As I age, the probability of acquiring yet another health condition seems to, unfortunately, increase. There’s always one test or another that is on my to-do list, be it bloodwork, X-ray, MRI, or maybe a CT scan thrown in for good measure. I comp…
Category: primary care
Why doctors should never practice self-primary care
I am a mid-40s female rheumatologist. Fortunately, I consider myself to be fairly healthy; my diet and weight are OK, I run 30 to 35 miles per week, and my only medication is a low-estrogen oral contraceptive that I have been self-prescribing for years…
Medicine is my passion. I love my job, but I am human.
I am a small-town family physician, and I am blessed enough to be living my dream. You see, I have always wanted to be a doctor. I cannot think of one other occupation choice that has ever entered my brain. I have wanted this since I was four-years-old…
Be Bowser, not Mario in your medical practice
Anyone familiar with Nintendo’s Mario franchise is probably very confused by the title of this blog but stay with me here. My kids have recently become obsessed with Mario. It’s brought back great memories from my childhood of playing Super…
How technology ruined, and can save, the doctor-patient relationship
Each year, Medical Economics surveys physician readers to find out what irks them most. Topping the latest list: insurance paperwork, followed closely by electronic health records (EHRs). The reason is the same for both. Insurers and EHRs get between d…
Patients: Take back your health information. Here’s how.
Have you ever wondered why your personal health information essentially belongs to your health care provider or institution? I mean: why do they keep your information under lock and key, and you have to sign a release to get it? After all, it’s your bl…
Our medical training has been outsourced
Reflexively, I often feel my breath catch, and my eyeballs roll ever-so-slightly when a patient leads with, “I saw on the internet …” The precious minutes available to connect, inspect, and direct the management of their Google search are suddenl…
Why medical writing is essential to medicine
I wasn’t as happy as I expected to be when I walked out of the hospital on my last day in medical school. But then again, there was little to celebrate — my last few patients had terminal cancer, a stroke, and end-stage liver disease from a…
Welcome to the new normal: practices of 500 physicians or more
The day of solo practitioners is coming to an end. In its place will be gaggles of gastroenterologists and flocks of physicians. Mega practices are becoming the norm in American medical care. Here’s a few pictures of this trend, somewhat dated (they on…
Welcome to the new normal: practices of 500 physicians or more
The day of solo practitioners is coming to an end. In its place will be gaggles of gastroenterologists and flocks of physicians. Mega practices are becoming the norm in American medical care. Here’s a few pictures of this trend, somewhat dated (they on…
