Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 46-year-old man is evaluated for intermittent rectal bleeding of 3 months’ duration. He is otherwise well and takes no medications. His father had a few polyps removed from the colon when he was 71 years old, but no other details […]
Category: KevinMD
Why medical errors can never be completely eliminated
A patient with progressive neurologic disorder had a gastrojejunal tube placed for feeding. In a nursing home, the tube fell out and was replaced with a Foley catheter. He was sent to the hospital for placement of a new tube. When he arrived in the interventional radiology suite, the Foley catheter was not visible. A […]
A case for paying doctors more
Engaging in an economic conversation about the conventional compensation of a physician leads one to believe that doctors are well-to-do. In the minds of most citizens, school-tuition board members and even local neighbors, if you’re a physician the presumption is that you are economically prosperous, maybe even rich. This sociological assumption probably sounds false to […]
A physician’s group disability nightmare
My last operative day was October 15, 2009. My last attempt at getting to understand my group disability policy was on May 10, 2018. I’m a disabled anesthesiologist who lost his career when my left median nerve stopped functioning properly. I had two disability policies, a private and a group. My dealings with these two […]
Is there a case against shared decision making?
In a matter of less than a decade, “shared decision-making” (SDM) has emerged as the uncontested principle that must inform doctor-patient relationships everywhere. Consistently lauded by ethicists and medical academics alike, it has attracted the attention of the government which is now threatening to penalize doctors and patients who do not participate in SDM prior […]
MKSAP: 55-year-old woman with an eating disorder
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 55-year-old woman is evaluated for a new-patient visit. Medical history is significant for an eating disorder. Although she has maintained a normal weight for the past 20 years, she notes that prior to that time her weight would fluctuate in […]
What type of returns should you expect from the stock market in the future?
No one can predict the future, but when making projections for things like retirement planning, what investment return should you expect? What do we mean by “investment return?” Before we get into the numbers, we need to go through a few definitions. Nominal returns vs. real returns These are just fancy words for before-inflation and […]
A return to the problem-oriented SOAP note
CMS is changing note requirements, among other changes. Bob Doherty has a wonderful summary: “Medicare’s historic proposal to change how it pays physicians.” As always, we really will have a difficult time sorting out the unintended consequences of these changes, but they certainly seem like a move in the proper direction. To me the most […]