Medical
A plea from an emergency physician on the front lines
Our lives are quickly changing. Schools are closing; sports are being canceled; people are working from home, Disneyland is closing, toilet paper is in short supply. We are about to hit a real struggle with our health care system. We are about to hit a real struggle with our economy. Let this be a time…
Read MoreProper endings like this feel right
He was a logical man. A northeast Ohio man. Who worked all his life and worked hard. I can see it in his hands. They are entirely calloused with traces of grease impervious even to pumice soap. A family man. His wife and sons and daughters are at bedside. And proud grandson, just a man,…
Read MoreHow can you determine a Caribbean medical school’s quality?
If you open Google and do a search for “Caribbean medical schools,” it will quickly become clear to you that not everyone is a fan, but just because something doesn’t work for one person doesn’t necessarily mean it hasn’t worked for hundreds. Established, upper-tier Caribbean medical schools are credible alternatives for hardworking students unable to…
Read MoreHow to manage the transitions of your day
Three months ago I got a Peloton bike. Overnight I went from a boring, 30 minute, mildly aerobic grind on an elliptical while listening to podcasts to getting my rear end handed to me by Peloton instructors, all in recorded classes I take on demand. Yesterday my instructor was Cody Rigsby, a guy with a great…
Read MorePrevent the spread of COVID-19 with telemedicine
I am a board-certified internal medicine physician practicing in a small outpatient clinic with a highly reputable academic organization in the greater Boston area. Regarding COVID-19, I am not panicked, but I am concerned– concerned for our patients, concerned for our workforce and health care providers, concerned for our parents and loved ones. The situation…
Read MoreAn ER physician’s advice to the general public: How to flatten the curve
Some advice as an emergency physician, daughter, mother, and concerned citizen. Help keep older relatives and neighbors self-quarantined at home. Same goes for those of any age who are immune-compromised (cancer-patients, on immune-suppressant meds for autoimmune diseases, etc.) Pick up and deliver their groceries and prescriptions to their front-door for them. Health care workers (physicians,…
Read MoreReclaiming the future of health care
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. Although I work for the American College of Physicians, I’m writing this as a general internist who has practiced both primary care and hospital-based medicine for over 25 years. Hopefully by now, you are aware of Better is Possible: The American College of…
Read MoreTime to redefine normal body temperature?
Normal body temperature is 98.6˚ F, right? That’s certainly what we’re all taught, and it’s the right answer on a test. I know it seems crazy, but 98.6˚ F may not, in fact, represent the best estimate of normal body temperature. Not only that, but normal body temperature may be falling over time, according to…
Read MoreCOVID-19 coronavirus needs apolitical truth-telling
She is 11, a fifth-grader, as prepubescent as nature allows, and utterly terrified. She hasn’t eaten normally for nearly a month, her mother reports. She sleeps poorly, reports nightmares, and cleans her hands so obsessively that she is literally bleeding raw. Her fifth-grade peer group typically does not guard its language nor govern its remarks,…
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