Category: KevinMD

Doctor’s orders: Follow these 6 tips to avoid holiday stress

For many of us, “the most wonderful time of the year” is anything but. If we let the holiday season get the better of us, we can find ourselves overeating, overspending, and over-extending from now through New Year’s Eve. Holiday stress has real health…

Nocturia: the underdiagnosed condition patients find extremely distressing

As a family physician, I treat patients of all ages – children to those nearing 100 years old. One issue that plagues young and old alike is lack of sleep. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2016 Morbidity and …

Too much of a good thing when it comes to medicine for older adults

Prevailing wisdom states that more is better — and it is no different when it comes to our expectation of medical treatments. With the help of the internet, patients and their families have come to expect intensive tests, treatments and therapies at ev…

The day when the white coat can be worn with no hesitation at all

It was my first day of orientation at medical school. In a hallway stood a coat rack overflowing with white garments. I set down my accumulated papers, reached for a hanger and — for the first time ever — shrugged first one arm and then the other into …

Dr. Jordan Grumet: Physician Speaking by KevinMD spotlight speaker

Physician Speaking by KevinMD is a boutique speakers bureau founded by Kevin Pho, MD. Today’s spotlight physician speaker is Dr. Jordan Grumet. Dr. Grumet is next speaking in February 2019 at a corporate retreat at Esse Health. Jordan Grumet, MD …

4 financial stages of physicians

As a medical student, you are thrilled to start your residency and to put your four years of studying and clinical rotations to the test. Now the time has come to begin earning a paycheck. This is the beginning of the financial stages of physicians. As…

The simplest treatment is sometimes the best

“I am really uncomfortable and in pain,” said Elaine tearfully as I met her in the preoperative area for the first time. She had a very sad and difficult history, dealing with complications from childbirth nearly two years ago. She had developed a comm…

The Wild West approach to PICU practice

I spent my early and mid-career years working in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at a large academic center. We did almost everything except for a few things esoteric at the time — small bowel transplants, a few kinds of experimental surgery. I’…

The millions of dollars hospitals spend for inspections

Two of my local hospitals just invested 3 to 4 million dollars in preparation for an inspection of the facilities by the Joint Commission. The cost of the inspection runs in the $10 million dollar range after the preparation costs. The inspection is a …

A community-based program that brings patients and pathologists together

When I was in medical school, I loved pathology. The visual learning and deep understanding of disease were attractive enough that after second year, I took an extra year before clinical rotations to work as a post-sophomore fellow, working as a reside…