I admitted an elderly woman to the hospital recently. The previous week, she had presented to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain and shortness of breath. For some unknown reason, a urinalysis was obtained and was found to be abnormal. The…
“Listen to your patient; he is telling you the diagnosis.” This quote from famous physician William Osler is as true today as it was 100 years ago. And yet the latest version of President Trump’s executive order on Medicare threatens what patients over…
Stress is one of the epidemics of modern-day living—especially work-related stress. At a basic fundamental level, it’s just simply a chemical reaction. Your adrenaline and cortisol levels shoot up in response to a stressful stimulus, the primitive “fig…
It’s been liberating and eye-opening and sometimes a pain to have all three of my kids in grade school. The benefits of one drop off and not paying for daycare do outweigh the downside of figuring out what to do with the kids when they have days off. U…
The physician burnout crisis and a national provider shortage have fueled a growing trend in health technology focused on better utilizing physicians and reducing administrative burdens. I became a surgeon because I wanted to help people, not because I…
She was new to this ICU. She was young, smart, funny, and considered one of the “cool” nurses. Before we could really get to know her, she exposed her wonderful, fantastic, perfect life all over social media. Their perfect two-story brick house, their …
If my hypertensive patient develops orthostatism and falls and breaks her hip, I fully expect the orthopedic surgeon on call to treat her. I may kick myself that this happened, but I’m not qualified to treat a broken hip. If my anticoagulated patient h…
The recent pardon of a convicted child rapist by the ex-Kentucky Governor has sparked a lot of controversies. The basis of the pardon was- “the victim’s hymen was noted to be physically intact.” Evolving studies have continuously shown that the hymen i…
It’s the winter of 1993. A cold, snowy day. Windy. A blizzard. The phone rings. I’m not on call for my patients today — except for one. Daisy has been in my care since the early 1970s, and given the risk that she may suffer a serious downtu…
It’s the winter of 1993. A cold, snowy day. Windy. A blizzard. The phone rings. I’m not on call for my patients today — except for one. Daisy has been in my care since the early 1970s, and given the risk that she may suffer a serious downtu…
