Category: KevinMD

How sickle cell anemia influences a medical school journey

“Where there is no struggle, there is no compassion.” -Frederick Douglass Growing up with sickle cell anemia exposed me to the field of medicine. As I go through the pain and complications, it humbles me to the point that motivates me to work harder to…

Doctors need to learn more about nutrition

I was misinformed about medical school. Growing up, I wanted to help people become healthy. After four years at the Ohio State University Medical School and three years of a family medicine residency, I still did not know enough to accomplish my goal. …

Stop dehumanizing physicians. Lives depend on it.

I want to talk about dehumanization in medicine. And, yes, part of this discussion is about our patients. But another part — just as important — is about the dehumanization of us, the doctors. Most of us have had that moment in the third year of medica…

Don’t wait to take action on gun control

“Active Shooter in Squirrel Hill.” This was the subject line of an email I received on the morning of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting. It was from my children’s school, which is located less than a mile from the scene of the shooting. “I am working…

Call obesity what it is: a disease

In 2013, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced its decision to classify obesity as a disease, moving against the recommendation at the time of a group studying obesity. Yet there are still those who believe that obesity is not a disease but …

Medicine: noble profession or big business?

In 1976 I graduated from medical school and proudly joined the medical profession. Thirty-seven years later, I retired as an employee of the biggest business in the country. In 2016 the medical industry was responsible for 3.3 trillion dollars of expen…

Make peace with stress in the ER

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com. Working in the emergency department or emergency room is not for healthcare practitioners who want to just chill. Although television’s portrayal of the ER on dramas like “ER” or “Chicago Med” is adm…

MKSAP: 82-year-old woman with a 1-week history of urinary incontinence

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. An 82-year-old woman is evaluated for a 1-week history of urinary incontinence with lower abdominal discomfort. She reports no dysuria, fever…

A smarter EMR will make visits more patient-focused

What do our patients really want from us? When a patient calls up to schedule an appointment, or sends us a message through the patient portal, or calls our front desk staff to leave a message, what is it that they’re looking for? I think, more t…

The evolution of residents’ hours

It was the 24th hour of my call shift, and I was running on fumes. Despite my weariness, I could see the first rays of morning sunlight coming through the window in my patient’s room. It was then I knew I could make it to hour 30 (quitting time). It wa…