Category: primary care

If you take a pill, you are at risk: a personal reflection on health information dissemination in Black communities

As a medical and public health student quarantined at home with two physician parents and a new college graduate sibling, we can speak about the COVID-19 pandemic research, guidelines, and epidemiology around the dinner with relative ease. Everyone in …

This is what a successful health care system looks like [PODCAST]

“If we are serious about supporting the optimal health and well being of our nations’ patients and physicians, we need to start believing and implementing the science across the public and private sectors. We need to recognize that at its core, t…

We have been the precious gift of making a difference in the lives of others

“You that seek what life is in death, Now find it air that once was breath, New names unknown, old names gone: Till time end bodies, but souls none. Reader! Then make time, while you be, But steps to your eternity.” – Baron Brooke Fulke Greville,…

A physician shares stories online and is now a published author

A powerful communications medium, with the chance to get into someone else’s mind and connect through experience. Sometimes the experience is vicarious, because not everyone has lived what the storyteller has. But the storyteller’s words can have a pro…

A day in the life as a medical assistant

We all go to work in the morning, looking forward to the day. I know I have about 26 patients and about 20 other tasks to do for the day. I know that my medical assistant has about the same ( or more ), and we are ready to go. “Good morning Sophia,” I …

Clinical pearls: Addressing health care disparities for African Americans

This article is sponsored by Pri-Med. Gregory L. Hall, MD, an expert on African American health care, continues to draw interest and accolades from primary care audiences nationwide for his new CME web series, Bridging the Gap: Conversations with Dr. H…

Managing through COVID-19: a virtual doctor’s story

It was early February when I first felt the tides changing. I remember it well. I was having lunch with a friend – another doctor – and the situation in China was bleak. We agreed it was only a matter of time before the novel coronavirus would erupt in…

Essential physician communication tips to improve the patient experience [PODCAST]

“A majority of physicians see between 11 and 20 patients per day, and among all practices, the majority of doctors spend between 17 and 24 minutes with each patient. Assuming a five-day workweek, this translates to more than 900 patient interacti…

Medicine for the soul: Harness the power of the humanities to counteract burnout

Concern that the scientific growth of medicine has come at the expense of the art of medicine is not new. However, should we consider that not only does this impact the quality and practice of medicine, but might it also contribute to the rampant burno…

The value of intergenerational relationships

With the rapid growth of modern medicine and awareness in lifestyle and environmental influences, individuals can live longer and healthier lives. Approximately 15.2 percent of the U.S. population consists of individuals 65 years and older. To make the…