I waited in line at the pharmacy, a familiar chain store. The man in front of me waited patiently for the technician to ring up his meds. I overheard her say to him, “$125.00. That includes your insulin.” The man bowed his head and smiled p…
Category: KevinMD
A story of liver cancer and diabetes [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join us for a discussion on the critical intersection of diabetes and liver disease. Our guest, Sarah Bauer, a pediatrician, shares her personal journey and insights into …
Health care’s breaking point: patients and physicians abandoned
I know you are wounded, as I am also injured. It is as if we have been battered and bruised and kicked to the side of the road, left there alone to suffer. An ignored problem will soon be forgotten; at least, that is their contention. We have screamed …
Why charm and competence are essential for career survival
Charm and competence among providers should ideally be concordant, but they can sometimes be discordant, which should be evaluated and corrected if possible. This discordance isn’t limited to health care; it can also be observed in politics, duri…
Balancing expectations and reality in modern obstetrics
“I want everything to be natural.” Well, we are in a building with electricity and high-speed internet, neither of which are gifts from Mother Earth. Yes, that’s really how I responded to a patient. We laughed, but her comment allowed…
How contemplative medicine revived a doctor’s passion [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join Koshin Paley Ellison, a psychotherapist and author of Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity Courage and Compassion. Explore the transformative power of con…
13 reasons why women should not be doctors?
In recent years, health care has made significant strides toward gender equality. But are these changes for the better? Let’s use facts to address the misconceptions and finally close the topic of women in medicine. 1. Female doctors make less mo…
Is your portal making you too available? Give your patients an option that works for everyone.
Recently, a physician wrote about how access to a patient portal has turned his primary care practice into a reluctant concierge medicine practice, with patients asking questions and expecting quick responses day or night. I could relate. Modern techno…
Ensure your physicians always have crisis support: 5-step awareness program
Physician leaders: Are you committed to doing everything you possibly can to prevent physician suicide? This CHAP is how you answer that question. This document contains two steps that will ensure you do everything possible to be there for your people …
How one patient’s death transformed my approach to mental health care
Prior to working as a nurse practitioner, I worked as a psychiatric registered nurse in an inpatient behavioral health setting, caring for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). Individuals with SMI die ten to twenty years earlier than the gener…
