Medical

“In honor of one of the great classic novels, Go the F**k to Sleep, I would like to present to you my literary work: Stay the F@$k at Home. To the healthy 20 year old who asks, “Why should I stay the F@$k at home, COVID-19 is not going to kill me?” I ask: Do…

A free Wednesday afternoon, time to catch up on charts and paperwork, do a little online CME. “I’ll see a few walk-ins if anyone comes by,” I told my front office. A knock on my door sometime later: “A patient for you, Doctor.” “Send him back,” I said. He was a well-dressed man in his…

When COVID-19 hit, routine cancer screenings nearly came to a halt. Now those postponed appointments and overdue tests will likely result in delayed cancer diagnoses. Now more than ever it’s an opportune time to educate the community about the importance of regular cancer screenings. While we have powerful treatments for those diagnosed with cancer, nothing…

Asthma affects approximately 20 million adults in the US. It is a common cause of workplace and school absenteeism, and is one of the leading causes of hospitalizations in the US. Between 5% and 10% of asthmatics have frequent, persistent symptoms despite treatment with multiple medications, and are categorized as “difficult to treat” and “severe”…

Recently on Twitter, I asked this question above. The 130 (2.5 percent) of 5,213 respondents who said they would allow a CEO to make a skin incision highlight the unscientific nature of Twitter polls. Restricting voting to surgeons only is not possible. Many people asked me why I asked the question because surely no surgeon…

“The only end to pain is the graveyard.” Those words are etched forever in my mind. They underscore the hopelessness of so many throughout the world. She was 90 years old, crippled by arthritis, no family, and lived alone in a dirt floor hovel with no electricity or running water. She lived in a tiny…

“Although technology and disruptive innovation theoretically diminish systemic barriers and geographic isolation, in practice, they frequently widen chasms in access for vulnerable populations. The reality is telemedicine disproportionately caters to younger, wealthier, and more educated patients. Hospital systems need to ensure every patient has access to remote health care services, whether through offering landline phone…

A few short years ago, I started to worry about my family’s financial future while vacationing. During our annual ski trip, I took a nasty fall, landing on my wrist. The pain in my arm made me take notice of just how fragile our financial situation was. As a self-employed periodontist, I asked myself: What…