Sometimes it is hard for hospitals to provide expensive care to poor patients. When a low-income patient needs $20,000 of chemotherapy, a hospital loses money if that patient cannot pay for the medicine, or pays through Medicaid, with its relatively st…
You wouldn’t have known it by looking, but Viktor had once been on several modestly successful television shows. He lived for acting. It brought him joy and purpose. So much so that it was the first thing he mentioned to any who happen to pass through …
I want to share how the era of immunotherapy, specifically immune-checkpoint-inhibitors, has changed the landscape of community oncology practice in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, for oncologists and, more importantly, patients. I want to tell …
I never really had a true mentor. Or role model. I wasn’t sure if they were the same thing, or what the difference was, so I gave up. Sometime in middle school, I remember a teacher encouraging us to find someone we looked up to and develop a mentor re…
These days we are talking more about advanced directives and living wills in health care. This is progress, but as a member of the sandwich generation, I am focused on the aging process. I don’t have kids, but I have parents and have the honor of watch…
President Trump wants $5 billion for his border wall — right now — and another $7 billion (or maybe $13 billion) later on to finish the project. What else could we do with that kind of money? Here’s an idea: with $12 billion we could cover ALL 3….
We learn about it in school as a formula. There is a checklist that we are given, and we ask our patients these eight questions and then calculate whether or not they have depression. It’s so simple. Anyone can do it! I never once thought that I would …
Stepping into a hospital for the first time as a clinical medical student is a strange dichotomy. There is still so much you have to learn before you will become a physician, but you are quickly thrust into life-and-death situations. One of my early ro…
As a first-generation college graduate with the honor of earning my MD and PhD at a federally funded medical scientist training program (MSTP) and nearly no debt upon embarking on the journey of residency, I have a lot to live for and am grateful for a…
Part 3 of a series. Patients with advanced cancer are particularly vulnerable to infection due to a compromised immune system. Moreover, the typical symptoms of serious infection, such as fever and chills, may be absent in cancer patients. If not ident…
