Being a physician is an important role. It’s easy to forget the impact that you have on a patient just by being at their bedside. It’s huge. Have you ever been a patient? It’s an incredibly vulnerable experience. You’re not real…
Category: KevinMD
Doctors: Take a sick day
Every winter, flu season descends upon the hospital. The most consistent reaction among any of our physicians — trainee and attending alike — who succumb to this nasty virus is one of guilt. Even the thought of “calling out sick” leads to s…
Doctors: Take a sick day
Every winter, flu season descends upon the hospital. The most consistent reaction among any of our physicians — trainee and attending alike — who succumb to this nasty virus is one of guilt. Even the thought of “calling out sick” leads to s…
MKSAP: 32-year-old woman with loose stools, bloating, and weight loss
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 32-year-old woman is evaluated for a 6-month history of loose stools, bloating, and a 3.2-kg (7-lb) weight loss. Her medical history is oth…
Goodbye, Benadryl: It is time for you to retire
Sometimes, old ideas and time-tested treatments remain the best. Newer doesn’t always mean better. Except in the case of one of our oldest antihistamines, tried-and-true Benadryl. It is time for that old drug to be retired, sent off to pasture, and nev…
Why Les Miserables should resonate with every physician
“I dreamed a dream my life would be … so different from this hell I’m living.” Twenty years ago, I would pull out my Les Miserables piano book and pound out “I Dreamed a Dream” while my fellow medical student/roommat…
A case for nephrology
In recent times, physician burnout has rightfully surfaced as a social concern for the medical fraternity. Physician burnout is a thing, and lately, I was thinking about it related to nephrology. Many national physician organizations and local hospital…
How patients put my life into perspective
Today my clinic patient lost his wallet, including his cash, government ID, and his credit cards. He drove more than 130 miles to the clinic. Still, somehow, he sat in front of me in the exam chair as patient as ever through all my history questions. …
When a patient in jail lacks impulse control
“Under duress, we do not rise to our expectations. We fall to our level of training.” – Bruce Lee (supposedly) When I was looking for My Patient, well before his neighbor grabbed my butt, I remember noticing that most of the slots in …
Antibiotic resistance is the climate change of medicine
Imagine a looming global crisis that threatens the health of countless people, confounding scientists and governments with its sheer magnitude and complexity and growing at a pace that will quickly exceed our ability to reverse course. Sounds a little …
