A few short years ago, I started to worry about my family’s financial future while vacationing. During our annual ski trip, I took a nasty fall, landing on my wrist. The pain in my arm made me take notice of just how fragile our financial situati…
Category: KevinMD
It’s time to return civility to medical discourse
I was scrolling through Facebook when it popped up. “Live! America’s Frontline Doctors address COVID-19.” A group of physicians in white coats stood before the Supreme Court, speaking into a microphone. As I stopped to watch, I was surprised to see sev…
Why the pandemic is the perfect opportunity to introduce meditation to children
As the globe continues to surf the wave of this unpredictable global pandemic in a time of technological advancement, one question seems to come up often during pediatric outpatient visits: Will the kids be OK? One thing is for certain: all this uncert…
A letter to my first patient
It was only my first week in the hospital as a third-year medical student when we met. I entered your room early Tuesday morning. Only knowing your chief concern, I knocked on your door and entered the room. You didn’t complain when I awakened yo…
A post-COVID medical world
As we navigate everyday life in the midst of battling COVID-19, our thoughts naturally migrate to what medicine might look like post viral pandemic. As the new norms of social distancing, virtual meetings, and little to no human contact continue, we ca…
Making a career change for better work-life balance [PODCAST]
“Is it possible to have it all? Can you have a job that you love, helping people and using your brain and hands all at the same time; plus, a family, with a spouse and children, that you are always there for? Is it possible to have a balance be…
A sober emergency physician returns to work, just in time to face the COVID-19 pandemic
An excerpt from Ballad of a Sober Man: An ER Doctor’s Journey of Recovery. As if I needed more reminders of my imperfections, I had Maggie and the Kidney Stone Lady, forever. Little Maggie, the cute five-year-old from early in my career who came …
A physician on the importance of taking pause
“I’m one of the doctors taking care of your dad.” As a resident, I made this call countless times. Even more than breaking bad news to patients, I feared surprising their families at night by telephone. Nearly always, though, people were calm and cer…
How COVID-19 worsens digital eye strain
While retailers have been struggling with business after lockdown, optometrists have noticed something rather unexpected. COVID-19, it seems, has caused the number of people getting eye tests to skyrocket. Pre-COVID, most people came simply because the…
Where is the line between faith and medicine?
The long debate about rationality and conformity in both medicine and religion has been intense on many levels. Some people claim science requires certainty, validity, and reliability; others believe faith and optimism are essential for scientific adva…
