Practice Management
It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin Imagine, if you will for a moment, that you’re a dinosaur. Specifically, a late cretaceous era one —any species you like. I tend to envision myself a triceratops. It’s about 66 million years ago (give or take an epoch or two) and animals like you have dominated the world for over 100 million years—not …
Read MoreAfter the vivid video of the wrongful death of George Floyd went viral in late May, millions of people of all races in America and abroad took to the streets to demonstrate in the name of solidarity and justice. This was all motivated by one man’s story and, more broadly, was a potent remind of the power of story to capture our attention and provoke action. George Floyd was the most recent widely publicized victim …
Read MoreUltrasound captured me from the start. It happened during a night shift on my emergency medicine clerkship at Hurley Hospital in Flint, MI. I remember awkwardly picking up a phased array probe for the first time and the astonishment I felt when that beating heart appeared in black and white on the screen when I pressed the probe against the patient’s gel-laden chest. I had seen ultrasound images online before, but this was different. I …
Read More1940 was a particularly hopeless year in Great Britain. Having easily conquered France and signed a temporary treaty with the USSR, Adolf Hitler turned his full attention towards the conquest of the United Kingdom. As the Battle of Britain commenced, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, against this bleak backdrop, memorably addressed his people, and the world: “…if we fail, then the whole world…including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss …
Read MoreLong before the first flowers of the new year bloom, an even earlier indicator of winter’s end manifests itself: teenagers plotting and perseverating over Spring Break plans. Partially a rite of passage and in other ways an early indicator of a youth’s future fate, much can be predicted about an adolescent’s trajectory by their choice of destination and activity during this vernal vacation. Sure, it’s not a perfect science. However, it’s safe to say that …
Read MoreMost public health campaigns, with a few notable exceptions, have been abject failures. One undeniably successful example, however, has been awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure. As recently as the early 1970s, when the Framingham Study was published, there was still considerable disagreement in the medical community about the risks of untreated hypertension. But in the face of mounting evidence, it soon became clear that persistently elevated blood pressure was dangerous to a …
Read MoreI’m phenomenally bad at gambling for a multitude of reasons. I bet small when I should bet large. I bet large when I shouldn’t even be playing the game. I’m especially terrible at roulette because when I pick a number, usually 22, I stick with it—much longer than I should. Each time the wheel stops, on any other number, I’m disappointed, sure. But that disappointment is quickly replaced with hope that the odds of lucky …
Read More35,000. As I assume the role of editor-in-chief of the journal, this is the number that revolves through my head with rhythmic pops like an old, vinyl record. Cognitive psychologists estimate that that’s the number of decisions an average adult makes every day. This number may seem impossibly large at first, to the point of absurdity even. After all, that breaks down to a decision every 2 seconds. But let’s pause briefly and examine this. …
Read MoreThe year was 2006: Saddam Hussein was executed for crimes against humanity. The Wii gaming console debuted. Pluto lost its planetary status. High School Musical and Borat were the talk of the town in entertainment. And JUCM, The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine was born—the first and only peer-reviewed journal in the industry (which it remains to this day). Well, let’s just say that JUCM was the undisputed highlight of 2006! The whole idea for …
Read MoreIt should not be terribly surprising to anyone that the massive government effort to incentivize quality has run into some serious challenges. Adjudicating quality has always been a briar patch of exceptions, confounders, red tape, and bias. To make matters worse, as with large government efforts, you end up with a whole bunch of unintended consequences that typically add cost and effort to the very practices that can handle it the least. As we all …
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