
Do You Know the Function Man? – Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
I frequently find myself having to explain the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) to the public, and sadly to a lot of healthcare professionals as well. If a cardiologist is a "heart doctor," a pulmonologist is a "lung doctor," and an orthopedic surgeon is a "bone doctor," then what do you call a physiatrist? I would call us "function doctors." While that title is not as flashy as the other ones, it is equally important. The old adage is that nobody knows what a physiatrist does until they need one.
The “Smart Bomb” of Tomorrow – Eradicating Cancer
Imagine a world without chemotherapy. Imagine a world where cancer could be fought without side effects. Imagine a world where it didn't matter how far along your cancer had progressed, treatment could still be rendered and completely effective.The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article from a joint collaboration between several cancer centers on both the east and west coast. A 52 year-old man with stage IV malignant melanoma, a very aggressive and potentially lethal form of skin cancer, donated blood to the scientists who have developed a technique to isolate specific CD4+ T cells and clone them in vitro.
Concierge Medicine – The Future or the Past?
The current US healthcare system is broken. Few would argue this point. Rising costs, decreasing reimbursements, more lawsuits, insurance hikes, and an aging population are just some of the difficulties that face both physicians and patients today, and the situation doesn't seem to be improving.One of the other major problems is the shortage of time. In order to make ends meet, doctors are being forced to see more and more patients in the same amount of time. For many physicians, what used to be an hour for new patients and half hour for established patients has been shrunk down to 20 minutes for a new patient and 10 minutes for an established one.
Osteopathy in the 21st Century
Many people in the United States, and indeed the world, are not aware that there are two types of fully licensed physicians. Allopaths (or M.D.s) have enjoyed being the mainstay of healthcare for hundreds of years along with the luxury of being a 20:1 majority of practicing physicians. Osteopaths (or D.O.s) have been around for about 130 years, and represent one of the fastest growing medical professions according to the American Osteopathic Association. When I was applying to medical school in 2000, there were 19 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. Currently there are 25 schools with 28 campuses, which represents greater than 50% growth in less than 10 years.
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