“To help the reader understand the issues better, I would like to relate some stories. A friend of mine was dying of pancreatic cancer. He had an implantable morphine pump and was on both hospice and palliative care. Still, he found that his suff…
Category: KevinMD
Orthopedic surgery enters the modern age on a chance observation
For thousands of years, bonesetters and doctors could not accurately diagnosis broken bones or differentiate such injuries from joint dislocations and torn ligaments. That changed with a chance discovery almost exactly 125 years ago. Subsequently, perh…
The medical community harms patients when they fail to engage in political advocacy
Primum non nocere, or “first, do no harm,” is a fundamental principle in the practice of medicine. Physicians vow to do as much when taking the Hippocratic Oath on their first day of medical school. But where does the buck stop? I posit that we in the…
Fairness in medical publishing: Reforming the peer review process
In the middle of a busy week of balancing clinical, research, educational, administrative, and parental responsibilities, I receive an email request from a prominent journal to review a manuscript. If I agree, I will spend a couple of hours reading the…
The need for on-demand access to medical technologies when treating COVID-19 patients
It’s well known that New York City was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring, having been the epicenter of U.S. cases for several weeks. As I write this, more than 245,000 of my fellow New Yorkers have been stricken, and an estimated one in t…
Polarizing medical students do not foster discussion and education
Though many say freedom of speech has never been more prevalent with the creation of social media, moral relativism and shaming have taken a toll. Evident today, cyberbullying in the name of justice polarizes attitudes while placing some opinions as ma…
Imagining a pandemic as a physician novelist [PODCAST]
“There are some things that we are living through as a result of COVID-19 that I did not imagine in my fictional account. For example: the timeline. As we are now four full months into this pandemic in the U.S., some experts estimate that we are …
Female physician suicides: a silent pandemic
“Aunty blew her brains out a few weeks ago!” Words I shall never forget. For weeks, she had been in my thoughts. But I never called her. I didn’t because of all the myriad reasons we often give ourselves for not checking up on each other. In my case, t…
Should drug use be decriminalized?
During the final presidential debate, Joe Biden said that “no one should be going to jail for a drug problem, they should be going to rehabilitation,” effectively suggesting that substance use be decriminalized in the US. The war on drugs Since Preside…
Moving forward in medicine with your significant other
The transition from resident to doctor is overwhelming and can impact your personal life deeply, particularly within the context of your relationship. It is important to sit down and discuss with your partner or spouse and discuss your excitement and f…
