A store cashier sees dozens of customers during a shift. A car tire shop mechanic may work on 20 cars. Workdays can be hard across professions.
Medicine surely does not escape this. We just don’t deal with customers or goods, despite efforts to make it look like that. A simple runny nose visit may be the closest thing to a customer who is …
Chasing numbers contributes to physician burnout
Have you bought a new memory foam mattress recently? Many come vacuumed in shrink bags. Once air gets in the bag, the mattress expands to its normal size. It is fascinating to watch how they expand.
It is not so fascinating to watch a patient expand to their actual size, when they are forcefully squeezed into an enclosed time space like an office …
15 minutes aren’t enough for a primary care visit
The key to staying on time in a busy clinic and to finish the day unscathed is to be in battle mode from the get go. The ten rules outlined below will help you to achieve that goal.
1. Make sure your bladder is empty, and that you are well hydrated. This goes without saying. You don’t want to finish the day with …
10 rules to keep physicians on time
They come in all shapes and sizes. They are health care customers. The conveyor belt works relentlessly, and takes them to caring providers eagerly waiting for them. What is on the menu? Healing, understanding, human touch, reassurance, medical advice.
All of that in a time efficient manner, in accordance with the sacred laws of productivity.
It’s a miracle how top-notch care and productivity are …
We figured this could boost your productivity
“I lift things up and put them down.”
This quote is from a commercial for Planet Fitness I have seen in the past. It portrays a bulky body builder on a tour of the gym premises. There is no real communication with the tour guide since he keeps saying that he lifts things up and puts them down, irrespective of what the tour …
The medical student who had a genuine human profile
“You folks have it easy.”
As a resident, it is not uncommon to hear these words on the wards from older physicians.
After all, this new generation is spoiled, one could say.
At the time when I trained, we had hour limitations and “caps” on the number of cases we could handle as interns on our shifts. Now, that seems to have reversed.
Second year was tougher in …
A question to ask physicians: How much is tough enough?
She came to me with complaints of weight gain. I gave her a pill, and she shed 200 lbs. in 2 weeks. No, of course not. There is no such pill.
Mrs. Lopez did not lose weight. At her follow up four months later, she had gained 11 pounds. I went back to my note, and it clearly said that I “counseled her …
The interventional primary care physician
I spent 20 minutes listening to Michelle and asking her questions to understand why she was not taking her insulin as recommended. The appointment was for 15 minutes, 5 of which were used by the medical assistant who had to check the vitals and “do an A1c.”
I did not ask Michelle whether her feet were tingling or numb. I did not ask …
The problem of generic regurgitation
How many people does it take to change a lightbulb?
Five. One to hold the lightbulb, four to hold and turn the table the first guy is standing on.
This was a mean joke towards people from a certain town in an area of the world I happened to live in for a few years. In some countries, a certain town or city takes …
How many people does it take to care for a patient?
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