Physicians

Should Doctors Learn to Grieve?

Barbara Coombs Lee | Posted 05.31.2012

Barbara Coombs Lee

Grieving openly serves the important function of assuring ourselves and others that it is normal, and temporary, and part of a full and authentic life. Only suppressed grief threatens one's mental health.

'The Doctor Will See You ... When?': Patients, Patience And Health Care

Robert Klitzman, M.D. | Posted 05.31.2012

Robert Klitzman, M.D.

Recently, I interviewed a group of doctors who had become patients, and who repeatedly described their astonishment to suddenly experience time very differently.

An Examination of Unhappy Doctors

Richard C. Senelick, M.D. | Posted 05.30.2012

Richard C. Senelick, M.D.

The last few years have seen radical changes in the health care system. I suspect that many doctors report unhappiness because these changes mean that many doctors' careers do not live up to their expectations.

Why Dying Is Different for Doctors

Richard C. Senelick, M.D. | Posted 05.11.2012

Richard C. Senelick, M.D.

Because of our exposure to and understanding of how people die, physicians, at least in my experience, tend to deal with death differently than those outside of the profession.

Selling Doctors To Other Doctors: How Marketers Influence Referrals To Specialists

The Huffington Post | Jeffrey Young | Posted 04.20.2012

Medical specialists are tearing a page out of a playbook created by drug and medical device companies by hiring marketers to pitch their services to f...

Choosing (Medicine) Wisely: Good Answers for Good Questions

David Katz, M.D. | Posted 04.09.2012

David Katz, M.D.

Make your standard of care better than standard. Be a good boss -- ask good questions, get good answers. By doing so, you can help ensure that you and your doctor are always diligent, and choosing wisely -- together.

Why Does it Seem Most Doctors are Not Compassionate?

Quora | Posted 05.22.2012

Quora

This question originally appeared on Quora. By Lou Davis, Emergency Nurse One Sunday a few years ago, one of my colleagues Dan was dealing with tr...

Physicians: Endangered Species

Ronald Ricker | Posted 05.20.2012

Ronald Ricker

Sadly, in the ongoing, often vitriolic debates about health care for us all, Americans have lost sight of the iconic importance of our physicians and medical scientists -- the foundation of our medical health care system.

A New MCAT and a New Focus for Future Doctors

Abdulrahman El-Sayed | Posted 04.29.2012

Abdulrahman El-Sayed

For a profession focused on caring for people, it's a wonder that so little attention is paid to empathy, compassion, or communication skills in the selection of future doctors.

The Doctor Made a Huge Mistake

Amy Parmenter | Posted 03.25.2012

Amy Parmenter

I got my mom back. But, just as easily, I might not have.

I Don't Think Physicians Are as Arrogant as You Do

Richard C. Senelick, M.D. | Posted 03.19.2012

Richard C. Senelick, M.D.

I am a physician, and I don't think I am more arrogant than non-physicians. While patients and media frequently accuse us of behaving arrogantly or poorly, I'm not sure these are fair generalizations.

6 Things Patients Can Do To Improve Health Care

Dr. Robert A. Kornfeld | Posted 03.06.2012

Dr. Robert A. Kornfeld

While we can all agree that there are "bad apples" in every line of work, the "bad apples" in medicine simply are not the reason that we are in the crisis we find ourselves in.

Cannabis and California's Physicians: A New Perspective

Steve Heilig | Posted 02.11.2012

Steve Heilig

There has long been a "drug war" surrounding marijuana. Our nation's marijuana policy has not served us much better than the failed experiment with alcohol prohibition many decades ago.

BP Spill Workers Seek Care as Health Study Progresses

Susan Buchanan | Posted 01.29.2012

Susan Buchanan

A multi-million-dollar study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, gauging impacts of the BP spill on cleanup workers, has so far enrolled 5,500 individuals -- mostly from Gulf states.

When Is Too Much Information Too Much?

Helene Pavlov, M.D. | Posted 01.21.2012

Helene Pavlov, M.D.

Research should guide decision-making but not be the end all. Physicians need to know how the "research findings" might be applied in a patient's individual circumstance.

Half Of Texas Doctors Threaten To Turn Away Medicare Patients: Survey

McClatchy | Posted 12.07.2011

Half of Texas physicians would consider withdrawing from the Medicare program if Congress allows a forthcoming deep cut in reimbursement payments, Tex...

The Best Paying Jobs Of The Future

24/7 Wall St. | Posted 11.04.2011

24/7 Wall St: If you decided on a new career path today, wouldn’t you like to know which jobs will be in high demand and pay the most once you were ...

Should Physicians Be Cool Or Compassionate?

Dr. Larry Dossey | Posted 08.26.2011

Dr. Larry Dossey

Compassion means more than "suffering with." It involves entering the mind-space of other persons so completely that one senses what the experience of illness is like for them.

Florida Doctors Fight Back Against Gun Lobby Gag Law

Dennis A. Henigan | Posted 08.09.2011

Dennis A. Henigan

Do you want your doctor to tell you the truth about health risks, based on the best evidence that can be brought to bear? When it comes to the risks of guns in the home, particularly to children, the gun lobby wants to prevent doctors from doing that.

What’s The Future Of Primary Care?

Dr. Cindy Haines | Posted 07.12.2011

Dr. Cindy Haines

Why, exactly, would a medical student choose to pursue a career in primary care? And why would they choose not to?

Florida Voter Suppression Bill Toxic for Democracy

Rishi Manchanda | Posted 07.07.2011

Rishi Manchanda

The Florida legislature just passed House Bill 1355, which many civic participation advocates view as part of a worrisome national trend to suppress v...

UC Berkeley Doctor Arrested For Sexual Assault

San Jose Mercury News | Posted 06.28.2011

BERKELEY, Calif.--A former doctor at the University of California, Berkeley has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting patients at a campus...

Will Budget Hawks Have the Guts to Reject Doctors' Demands? Probably Not.

Jim Jaffe | Posted 05.25.2011

Jim Jaffe

Sometime in the next few months we'll get a clear signal about whether Congress is serious about constraining Medicare costs. My guess is that they'll increase payments by tens of billions of dollars.

Into the Health Reform Briar Patch?

Jim Jaffe | Posted 05.25.2011

Jim Jaffe

Those who are suing to overturn the mandatory health insurance requirement apparently believe a success will be both a major embarrassment for the president. They may be very, very wrong.

Drug Companies Paying Shady Doctors For Endorsements

Posted 05.25.2011

Pharmaceutical companies are paying doctors with questionable records millions of dollars to endorse their drugs, Propublica reports. According to ...