Art as a tool to manage pain

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Earn 1.0 Category 1 CME for each episode! 15 minutes a day. 7 days a week. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Feb 14, 2022 [Art as a tool to manage pain]( My niece and I look across the expanse of the second floor of Marshall’s Dranko Library as we take in the library’s Spring art exhibit: Creation in Confinement. We spot my moon drawings on black paper hanging on the opposite wall. As a new artist, accompanied by my niece artist, I excitedly read:­­­­ Heavenly Moon [...] [The business of medicine creates a culture where doctors aren’t allowed to rest]( When I was in the fourth grade, I left school early one day unbeknownst to anyone. I misread my watch when the teacher was switching subjects, and she stepped out of the room for a minute. I thought it was 12:05 — time for lunch. I gathered my bag, walked out of the school, and [...] [How strong policies can improve guardianship]( Millions of Americans each week watch as fictional television matriarch Rebecca Pearson, in the NBC-TV series, “This Is Us,” struggles with frustrations of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and fear of an unknown health future. In the coming decades, millions more will experience this in real life. Guardianship — or the care and legal control over another [...] [Solving the low-acuity emergency department problem]( Before I worked as a medical scribe, I didn’t realize how many mildly ill people visited the emergency department (ED). In my first few weeks, though, I learned that patients with minor complaints, such as sprains, cavities, rashes, and common cold symptoms, actually present to the ED quite often – often enough that the hospital [...] [Health care’s goal is in peril [PODCAST]]( “The U.S. health care industry has large challenges that can be overcome if we remember why our systems and services exist. We are here to help patients, and we must obtain the needed staffing capacity to drive throughput so patients can receive the care they need. Our system will cease to exist if hospitals are [...] [You are a servant with a servant heart]( As I was preparing for my next medical mission, I began to think about the word “minister.” Obviously from a religious standpoint, it has certain connotations, one of which is “to serve”. When you are ministering to someone’s needs, you are serving them. This caused me to think of my dear friend in Nepal, Fahad. [...] [5 topics I don’t want to read about in 2022 (but I probably will anyway)]( As 2021 passed into 2022, I was hoping new stories would emerge and dominate the medical landscape. So, I did a bit of crowdsourcing on social media and among colleagues. Here are five topics I’d like to read less about — if for no other reason than they’ve been discussed and vented ad nauseam with [...] [Stop “shoulding” all over yourself]( The first time I heard the phrase “shoulding all over yourself,” I laughed. As a gastroenterologist, I have a particular affinity for poop jokes. It might not be obvious when you read the phrase, but say it out loud, and you will hear it. I think the phrase also caught me off guard. I didn’t [...] [A crushing blow in a workplace I loved]( My gut churned, a burning rose into my chest as I read the email. It’s happening again repeated on a reel in my mind, followed by I need to leave this job. But I wasn’t quitting. I was triggered. It was years after I’d had the rug pulled out from under me at an institution where I’d spent [...] [Never underestimate the self-flagellation of the physician [PODCAST]]( This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring. “Patients die. This is a tragic truism in the world of medicine. Usually, the patients who die are elderly. Patients die from diabetes and kidney disease, or from alcohol abuse and liver failure, or from heavy smoking and lung disease. Or [...] [Don’t be in a hurry to fast]( There is a lot of confusion and outright falsehoods about fasting. You can search the internet for clarity and end up more confused than when you started. The fact is, fasting can be a very effective tool to improve your metabolic health, increase insulin sensitivity and help you lose weight. But, who should and shouldn’t [...] [Reflections of a critical care doctor after 2 years of COVID]( COVID has been with us for two years. I have written my reflection during the pandemic periodically to vent, share and disseminate information. But I have felt at a loss for words in the last few months. I am exhausted, emotionally drained and bereft. Critical care docs are resilient. We train to serve the sickest [...] [What doctors need to know about psychedelic medicine]( Frustration. If you’ve treated patients with PTSD, I’m guessing that both you and your patients have experienced frustration at numerous points along the treatment course. And it’s understandable – up until this point, the efficacy of PTSD treatments has been notoriously poor. The best options aimed to diminish the severity of symptoms with a combination [...] [An update on COVID’s long tail]( What’s the problem? Anthony Fauci, MD, has said: “Virtually everybody is going to wind up getting exposed and likely get infected.” There’s one reason to avoid this scenario: long COVID. If Omicron is sooner or later going to infect even just “more than 50 percent,” how many will get long COVID? We can’t know yet, [...] [Why is the world’s first universal coronavirus vaccine not in the FDA’s toolbox?]( Success in any project is based on using the right tool for the job. No tool would be more effective in the campaign against COVID than Covaxin, which has shown its value in India and other markets during recent months. While mRNA vaccines were a promising option in the early stages of the pandemic, a [...] [Physician informatics and the chief medical information officer [PODCAST]]( This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring. “At the beginning of my time as a CMIO, I needed to remain clinical to build camaraderie with my colleagues. This proved essential as the health system was going through a transition to a new EMR. The medical staff needed to [...] [Farmer Jesty’s bold experiment]( An excerpt from First Patients: The incredible true stories of pioneer patients. Unfazed by the village doctors’ refusals, the parish deacon forged ahead. Dr. Andrew Bell–preacher, educator, and doctor, possessed the temper and energy of a combustion engine. Nothing would stop him from carrying out his plan to vaccinate the three hundred inhabitants of the [...] [What do physician coaches do, and what can they do for you?]( When was the last time someone sat down with you to talk about what you want from your career? Let me ask this differently: When was the last time someone sat down with you and listened while you talked about what you want from your career? If your answer is yesterday, or last week, or [...] [Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, MD: an icon in psychiatry]( New Haven, West Virginia, is a small town nestled in Appalachia and located approximately eight miles from the juncture of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. Newspaper articles from the 1950s and ’60s suggest that the town’s demographic makeup and surrounding area as nearly 97 percent Caucasian. In 1926, as commissioned by West Virginia, a psychiatric [...] [I am not leaving medicine because I like the clinical practice part of my job]( The headlines read “Why Healthcare Workers are Quitting in Droves,” “Docs are Leaving Practice,” and “Physician burnout declared a public health crisis.” The side-gig, financial independence retire early (FIRE), and non-clinical career posts pop up in my daily professional media feeds. Believing in the power of suggestion, I wonder if I should start looking for [...] [Why is Covaxin not in the FDA’s toolbox? [PODCAST]]( This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring. “As a clinician who has received two Pfizer doses and a booster without any side effects, I wholeheartedly embrace vaccination to solve this pressing public health crisis. The key is for policymakers to identify the best tool for the job (i.e., [...] --------------------------------------------------------------- [Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com](. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. [Learn more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](