“There are, in truth, no specialties in medicine, since to know fully many of the most important diseases, one must be familiar with their manifestation in many organs.” – Sir William Osler, MD. I agree with this statement to an exten…
Category: primary care
Health care leadership: Making medicine a team sport
Americans give lip service to the importance of teamwork. But most often, we credit success to individuals. Perhaps nowhere is this “MVP mindset” more apparent than in medicine. The brilliant lone physician — gallantly battling to save a pa…
The impact of religious-spiritual values on individual lives
A friend of mine recently went into the hospital for a surgical operation. Afterward, she told me about a conversation she had with her doctors. Meeting with her surgeon and her anesthesiologist before surgery, this retired lifelong Sunday school teach…
Questioning medical traditions for the sake of patient care
The United States consumes forty-six million turkeys every Thanksgiving. Have you ever wondered why? When traditions take hold in society, we start to forget why they existed in the first place. For example, the tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgivi…
Direct primary care: more access, more savings, more care
Your doctor will see you now. Really, now. Come on in! Forget about waiting for two months for an appointment, hours on hold, or a six-hour wait at an urgent care clinic. Your doctor can see you now; shoot them a text. More and more primary care clinic…
Doctors struggle with unrealistic expectations and lack of self-care, leading to a lack of mercy towards colleagues
“Mercy and consideration for the other man, but none for yourself, upon whom you have to keep an incessant watch.” – Sir William Osler, MD. Ironic, isn’t it? The physician is expected to go above and beyond, superhuman even, hel…
The decline of whole-person treatment in modern medicine
Recently, a nurse practitioner responded to one of my op-eds in which I discussed the doctor-patient relationship. The nurse said: I feel so frustrated at times, by the time constraints forced on us by using a business model of practice. In the 30-plus…
Lean on me: the power of human connection and the support of a caring doctor
Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, and we all have sorrow. But if we are wise, we know that there’s always a tomorrow. Lean on me when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend; I’ll help you carry on, for it won’t…
How people of faith can respond to our broken health system [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we speak with G. Scott Morris, a physician and ordained minister who has dedicated his career to treating patients with chronic conditions at Church Health. He shares his e…
Emotional seasons: 3 vignettes of love, loss, and connection
At the end of a year and the beginning of another, emotions tend to run high. Whether it be the loss of a loved one or the tangled web of interactions with relatives, an unexpected illness or travel plan glitches, wonderful moments to cherish, or joyfu…
