Category: KevinMD

Telehealth: Get ready for big changes in health care

The year 2020 might bear witness to a significant shift in control of health care from the providers, insurers, and the government to actual health care consumers. First, it was the politicians, then the tech conferences and promises of 5G, and now glo…

Please listen to the COVID-19 coronavirus experts. Help us save lives.

Sigh. I don’t know how to say this without coming across as a complete a-hole, but when epidemiologists, the majority of physicians, public health experts, etc. are all recommending major social distancing measures in order to prevent the COVID-19 outb…

You are the reason I became a physician

I can smell the wafting aroma of frying onions and tomatoes as I am upstairs, just waking for the day. I am 10 years old, and these aromas are the staple of my childhood. It brings back memories of home. I walk downstairs and see my dad stirring the to…

You are the reason I became a physician

I can smell the wafting aroma of frying onions and tomatoes as I am upstairs, just waking for the day. I am 10 years old, and these aromas are the staple of my childhood. It brings back memories of home. I walk downstairs and see my dad stirring the to…

COVID-19 is exposing our broken health care system. Young physicians will help.

News trends come, and news trends go. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a news topic that, for the time being, is here to stay. This pandemic has already revealed deeper issues within the culture of medicine here in the United States and f…

Dear medicine: I’m breaking up with you

I’m breaking up with you. I fell in love with you when I was just a child sitting in my grandfather’s family practice office. He put that magical white coat on me, sat me at his desk, welcomed in my first patient, and I was smitten. I grew up pla…

As a physician fighting coronavirus, I am angry

I am angry. I am going to be working to care for patients to the best of my ability. But will continue to be angry. Angry at the lack of resources we seem to have access to. Angry at the lack of testing supplies we have. Angry at the social isolation t…

Who are responsible for outrageous medical bills? Hint: It’s not doctors.

Over the last few years, there has been a slew of articles about patients receiving surprise bills after ER visits. One woman was charged $5,751 for an ice pack and a bandage. An infant was charged $937 for an antibiotic ointment. Who sends bills like …

Medical students are more than just numbers

Student G.M is a 228. When she came to our school, she was a 31. When she went to college, she was a 1270. Now we must make this number a caring, feeling person who has the empathy to impact the lives of patients for decades. Makes sense, right? Wrong!…

I have more hope than ever for women in medicine

Recently, I was a speaker at a conference for 200 physician moms. Most attendees were early- to mid-career. I had to laugh — I was one of the oldest doctor moms in the room. I thought to myself, where are the later-career moms? How many women are quitt…