Exhausted. Aching. Hungry. Slightly delirious. Mile twenty-four of a marathon? Or hour twenty-four of a twenty-eight-hour shift? I am a resident. I am a runner. I am also a rather tired human since, as I type these words, I’m both post-call and p…
Category: KevinMD
Residency training, and training in residency
Exhausted. Aching. Hungry. Slightly delirious. Mile twenty-four of a marathon? Or hour twenty-four of a twenty-eight-hour shift? I am a resident. I am a runner. I am also a rather tired human since, as I type these words, I’m both post-call and p…
A physician’s plea to Santa Claus
I am a pediatric hospitalist in middle America. I believe in you, and I hope that you believe in me. Many of my patients’ parents do not believe in me, you see, and it makes it hard for me to do my job and to take care of these children in the way that…
Doctors and nurses are made to suffer
An excerpt from Please Don’t Die. While I was still writing this book, a local doctor killed himself. This was a younger psychiatrist with a successful practice, leaving three children after shooting himself in the head. What do you imagine his…
Reclaiming our mission in medicine
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. When reading (or writing) blog posts, it’s easy to be left with a mostly negative and often depressing view of the current state of medicine. This is completely understand…
Despite progress in cancer care, cost and equity challenges still must be addressed
As a physician who has spent his career taking care of people with HIV/AIDS, cancer and various blood disorders, this is an amazing time to be working in these overlapping fields of medicine. I began my training when roughly half the people diagnosed w…
How near-death experiences profoundly change lives
An excerpt from The Science of Near-Death Experiences. Near-death experiences are an ancient and very common phenomenon that spans from ancient philosophy, religion, and healing to the most modern clinical practice of medicine. Modern advances in medic…
A medical student’s letter to her parents
Dear Mom and Dad, I love you, and thank you. The rest of this letter is an attempt to write something more eloquent and thoughtful, but those are the best and truest words I can ever speak to you. I made the decision to enter the medical field when the…
Physician gives in to police pressure to conduct a forced invasive rectal exam
Recently, news broke about a disturbing act of medical battery carried out by doctors at St. Joe’s Medical Center in Syracuse, New York. The case began when police officers conducted a pretext stop and elected to harass their victim about a small amoun…
Physician gives in to police pressure to conduct a forced invasive rectal exam
Recently, news broke about a disturbing act of medical battery carried out by doctors at St. Joe’s Medical Center in Syracuse, New York. The case began when police officers conducted a pretext stop and elected to harass their victim about a small amoun…
