The Podcast by KevinMD

"Studies have repeatedly demonstrated a vast majority of pain physicians don't feel like they have adequate training in meeting the unique needs of this patient population, though most agree that such efforts are very necessary. This disconnect between demand and supply is a problem, a big one. With the current pandemic stretching many people thin financially, the last thing that needs to happen is people avoiding the hospital out of fear, not of the virus, but of the health care field itself, much like what my patient seemed ready to do. In some instances, this could be the difference between life and death. There needs to be a much larger emphasis placed on training students and even residents on how to become more aware of micro-aggressions, biases, and the struggles of the LGBTQ community. I'm not saying the changes will be evident overnight, but they won't ever happen if we aren't willing to even try." Indraneel Prabhu is a medical student. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Issues faced by LGBTQ individuals in the operative setting." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/issues-faced-by-lgbtq-individuals-in-the-operative-setting.html)

"The behavior of managers and supervisors in organizations affects the mental health of their employees. This is especially true during times of uncertainty, such as a global pandemic. Does a leader's health and well-being change how they lead? Early evidence shows that when leaders are experiencing challenging conditions, they are more likely to become resource depleted and exhibit negative behaviors, such as passive leadership or abusive supervision. You know the kind of boss who doesn't give you any credit, puts you down in front of others, or is simply never around? When leaders are resource depleted and are experiencing poor health (e.g., lack of, or poor quality sleep; excessive use of alcohol), they are more likely to act abusively. The good news is that leaders are often well-equipped to deal with stressors that affect us all, like the impacts of COVID-19, and can take steps to prevent passing their difficulties on to their employees. Three styles of leadership can help support employee well-being during difficult times." Kara Arnold is a professor of organizational behavior, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, Canada. Jennifer Dimoff is an assistant professor of organizational behavior and human resources, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. They share their stories and discuss their KevinMD article, "How to be a transformational, supportive leader during COVID-19." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/how-to-be-a-transformational-supportive-leader-during-covid-19.html)

"What has kept me comprised during this entire time has been the realization that this whole situation is not normal. It's not normal for me; it's not normal for millions of other people. This is not how pregnancy is supposed to go. This is a pandemic and an uncertain time for everyone. Many of us have caved under pressure, either it is financial, or the risk of exposure to a high-risk individual at home, or the fear of losing your friends and family. Each of us has reasons to be afraid. Being pregnant is just one of them and should be considered that way. It is important to acknowledge the unfamiliarity of this all and be thankful for what we have. I am thankful for supportive family, friends, and colleagues who have supported me (virtually) and practically in so many ways. I am thankful for the many work from home days, where I have felt so exhausted to get out of bed. I am thankful for health and food on my table, and my heart goes out to those who haven't been fortunate enough. And with that, I am also hopeful for better days, and a healthy child." Saba Fatima is a pediatric hospitalist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "What it's like to be pregnant in a pandemic." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/what-its-like-to-be-pregnant-in-a-pandemic.html)

"We can clearly see that exponential technologies are disrupting cars and phones. So why wouldn't these technologies find their way into health care and gastroenterology? What do stool tests have to do with self-driving cars? We'll soon find out. But let's first go back to the discussion we had earlier on the shift to digital. Screening for cancer through colonoscopy, while a gold standard, reminds me of a field that's at the crossroads of disruption—much like music or photography was before iTunes or smartphones. If you consider the argument for a moment, a colonoscopy is largely limited to one doctor and one patient at a time. When a doctor performs a colonoscopy, he or she can't scale beyond the procedure. With each procedure, the learning happens within the capacity of that one doctor. To put that into context, only a very small percentage of doctors become endoscopists. And an even smaller percentage achieve mastery in endoscopy. Statistically speaking, we are talking of a very few highly qualified individuals who can reliably screen for cancer using sophisticated methods. Ask yourself what could make the field of cancer screening go digital? Something that can accelerate cancer screening and give control to the nonexperts. I'm sure you might have arrived at DNA testing or artificial intelligence." Praveen Suthrum is president and co-founder, NextServices and blogs at redo | healthcare. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "What does colon cancer screening have to do with self-driving cars?" (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/what-has-colon-cancer-screening-got-to-do-with-self-driving-cars.html)

"Hiring locum tenens clinicians often proves to be more efficient, and when a position goes unfilled, health care organizations are potentially leaving millions of dollars on the table in unrealized revenues. Once in place, locum tenens clinicians can help organizations expand their service lines, provide access to specialists, relieve existing staff workload, keep the operating room running, manage throughput in the emergency department, and cover call. They are also part of a growing natural progression in health care — telemedicine. Locum tenens clinicians are being used in telehealth settings, allowing the flexibility to simply video chat with a patient for a consult or provide a second opinion to another physician. Utilizing locum tenens clinicians ultimately benefits patient care while positively impacting the bottom line. Among the available strategies to deal with the current challenges in clinician recruitment, the locum tenens model can undoubtedly evolve into a viable and attractive long-term strategy for the provision of everyday health care access." Sridhar Rajamani is a pulmonary physician and member of the advisory board, LocumTenens.com. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "How can we redefine locum tenens?" (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/03/how-can-we-redefine-locum-tenens.html)

"In my work with physicians and physician leaders in academic medicine, I learned that physicians are highly self-reflective and aware of the pressures they face; however, they are frequently the last to ask for help, and the first to deprioritize their own self-care. This has led to high suicide rates in the overall physician population. For coaches partnering with physicians on wellness, leading with mindfulness first could cause an adverse reaction. A colleague and I held a workshop on physician wellness and began the session with mindfulness. Several left the room, and a few others spoke up, indicating that what they needed was not mindfulness, but solutions for inefficient processes and increased demands from their medical coding departments. We did not make that mistake again! These professionals are overwhelmed; they are just trying to get through the day and meet their goals. Oh, and take care of their patients. Mindfulness can be seen as "another thing to do" in an already packed schedule or can make physicians feel angry or "guilty" for not already trying something that seems so simple and cause them to close down to exploring other solutions." Cory Colton is an executive coach. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "When coaching physicians with wellness, don't lead with mindfulness." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/09/when-coaching-physicians-with-wellness-dont-lead-with-mindfulness.html) This episode is sponsored by Elsevier Health (https://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/). Looking to update your personal or professional medical library? Shop Elsevier Health's Holiday Sale and save up to 35% on your purchase of medical books! Plus, you can take an extra 5% off your order with code KEVINMD at checkout. Take advantage of the biggest sale of the year from Elsevier, the world-leading provider of medical books and reference materials. Shop us.elsevierhealth.com now through December 31.

"A few months ago, I signed up for a virtual conference for women in medicine. It's a group of women, over 10,000 of us, who have watched me and supported me through the past two years of my career. Two years of struggle. Two years of personal and professional pain. Two years of opportunity for growth, and two years of numerous setbacks that were only overcome with all of their assistance. At the close of each interview with women leaders in various industries, the organizer asks them what 2020 has taught them. A friend of mine from the group reached out to a few of us and asked us what 2020 had taught us. In my response, I referenced so much of what we have touched on in this class and things that have been brought to the surface by the turmoil of this year. The only way to save medicine, save our country, and to save ourselves is to pivot." Nicole M. King is an anesthesiologist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The only way to save medicine, save our country, and to save ourselves is to pivot." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/09/the-only-way-to-save-medicine-save-our-country-and-to-save-ourselves-is-to-pivot.html) This episode is sponsored by Elsevier Health (https://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/). Looking to update your personal or professional medical library? Shop Elsevier Health's Holiday Sale and save up to 35% on your purchase of medical books! Plus, you can take an extra 5% off your order with code KEVINMD at checkout. Take advantage of the biggest sale of the year from Elsevier, the world-leading provider of medical books and reference materials. Shop us.elsevierhealth.com now through December 31.

"Most Americans have remained dangerously unaware of this revolution in health care. Being treated by a non-physician is not on the radar of the average patient, most of whom assume that anyone in a white coat is a physician. If patients do wonder about being treated by a non-physician, they are reassured that their nurse practitioner or physician assistant is "just as good" as a doctor, an idea reinforced by multi-million-dollar direct-to-patient advertising campaigns. But is care by nurse practitioners and physician assistants really as good as that of physicians?" Rebekah Bernard is a family physician. She is the co-author of Patients at Risk: The Rise of the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant in Healthcare. (https://amzn.to/2UIhL9H) She shares her story and discusses the article that she co-authored, "Proponents of independent non-physician practice make a dangerous assumption." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/11/proponents-of-independent-non-physician-practice-make-a-dangerous-assumption.html) This episode is sponsored by Elsevier Health (https://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/). Looking to update your personal or professional medical library? Shop Elsevier Health's Holiday Sale and save up to 35% on your purchase of medical books! Plus, you can take an extra 5% off your order with code KEVINMD at checkout. Take advantage of the biggest sale of the year from Elsevier, the world-leading provider of medical books and reference materials. Shop us.elsevierhealth.com now through December 31.

"Humans are complex. Humans are multifaceted. Humans are capable of grit and determination. This means that humans are also worthy of hope. If I learned anything from watching this moment in history, I realize that it's not about being a 'Democrat' or a 'Republican' it's about being human. What we do now will echo through future generations. My hope is that we choose to be better tomorrow than we are today." Anjani Amladi is a psychiatrist and can be reached at her self-titled site, Anjani Amladi, MD. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Can there be hope amid politics?" (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/can-there-be-hope-amid-politics.html) This episode is sponsored by Elsevier Health (https://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/). Looking to update your personal or professional medical library? Shop Elsevier Health's Holiday Sale and save up to 35% on your purchase of medical books! Plus, you can take an extra 5% off your order with code KEVINMD at checkout. Take advantage of the biggest sale of the year from Elsevier, the world-leading provider of medical books and reference materials. Shop us.elsevierhealth.com now through December 31.

"Frontline medical professionals must collectively share what they experienced as a whole. We must piece together these narratives and unearth commonalities to truly know what happened. Just as we must continue rigorous quantitative research on the virus itself, we must also conduct a qualitative examination. In the peri-COVID era, it will be critical to cultivate lasting empathy for the frontline and process the collective trauma that has likewise claimed lives as the virus itself. Only by establishing widespread, lasting awareness will empathy-driven solutions arise and will continued behavior change (e.g., social distancing, wearing face coverings) persist. The act of storytelling comes with the added bolstering of mental health; it is a means of coming to terms with a challenging and rapidly changing work environment being directly in harm's way with inadequate protective — both physical and psychological — equipment." Vibhu Krishna is a medical student. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The mental health benefits of sharing stories." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/05/the-mental-health-benefits-of-sharing-stories.html) This episode is sponsored by Elsevier Health (https://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/). Looking to update your personal or professional medical library? Shop Elsevier Health's Holiday Sale and save up to 35% on your purchase of medical books! Plus, you can take an extra 5% off your order with code KEVINMD at checkout. Take advantage of the biggest sale of the year from Elsevier, the world-leading provider of medical books and reference materials. Shop us.elsevierhealth.com now through December 31.