Some people think that the solution to better-supported primary care is in direct primary care/salaried physician payment models. I don’t think it is the best answer. I realize money is not the only motivator explaining why people perform work. Meaning…
Just the other day, while I was in the middle of seeing a morning schedule full of patients, I opened one patient’s chart and was thrilled to see a whole bunch of new icons in Chart Review in the electronic health record that I had never seen bef…
It was an ordinary afternoon in my outpatient internal medicine rotation. I prepared to enter a room for a congestive heart failure hospital follow-up patient. I mentally prepared myself. I was going to ask for his hospital records (particularly lookin…
“I have the CPAP machine. I’ve had it for a year, but I don’t have electricity in my house. I stayed with my aunt who has electricity but things didn’t work out,” said the young Navajo man, his massive belly protruding out…
“Are you the doctor?” was the most frequently asked question I received from patients in my new practice. The second most common question was: “Are you old enough to be a doctor?” followed by the rather blunt question “How…
When I was a kid, one of my favorite hobbies was adding to my rock collection. In the summer, I went on road trips with my family to explore the national parks, and at every gift shop, I always gravitated towards the bin of tumbled stones. To me, this …
As we go through our careers, we are given the responsibility of educating the next generation of students and residents to become proficient and competent in medicine. In telehealth, which also requires training my colleagues, is it necessary? If so, …
Words are powerful. So few symbols can evoke such deep feelings and rouse incredible emotion: “I have a dream.” Language is the achievement that makes us who we are. But while you, I and everyone else employ the same words to communicate sh…
Kaiser Health News told the story of a 69-year-old woman who went to a new doctor for her annual check-up, assuming it was covered by Medicare and was happy with the visit until she got a $400 bill. Most Americans believe in “annual check-ups,” at whic…
When I was a child, I knew I would become a doctor. I liked science and taking care of people. We diagnose medical problems and prescribe treatment plans. Some of us perform surgeries and some focus on keeping you well. Despite this, I’m nothing specia…
