Medical

It is Thanksgiving and, while many are counting their blessings, others are mourning the loss of family time, routine, turkey, big family gatherings, and football.   The Baltimore Ravens had to cancel their game today because of too many positive COVID-19 tests.  My logical question as a surgeon was, “So I guess they reschedule for 14…

So there’s this 60-year-old African American physician, and she is fed up. She’s working at a local hospital because she wants to sleep in her own bed rather than continue the life of a locum tenens. After a weekend call where she’s on her 29th hour in the OR in two days with only three…

What a state of affairs – the impending cold winter, COVID, computer hell, loneliness, unemployment – so many negatives for us to focus our attention on. As the saying goes, what you focus on grows, especially in that massive galaxy of 100 billion nerve cells inside our skulls. So, in anticipation of the holidays, I…

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. It is a primary risk factor for numerous medical conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, and dementia. Blood pressure (BP) control is so critical that when the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology updated…

I retired on June 30, 2020, after 32 years of solo practice as a dermatologist. Due to the pandemic, some say I was smart to retire when I did. But if I was so smart, I would have retired on February 28th. My practice was simple: three full-time employees, 1,300 square feet, no fancy surgeries…

Medicine causes just as much disease as it solves. We must adopt the lifestyle to get through college, medical school, residency, and fellowship is nothing close to a healthy lifestyle. Previously, we discussed the long hours and the lack of exercise, but our food inhibits our desire for health. This begins with what the hospital…

This article is sponsored by Doc2Doc Lending. For the vast majority of us doctors, a career in medicine will also mean spending a significant portion of our adult lives carrying multiple forms of debt.  Understanding student loans (the average medical school graduate in 2019 had $201,490 in student loans while the average dental school graduate…

You were a twenty-one-year-old Black man. When we received you, your eyes were open I asked if you could hear me You whispered a phone number and “Mom.” To the green sterile operating room With your breaths of anesthesia, Your final conscious moments Your pain ceased. We worked on you for hours, Terrell. I swear…

We all go to work in the morning, looking forward to the day. I know I have about 26 patients and about 20 other tasks to do for the day. I know that my medical assistant has about the same ( or more ), and we are ready to go. “Good morning Sophia,” I say…