There’s a particular bit of conversation I hope never to hear when my doctors are discussing surgery or testing. Not the details of the procedure. Not the possible outcome. Not the pain (and let’s be real, we all know “some discomfort…
Category: primary care
I’m a physician, not a provider
Your parents likely spent months searching through baby name books, polling the family, and looking through the photo albums of ancestors to pick the perfect name for you. Maybe your parents had to see your face before they could pick the perfect one. …
Health care takes its toll. Look for the moments that remind you why you’re in it.
Completing my second year as an attending during a pandemic has been, well, interesting. It has brought up a variety of emotions. It’s all you’ve dreamt about for the past 7+ years of training, finally making it — the ability to “call…
We are humans first and gifted healers second [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. “If I knew back in training and practice what I know now, I would have looked for the support and mentoring that would have helped me to forge a path in clinical medicine. But I saw help as an admission of wea…
Stop financially handicapping non-citizen physicians [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. “I acknowledge that as a physician, I am overall financially secure. However, after jumping over multiple extra hurdles to prove myself throughout my medical career, I couldn’t help but feel I have been handic…
The importance of non-judgmental empathy
It has always been difficult for medical professionals to balance the time needed for personal care, both physical and emotional, against the overwhelming demands of their time. This is particularly true today, given the extraordinary pressures created…
A new kind of metric in medicine
Today, I propose a new kind of metric in medicine. I know. I know. (I hear the uncomfortable clearing of your throats.) On one side of the room: Of course we are human, are we not? On the other: Here we go again, Doctor Touchy-Feely. Let’s get on…
Health care’s band of brothers and sisters
Recently, I was sitting in the DFW airport after my son’s soccer tournament witnessing multiple flight cancellations. Travelers became upset because their plans were ruined due to “staff shortages.” I felt lucky as my flight was just …
What is the narrative that you hear when faced with uncertainty?
The first week of my big attending job, I saw a patient with fever, sore throat, no cough, and tonsillar exudates. Well-trained to manage septic shock, but having no idea how to practice in a primary care clinic, I crafted a vast array of infectious an…
How to tackle the physician shortage [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. “The national physician shortage is an urgent issue that requires immediate attention. Otherwise, the next time you seek medical care, you might be treated by a non-physician for a condition that requires phys…
