Medical

In 2002, two Stanford dermatologists published a study in which they sent a questionnaire to a week’s worth of patients, asking them their preferences for how medical providers dress. The study covered relatively new ground. Two of the four references were the 1970s best-sellers, Dress for Success, and The Woman’s Dress for Success Book. The…

There is fear in the air. Fear that the COVID pandemic may not get under control because the virus is mutating so fast. Fear that the vaccines may not be effective against these new variants. But fear should not be the driving force behind public health policy decisions. A measured analysis of facts and data…

We swore an oath: “Primum non nocere”  — First, do no harm.  When pandemic stress began to bear down on our hospitals, we scrambled to manage the burden of volume and simultaneously mitigate the threat of contagion.  In our war efforts, we donned our hazmat suits, and pleaded with everyone to do their part.  We…

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), published by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), provide science-based recommendations on what to eat and drink to promote health, reduce the risk of chronic disease, and meet nutrient needs. The guidelines provide a framework for policy makers and…

On February 18, Dr. Marty Makary published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal which struck an unusually optimistic note as to the stage of the American COVID-19 pandemic.  Dr. Makary predicts that based on the current trajectory, COVID-19 will be mostly gone by April, allowing Americans to return to a post-COVID-19 normal life.…

“While behavioral health integration (BHI) has been a long-standing conversation in collaborative care or health’s team-based approach, it hasn’t always been clearly defined and rarely means more than referring a patient in need to a specialist. The biggest shift over the past twenty years has simply been recognizing just how vital behavioral health is to…

“When we think about holistic medicine, many assume that it requires human-to-human touch points and, therefore, doesn’t lend itself well to technology and innovations such as artificial intelligence. In fact, holistic medicine and whole-person care advocates often view technology as manufactured or impersonal and therefore dismiss its utility for health care. This is because there…

Some years ago, my husband and I sat with his mother at her kitchen table and went over advance care planning documents her doctor had given her. She was in her mid-70s then, living independently but managing several chronic health issues. The documents included a living will, which specified the kind of care she wished…