Category: KevinMD

Increasing strictness of gun laws correlates with fewer children killed by guns

Between 2011 and 2015 there were over 21,000 children killed by guns. This recent study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, further analyzes the question; it compares pediatric firearm fatality rates among the various stat…

Physicians must first establish their life priorities

An excerpt from Career & Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents: The Best Part of Your Journey Is about to Begin. Life is a journey. Where is this journey of life taking you? Do you know? If I asked you where you will be in seven years, coul…

A poem for the pediatrician on a Monday

It’s Monday, I recall as I step into work; “Preparing for battle,” I say with a smirk. Surviving all weekend with a sick kid in tow, the parents’ relief as they waited to show you their child with fever, diarrhea and sneezing, the one who is too hot, t…

How illusions impact how we practice medicine

We can learn a lot about ourselves by looking at, and thinking about, perceptual illusions and our biases. Look at the image above. The classic, Muller-Lyer illusion. We know that the two lines are the same size. But no matter how much we intuitively &…

How compensation can affect physician burnout

Burnout in medicine has reached epidemic proportions. A recent systematic analysis found that the prevalence of burnout was as high as 80.5%. All medical specialties are affected, although prevalence rates of burnout vary widely between specialties. Cl…

Why diverticulitis can be an elusive diagnosis

I have been treating diverticulitis for 30 years the same way. When I suspect that a patient has this diagnosis, I prescribe antibiotics. This has been the standard treatment for this disorder for decades. I have found that diverticulitis is a slippery…

The healing patient-physician analog relationship is in critical condition

In the history of medical care, medical records served one purpose and two masters: to record diagnosis and treatment for physicians to refer to and for patients to use to transfer care when they desired. The medical record was a simple 3 x 5 or ledger…

Health coverage really isn’t covering much

I’m a healthy 48-year old, ASA physical class I anesthesiologist. At least I was healthy until an unintentional 20-pound weight loss over the summer, accompanied by an unquenchable thirst, insatiable appetite, blurry vision, and the bathroom freq…

Vaping-related illness highlights the complexities of diagnosing rare conditions

When patients started showing up in doctors’ offices and emergency departments with coughs, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, chills and weight loss, physicians’ first instincts were that th…

When a medical student is victim-blamed

After third-year medicine, I was required to withdraw for handing in an assignment late. It was a paragraph of self-reflection; I couldn’t believe I was being kicked out for something so seemingly inconsequential. My dealings with the faculty bec…