A COVID and Omicron update

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 [Burnout in health care]( A report for today’s leaders. What did 200+ health care professionals say about burnout in health care in 2021? Read about their perceptions of burnout, the impact of COVID-19, and recommended strategies to help tackle it. [Read now](. Ineffective communication is a major factor in malpractice claims involving diagnosis errors by general surgeons. A [new study]( examines this and other factors behind these claims. Ever wonder why leverage is used for real estate investing, but not for retirement planning? The Retirement Accelerator combines "conservative leverage" and compound interest to produce massive tax-free income! If you’re making $200,000+, [click here to learn more](. Just published! [Braunwald’s Heart Disease]( -- the most trusted reference in cardiology. [Shop Elsevier Health’s Winter Sale]( for our lowest prices of the year on all medical books. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Dec 13, 2021 [A COVID and Omicron update]( Right now, the DEFCON situation is very tenuous. It’s really difficult to know where we’re headed. In the past couple of weeks, we certainly have gone from seeing something that looks scary on paper in terms of it might be more infectious, to seeing that really take over in many areas. So in terms of people who are unvaccinated, I’d be very worried because this virus is now even more contagious, it looks like, and it’s going to find those people. [...] [The catastrophe of men’s health and how we can help]( A hundred years ago, women lived one year longer than men, but now they live five years longer than men. And things are getting worse. Currently, the lifespan of men in the U.S. is declining due to alcohol, opioids, and suicide. These trends need to change. I take care of men. I’ve been a urologist [...] [We have an obligation to keep firearms out of the hands of children]( We are saddened by another school shooting in America. Four lives were cut short, and one young man who was obviously crying out for help clearly did not get it. There are so many pieces to this puzzle to examine. So many areas where we can improve. As a child psychiatrist, I am fully aware [...] [Personal attacks and sexual harassment of physicians on social media [PODCAST]]( “This survey study examines the self-reports of personal attacks and sexual harassment of physicians through social media outlets. A total of 108 physicians (23.3%) reported being personally attacked on social media, with no significant difference between female and male physicians. In contrast, women were significantly more likely than men to report online sexual harassment.” Shikha [...] [The American public deserves more COVID-19 vaccine options]( Covaxin, an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and the only vaccine to have been proven effective against all variants including the Delta variant in a Phase III clinical study, deserves to be tested in clinical trials in the U.S. for potential CDC/FDA approval for use in the U.S. As we are about to celebrate the one-year anniversary [...] [How the residency application process has changed forever [PODCAST]]( “The collective resiliency of the medical education community shone through the challenges of the past year. In medicine, physicians must adapt to all situations, and GME is no exception. Even in a pandemic, everyone adjusted as needed. Program coordinators and faculty were flexible and creative, while applicants remained passionate and pushed past roadblocks. It seems [...] [More physician responsibility for patient care]( Medicine today is single encounter-oriented, with the patient medical record structured to support one encounter at a time, where an encounter is either a single outpatient visit or an inpatient stay. The problem with this single encounter orientation is that it often takes a number of encounters to get a correct diagnosis and that care [...] [Innovation in a rural gastroenterology practice using a farm]( The cost of health care in the United States continues to rise, totaling over $3.8 trillion per year. Gastrointestinal diseases contribute significantly to health care costs and were recently estimated to be $135.9 billion annually. Innovation in gastroenterology has traditionally focused on expensive pharmaceuticals, devices, and new procedures. Many of the conditions and diseases treated by [...] [Endemic COVID-19 will be a cause for celebration]( There was a time, not long ago, when COVID-19 was one of the scariest things on earth. In the summer of 2020, scientists were stunned as infections climbed and deaths spiked. They couldn’t say (exactly) how the virus spread, how deadly it was or how to cure it. ICU beds were filling up while officials [...] [An obstetrician recommends midwifery care [PODCAST]]( “By denigrating midwifery care, pathologizing the natural process of birth, and instilling fear of complications and pain, doctors persuaded women to give birth at the hospital under their care. By touting the benefits of anesthesia, forceps delivery, episiotomy and promoting in-hospital birth, doctors and hospitals were able to capitalize on the new specialty. Interventions of [...] [Why I devoted my life to preventing heart disease in women]( I was a medical student learning to deliver babies, bringing new life into the world, as my mom’s life was fading away. I saw all the missed calls from Dad. I knew in my heart something terrible happened. She was in the ICU. Dad told me she had a heart attack. I flew to be [...] [Wear your mask to protect your family]( Below is a story a patient shared with me about how he went from being against mask-wearing to wearing one every day. *** Last year, my mom died from stage 4 lung cancer. Before she passed, she received her transplant at this hospital, but it was too late for her. Now, I am fighting cancer. [...] [Change is critical to fulfilling our calling]( July 2, 1973, is a day etched forever in my mind. A day I remember as if it happened yesterday even though 47 years have passed. A day I thought would never come and then, when it did, would never end. It was the day I entered West Point as a 17-year-old kid with big [...] [Create a new medical reality]( I am an avid medical blogger. Without a doubt, the most common theme I’ve encountered during the past several years is embodied in the following op-ed: “We must help physicians at the brink of burnout, depression, and high stress,” followed by: “Health care has crossed into a realm of moral injury and systemic collapse.” I [...] [Tired of the dying: Finding parallels in COVID-19 and HIV]( Recently, while visiting with a colleague in our doctor’s lounge, I blurted out, “I’m tired of the dying.” He looked at me quizzically, “But you’re the hospice doctor.” True, death comes with my work, but the recent volume of and the loss of younger patients have been especially difficult. It reminds me of an earlier [...] [Fund this: Policies can fill medical funding gaps for all]( Ellen DeGeneres is ending her popular TV talk show next year after 19 seasons. The need for the type of celebrity and crowdsourcing donations she is known for to assuage an individual’s health care needs to end as well. This accepted norm is gaslighting at its finest. As a fan of The Ellen Show, I don’t feel [...] [“Take it or leave it” is not negotiation but coercion [PODCAST]]( “Physicians can exert their influence in a health care environment to put the patient-physician relationship at the center of the enterprise. Working with middle-market employers (between 200-2,000 employees), some companies pair bold doctors with innovative employers to bring exceptional value to employee health benefits. There are no pre-authorizations for medical decisions, but doctors are held [...] --------------------------------------------------------------- [Thousands of physicians are browsing this job board](. They love its selection of over 12,000 openings across the U.S. [Physicians are finding opportunities they almost missed](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](