"Will the unfavorable regulatory environment permit telehealth to flourish? Perforce we’re beginning to see a relaxation of restrictions that have hitherto obstructed progress. Recently, federal officials approved interstate licensing, thereby...
"Suzy was a bright and hardworking student. However, even though she was conscientious and generally cheery, her grades began to fall during her senior year, and she started to feel depressed. She also constantly had an upset stomach, which she had...
"Let’s not suffer more hardship then already incurred by COVID-19. Recognizing that both the psychosocial stressors arising from COVID-19 and the withdrawal of effective sexual offender treatment increase the risk of sexual violence, public safety...
"The incident bothered me all day and the following many days. I couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was and brushed it aside and stopped thinking about it. In the wake of recent events, it dawned upon me that it wasn’t the patient’s comments...
"My mom was beyond vulnerable to the virus. May of 2020 marked two years since she’d become a nursing home resident—receiving care for several chronic illnesses. She died of failure to thrive due to Coronavirus 2019 on June 1, 2020, at the age of...
"You are a physician. You have put in years of hard work and sacrifice getting here. Now what? Does your life look and feel exactly how you imagined it would? If not, what does your ideal life look like? Certainly, answers to this question are deeply...
"An email arrived inviting med students to join the State of Georgia’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). The MRC is an organization of doctors, nurses, PAs, EMTs, and med students who are the first medical boots on the ground for disasters in Georgia....
"History cannot be changed and should not be erased. The First Amendment was placed first for a reason. It is the bedrock of our nation’s ability to overcome despots like Hitler and to abolish slavery. However, it comes at a price. You may hear...
"The disparity of women physicians in research is a systemic issue that should be mitigated appropriately. Women, especially minorities and immigrants, need institutional support to succeed as clinician-investigators. Medical institutions should...
"We dealt with the death, uncertainty, and fear of COVID-19 with a stiff upper lip. But our hearts broke when George Floyd was murdered by the police on May 25. George is a symbol of an immense problem. A study reported that one in every thousand...
"Government officials, regardless of political affiliation, should seek sound medical advice before communicating with their constituents. Appropriate public health information should be shared so that constituents are not harmed by following...
"Almost overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely disrupted how we deliver primary care to patients. Before the pandemic, telehealth seemed to be a way to deliver urgent care for acute issues to a select group of tech-savvy patients. Now, at...
"There is no single culprit responsible for this shift in medical education. However, two, in particular, should be noted. The first is the culture of defensive medicine, or more bluntly, CYA (cover-your-ass) medicine. This culture has been...
"Telehealth has come into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic as physicians face an immediate need to reduce exposure by providing care—or at least triage—remotely when appropriate. Under usual circumstances, telemedicine is comparatively low risk....
"As a physician working with human trafficking survivors, I have become accustomed to those with a history of surviving violence. But the patient in question is in my general primary care practice. This should highlight to care providers that there...
"As I read about Dr. Breen, saddened by the fact that we have been robbed of yet another young, promising, motivated physician, I am reminded that as bad as this pandemic is — and truly believe it is awful — when it gets better (and I have to...
"In the best of times (and these are certainly not), all patients need advocates all the time; now more than ever, vulnerable patients need them more but don’t have access to them. Vulnerable populations have more at stake when visitors are limited...
"As a medical student, you find potential patients everywhere. Whether you’re on an airplane or on a romantic dinner date, we’ve all heard those famous words, 'Is there a doctor in the house?!' Here are some of my favorite 'patient' encounters....
"One of the calls you dread making as a doctor is telling a family member their loved one is dying. That was the call I received when my grandfather decompensated. We grow accustomed to making the call as clinicians, but we never expect to get it...
"Living the surreal experience of the COVID-19 pandemic challenges us on multiple levels. As a physician, I feel the responsibility to understand the magnitude of the situation and implement the best measures to protect my patients, trainees, my...
Explore why this general surgeon wrote a novel, and how writing helps with the stresses that accompany a surgery career. What is his #1 tip for those interested in surgery? What are the challenges facing the profession today? How can surgeons find...
"To the people who say that wearing a mask perpetuates the conspiracy: Tell that to the health care workers who have put their lives at risk to face firsthand an unknown disease. Tell that to the families of frontline workers who have contracted and...
What is caregiver burnout? How can you recognize the symptoms? What are tips for new caregivers? What can caregivers teach clinicians? R. Lynn Barnett is the author of and . She can be reached on Twitter . She shares her story and...
"Grandma Lilly is 87-years-old and in the ICU. She’s on a ventilator with her wrists restrained to the side of the bed. Grandma can barely see because her eyes are puffy: scleral edema. And her heart races: 140 beats per minute. Her blood pressure...