Beyond the medical lessons learned from COVID

Here are the stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the stories you missed on [KevinMD](. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsors [New infographic]( Keeping clinicians and hospital staff safe during emergency situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is not an easy issue to address. Here are 4 situations of clinician distress and how improved communications can make an impact. [See how](. [Our increasing cultural diversity]( creates challenges for physicians. [Analyze these 4 factors]( to determine the extent of your obligation to provide language assistance to multilingual patients. What will it take to keep pace with changing patient expectations and fix reimbursement hurdles? [Download Updox’s data report]( to learn how telehealth and virtual care will continue to evolve to meet [health care’s needs](. [Tax planning for physicians updated with recent COVID-19 changes](. Learn how to save taxes and keep more of what you make by registering for this month’s webinars: Locum Tenens Tax Planning Strategies, Renting your Home to Your Business, and [Making the Most of Meals and Entertainment](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Sep 21, 2020 [Beyond the medical lessons learned from COVID]( COVID- 19 is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is approximately 120 nm in diameter. To put it in non-scientific terms, its physical size may be diminutive, but its impact has been devastating on the entire human race. Who knew that this tiny but mighty virus would hold the world hostage or make […] [Science and faith in the time of COVID-19]( During the COVID-19 pandemic, a glaring trend has emerged, one that has long helped forge the American religious cultural landscape, but has now blossomed in full force, particularly within many Christian fundamentalist circles. As a physician who is also an evangelical Christian, I constantly live with the tension of balancing the practice of my faith […] [A COVID-19 vaccine is not the magic solution to ending this pandemic]( COVID-19 caused the nation to shut down and wreaked havoc on everyone’s daily lives. International travel has been halted, restaurants and businesses have been closed, and large gatherings and celebrations have been forced to be postponed or canceled. After six months of quarantine and social distancing, however, people are developing pandemic fatigue. Over 150 candidate […] [Care is no longer personal. Care is political.]( Care. I do not believe we have ever heard more about care at a presidential nominating convention than in this year’s Democrat convention. “Patriotism,” “justice,” “bravery,” “strength”? For sure. But “care”? Scarcely a word. Yet we now hear that the role of the president is to “care about and for the people” he governs. Socrates […] [Patients without traditional support systems, and the doctors who stereotype them [PODCAST]]( “When doctors ignore the evidence showing that a support system doesn’t have to be traditional in order to be effective, that’s not a medical judgment. It’s a personal prejudice that puts singles at serious risk. Classifying patients as married or unmarried when studying the effects of social support undoubtedly makes research easier, with groups determined […] [An EMR frustration that is still torturing us]( I have written, or more accurately ranted, about electronic medical records (EMR) systems throughout this blog. While the systems have clearly improved since their mandatory introduction into the medical universe, they have still not delivered on many of their promises. Of course, EMR has brought tremendous advantages to the medical profession, and we are all […] [A welcome to new residents]( Twenty-five years have passed since I finished my residency, and a lot has changed. Back then, we hand wrote all our notes, and the only time we looked at a computer screen was to obtain laboratory results. Now, residents spend more time in front of a computer screen than at the bedside. I contend that […] [This is what a successful health care system looks like]( If a core goal of our nation is to have the healthiest population possible, then we need to rethink, regroup, and restore our commitment to health practices and processes that are aligned with this mission. We are currently investing our precious social and economic capital into a health care system that is wildly inefficient, too […] [Designing your life and career in medicine]( The best part of my job is interviewing residents and watching as gears begin to turn in their minds when I ask: What made you decide that you wanted to be a doctor? What is your purpose in life? What legacy are you creating? Which position in your field will truly fulfill you? What type […] [Bridging the COVID-19 health recommendations divide [PODCAST]]( “Misinformation about COVID-19, if propagated, can be deadly. The stakes are high. Physicians need to have a voice in this discussion and work towards impacting policy in a positive way. Physician-led groups such as IMPACT aim to advocate for evidence-based solutions for the protection of communities and serve an advisory role to those in charge […] [Physician suicide awareness: glimmers of hope for the future]( National Physician Suicide Awareness Day was September 17, 2020. Honestly, I hate that this day needs to exist. Prior to COVID, physicians had the highest suicide rate of any profession, and we clearly needed to be having conversations about how we improve care for physicians. Since COVID, the stress placed on physicians has increased exponentially. […] [10 challenges faced by those with chronic pain and illness]( I’m writing this piece partly to celebrate the release of my new book, How to Be Sick: Your Pocket Companion, and partly, as always, to try and help readers. I thought I would share the challenges that the book covers, adding some comments as I go. Many of the challenges turn out to apply to […] [COVID transmission should not be a touchy subject]( Our understanding of COVID-19 is still evolving, but after observing millions of cases worldwide over the last nine months, we can speak to transmission patterns with a modicum of confidence. SARS-CoV-2 is spread primarily through the air. Contact with contaminated surfaces, by comparison, plays a minuscule role in transmission. Why, then, has every surface with […] [42 ways to advance racial equity in academic medicine]( Academic medicine generally encompasses a tripartite mission of research discovery, clinical innovation, and the next generation of physicians and scientists’ education. It is the ethics and social justice principles, practices, policies, and innovation that advance research and education in the health sciences, ultimately improving the health and well-being of all. This is its socially responsible […] [Locum tenens contracts: Maximize opportunities and minimize risks [PODCAST]]( “Locum tenens means ‘to hold the place of, to substitute for’ and locum tenens contracts are a common form of agreement for physicians who provide temporary medical services in place of full-time physicians. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased demand puts physicians in a better position to negotiate their locum tenens contracts. However, too many […] [This is what a good death could be]( Recently, a neighbor and friend of mine died. After her cancer was diagnosed as incurable, she was referred to hospice care, and family members traveled long distances to spend quality time with her during her last month of life. Her neighbors in our condo building clamored for slots in her packed social calendar. Two days […] --------------------------------------------------------------- If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 345 Hudson Street New York NY 10014 USA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](