Articles related to PRACTICE PEARLS

Poker is a game of chance and strategy that demands many skills, whether it’s reading a situation, making the appropriate bet, dealing with difficult decisions, or dealing with uncertainty. All of these situations mirror the daily decisions doctors are required to make, and whether you’re a novice at the table or a regular player, here are seven circumstances in the game of poker that can be teaching moments for the physician.

In this article/podcast from KevinMD.com, Dr. Kristin Yates, an OB/GYN, describes her work as a doctor, which “brings me fulfillment and joy. It makes me a better doctor.” Dr. Yates also explains: “The fact of the matter is, I am not a doctor. I am a human being. Doctoring is what I do, not who I am. This distinction is very important to me because it is what has made medicine sustainable and fulfilling.”

Are you biased toward certain types of patients? “Sometimes” is likely your answer, but there are implicit biases that doctors may not be aware they have. To help answer this question, Medscape put together a survey to weigh these biases, with emotional problems coming in at No. 1. Whether they are implicit or explicit, here are the other patient characteristics that commonly trigger a predisposition in doctors. 

The first biologic was approved in 1982, and since then, have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the US pharmaceutical market. Biologics are complex therapies used to treat a wide variety of conditions – conditions that are often untreatable by any other drug – and physicians should be up to speed on these four classes of biologic agents, which are used to treat cancer or inflammatory disease.

Although the 2020 numbers will look much different, the 2019 Merritt Hawkins survey – representing 93 hospitals — shows significant increases over prior years in revenue driven for hospitals by a range of specialties, including internal medicine, cardiology, neurosurgery, and gastroenterology. How will the pandemic affect the financial outlook in 2020 and beyond, and where did oncology land?

Although both acetaminophen and ibuprofen are commonly used for pain relief and fever reduction in children, recommendations for their use in this population are inconsistent, according to the researchers, whose study results were published in JAMA. Of the 241,138 participants over 19 studies, which treatment showed more promise in fever and pain reduction?