, building strong relationships is an important part of the process, especially when you’re working with a physician recruiter. The relationship you create with your recru…

MKSAP: 79-year-old man with a sacral ulcer

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 79-year-old man is evaluated for pain in the buttocks region. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin large B-cell lymphoma 6 months ago. Althoug…

It’s time we start voting at our local hospitals

Early voting began recently in Texas with unprecedented excitement, as a record 15 million registered voters made their way to the polls. Reports say polls are looking more like Black Friday shopping lines than early voting locations. Although we canno…

Stop blaming senior moments

“He’s having a senior moment.” That dismissive phrase seems harmless, but, in reality, it leads to devastating, debilitating disease. I firmly believe that a generation from now, people will not know the pain of watching a loved one slip into oblivion….

Being a physician was never the objective. The goal was becoming one.

There is a saying among students that medical education is like “taking a drink out of a fire hydrant.” The simile evokes the torrent of information and the impossibility of taking it all in. The type of people who are admitted to medical school aren&#…

Beware of food sensitivity tests on Facebook

Facebook. Where else could I stumble on a video of a baby hippo taking a bath, or Toto’s Africa performed on solo Harp? But among the shares and silliness and talent, there’s a dark side to Facebook. It’s become a fast way for quacks to push their scam…