Category: primary care

How the Google algorithm update helps doctor-written content rank higher

If you’re not intricately involved daily with SEO, let me explain what happened in May 2020 and why it will be a huge boost for content created by physicians. First, what is SEO? In short, it is the process of optimizing content found online in o…

The downsides of going to the ER for primary care

Despite the fact that many people have difficulty finding a family physician, there remain many options for medical care. From emergency departments to urgent care clinics to clinics based in retail stores and pharmacies, there are several different wa…

Courage the Cowardly Dog: an intern’s perspective

It’s the first day of residency. This morning, the intern was exuberant: the white coat was starched with pride, and the stethoscope brought a new sense of prestige. In last night’s lengthy sign-out, the intern proudly asked relevant questi…

I never expected death to be so blunt

Starting medical school, I knew I would see people on both the best and worst days of their lives. I would witness births and deaths and come out on the other side as a skilled professional. However, I never expected death to be so blunt. On my first d…

The medical profession is not as pure as it should be

We’ve all heard about the blue wall of silence that describes a belief that law enforcement personnel will refrain from reporting misconduct of their colleagues to the proper authorities. Physicians had similarly been accused of hiding behind a white c…

Genetic testing: Could there be unintended consequences? [PODCAST]

“Both clinical and direct-to-consumer genetic testing have become significantly less costly and more common, providing people with access to a wealth of information about everything from their ethnicity and family lineage to their risk for certai…

An EMR frustration that is still torturing us

I have written, or more accurately ranted, about electronic medical records (EMR) systems throughout this blog. While the systems have clearly improved since their mandatory introduction into the medical universe, they have still not delivered on many …

Caring for other physicians as patients

My favorite patients were the older physicians who came to me as patients. I was humbled, grateful, and awed by each of them. For some reason, I had quite a few physicians as patients, and caring for this group is interesting. It was not until I got ol…

I cured my patient, but what was his diagnosis?

He canceled his follow-up appointment because he was feeling fine. He didn’t see the point in wasting a Saturday to come to my clinic when he had lawns to mow and chores to do. Less than two weeks before that, he was sitting on the exam table in my off…

What do you picture when you think of health care?

What do you picture when you think of health care? How different is that from your vision of health? Is it possible to connect these two mental images? Can they be merged directly or at by way of a bridge? When I envision health, I see images of vitali…