Dr. Dominic Corrigan appeared to have it all. He’d wanted to be a doctor since he was young. So he worked hard, got into med school, took out a loan and did what it took to realize his dream. “I was high functioning, upwardly mobile, respec…
Category: Psychiatry
A physician’s postpartum depression [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “I may be practicing the art of repression and washing myself of any speck of contamination that would take me back to the state from which I have come very far. My suffering of the p…
The holidays can open up a range of emotions
Physician suicide rates are unacceptably high at baseline and go even higher during the holidays. The holiday increase in suicide rates is not unique to physicians, though. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), A 2021 survey show…
Gil Scott-Heron’s “Winter in America” is upon us
For me, the cheerful musical sounds of the holiday season invariably give way to a somber song: Gil Scott-Heron’s “Winter in America.” Dubbed the “Godfather of Rap,” Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011) embraced diverse musical sty…
Suicide isn’t painless for those left behind
Suicide isn’t beautiful. It’s not glamorous. It’s not Virginia Woolf, with pockets full of stones walking calmly into the water surrounded by trees and dappled sunlight with string music playing in the background as you slowly sink un…
The stigma of cognitive decline: Silence has a price
Have you ever experienced brain fog? It’s one thing to reach for an extra coffee or reflect on the vagaries of age, but growing research shows that subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a powerfully predictive indicator that many patients either …
The jobs you hold prior to medical school are important, but not for the reason you think
Most experts recommend that premed students seek medically-related jobs to gain early proficiency and support their medical school application. There is nothing like valuable hands-on experience, they say, for students to demonstrate their passion and …
The promises and limits of a fentanyl vaccine
“Fentanyl Vaccine a Potential ‘Game Changer’ for Opioid Crisis,” declares a Medscape headline. “Fentanyl Vaccine Delivers Promising Results in Trial,” reports an industry website. “A Vaccine Against Deadly Fent…
Physicians with mental illness shouldn’t hide [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “Doctors with mental illness don’t need more suicide awareness — we’re aware. And we don’t need confidential treatment opportunities. What we need is assurance from all invested parti…
Balancing the roles of patient and healer
“Holly, we’re really worried about you. You’ve been sleeping for days. Let us take you to the school clinic.” I looked up at a figure in the bedroom door surrounded by a light that hurt my eyes. It was my college roommate, a sw…
