VOM-08
Why we attract foreign-trained MDs; handling physician stress; and becoming a patient
American Medicine’s Attraction Dr. Lytton W. Smith, editor for the Orange County Medical Association, wrote on “The Freedom of International Medical Graduates” in the July, 2007, issue of Southern California Physician. America’s allure has led many physicians trained overseas to the United States. The current debate on immigration reform has given me a chance to reflect […]
Shutting down: instructions at the last stage of life, and reflections after closing a practice
A “Good” Ending Drs. Wendi Joiner and Tim Nicely discuss “The Last Stage of Life Project in Humboldt County,” in the The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte Country Medical Society, April 2008.. What is a “good” death? This is only identifiable in the perspective of the patient and the patient’s loved ones. How can we consistently provide this […]
Vague health care instructions, saluting old soldiers (and MDs), advertising vs. marketing
Not Doing Everthing “Do Everything (…that makes sense!)” is a piece by Ken Meece and Scott Sattler, MD. Among the common but unhelpful phrases people use when talking about their preferences for intensity of healthcare interventions are “No heroics” and “Do everything.” “Heroics” is obviously vague, and we naturally go on to name the specifics. “Everything” […]
Re-scripting medicine, successful Electronic Health Records, a plea for the hearing impaired
I am happy being a doctor, I am well compensated, I am… Kate McCaffrey, DO, discusses “Re-scripting Our Profession” in the President’s Message column of The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society, March 2008: I have been re-scripting my self-talk lately. It helps being around optimistic medical students who aren’t jaded by the storms of […]
The growth industry of diagnostic codes, and when consultants go too far
#@&%! that 5-Digit Number “And Now-A Minute with Andy Rooney (With Apologies to 60 Minutes)” by Stephen Kamelgarn, MD, discusses the ICD-9 codes, in the December issue of The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte Country Medical Society: Dontcha just hate little five digit numbers. I know I do. Little numbers that comprise the ICD-9 – this three […]
Insurance leeches, the way doctors think, and the weaponry of numbers
Medicine’s Parasite In the The Bulletin of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society, October 2007, Dr. Emily Dalton discusses “Leeches in Medicine.” “According to Stedman’s medical dictionary, a parasite is an organism that lives on or in another and draws its nourishment there from. Leeches suck nutrients from the host – not enough to cause death – […]