Articles Tagged ‘practice’

Opinion | By August 20, 2008 | By JC, MD | 1 Comment

Malignant Medicine

Opinion Category There is a culture to medicine that I alluded to in my previous post about how everyone in the hospital is your boss. In essence, medicine is a profession like no other where “scutwork,” “malignancy” and “bad-mouthing” colleagues is standard practice. In the academic world this continues on in full force even after becoming an attending. In the private medical world it still exists. There is always a “Chief” or “Chair” of the department or division in which you practice. Most professions have hierarchy or levels of the ladder on which people sit. In medicine, I submit that the personalities are very strong due to the history of malignant medicine. Read more →

Which Came First - Depression or Diabetes? | July 23, 2008 | 2 Comments

A recent study in JAMA reported that patients treated for type 2 diabetes are at risk for developing depression. The study also reported that patients with depression are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The study confirmed what other studies have reported, and clinicians have seen in practice,... Read more →

The Ethics of Selling Prescription Data | July 17, 2008 | 5 Comments

The compilation and selling of physician prescribing habits has been a common practice since the 1990’s. Many physicians were unaware that the issue was occurring. Pharmaceutical companies argue that the mining of prescribing data has beneficial uses, such as providing information about drug interactions... Read more →

Ethics 101 - It’s Beyond My Scope of Practice | July 13, 2008 | 0 Comments

In medicine a lot of physicians categorize their patients as “good” patients or “bad” patients. Good patients are patients whose care is relatively easy for the physician to handle. The patient is compliant with recommendations, is motivated to get better, and is thankful for... Read more →

The State of Mental Healthcare in Prison | July 10, 2008 | 0 Comments

A new report by Policy Exchange reveals over a third of spending on mental health services in prison is wasted and calls for a drastic overhaul in treating mental health in prisons, including mandatory training for prison officers. Mental healthcare in prisons is widely overlooked as being a problem... Read more →

Prescriptive Authority - Are Pharmacists “Write”? | June 29, 2008 | 4 Comments

Pharmacists are integral members of the health care team in the US. The profession is composed of highly-educated, well-trained health-care providers. Pharmacists promote themselves as “drug experts” for good reason: the four-years of education required to obtain the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD)... Read more →

Are Placebos A Betrayal? | June 20, 2008 | 7 Comments

In recent years, there’s been a resurgence of interest in placebos. Not the kind that are used to minimize bias in clinical trials, but the kind that doctors knowingly give to patients. In a recent survey of more than 200 doctors practicing in academic medical centers, 45% reported that they had... Read more →

Osteopathy in the 21st Century | June 07, 2008 | 6 Comments

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... Read more →