Category: surgery

Toxic work culture in surgery: Can it be fixed?

After destroying a light fixture in the OR and being written up for another episode of disorderly conduct, John was at the end of his wits. His marriage, profession, and self-respect were all on the line, and in the eyes of everyone around him, he was …

Healing together: patient and physician well-being [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join Kim Downey, a physical therapist, and Anthony Avellino, a pediatric neurosurgeon and author of Finding Purpose: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey of Hope and Healing, as they …

Gender bias is pervasive within state medical board official documents and websites

“Each licensee shall furnish the board his current address.” “When a practitioner is closing, selling or relocating his practice, he shall meet the requirements …“. “The practitioner shall retain in his records.” Whe…

A hypothetical case of medical malpractice. This can be you. 

A patient presents to the emergency room of a major local hospital with ulcers on the heels of both feet. The patient is more than 40 years old, smokes, and has hypertension but is not a diabetic. It is determined that the patient has peripheral artery…

Medicine’s struggle for inclusivity

Medicine, with its somewhat tarred history in the matter, has woken to the cause of inclusivity. Not too long ago, in the early twentieth century, the American Medical Association (AMA) orchestrated reforms requiring immigrant European doctors to pass …

From perfunctory to profound: 4 self-evaluation questions that blew my mind

The McLaughlin 360 Evaluation: preparation (part one) Have you ever heard the expression, “The truth will set you free”? Well, it might. But before it sets you free, it’s probably going to piss you off. If you are seriously interested…

A young surgeon’s night: from calm to chaos

When you are a young academic general surgeon, even the nights are sometimes good. A good on-call night unfolds something like this. You might have spent the day working in the operating room or in the clinic seeing patients. Your on-call typically beg…

A surgeon’s journey with Taylor Swift [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join us as we sit down with Andrea L. Merrill, an assistant professor of surgery, to explore the powerful intersection of music and surgery. From her early days as a train…

Corporatization of medicine: Are patients and physicians the losers?

Despite technological and pharmaceutical improvements in the advancement of medicine, many changes that have occurred in the delivery of medicine during my 15 years of private practice in plastic surgery have had detrimental consequences for both patie…

Anesthesia is not my name: Knowing each other’s name improves results in the OR

As an anesthesiologist, I recall countless occasions when colleagues from the other side of the drape addressed me, like, “Anesthesia, did the patient receive antibiotics?” or “Anesthesia, I need more muscle relaxation here!” Es…