I have witnessed this grocery-store checkout phenomenon countless times. Haven’t you? These two paragraphs are a direct quote from the blog, 33 Charts, authored by the very famous blogger, professor, and pediatrician (Dr Bryan Vartabedian)… “So I’m in the checkout line at the grocery store. In front of me is an overweight mother and child. […]
Category: Health Care
“Ouch! That really hurts!” “You win, please stop torquing my arm behind my back. “Uncle…I said, Uncle!!” Yes, the threshold has been reached. We docs no longer need a tennis court or a Mercedes, our kids are fine in public schools, and we will happily buy our own damn pens. But, please, just give us […]
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Thank You!…
Now that I have been writing this blog for a full year, it is time for a year-end review. It is a time to say thank you to those people and web sites that I not only learn from nearly every day, but more importantly, have helped me find my way in this new forest. […]
I hear it every day. The pattern is so repetitive. “I am so fatigued. I just wear out so easily. At the end the day, I am done.” The spouse may often add, “he is so short-winded, even little things.” Doc, I thought it was just my age, or stress, or that I am not […]
The medical assistant who checked the patient in tells me, “Dr Mandrola, this guy had coronary artery disease since the 1980’s. He is 90 years-old now, and his only medicines are that statin and aspirin.” One of the more common questions that arises in cardiology is whether a person should take a statin drug. Despite […]
The fury of modern medicine reached new heights this week. And, it happened in my home city, best known for its two-minute horse race, baseball bats, and donut bacon cheeseburgers. It was both the surgery and its accompanying social media cheerleading that made the news. Hand surgeons at Jewish Hospital performed only the third double […]
The memo is in all caps and a bold font. It rests on my office keyboard, not to be missed. It is from a senior business office staff member who recently attended a two day medicare coding meeting. It said… To: ALL Physicians RE: Medicare Meeting Aug 2010 Just a few things that I learned […]
We are not there yet, but it is close. Yes, it is true, most doctors may soon be government employees. No, not the Lasik surgeons, the plastic surgeons or the dentists, they were clearly more focused on career day. But is it necessarily a bad thing if all your income comes from federal, state or […]
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Not funny…anymore
As most know, a good laugh is indeed good for the heart. I get this. However, in the case of using a donut bacon cheeseburger as a vehicle for making fun of the abysmal nutrition of KY state fair goers, the blurry line separating funny from not funny is clear, at least for me. What […]
Will he get to play, or not? Dear Coach, (or administrator, or secretary, or school legal department.) I have seen and examined, Mr. “Joe Teen.” (name changed for HIPPA) He came to me for a school physical because he is deathly embarrassed over the check for inguinal hernias. He is a healthy teen. This I […]
I present interesting cases to colleagues often. Because it is educational and good for patient care, and because I like to. But it has been many years since I was mandated to present a case. It seems that I am not the only doctor exasperated by this pesky new barrier to patient care: “doctors-in-cubicles.” An old […]