He came to the office in search of help as many patients do, but the circumstances that compelled him to seek medical attention were all too similar to me. I’ve seen it time and again. He said that he couldn’t sleep at one visit. At another, his blood …
In a shocking development that could transform the medical profession, the International Journal of Health Services published the findings of a study titled, “Primary care, specialty care, and life chances.” Using multiple regression analysis, the rese…
On a rare Sunday morning, I woke and had the time to make breakfast for my kids and their cousin, who’d stayed the night. My nephew said, “Thanks, Aunt Erin, I feel like I never see you.” To which my oldest (10) stated very matter-of-…
Navy SEALs are America’s elite fighting force. They are America’s most qualified soldiers who elect to undertake the most difficult selection process and training in existence. They are preselected by a number of traits, including intellige…
As first-year medical students, we learn that the hallmark of a holistic medical education is an emphasis on the human, personal side of this profession. One way we develop our patient-centered competency is through attending patient panels as part of …
Talking to patients on the phone can be very efficient and quite rewarding, like when I called a worried patient today and told her that her chest CT showed an improving pneumonia and almost certainly no cancer, but a repeat scan some months down the r…
Kahlil Gibran writes, “In friendship or in love, the two side by side raise hands together to find what one cannot reach alone.” What types of outcomes can physicians and patients achieve in healing, living, and life when Gibran’s mes…
I think it’s time for physicians to end the assault on the clinical practices of PAs and NPs. Are you worried about PAs and NPs taking your job? If you’re a good doctor, you should stop worrying. Great PAs and NPs are everywhere, and I think it’s time …
During a day of shadowing during my first year of medical school, the physician I was following had been running behind schedule and instructed me to keep the final patient company until he caught up. I knocked on the door and found myself facing a wid…
The issue of noncompliance comes up repeatedly in patient care. Whether in the context of primary care or allied health care, in most situations, patients seem unreasonable and irresponsible when it comes to taking their medication, attending consultat…
