It’s not as farfetched as you might think. I’m willing to bet you would consider it more possible now than if I’d asked you this question six months ago. What if, in the near-future, AI algorithms in healthcare advance to the point where corporate-owned conglomerations rely on the AI to determine who gets medical treatment…
3 Comments(A list in the satirical style of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency) Healthcare worker in an airborne virus pandemic: 1-10 Elven commander in Middle-Earth: 1-10 Also published on Medium
Comments closed(A parody, except happening everywhere.) I (48, F) had to do one of those “peer-to-peer” calls with an insurance physician (undisclosed-age, M). I know, it’s a commonplace task now, what’s the big deal, etc., but let me explain. From the start of the conversation, tons of red flags. First of all, he won’t tell me…
Comments closedMy patient is older and hard of hearing, and masks aren’t helping the situation. I raise my voice so he can hear me, which means I lose a lot of nuance and expression in my tone. Within a few minutes, he allows his mask to droop below his nose, as if trying to show me…
Comments closedOriginally published on Medscape Blogs on June 8, 2022 Last week, after the multiple recent tragedies in our nation, I found myself turning to my laptop to write the feelings that were too big. But instead of my usual prose essay form, what came out was a poem. I also had been thinking a lot…
Comments closed“We only want to hear positive information.” “Don’t tell him about his prognosis.” “We don’t want to hear any doom or gloom.” This is what it’s like to be a cancer physician in America. As a medical oncologist, I spend much of my time helping people navigate the (for many) uncharted waters of uncertainty and…
Comments closedSome years ago, I noted a trend in my practice. More and more patients requested to switch their care to me for a single reason: They wanted a doctor who would answer their emails. To my surprise, that was how I learned some of the other doctors — all male — in the practice did…
Comments closedI know it can feel daunting to send an email to your government representative if you’ve never done it before, so I wanted to post a template you can copy and paste to email your senators. This should take you 2 minutes. Steps: Copy the template below Click on the link below it to find…
Comments closedThere is a two-lane bridge in my town. It is quaint and picturesque, and when we first moved here, I would gaze out at the water as I drove, letting my mind wander along with the seagulls drifting alongside the car. Until one day, crossing back over, I passed a school bus stopped in the…
1 CommentI have a secret. It’s one I think many physicians and nurses share. Sometimes, when I’m stretched too thin — overbooked, hungry, tired, fielding yet another appeal to an insurance company in the middle of a clinic day — I find myself momentarily resenting the patients on my schedule. As soon as this happens, I…
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