Being a camp doctor is the most rewarding physician job I've ever had

--------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsors [3 ways to enhance workflows of nurses](. Technology can help bring nurses back to the bedside by giving nurses the right tools to optimize their workflows. Learn more by exploring the communication strategies and use cases in this eBrief. [Read the eBrief now](. Take note: Scribes are the fastest growing medical field -- but there is no standard training or certification. [Does that make them a risk to safe patient care?]( [Is your hospital communication system trapped in the dark ages?]( Just like a medieval page boy, pagers are annoying and inefficient. This leads to delayed patient care, frustrated providers, and potential HIPAA breaches. Learn why you need to ditch your [Page Boy]( today. [Infographic]( Behind every patient's hospital journey is an entire team of dedicated people. Join patient John Smith as he travels from admission to discharge and see how efficient communications support his health services. [Learn more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Today: Aug. 7, 2017 [Being a camp doctor is the most rewarding physician job I’ve ever had]( Even after all this time, the phone calls aren’t always easy to make. “Hi, Mrs. Smith, this is Dr. Kass at camp, don’t worry, everything is OK.” I usually get that out in one breath, then immediately transition to concrete details. “It’s a finger. It might be broken.” It doesn’t matter if I’m calling about […] [A medical student is diagnosed with cancer. Here is his story.]( I began medical school, like many of my peers, with some experience working with patients. I worked as a volunteer EMT with Cornell University EMS for four years during my undergraduate years; shadowed a cardiologist and an anesthesiologist through Cornell’s Urban Summer program at NYP Hospital–Cornell and worked with patients during Global Medical Brigade trips […] [A physician’s mixed feelings about clinical pathways]( As the kids say, it’s complicated. Practicing physicians are seeing an ever increasing list of protocols and pathways coming their way. These arrive in several forms — order sets for medications, guidelines in how to proceed for various conditions, when to do this, when to do that, and when not to do either one. They […] --------------------------------------------------------------- [An inspiring KevinMD keynote]( will make your event memorable. "Kevin's keynote presentation at our annual members meeting was perfect. Extremely rich in content, and a delivery that is world class." [Visit Kevin's speaking page]( to find out more. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Find the right doctor for you: Here’s what to look for]( Many people love to vilify doctors. They think we are all greedy and we don’t listen. They say we perform procedures just for profit. We are not available when we need them. Sure, there are doctors that fit this stereotype. But, in my experience, most doctors do not and care about their patients trying to […] [Dear Sen. McCain: 9 ways to live with glioblastoma]( Dear Sen. McCain, I was saddened to hear that you received a diagnosis of glioblastoma. I also live with this particularly aggressive type of brain cancer. On the surface, you and I are very different. I am a 35-year-old dad with three sons aged 5 and under. I have a beard and listen to indie […] [Let’s talk about the ethics of breastfeeding]( In the spirit of World Breastfeeding Week, I want to highlight all we can about breastfeeding; why it’s great for you and your baby, some ways to make it easier, and how to manage common challenges. But one challenge that often gets ignored in the offices of doctors and lactation consultants is the issue revolving […] [How EMRs are making informed consent meaningless]( Recently, getting dressed after working out in the gym, the guy in the next locker decided to complain to me about his recent surgery. Having lockers next to each other had led over time to “What do you do for a living?” After discovering that I was a physician he has occasionally asked some medical […] [Artificial intelligence in health care: Better studies are needed]( An article in Newsweek magazine says, “Artificial intelligence will cure America’s sick health care system” using data and automation to “drive down the costs of health care while increasing effectiveness.” According to Newsweek, it will work like this for diabetes. A company called Virta Health has come up with a smartphone app that is like “a live-in […] [Scribes for physician burnout: How scribes help reconnect doctors with their patients]( Recently, I had an opportunity to drop in on two of the foremost researchers in physician burnout, Sara Poplau and Mark Linzer of Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. We chatted about various aspects of the current burnout crisis and exciting new initiatives on the horizon. Then we spent some time contemplating a frustrating truth: […] [New health policies must cover our most vulnerable]( Cancer treatment delays are sometimes inevitable. Here is a story, though, that haunts me. Years ago, long before the Affordable Care Act, I was asked to evaluate a very pleasant man with hoarseness in a local free clinic. He struggled to make himself heard. “Things have been getting worse and worse,” he said. “When did […] [Watch a future physician at the beginning of his journey]( Watch Bailey Alexander Loving’s compelling medical student journey. Courtesy of Black Men in White Coats. Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. [10 reasons why being a doctor is a privilege]( I feel privileged to be practicing medicine. Many people consider doctor careers and imagine how great it may be. Is it the right thing for you? Yes there are days of frustration, exhaustion, and utter defeat, but at the end of the day I home and know that I helped at least one person if […] [How a blanket changed the way I thought about medicine]( My sister calls my name three times before I hear her. I am so distracted by the palm trees and the ocean view that I don’t feel her put the car in park. I look up at the “Physician Parking Only” sign straight ahead. “Hurry up and get out. We’re running late, and I don’t […] [3 reasons why July 1st should be a day to celebrate]( Fireworks, champagne toasts, sparkly hats, and the ball drop are all items that we conger up in our minds as we think of the New Year. For the majority of the world, January 1st represents the transition from one year to another on the calendar. New resolutions are made, and there is a global fresh […] [Here’s how being a parent changes you as a physician]( I sit in my living room at the end of a long day. I open my laptop to complete the day’s clinic notes. I look up to see my daughter busy painting (she’s two years old, so less than half the paint is going on the coloring book and most is being smeared over her […] [Would single payer work? The real devil is in the details.]( When I began my career as a physician in the late 1990s, I was relatively apolitical. Since then, as our health care system has crumbled, and as its demise (and our repeated failure to fix things) has increasingly affected my patients and my practice, I have become very political. In 2008, I began giving lectures […] [Inappropriate patient behavior is not OK]( “OK, one more patient to go,” I said to myself with my eyes quickly scanning the patient list in my hands. I was in the elevator, going up the spanking new glass tower in the giant tertiary care hospital I call my workplace. Today was turning out to be a better Monday than usual. I […] [Am I using money, or is money using me?]( I get on the phone with a physician. She is stressed. Her tone is exasperated. Her frustration has been building and building. I hear the stress in her words. She feels like she has been juggling ball after ball after ball. Living her circus of a life. Taking care of her patients. Pulling extra shifts […] [MKSAP: 67-year-old woman who takes diclofenac]( Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 67-year-old woman is evaluated during a routine examination. She has a history of hip and knee pain related to degenerative joint disease. The joint pain is now well controlled with diclofenac, which was started 3 months ago. A previous trial […] [Bridges and roads are also important to your health]( Two seemingly unrelated national policy debates are afoot, and we can’t adequately address one unless we address the other. Health care reform has been the hottest topic. What to do about America’s aging infrastructure has been less animated but may be more pressing. Yet even as cracks in America’s health system and infrastructure expand, political […] [How long should I take antibiotics? Exploring the Goldilocks problem.]( Antibiotics save lives, but antibiotics can have negative effects. When patients have bacterial infections, we want to treat them to prevent complications of the bacterial infection, but not treat them for an excessive duration. So we have a Goldilocks problem — we want antibiotic duration to be just right — neither too short or too […] [Health reform as stalled. Here’s how to do it right.]( I told you so. I also told the POTUS in my open letter, but he did not read it. Who could honestly believe the nation would support dumping coverage for 22 million people? As David Leonhard wrote recently op-ed in the New York Times: “They [Republicans and President Trump] had only one big weakness, in fact: They weren’t dealing in reality.” When […] [It’s important for physicians to have relationships with patients’ families]( Dr. Leon Pedell why it’s so important for physicians to have relationships with patients’ families. Courtesy of Before the Floors. Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](