The Podcast by KevinMD

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3 coronavirus facts Americans must know before returning to work and school Oct 24, 2020

Show notes

"We can't un-bungle our nation's COVID-19 response. Political leaders acted too slowly; health agencies committed unforced errors with testing kits and, amid the confusion, an information fog settled over the land.

Americans remain afraid, perplexed, and chronically misinformed (despite wall-to-wall coronavirus coverage across the leading cable news programs and print publications).

To counter the uncertainty, any plan to get us out of the coronavirus crisis must first acknowledge and broadly communicate three immutable, scientific facts."

Robert Pearl is a plastic surgeon and author of Mistreated: Why We Think We're Getting Good Health Care–And Why We're Usually Wrong. He can be reached on Twitter @RobertPearlMD.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "3 coronavirus facts Americans must know before returning to work and school." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/05/3-coronavirus-facts-americans-must-know-before-returning-to-work-and-school.html)

A terminal diagnosis for my baby Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

"Eventually, this thankfully passed. Now, almost three years later, I know that this loss will always be with us. Miriam was beautiful, she was our only girl, she was perfect for our family, and she's always missing.

Still, my memories of being in the hospital are incredibly sad but also peaceful. In part, this is due to the incredible support and love we got from our family, friends, rabbi, and community. But in a big part, this is due to the clear and honest way we got Miriam's diagnosis and the support, concern, and compassion from her medical team."

Sophia Zilber is a patient advocate.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Getting a terminal diagnosis for my baby." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/01/getting-a-terminal-diagnosis-for-my-baby.html)

A physician experiences unprofessional behavior. What happened next? Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

"Setting: An impersonal, windowless conference room within a hospital

Characters: A nurse in charge (NIC), a department chair (DC) and me (ME)

NIC: Thank you for joining us to discuss the report you made of unprofessional behavior in the operating room. We'd like to start by letting you know that in this institution, we have a culture of informality. When I first got here, I found it unsettling that doctors were called by their first names in meetings.

DC: Yes, this culture was also surprising to me. At [Ivory tower institution 1], where I trained, no one would have ever called a physician by their first name! And at [Ivory tower institution 2] where I worked before moving here, no one would have dreamed of calling a doctor by their first name. Can you imagine someone calling Dr. [Worldfamous Surgeon at Ivory tower institution 2] Steve? It never would have happened! He would have been so angry! But here, I get called by my first name pretty regularly. I've gotten used to it, and now I don't even mind.

ME: We're not here because someone called me by my first name.

DC: What do you mean?"

Sarah M. Temkin is a gynecology-oncology physician.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "A discussion about unprofessional behavior: a play in 1 act." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/a-discussion-about-unprofessional-behavior-a-play-in-1-act.html)

Telehealth is the future but it is obscured by a dismal present Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

"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 prompting greater telehealth conversion, utilization, and expansion. Medicare's 1135 Waiver is also encouraging, and, in as much as it serves the same ends, the Drug Enforcement Administration's leave to prescribe via telemedicine without a prior in-person meeting is a similarly promising development. In light of circumstances, anything that might reduce cost, improve delivery, and wrest control from bloated, dysfunctional health care systems is viable."

David Hanekom is an internal medicine physician.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Telehealth is the future but it is obscured by a dismal present." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/telehealth-is-the-future-but-it-is-obscured-by-a-dismal-present.html)

Can what you eat worsen your ADHD? Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

"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 just accepted as a way of life. She'd had an ADHD diagnosis since she was younger, but while Ritalin had helped her focus on her work in the past, the effect seemed to be dwindling as she built up a tolerance.

I noted that her diet seemed to have shifted toward more comfort food. Her meals were cereal with milk, a sandwich, pizza, or pasta. She was eating a lot of dairy and gluten, and it's no coincidence that both of these dietary components can exacerbate the symptoms of ADHD."

Uma Naidoo is a nutritional psychiatrist and author of This Is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods that Fight Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and More.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Can what you eat worsen your ADHD?" (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/can-what-you-eat-worsen-your-adhd.html)

Sexual offender treatment during COVID-19 Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

"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 demands that offenders have access to treatment. Without sexual offender treatment during COVID-19, we exchange one public health crisis for another."

Renée Sorrentino is a psychiatrist.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Sexual offender treatment during COVID-19." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/the-withdrawal-of-effective-sexual-offender-treatment-during-covid-19.html)

Be an upstander and not a bystander Oct 18, 2020

Show notes

"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 that bothered me. It was the fact that no one standing in the room witnessing the conversation stepped in. Not during the conversation, and not after. Considering I've worked with my colleagues every single day, and in the same place for the last 12 years, I felt strangely betrayed.

Stories like this happen every day and are sadly more common than we realized. There will always be racist, insensitive, inappropriate comments by people across life. Its how we react to them is what will shape our lives. Most individuals have asked how they can help. Well, start by being an upstander and not a bystander. That will mean the world to us, people of color, and immigrants.

And let's start teaching and training students in medical school, nursing, and technical schools how to identify and stand up to inappropriate comments. It may take us a few generations to make seismic changes, but we must start now."

Aasma Shaukat is a gastroenterologist and can reached on Twitter @aasmashaukatmd.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Be an upstander and not a bystander." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/be-an-upstander-and-not-a-bystander.html)

This episode is sponsored by The Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX). The Nuance DAX solution makes it possible to forget the tech-toggling and reduces documentation burdens no matter how or where care is being provided. (www.kevinmd.com/nuancedax)

What it's like to write about COVID-19 while it's killing your mom Oct 17, 2020

Show notes

"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 75.

As her oldest child, her health care proxy, and a health care writer for more than 15 years, I knew that a positive result in a long-term care facility was statistically almost sure to end one way. She'd already been showing signs of global decline for months, and had a DNR order in place.

Professionally, I'd been immersed in COVID almost from the time it began. I was writing articles about physicians' liability exposure during the crisis and how clinicians could seek resources for help coping with trauma related to the pandemic.

Personally, I was connecting with my mom the best I could (asynchronous videos, cards in the mail). I was defending her final wishes. And I was preparing mentally to say goodbye, even if it couldn't be in person."

Debra A. Shute is a journalist.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "What it's like to write about COVID-19 while it's killing your mom." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/what-its-like-to-write-about-covid-19-while-its-killing-your-mom.html)

What does a physician's ideal life look like? Oct 16, 2020

Show notes

"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 personal, and will vary depending on the individual. As physicians, we need to engage in a process of self-discovery to create the lives we want and deserve. This requires each of us to examine our lives as they currently are, envision what they could be, and take inspired action to make the changes that are necessary to achieve our goals.

To start, you might ask yourself the following questions:

What aspects of my career and personal life do I find the most rewarding and fulfilling?

What aspects am I simply tolerating?

And what aspects actually make me feel unhappy, or unsettled?"

Gina Geis is a neonatologist and physician coach.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The path toward your ideal life." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/the-path-toward-your-ideal-life.html)

A medical student volunteers with the medical corps Oct 15, 2020

Show notes

"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. They establish mobile hospitals and provide medical care. With extra time in isolation, I signed up and shortly received a notice for locations at food banks available to students. I requested an assignment, received my orders, and deployed the next day to serve for two weeks.

When I arrived, the food bank was in desperate need of volunteers. With the state shutdown, more people needed food, but fewer people were able to help. The Georgia State Defense Force (GSDF), a statewide Army branch of volunteers, assigned soldiers to work at the food banks since normal volunteers were under lockdown. I was assigned as medical support for the soldiers."

Mason Bennett is a medical student.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "A medical student's unique education in a pandemic." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/a-medical-students-unique-education-in-a-pandemic.html)

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