“Where does it hurt?” As a child, I can remember this ubiquitous question being frequently asked of me. Having grown up on a farm, there was always some trouble for me to get into. A common hazard was my older sister’s 26-inch bicycle…
Category: primary care
Improving communication requires tough soft skill development
If we are going to take on the challenge of improving communication and related behavior, a.k.a. “soft” skills among health care professionals, we should be realistic. As nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals, we are keenly a…
Why you need to care about oral health [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “Guess what? The mouth is attached to the rest of the body. And though dentistry and medicine are typically separated from the very beginning of professional training, they are irrevo…
Patients who are openly skeptical of a physician’s science-backed advice
I’ve just passed the 15-year milestone of practicing family medicine in a small farm town in the Midwest. Knowing my patients and their multi-generational families deeply and enjoying their trust is a major part of my job satisfaction. Unfortunat…
Keep us safe: Stop the violence against health care workers
Violence against health care workers has escalated to unprecedented levels in the last decade. The pandemic seems to have accelerated outbursts against health care providers online, in print, and in person. A man from Tulsa, Oklahoma, recently angry ov…
Non-judgmental empathy in the exam room [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “I think we all have an inclination—at least from time to time—to judge others. No matter how experienced, compassionate, and professional we are as physicians, we’re still human. I c…
Doctoring in the backwoods: challenges and rewards
I worked in rural Kentucky for 20 years, all of it in poverty clinics. I suspect I got to know my patients better than someone working in a specialty clinic in a big city. The challenges and rewards of doctoring are unique to each specialty. But these …
To scribe or not to scribe? That is the question. [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “I was working at an urgent treatment center, where a busy Saturday in January would be overwhelming. At one point, I hired a scribe. She was a bright young woman interested in medici…
The true art of medicine
There have been countless references to the art and science of medicine over the years. I, for one, certainly have embraced both in my long career as a physician in internal medicine. However, I have always had a special connection to the art part. My …
How privileged a physician’s knowledge is
I was warned about it before we walked into the room. So when I did walk in, I made sure my eyes stayed focused on his eyes, my gaze high and attentive. I smiled, possibly more than normal, to make sure he felt comfortable. Like a puppeteer holding up …
