Malpractice and heart catheterization are in the news today. A spicy concoction for sure. An epidemiological study published in an obscure online (and overpriced) subsidiary of Circulation addresses the role of three major medical issues facing cardiologists today: malpractice, heart catheterization, and medical costs. The summary details of the study have already been published in many […]
Category: General Medicine
The heart’s resilience and fixability is striking. That is, compared to the frailty of other components of the birthday-ravaged body. We cardiologists are advantaged by the attention heart disease garners in the minds of patients. We get priority over the polyp, or the bulging disc. But should we? He is an older man living a […]
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Board examinations, again…
It was a brightly lit wide open room with many cubicles arranged on the periphery. The test takers were grown-ups, but all carried that worried student look. The secretary at the desk who checks you in makes TSA people seem jovial. No personal effects were allowed, including a full-fledge divorce of the cell phone. Mysteriously, […]
Wow. Congratulations to Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley for her leadership role in achieving a smoking ban in Glasgow, KY. That’s right, Glasgow KY, deep in the heart of one of America’s largest tobacco producing counties. Ablating atrial fibrillation, implanting ICDs and “squishing” blockages are procedures that help the singular few. They can often prove challenging, […]
My infinitely more famous colleague, Dr Wes has a very nice summary piece on how the recent healthcare reform bill will affect doctors. It is very well written, concise and instructive. I get it. I don’t here Fox news. There is good in the bill, like the pre-existing condition clause, and prohibiting an insurance company […]
My first cut and paste post… Tired. Â Permanent AF is hard to ablate. Â Plus, I did the evening bike ride with the real racer dudes. Â Kept trying to tell them I was a blogger, not a crit racer. Â Life force is nearing E. Enjoy. I think they were serious. Â Have to wonder what the blogs […]
He is 93 and has numerous medical problems, most of which involved aging blood vessels, as well as multiple orthopedic issues, including compression fractures and diffuse arthritis. The bony issues have resulted in a severely compromised mobility of late. Despite ongoing treatment with both aspirin and clopidogrel, he presents after numerous hours of focal neurologic […]
It has come to be evident -although seemingly obvious- writing words on medical matters for all to see requires a disclaimer. Medical information on the internet should serve an informational and supplemental role. It should increase the knowledge base, provide a scaffolding of a particular problem and serve to enhance the interaction between the doctor […]
These days of uncharacteristic winter have created much angst for the many who dwell in a southern state and have southern feelings about snow. For the busy electrophysiologist who lives 5k from the hospital and grew up in New England, the snow provides an intermission from the race -a time out. All in the […]
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The Human Mind…
Remarkable. The scene is the Brown Theatre, Louisville Ky. The crowd, primarily women but surprisingly not all with painted eyebrows filters in and there is this sense that others are looking at each other for validation. I study their faces to determine whether they are believers and then realize many look at me with the […]
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The costume…
Does it matter what a doctor wears? A simple search on ‘doctors attire’ yields many studies and words of opinion but yet no consensus. As background, electrophysiologists seem most comfortable in those ubiquitous blue or green hospital issue scrubs, most commonly accompanied by tennis shoes. Maybe this is a right given the long hours of […]