My hospital has just weathered an impressive upswing in patient volume. The house was full for weeks. The experience highlights an important aspect about quality care–an obvious one that doesn’t always make headlines. What I notice when the hospital gets full is that patients are sent to units that they don’t normally go to. For […]
Before beginning to read, please know that what follows is just a long-winded introduction to a post that featured me as an expert. You can can scroll down to the link if you wish. — This is that time of year. It’s a nice time. Longer days, warmer temps and big doses of hope power […]
There I was sitting at the computer in between ablation cases. It was a normal Thursday. I was thinking about my next column over at theHeart.org. A nurse from the catheterization lab came in and told me that Dr. Dillon was giving a press conference. He was announcing three major initiatives for heart attack care […]
I have always been a nutrition agnostic: Eat real food, less of it, and go out and play every day. I wasn’t sure the details mattered that much. Keep it simple. This view may need updating. You have probably seen the news: A recent trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, strongly supports […]
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A good idea gone bad…
If it weren’t so important, I’d let it go. You know how I feel about inflammation. There is a great farce in the healthcare world that needs more exposure. It’s a terrible problem because it gets in the way of me taking care of you. It inhibits humanism in the practice of Medicine. It inflames […]
I tweeted yesterday that the US healthcare delivery system remains broken. With only 140 characters, there was little means to expand. Let me tell you a story and then you be the judge. The patient was elderly and had multiple chronic medical problems, including the chief complaint of debilitating orthopedic issues. I was asked to […]
Judging other doctors is tough. You are torn. On the one hand, as a member of the profession, it’s hard to read stories of misdeeds of fellow cardiologists and remain neutral. You want to call out the foul. You want to set the record straight. That doctor did wrong. Justice needs to be done. I […]
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Nadirs and pegs
Medicine is that way. You can get yourself in nadirs. It’s emotional, being a real doctor. You care about so much. You are attached. That’s the problem. Attachment leads to suffering and then to nadirs. Truth be told, most doctors, myself included, hang a lot of their self-esteem on the doctoring peg. I’m not sure […]
Please forgive me. I am suffering from a cyclocross hangover. It is intense. Whenever someone asks me about my race or the UCI World Championships, I feel a surge of emotion. Simply put, watching our cycling heroes battle it out on our training ground was the most remarkable sporting event I have ever witnessed. And […]
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My World’s CX race report
A serious writer would not make habit of serving up frivolous race reports. Is chronicling the efforts of a watt-deficient middle-aged (grandfather) CX racer even worth the bandwidth? Perhaps not, but this was a special week in Louisville. And with all the seriousness in the world, a little tomfoolery might be soothing. I promise that […]
Shortly after starting this blog, a stranger came up to me at a cross-country meet and said that he liked my blog. Though I didn’t know him, he gave me advice that I think of often. “Use more pictures,” he recommended. Then he was gone. I was left with only that advice. With the UCI […]