Category: KevinMD

Live your life the best you can, and don’t spend it all in the hospital

If you have been following my writing, you know I have been out of the surgical workforce for a year and a half. I have settled into a much more relaxing lifestyle as an author who can set his own work schedule. This week I got a flashback of what my old life was like […]

Avoid the power drain of life

I believe we have power.  That deep inside each of us resides a unique purpose and identity that are unstoppable.  That embracing this power leads to lifelong contentedness.  Finding this well of vitality is complicated.  Certainly it starts by telling ourselves the right stories about our lives.  By becoming the protagonist of our own unique narrative, we […]

A scrum master for primary care

We should consider a new position in our primary care teams — that of the scrum master. “Scrum” is a rugby term that comes from agile, a work methodology for software development that now is being applied to industry and health care. In rugby, a scrum is a huddle where the teams come together with […]

I learned how to be a good doctor in theater school

It’s hard for me to believe that a few years ago, I completely turned my back on an acting career I had spent almost two decades building and instead decided to forge into an unknown world of medicine. Even now, with nearly seven years of experience in the medical field and currently in my fourth […]

The decision to not vaccinate is driven by fear and misinformation

I was browsing the internet one day and came across a photo of a group of women who appeared educated and influential. They were wearing blue T-shirts with claims that vaccines cause autoimmune diseases, seizures, ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, death, autism, sudden infant death syndrome and infertility. I couldn’t help but […]

How to plan for an uncertain financial future

The tricky part about retirement planning is uncertainty. Uncertainty in retirement planning comes from three major sources. 1. Current and future income Doctors are fortunate in that they have very high job security. Even if you were to be let go from your current position, there will almost always be another position somewhere in the […]

Considering the recent setbacks of evidence-based medicine

For my students in 2018, it’s difficult to imagine an era when there was no such thing as evidence-based medicine (EBM). When I started medical school in 1997, though, the term had only been in use for six years, having been introduced by Dr. Gordon Guyatt at McMaster University (though EBM’s intellectual origins can be traced […]

Considering the recent setbacks of evidence-based medicine

For my students in 2018, it’s difficult to imagine an era when there was no such thing as evidence-based medicine (EBM). When I started medical school in 1997, though, the term had only been in use for six years, having been introduced by Dr. Gordon Guyatt at McMaster University (though EBM’s intellectual origins can be traced […]

Imagine yourself treating a celebrity

A few weeks ago, I was giving a day-long seminar in California on improving communication skills, optimizing the patient experience, and how this is all ultimately linked to better proven outcomes. Part of the day involved doing role plays, playing the part of doctors and patients in various difficult hypothetical scenarios. My experience of this […]

Why it’s important to give your children the talk about marriage

School is back in full swing.  The kids are packed up, scheduled and loaded with notebooks, pens, pencils, computers, and calculators.  Long lines form outside school drop-off areas.  Tired, pajama-clad parents drop off bleary-eyed children, accustomed to sleeping and playing all day, now headed off to fill their little brains with knowledge. Of course, it isn’t just the […]