In June, a story circulated online about how Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, one of the most famous academic medical centers in the United States, and a major Harvard Medical School-affiliated institution, decided that it would take down physician portraits that were hanging in a popular and historic lecture theater. The reason? Well, it […]
How do we choose what we wear when seeing patients? Is it by what tradition dictates? Do we need to meet our institution’s dress code? Or do we just like what makes us comfortable? (Those scrubs sure are comfy — almost like going to work in pajamas!) Well, how about choosing what our patients prefer […]
Recently, more than 70 people overdosed on K2 in the New Haven Green, a public park near Yale — in one day. In the chaos, multiple municipal staff and emergency services personnel ran frantically to help countless individuals who may or may not have wanted help. The day after, I biked by and saw two […]
There are gifts given and gifts taken away. And Jacob’s abilities could be described as nothing less than a gift. He was a violin virtuoso. Or at least, that was the word the university professor of violin pedagogy fumbled with over and over again as she ushered the eight-year-old Jacob out of her office […]
Since intensive care units (ICU) were created in hospitals more than a half a century ago, there has been a steady decline in death rates for individuals who are critically ill and require life support. That’s significant and meaningful progress, and it’s thanks to the pioneering work of many doctors, nurses and researchers who have discovered better […]
I’m probably in the minority on this, but I’m not a fan of the NYU School of Medicine free tuition program. Now I’m all for debt relief for medical students who start their careers with a mortgage. I was one of them. After 13 years, I’m still one of them! I’m also for any initiative […]
The wizards have determined that an important monitor for the eventual success of your children is … drum roll please … whether or not the family eats dinner together. How prosaic. At first glance, this seems counterintuitive. What about private school, tutoring, soccer camp, circumnavigating the earth solo? Those activities all pale against the family […]
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. The path to becoming a physician is remarkably devoid of leadership training. Being an adept manager is an increasingly important aspect of medicine and is not explicitly taught as part of medical training. When we, as attending physicians, suddenly find ourselves in situations where we […]
Purdue Pharma recently ran a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post asserting that the company, which manufactures prescription opioids, wants to limit the use of prescription opioids. While this ad may have left some readers confused, one point rang true: “we believe the country needs a new approach to prescribing […]
Alvin is a 42-year-old man who was never really given a chance. His parents both had severe alcohol use disorder. At age 12, his parents encouraged him to skip school to sell marijuana in order to fund their drinking. As his parents began using various illicit drugs, Alvin started selling larger amounts of marijuana to […]
