In his seminal 1977 Science magazine article, “The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine,” Dr. George Engel outlined the biomedical model’s limitations and proposed a new model, which he termed the biopsychosocial …
Category: primary care
This physician is retiring. Here’s his most valuable lesson.
In a few weeks, I will be retiring. After 31 years and more than 100,000 patient visits, I will be hanging up my stethoscope. Over the years, there have been tremendous highs but also horrible lows. The latter includes having been victimized by a fr…
Primary care faces a very difficult winter
Primary care is in trouble again. Last summer, as government assistance programs expired or wound down, primary care practices across the country were struggling to stay afloat because of lost business. By October, patient visits had rebounded in most …
Proponents of independent non-physician practice make a dangerous assumption [PODCAST]
“Most Americans have remained dangerously unaware of this revolution in health care. Being treated by a non-physician is not on the radar of the average patient, most of whom assume that anyone in a white coat is a physician. If patients do wonde…
What is the physician’s greatest gift to patients?
I stood inside the door of “una chosa,” Spanish for “a hut” — the walls bamboo and sunbaked mud; a broom-swept dirt floor; two open windows partially covered by tattered cloth; no running water, no electricity. The acrid smell of smoke from the w…
What it takes to be called a great doctor: a patient’s perspective
Let me begin by extending my gratitude to all physicians who have served our country during this time of the coronavirus pandemic. During this trying time, your dedication and service have given a sense of stability and confidence in our health care sy…
What is the future of telemedicine?
Now that a pandemic has brought telemedicine into Americans’ consciousness and the health care system, it is timely to ask: How will telemedicine fit into future care? Failing to understand telemedicine’s transformative capabilities is akin to mi…
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,…
