The patient greeted me with a smile that belied his horrible luck. He was my age, but looked far older. It was a slowly progressive neurological disorder that left his mind intact while his body stopped working. He was now imprisoned in a bed. Various family members fed him, changed his diaper, and freshened the […]
Category: Doctoring
Today I would like to say thanks to a group of colleagues that too often go un-thanked. These would be my hospital-based internal medicine friends: hospitalists are what they are called. This idea came to me after reading Dr Robert Centor’s post on KevinMD. In his usual concise manner, he laments the lack of respect […]
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Check the right box, Sam
His name is Sam, you know, like in “Sam I am.†He is 19 years old, a college sophomore-to-be, who sadly plans to study chemistry–more on that later. He looked happy and rested; he kept his cellphone in his locker the entire day; and while dressed in too large scrubs, a crooked surgical cap and […]
When I learn something that might be useful to you, I like to write about it. To date, the topics that I feel most comfortable writing about relate to doctoring, heart disease, healthy living and cycling. But an area that I am growing more and more intrigued with is health news reporting. As a believer […]
Medical people know that July is a pivotal month. Things change, big time. In the academic world, July 1st is the day when graduated medical students wake up as doctors. Well, at least officially an intern is a doctor. I seem to remember internship feeling like a demotion. In my world of private practice, July […]
The staff was concerned that she came to the office without her interpreter. How would we communicate? How would I assess her symptoms? “Should we get a translator from the hospital?” they asked. I knew this patient well. I had done battle with rogue circuits in her left atrium more than once. I could even […]
I have said that the best tool for treating atrial fibrillation (AF) is education. I still strongly believe this, perhaps more then ever. AF presents itself to people in so many different ways–from no symptoms to incapacitation. Likewise, the treatments for AF range from simple reassurance and lifestyle changes, to taking a medicine, and on […]
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Should doctors be salesmen?
I read two interesting sentences today about the act of doctoring. The first from the White Coat Underground blog: “Medicine involves a lot of salesmanship.” The second was from this NY Times health piece highlighting the difficult decisions that arise when recommending procedures to an elderly patient: “…[Have] you felt that a doctor or hospital […]
Doctors are suffocating under a fume of regulation. Our relationships with patients poked at incessantly. Our autonomy, and ability to use nuance hang by a thread. Our patients consume more care, but get sicker still. The health of the citizenry grows so woeful that it endangers our economy, and even our Armed Forces. But there […]
Not every Friday brings doctoring bliss. Sorry. Some Fridays, the wrongness of our healthcare approach squeezes you like a vice-grip. The medical news of the week can hit you hard. –This highly tweeted report on how Overweight is the new normal speaks to the futility of asking people to help themselves. That our strong, vibrant, […]
There is a lot about young people that I don’t understand. Tattoos, body piercing, rap music and a complete lack of desire to detach from smart-phones are a few likes that make little sense to me. But one of the new generation’s basic tenets that I find highly enviable is their desire for balance between […]