Perfectionism will kill you

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 Visit [The Doctors Company Reproductive Healthcare: Post-Roe Resource Center]( for up-to-date information on the reproductive healthcare environment. Access information on liability and training concerns, telemedicine, state policies, and treating medical emergencies in a post-Roe landscape. [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](. Learn what over 200 health care professionals say about health care communications in 2022, including [three major takeaways](. Read the 2022 state of health care communications report to help you evaluate improvements to your [clinical communication strategy](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Dec 15, 2022 [Perfectionism will kill you]( Every doctor wants to be perfect. We want to make sure our diagnosis is perfect. Our treatment plan is perfect, and our outcome will be perfect. Patients want the perfect doctor. They want us to get it right on the first try, each and every time. The problem is perfectionism, as hard as we try [...] [How medicine is broken]( I read KevinMD regularly. I see a lot of stories about how broken medicine is: how doctors are retiring, leaving early because they are overworked or underappreciated, or being manipulated by corporate medicine. All these complaints are valid. There are also articles about how residency is brutal and causes mental distress to trainees, with the onerous [...] [How female social conditioning leads to burnout]( There has been a lot of talk about physician burnout over the past few years, and as an occupational medicine physician, I’m happy to see that conversation is taking place. For too long, we just saw burnout as an acceptable hazard that just comes with the job. But it’s become clear to me that there’s [...] [All I ever wanted to be was a nurse [PODCAST]]( “As a nurse, I know how difficult and demanding the job can be. I’ve had patients try to physically attack me and it’s frustrating and disheartening to face such hostility. When I talk to people outside of the health care field about it, they’re [...] [A physician in denial after being diagnosed with COVID-19]( Over the last three years, we have faced the original COVID-19, followed by Omicron, Delta, and monkeypox. It is apropos that on the third anniversary of COVID-19, we are facing the tripledemic of COVID, influenza, and RSV. After almost three years of not getting COVID-19, I started believing that my childhood fantasies about me being [...] [Communication protocols exist for a reason]( An excerpt from The Mumbo Jumbo Fix: A Survival Guide for Effective Doctor-Patient-Nurse Communication. Team building is a popular trend in health care. It promotes cooperation, trust and respect, improves communication, and enhances patient outcomes. Most of the time. But the camaraderie and familiarity of working with the same group of people can carry unappreciated [...] [Every physician should own a timeshare [PODCAST]]( “One of the biggest misconceptions about timeshares is the idea that you have to visit the same location every year. In reality, timeshare owners have access to a wide range of properties and destinations through timeshare exchange programs. This means that timeshare owners can [...] [U.S. adults should get routine anxiety screening. But then what?]( For the first time, primary care physicians (PCPs) are being urged to screen their patients, above and below age 65, for mental health concerns alongside screening for physical health conditions. The United States Preventive Services Task Force has published its first recommendation for PCPs to screen adults for anxiety as standard practice. This recommendation followed a [...] [Physician secrets that nurses need to know]( There is no one prototypical physician. Every physician has their own practice style, their own knowledge base, and their own preferred method of communication. In my role as medical director for case management at my community hospital, I was given 30 minutes during new nursing orientation to provide nurses tips when communicating with doctors. I [...] [Drop the euphemisms and get uncomfortable when talking about abortion]( It does not behoove us to mince words in a politically charged climate. To productively discuss any controversial topic, we must first define terms and get past the jargon and doublespeak that commonly muddles conversations on serious issues. The Oxford Dictionary defines euphemism as “a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered [...] [What my 10 year old is teaching me about boundaries [PODCAST]]( “As I’ve been coaching physicians, I’ve realized that many of us have a tendency to just ‘grin and bear it’ when it comes to the challenges and stresses of the medical profession. We often tell ourselves that things will get better tomorrow, and we [...] [Is it really a woke nightmare for medical schools?]( Among the many definitions and meanings of the terms “woke” and “wokeism,” the two that capture the ideology best are contrasting meanings. The definitions are: “The behavior and attitudes of people who are sensitive to social and political injustice” (Collins English Dictionary), and: “A system of thought and behavior characterized by intolerance, policing the speech [...] [Don’t be like Elon Musk. Get a lawyer for your clinic.]( Employers need lawyers. This doesn’t just apply in medicine — it’s true everywhere. For a recent high-profile example, let’s consider Twitter. If massive layoffs had been made without adequate notice as required by California law, they could be on the hook for millions of dollars in damages. However, medicine likes to consider itself as different [...] [A job behind bars]( At least two million people in the United States are incarcerated in 122 United States prisons. Little is known about the prisoners themselves. Did their background condemn them to bad behavior? Or did they just make grievous mistakes? Do they suffer from a mental illness masquerading as criminal behavior? Can they change their life path? --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](