There are many current tragedies in the world. The rising number of deaths from overdoses is a national crisis, an emergency that has to be dealt with. It is hitting our young and has risen to the leading cause of accidental death in 2010 among ages 25-64, surpassing motor vehicle accidents. As a result, the…
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How Do You Judge a ‘Good’ Hospital?
“Dad, what hospitals are good?” Working for the Pennsylvania Medical Society, traveling to many hospitals, and speaking to physicians across the state, I was flummoxed when my son, a surgeon to be, asked me that question. There are so many ways to measure good. My readers know that one of my favorite phrases is “the…
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Beware of the Phrase: ‘Just Sign Here Doctor’
“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” Samuel Goldwyn It’s time to renew a prior blog, because it’s that time of year, and, this time, I’ve also created a short webinar with tips and tricks especially for your first contract after residency. We live and work in a world in which we…
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Why Technology Makes Me a Smarter Physician
I have always had ectopic brains. Those are the external resources we use to reference stuff that physicians need to know. As a resident, it was pockets full of manuals – the Washington Manual, Handbook of Pediatrics, etc. Frankly, I always had trouble remembering a lot of the micro-minutiae that come with practicing medicine. My…
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