September 19, 2019 | 2 min read The Importance of Partnering With Patients By Michael Crocetti, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians What patients and families need is a clinician advocate who is available to listen, translate complex medical language, and support both the physical and mental health of the patient.
December 26, 2018 | 1 min read How to Ensure Patient Access During the Holidays By Michael Crocetti, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians The holidays can be a stressful time for both patients and clinicians. Here are a few ideas to ensure stress-free access to care for patients, and tips for everyone to stay healthy and rested.
September 25, 2018 | 1 min read Teaching Maintains Clinical Excellence By Michael Crocetti, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians Engaging with learners keeps you dedicated to lifelong learning, and teaching helps to maintain clinical excellence and the joy of medicine.
June 25, 2018 | 2 min read Trust The Diagnostic Process By Michael Crocetti, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians Clinicians use a diagnostic process to guide their actions when faced with a medical problem. Hypothesis generation provides an efficient reliable framework to focus the clinical workup and come to the correct diagnosis and treatment plan.
May 17, 2018 | 2 min read How To Avoid Complacency in Diagnosis By Michael Crocetti, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians Top tips to avoid complacency when faced with a common clinical presentation that may have an uncommon medical diagnosis.
January 9, 2023 | 2 min read Questions Raised by “There, There” By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Reflecting on our own “there” (the place where we grew up) can trigger conversation that helps us to understand our patients’ “there.” This can strengthen the patient-clinician relationship.
April 1, 2019 | 3 min read Practicing Medicine and Having a Ball By Wilma Ferthler, MD, Rural Country Doctor, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont Hope our 2019 April Fool's piece makes you chuckle!
September 27, 2023 | 1 min read Guardrails And Ambulances By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Over 100,000 Americans die every year from overdoses, and most are preventable. Discuss with patients and loved ones the dangers of having old prescription or counterfeit pills, as well as the importance of keeping naloxone on hand.
March 30, 2018 | 4 min read An EPIC Tale By Wilma Ferthler, MD, Rural Country Doctor, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont A warm welcome to our new regular contributor, Dr. Wilma Ferthler, a rural country doc from the Northeast Kingdom, Vermont.
June 16, 2021 | 1 min read Why we Must Talk About E-cigarettes with Teen Patients By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Proactively counseling adolescents about the risks of e-cigarette use is essential. The message should acknowledge both the health implications and the pressures that they may feel from their peers.
May 1, 2018 | 2 min read How Sweet It Is By Wilma Ferthler, MD, Rural Country Doctor, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont We have the responsibility to pay attention to the family members who accompany patients to their visits.
September 9, 2020 | 1 min read We’re All in This Together By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine With the added stress caused by the pandemic, make an extra effort to screen your patients for anxiety and depression. Empathizing about shared concerns may facilitate patient expression.
"Facilitate finding new ways of having fun and staying busy. Recovery is not punishment." April 3, 2018 | 1 min read 10 tips to support patients with a substance use disorder By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine I’ve devoted my entire career to supporting patients with substance use disorders (SUD). Here are the top 10 tips that I’ve learned over the past few decades.
April 6, 2020 | 1 min read Addiction Recovery During the Pandemic By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine We are all stressed by the great uncertainty related to COVID-19, but for our patients with addiction, it is much greater. Check in with your patients and support them in finding healthy ways to cope.
December 11, 2019 | <1 min read Medication for Opioid Use Disorder By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Building a therapeutic relationship with people with substance use disorders is critical when supporting them on their journey to health.
March 13, 2018 | 2 min read Reading Your Patient and Changing Your Plan By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine We usually already have an agenda set when we see patients. However, we have to be ready to improvise by reading the patient, and be open to changing our plan.
February 21, 2019 | 1 min read Substance Use Disorders in Later Life By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Substance use disorders in older adults often go undiagnosed because screening is frequently overlooked. Key to supporting patients to make a change is developing rapport and trust.
January 14, 2019 | 2 min read We’re Getting CLOSLER to the Super Bowl! By Wilma Ferthler, MD, Rural Country Doctor, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont Football-inspired clinical pearls from Vermont family physician Dr. Wilma Ferthler teach us how to be better clinicians.
October 31, 2018 | 2 min read Halloween Heartbreak By Wilma Ferthler, MD, Rural Country Doctor, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont This is both our trick and treat. Enjoy a silly story – we hope it makes you laugh! Happy Halloween!
December 10, 2024 | 1 min read A breath of fresh air By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Healthcare professionals can prioritize ongoing conversations about the risks of smoking and vaping with young patients, tailoring their approach to address specific concerns and misconceptions.
August 21, 2018 | 1 min read Talking With Young Adult Patients About Alcohol By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinicians need to be vigilant to discuss alcohol use with patients and remember that the legal drug, alcohol, causes more morbidity and mortality than opioids.
July 31, 2018 | 3 min read Waste Not, Want Not! By Wilma Ferthler, MD, Rural Country Doctor, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont Keeping meat properly refrigerated is critical. Don’t forget to specifically ask patients if they have eaten roadkill if they present with diarrhea (especially in summer) & no other obvious source of infection is apparent.
February 16, 2024 | 1 min read Patients and politics By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Patient-initiated political statements may make healthcare professionals feel uncomfortable. Thoughtful strategies, like redirection, can keep the focus on patient care.
July 18, 2022 | 2 min read How to have effective discussions about alcohol By Beth McGinty, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Talking with patients about the risks of heavy alcohol consumption and the benefits of change can have a positive impact on their health.
Plato, Greek philosopher. A disciple of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, he founded the Academy in Athens. This is his statue, located before the Academy of Athens, Greece. June 29, 2022 | 3 min read Being PerfecT in Healthcare By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Scott Wright, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Moral questions often arise in healthcare. Contemplating how our efforts might translate into the most good deserves our thoughtful consideration.
June 4, 2018 | 2 min read Half Baked By Wilma Ferthler, MD, Rural Country Doctor, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont Your monthly dose of comic relief from William Osler's long lost cousin Wilma Ferthler.
September 28, 2021 | 1 min read Considerations When Talking With Patients About Cannabis By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine The medical literature on cannabis use is not clear, making it difficult to know what to tell patients. Share both positives and negatives about using marijuana, and help your patient make the best care plan for them.
March 28, 2018 | 2 min read The Physician-Citizen—Making Health Accessible to All By Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Part I of II: Why being “bedside” in our patients’ communities matters.
Miami, FL, USA - March 23, 2024: Passing out Narcan nasal spray at the Ultra Music Festival Miami. April 23, 2024 | 1 min read Outside the clinic walls: making Narcan accessible to everyone By Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Addiction is a chronic disease that requires a combined approach of medical treatment and community engagement. Clinicians must work to educate their community about addiction and provide them with resources like Narcan.
A crowd organized by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee sang “We Shall Overcome” in Farmville, Virginia, in 1966, after a speech by Stokely Carmichael. January 18, 2019 | 9 min read From Clinic to Senate By Kali Cyrus, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine Advocacy does not have to mean changing legal precedents; it can also be taking a mentee out for coffee, giving feedback about your colleague’s stereotyping of a patient, or not patronizing restaurants with unfair wage practices.
May 20, 2020 | 4 min read Lessons From Ebola Outbreaks By Linda Mobula, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine Prior epidemics, like Ebola, have taught us much about caring for patients. While PPE creates a barrier between ourselves and our patients, it’s still possible to give excellent care.
May 16, 2023 | 3 min read Mitigating Pharmacist Burnout By Heather Folz, PharmD, Notre Dame of Maryland University Many pharmacists are trained in and rejuvenated by giving patient-centered care. The support of other healthcare professionals in our mission can help prevent pharmacist burnout.
December 30, 2020 | 4 min read Grateful For #MedTwitter in 2020 By Chase Anderson, MD, University of California San Francisco Despite physical distancing during the pandemic, Twitter is a platform where clinicians around the world can connect. This reduces feelings of isolation and gives support to many.
October 14, 2024 | 2 min read Beyond the bike lane By Chris Tiplady, MD, Northumbria Healthcare, England Healthcare professionals can be strong advocates for communities. This can include working to improve cycling infrastructure, affordable housing, and access to education.
August 11, 2021 | 8 min read Reclaiming Joy By Ekene Ojukwu, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine When experiencing severe burnout during my intern year, I decided to take a year away from medicine. Upon my return, I was able to bring my authentic self into the work and to partner more effectively with patients.
September 9, 2024 | 2 min read Social Rx By Mfon Umoh, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinicians can play a crucial role in combating the epidemic of loneliness and social isolation by asking about patients' social networks, identifying deficits, and connecting them to community resources.
June 2, 2021 | 4 min read When “No” to Others Means “Yes” to Yourself By Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, MD, Wayne State University Self-care requires the courage to say “no” to things that do not reinforce your self-worth, priorities, and purpose. This will allow you to most effectively serve your patients.
May 23, 2024 | 3 min read Beyond the zip code By Kaila Holloway, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Many patients in the suburbs face financial hardship and limited access to healthcare. Regardless of geographic location, it is necessary to identify patients who need additional support.
July 11, 2022 | 5 min read Navigating Power Relations in Healthcare By Hailey Haffey, PhD, University of Utah We must be aware of the power we have in relation to our patients. This imbalance must only be used in the service of care.
One way to fight ableism it to ensure that all conferences and events are wheelchair accessible. October 14, 2020 | 2 min read How Language Can Fight Ableism By Harry Paul (he/him), MD/PhD student, Johns Hopkins Medicine The first step to being an ally for the disabled community is to educate yourself about the meaning of your word choice.
January 5, 2021 | 5 min read Seeing and Healing Social Isolation By Katherine Otto Chebly, MD, New York University Social isolation and loneliness are established risk factors for disease and early death. Routinely asking about patients about their social support system (or lack thereof) allows us to give more effective care.
May 7, 2024 | 1 min read Shifting careers By Zeina Moukarzel, MD, MPH, Beirut, Lebanon As healthcare professionals, there are multiple ways to have a positive impact on the world. If and when you step away from patient care, thoughtfully consider what will bring fulfillment and purpose.
September 6, 2018 | 2 min read The Power of Finding Common Journeys Between You and Your Patients By Sherita Golden, MD, MHS, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Our patients are deeply impacted by their community experiences outside of the healthcare setting. As physicians it is imperative that we lead by example in understanding our patients’ social challenges so that we can more comprehensively address their medical issues by treating the “whole person” and not just the disease.
April 13, 2020 | 3 min read Social Distancing, Not Emotional Distancing By Loveleena Virk, MD, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland Medical Center, California. Creating space to recognize and manage feelings of helplessness is critical to prevent burnout and maintain wellness during the pandemic. We share strategies in this piece to help you cope during these challenging times.
July 29, 2024 | 2 min read Becoming a lifeline By Joanna Cohen, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinicians must proactively identify patients at risk of suicide. A multi-faceted approach includes regular screenings for depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, and ensuring all patients and caregivers have access to a crisis hotline.
July 22, 2020 | 4 min read Virtue Ethics By Awais Aftab, MD, Case Western Reserve University Virtue ethics emphasizes the importance of self-knowledge and can help us to understand our patients in the context of the totality of their whole lives.
June 25, 2018 | 2 min read Identity Part II: Knowing Your Own Past By Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine I’m not a doctor who engages with the community; rather, I’m a community member who became a doctor. This identity has helped me strengthen and maintain my relationships with my patients.
June 28, 2021 | 2 min read Carrying Pride Month Year Round By Carl G. Streed Jr., MD, MPH, Boston Medical Center The skills with which we care for LGBTQ patients, including affirmation and support, will allow us to better care for ALL patients.
December 2, 2019 | 2 min read Improving Communication Between Inpatient Teams and PCPs By Stephen Berry, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine While it's not always easy, hospital-based providers need to find a way to connect with the healthcare professionals who will continue their patient's care.
August 8, 2023 | 2 min read Advocating For Gun Safety By Ankita Sagar, MD, Brooklyn, New York As healthcare professionals, we’ve chosen to make healing and preventative care our life’s work. Working to mitigate firearm injuries and deaths will create safer communities and is part of our professional commitment.
