In observing trends among my patient encounters, to me, there appears to be a distinct difference in clinical encounters between more “holistically-minded” patients and more “traditionally-minded” patients, for lack of better te…
Category: KevinMD
Advice from a “xennial” physician to aspiring physicians
I am considered a “xennial” physician. Not quite a millennial — but also not fitting into the generation of the respected preceptors I had in medical school and residency. I took my MCAT via paper and pencil. My mini boards during my clinical rotations…
Don’t miss this adverse drug reaction when tapering benzodiazepines
“Alice Woods” is dying of metastatic breast cancer, but she cares little for awareness efforts like pink ribbons and catchy hashtags like #stage4needsmore. You see, Alice has akathisia due to an adverse effect from discontinuing Klonopin — a condition …
A proximate cause of wrongful death
An excerpt from Wrongful Deaths. “We will name Memorial Hospital, Dr. Julie Stone, Dr. Vijay Gupta, and ICU nurse Tracy Miller in a malpractice suit involving the wrongful death of Ivy Jackson.” Venjer appeared apologetic. “But Dr. Torrins is correct. …
Why this physician never considered any specialty other than family medicine
I never considered any specialty other than family medicine. I always saw the other specialties as necessary but supportive adjuncts. I always thought that the other specialties were all fascinating in their own way but saw them more as a part of a lib…
Before ordering a genetic test, get to know GINA
Health care providers and even consumers who order their own genetic testing should really get to know GINA. Who or what is GINA? Is it some new virtual voice-activated personal assistant? Is she a new Italian superstar? Neither choice is correct. GINA…
The surprising thing this patient was missing
She had everything she needed. Her husband had died long ago. But the fortune he left her would suffice. She had given up on mansions long ago. There were no children, so who needed the space? She was happy as can be in her little condo in the cit…
A medical student as a patient. She thanks her support systems.
Two weeks ago, while I was helping with an emergency medicine course that I’m a teaching assistant for, I started feeling extremely light-headed, and the chest tightness that I had dismissed as heartburn earlier that morning got worse. I was tended to …
5 health care lessons from the mid-term elections
This seems to be the big take-home message from voters the mid-term elections, which bodes well for preserving gains from the Affordable Care Act and expanding coverage. Health care was the number 1 issue for voters according to several exit polls, b…
5 reasons why this male physician went part-time
Recently, Crispy Doc ran an interview with Vagabond MD that highlighted his road to part-time work. This struck a chord with me as I’ve considered doing the same despite being in my second year as an attending physician. In fact, Crispy Doc and I had…
