I remember lying in my bed after my second delivery in severe pain. With my first delivery, I had already endured a C-section. Four years later, I wanted to experience a “natural” delivery. I opted for a vaginal delivery after C-section (VBAC). The VBA…
“I have a riddle,” Paul says, as the dining room falls silent. “You’re at the bottom of the stairs. And on the wall, there are three light switches labeled one, two, and three. There’s a room upstairs with three lamps, lab…
It was my first week of internal medicine rotation. A newly-minted third-year, I was rotating on the wards back in the spring, when I met a 90-something-year-old gentleman. He had come in for confusion after a fall. There were no relatives or friends i…
“What diagnosis do you want to use for those ear drops you sent on Mr. Johnson,” Jenn texted me. “ICD-L21.8 for seborrheic dermatitis?” Sigh. Welcome to prior-authorization hell. These are generic ear drops I ordered for presumed fungal infection of th…
It is a special group, a mish-mash of medical professionals all with a common purpose: Honing the ability to practice medicine in a more empathetic and compassionate manner, which will benefit both the patient and the professional alike. All meet to sh…
The banks ask us a lot of questions. And we answer a lot of questions. All of them. They need our information to be sure that we are who we say we are, that our money is, in fact, our money and that our money remains safely tucked away in their virtual…
The banks ask us a lot of questions. And we answer a lot of questions. All of them. They need our information to be sure that we are who we say we are, that our money is, in fact, our money and that our money remains safely tucked away in their virtual…
Family medicine — something I devoted my life to and believe in — is being undermined by local doctors and hospital administrators. And I would move, but it seems to be a national trend as well. It’s more cost-effective to hire NPs and turn a bli…
The best teacher of medicine I ever had was during my medical residency. He was a tough, old-school physician, trained at one of the premier institutions in the country, and specialized in pulmonology and intensive care. Before I had even rotated throu…
Not long ago our emergency department got a call from the health department informing us that we had exceeded our stool limit. Not quite sure how this was measured, who sets the limits, or even why such a call would be necessary, but I do know that onc…
