Is "doing everything we can" at the end of life doing too much?

--------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsors Nearly 30 percent of malpractice cases can be attributed to communication failures, resulting in nearly 2,000 patient deaths and $1.7B in costs. [This new guide]( will show you how to put patient safety at the forefront with better care team communications. [Read now](. By age 65, nearly 99 percent of doctors will have [faced a malpractice lawsuit](. It’s a matter of when, not if. [Here’s how to handle it when you get served](. The rise in consumerism and [value-based care]( is forcing physicians to change the way they do business. [Learn how]( you can continue to put patients first without jeopardizing revenue. [The Connected Clinician]( How to receive pages on your smartphone, PHI on your pager, and more. [Read the blog post now](. [Patient misidentification can lead to medical errors, patient harm, and costly inefficiencies]( for providers. Get the facts on patient misidentification, and [learn how to avoid it]( from organizations that use biometrics to do so. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Feb. 12, 2018 [Is “doing everything we can” at the end of life doing too much?]( In his soulful book, How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter, the late surgeon and author Sherwin Nuland describes one of his patient encounters as a medical student. The patient, a 50-year-old man, presented to the hospital after a heart attack. A few hours later, the patient suddenly collapsed pulseless and unconscious. Training in […] [Should doctors be required to inform patients of their palliative care rights?]( I overheard a colleague admit an 84-year-old woman to the hospital from the emergency department for a sizable mass in her uterus — no doubt, cancerous. I pictured a frail woman who’d been suffering for a while and was afraid to tell anyone about it, fearing the worst. Like most, she preferred to ignore it […] [Racists drove a doctor from the U.S.]( Steve was special — even as an intern and first-year resident. Out of more than two hundred letters of recommendation for our physician trainees I’ve written over the last fifteen years, I have only written this statement a few times: “Steve has the clinical acumen, integrity, work ethics and wonderful bedside manner that would give […] [The blueprint to be financially free from medicine]( I am so excited to write this post. It’s been a long time coming, but in fact, it’s come years sooner than I had even dared to hope. Now, I can finally say that I am truly financially free from medicine and I wholeheartedly believe that anyone can achieve this. Setting the scene First, a little background. […] [Harassment of women in medicine: We are all in this together]( Almost every day there is a new revelation about men committing horrible, criminal, bizarre, or nauseating acts of sexual misconduct. Harassment and assault seem to be rampant. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have illuminated the vast scope of the problem. Most stories have focused on famous men in politics, business, sports, and entertainment, but this […] --------------------------------------------------------------- [An inspiring KevinMD keynote]( will make your event memorable. "Kevin's keynote presentation was perfect. Extremely rich in content, and a delivery that is world class." [Visit Kevin's speaking page]( to find out more. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sailors, surgeons, scheduling: the deadly consequences of fatigue]( Sailors are now the latest profession, along with truck drivers and airline pilots, taking the dangers of fatigue and the need for balanced shift schedules seriously. When will medicine finally catch up? Recently, Navy officials sat down in front of Congress and talked about tiredness. With a $171.5 billion annual budget and some of the […] [The unintended effects of physician side hustles]( A movement is growing in the underbelly of the internet. On Facebook, a group called Physician Side Gigs has over 11,000 physician members trading tips and words of encouragement with other doctors looking to supplement their clinical careers via side hustles. Physician on Fire and the White Coat Investor are encouraging doctors to achieve financial independence […] [People who grieve can live again]( An excerpt from The Only Way Out is Through: A Ten-Step Journey from Grief to Wholeness. “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act III, Scene III Mourning is about reality. At the very beginning, your body tries to save […] [How this physician became an art mogul]( I truly believe that the business asset class is important in supercharging the race to financial independence. While many dream of starting their own Google or Amazon, I find myself much more interested in the small, less scalable business. The kind that spins off some revenue, builds experience and know how, and is fun. Although […] [“I Need to Feel Dirty” from Medicine the Musical]( A song from Medicine the Musical by Michael Ehrenreich. Support the Kickstarter campaign to bring the production closer to completion. Medicine the Musical is a unique musical that brings the world of medicine and medical school to the public in an accessible and entertaining way. Set to a dynamic rock score, Medicine the Musical follows a group of first year medical students […] [All’s fair in love and medical school]( The third and fourth year of medical school are ridiculously difficult, but not for the reasons you think. Culture matters. Everyone and every specialty is distinct and it’s on you to effortlessly navigate all of the people and their respective idiosyncrasies. Although people are all individuals, each specialty seems to have their own overarching spirit. […] [7 tips for branding: What doctors need to know]( When we think of a brand, we usually think of companies such as Apple or Coca-Cola with their recognizable logos and colors. We may also think about celebrities, such as Beyoncé and the Kardashians, who have large-scale exposure and garner massive attention. But, what is a brand? A brand is a particular identity or image […] [3 good financial habits for doctors]( As a personal finance coach, I have learned that the most important aspect to wealth accumulation is having good money habits. Good habits create good results, and good results are what everyone wants. We were not born with any of our habits; we learned them somewhere along the way. That’s good news, because that means […] [Who’s really to blame for physician burnout?]( The subject of physician burnout has become a major point of contention in our community. Institutions try to help by implementing “mindfulness programs” or bringing in “burnout experts” for a one-time lecture. Physicians complain that the system is flawed and mindfulness is just another way for them to “blame the victim” for being burned out. […] [Learn to see beauty in death]( We physicians stand witness to countless tragedies in our careers. At some point, as we stand by the bedside of a dying patient, comfort a heartbroken relative or officially call a death. We learn that love and loss, sorrow and joy are intertwined. They depend upon each other. They are two sides of the same […] [Fight the opioid crisis with physician assistants]( With over 300,000 opioid-related deaths reported since 2000 and two million patients battling addiction today, it’s evident that more qualified medical providers are needed to care for substance abuse patients. Psychiatrists and addiction specialists are struggling to meet the demands of this high need population. The good news amid this national health care epidemic is […] [A medical student was discriminated against by a patient]( On my outpatient family medicine rotation, I met a patient I will never forget. She was a white middle-aged woman — a new patient to the clinic — there to establish care. When I walked in and introduced myself, she looked me up and down with a glazed expression. Within two minutes, while I was […] [MKSAP 27-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus]( Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 27-year-old woman is evaluated for management of her type 1 diabetes mellitus. She was diagnosed 10 years ago. She has no known complications from her diabetes. She eats a healthy diet and exercises an average of 60 minutes per day […] [A physician’s financial advice to his widow]( I am the one obsessed about finances in our house. Updating our monthly net worth spreadsheet and ensuring we are not paying mindless monthly fees for things we don’t use (i.e., magazines, Netflix, etc.). I allocate our investment portfolios and ensure that we have paid into our IRAs and 529s annually. It is not that […] [Lifelong lessons from a medical student’s first rotation]( “How long have you been doing this?” he asked, eyes gleaming with admiration. I was unsure whether he was asking how long I had been conducting patient interviews or how long I had been a medical student. I decided on the latter. “2 years,” I replied with a confident smile across my chin. “Well, you’re […] [Think twice before you give a hug]( I’m usually a hugger. When I see people I haven’t seen for a while or want to acknowledge someone in an open-hearted way, I often will automatically reach for a hug. Physical acknowledgment is usually perceived as a sign of warmth. But not always. In the last few years, I have noticed that this automatic […] [Medical school admissions: Patience is a virtue]( For patients, being patient can be the most difficult part of receiving health care. For some, this ends in the waiting room, but others, unfortunately, anxiously await insurance approval, test results, surgery, transplants, and sometimes — even death. However, in medicine, patients aren’t the only ones who need patience. It’s important that physicians learn to […] --------------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the KevinMD e-newsletter. If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 173 Daniel Webster Highway Nashua, New Hampshire 03062 [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](