Tag: education
A part of patient care that I was not taught in medical school
How physicians express condolences. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how physicians express condolences. This weekend, I attended calling hours to visit with the family of a recently deceased patient. As I drove back... read more
The "Quality Minute" – A New, Brief, and Structured Technique for Quality Improvement Education During the Morbidity and Mortality Conference
The Quality Minute is a brief, structured presentation designed to incorporate quality improvement (QI) education into the surgical morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference. The 6-slide, 5-minute structure makes it easy... read more
A Year at the Bedside With Osler
Ask any resident, and he or she will tell you that this oft-quoted meditation from Sir William Osler, the father of modern medicine and guiding light for many an internist, is beautiful in its language yet quaint and seemingly... read more
New Institute to Focus on Immune System
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is launching a new institute to coordinate initiatives among the rapidly evolving disciplines of infection biology, immunology and inflammatory diseases. The Vanderbilt Institute... read more
ICU Medicine Is a Team Sport
I am incredibly fortunate to work on a multidisciplinary team every day. The team includes respiratory therapists, nurses, nutritionists, attending physicians (APs), and advanced practice providers (APPs) (nurse practitioners... read more
What Is Permitted in Text Messaging About Protected Health Information?
This Viewpoint discusses the best use of texting clinical information, noting that neither Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act nor the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act offer... read more
Integrating Advance Care Planning into Practice
Advanced respiratory diseases progress over time and often lead to death. As their condition worsens, patients may lose medical decision making ability. Advance care planning (ACP) is a process in which patients receive information... read more
Facing Change: When to Embrace, When to Resist
This editorial is focused on 3 major areas where change is occurring: (1) change in scientific evidence leading to modification in practice, (2) changes in the health care system structure and how it affects our daily lives,... read more
Physician Depression and Suicidality
As physicians, we frequently care for patients with depression and suicidal ideations. On occasion, we may also have to treat patients who have actively attempted suicide via methods such as medication overdose or self-inflicted... read more
Why Does Conflict of Interest Matter?
In this Viewpoint, the former president of the Institute of Medicine discusses the importance of conflicts of interest to the integrity of the medical profession, and the importance of policies to manage conflicts of interest... read more
I was confident in my patient’s care. Then my senior doctor overruled me
When a resident and an attending physician disagree, the attending has the right to overrule the resident. But both should talk openly about the issue. During one 28-hour call shift, I took care of a critically ill man in... read more
Top 5 Skills Every Nurse Should Develop Quickly
What are the top five skills that every nurse should develop? Nope! Not those. I imagine many of you reading automatically think about the clinical skills it takes to become a professional nurse. While clinical skills are... read more
Defining the Role of Specialists in Value-Based Health Care
Health care is at a crossroads and under pressure to add value by improving patient experience and health outcomes and reducing costs to the system. Efforts to improve the care model in primary care, such as the patient-centered... read more
Anesthesiologists Found Underreporting Medication Errors
Medication errors are apparently significantly underreported by anesthesia providers, at least at certain institutions. These recent findings may reflect a culture of underreporting or fear of punitive action, despite the... read more
