It’s been said that 80 percent of success is showing up, but that’s simply not true. Showing up is not enough. Showing up reliably and giving your best is not enough. You’ve got to be seen showing up. So, how do you raise your professional visibility? Here are five tips for the modern physician leader. […]
Category: KevinMD
Music is creating beauty in the most surprising of places
“Good morning, Mr. S! How are you feeling today?” I ask as I step into his hospital room. Yesterday, Mr. S was admitted for infective endocarditis and has been tolerating antibiotic treatment well. I am a medical student on my acute cardiology rotation taking care of him. “I’m feeling fine,” he says, and I proceed […]
A young mother’s close call with opioid dependence
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Every physician takes the Hippocratic oath and promises to “do no harm.” In the face of the current opioid epidemic, this includes protecting our patients from dependence and addiction, including those who are suffering from debilitating acute and chronic pain. Sometimes this involves getting creative […]
An orthopedic surgeon’s take on the e-scooter craze
A number of major cities have seen shared e-scooters, or electrical scooters, take over their streets. It’s certainly popular with the riders, but it is creating waves with a lot of critics as well. In Portland, Oregon, there are four companies trialing the scooters over a several-month period. Driving around my city, I find that […]
Moving beyond National Women Physicians Day
The supervising resident’s Voalte phone dinged: “Dr. Mel: Please meet Dr. Rosemond at room 514 for Cardiology rounds.” She scrolled up a few texts and saw that her male counterpart who had rounded the previous day had been addressed as “Dr. Stearnes.” When Mel mentioned the discrepancy to Jacob Stearnes, he just shrugged and said, […]
MKSAP: 48-year-old man with a 4-week history of heartburn
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 48-year-old man is evaluated for a 4-week history of heartburn that awakens him at night. The symptoms occur about three times per week. He has been taking over-the-counter antacids with incomplete relief. Food triggers include coffee and spicy foods. He […]
Why “happy” doctors commit suicide
He was the go-to sports guy in Washington, DC. A masterful surgeon with countless academic publications, he trained orthopaedic surgeons across the world and was the top physician for professional sports teams and Olympians. Dr. Benjamin Shaffer had it all. Yet Ben was more than a stellar surgeon. He was a kind, sweet, brilliant, and […]
3 ways we’ve failed woman who breastfeed
I have two hours until I’m due to breastfeed my seventh-month-old baby again, so I’ll make this quick: Breastfeeding is really hard for many and our environment and current policy context makes it even harder. The month of August has been declared “National Breastfeeding Month” by the United States Breastfeeding Committee — an organization committed […]
The price of being a compassionate doctor is often worth it
Watching patients suffer and die is not an easy thing to do. Left unchecked, I don’t think most front-line doctors would last too long immersed in that kind of setting. First, the emotional toll would be too high to maintain over a long period of time. Second, working at the extremes of emotion doesn’t allow […]