May 10th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Behind the Scenes, Discontent, Doctor Burnout, Doctor Satisfaction, Doctor's Point of View, Doctors, Documentary Film, Dr. Ryan Flesher, Emergency Medicine, Fear of Malpractice, General Medicine, Hate Medicine, Healthcare reform, Healthcare System, Internal Medicine, Loss of Physician Autonomy, Medical Malpractice, Medical Students, Nancy Pando, New Doctors, Physician Recruitment, Physicians, Primary Care, The Foundation of Medicine is Cracking, The Vanishing Oath, Unhappy Doctors
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Yesterday a much-anticipated package arrived in the mail containing a documentary film directed (and acted) by a young emergency room physician, Ryan Flesher, M.D., and produced by a former clinical social worker, Nancy Pando, L.I.C.S.W. The film is called “The Vanishing Oath.”
As background, the film is a 3-year project born in 2007 just before the great U.S. healthcare reform debate began. Over 200 hours of interviews were conducted to explore a simple question:
Why Dr. Flesher had grown to hate medicine. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
May 8th, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Adult Children, Anger Management, Cardiac Arrest, Deceased Family Member, Decency, Dishonor, Dying, Grief, Harm, Hospice, Manners, Physical Threats, Rage, Self-Control, Time of Death, Upon Death, Violent Behavior
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Twice in the last few months I have encountered grief as rage. Both were in the setting of the cardiac arrest of individuals who were already very ill. One was aged, with severe, end-stage heart disease. One was of middle age, but with metastatic cancer and on hospice.
In one instance, family members became angry because we did not leave the body in the ER for eight hours so that everyone could come and pay their respects. (Which I always thought was the purpose of a funeral home.)
In another, a family was angry because we did not allow everyone back into the room during the resuscitation of their cancer-stricken loved one — a resuscitation the family insisted upon, and which required rescinding hospice status. From observing their demeanor, their presence would have caused total chaos. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
May 8th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Adulthood, Children, Effects of Stress, Growing Up, Health-Damaging, How Stress Affects Health, kids, Managing Stress, Psychology, Real Life, Stress Hormones, Stresses, Stressors, Teenagers
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So I’ve been thinking a lot about stress lately.
Obviously, it’s because I’m in one of those work/personal periods where the word comes in all capital letters and my dreams seem to be caught on a continual loop of taking-an-exam-in-a-class-I-forgot-to-attend-all-semester (and yes, I’ve been out of school for 26 years now)/realizing-I-just-bought-a-new-house-and-have-to-move/or, finding-that-I-have-10-stories-due-tomorrow (for the newspaper at which I haven’t worked in years).
This latter dream comes closest to my own situation at the moment given that I find myself with just a wee bit too much work for the time allotted (ok, maybe a lot too much work). I’m coping — going to bed later, getting up earlier, reaching out to a couple of writer friends for help) but it nonetheless has my cortisol and norepinephrine hormone production on overtime.
Which brings me to the point of this blog. Your health on stress. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Medical Writer's Musings on Medicine, Health Care, and the Writing Life*
May 7th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Avoid Death and Disease, Chart-Audit Reviews, Chiropractic Medicine, Chiropractor, Derby Girls, Doctor-Derby Names, Drug Companies, General Medicine, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare Finance Reform, Healthcare Recession, Hospitalist Medicine, Inpatient Admissions, Insurance Companies, Lectures, Locum Tenens, Lucrative, Medical Conferences, Medical Device Companies, Medical Moonlighting, Medical Necessity, Nurse FlatlinHER, Pharmaceuticals, Private Industry, Roller Derby, Second Jobs for Doctors, Secondary Income, Semi-Retired Doctors, Subspecialty Jobs, Supplemental Income, The Bone Setter, Traveling Doctors, Whip It, Women's Flat Track Derby Association
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Medical moonlighting. That’s what you’d better be thinking about as the healthcare finance reform trap continues its destined pursuit of bankrupting America.
The only possible outcome to all of this mess is the biggest man-made healthcare recession of all time that will make the current economic implosion look like a walk in the park.
What are some possible second jobs for doctors? Every week I get offers to respond to surveys and telephone conferences by private industry asking for my opinions on up-and-coming pharmaceuticals. Just the other day I was offered $500 for a 90-minute interview. (That reminds me, I had better call them back!)
Other second jobs for doctors? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
May 6th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research, True Stories
Tags: Amazing, Bad Science, Belief, Beyond Expectation, Consumer-Provider Relationship, Contradictions, Crazy, Doctor-Patient Connection, Evidence-Based, Faith Healers, Health and Medicine, Immeasurable, Irrational, Magical, Medical Research, Miracles, Miraculous, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Perception, Proven Theories, Science Based Medicine, Science-Based Evidence, Scientific, Scientific Facts, Scientific Studies, Technology
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I was recently listening to an audiobook about diet, written and read by a “famous” doctor who gets people healthy through dietary changes.
Since my podcast pushes me a little into the mainstream (more than this blog does), I thought it would be good to hear what the “average” person is reading about health. Plus, I am not exactly the most compliant patient when it comes to diet, so I thought I could possibly get something out of it personally.
I did my best to listen with an open mind, ignoring what I thought were gimmicks and trying to glean the valuable information from what this doctor was saying.
I had to stop, however, before finishing the book. It wasn’t the content so much that gave me cause to feel the desire to smash my iPod, it was the hype. The author was constantly using words like “amazing,” “magical,” and “miraculous.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
Yesterday a much-anticipated package arrived in the mail containing a documentary film directed (and acted) by a young emergency room physician, Ryan Flesher, M.D., and produced by a former clinical social worker, Nancy Pando, L.I.C.S.W. The film is called “The Vanishing Oath.”
