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Vaccines and Conscience Protection
It has been over a year since the first diagnosis of COVID-19 in the United States. Due to this pandemic’s effects, our society has experienced limitations in personal freedoms to a level we have never known. Social interactions and work environments have been changed by social distancing, masks, hospital and nursing home visitation restrictions and working from home. Freedom of movement about our communities and the nation has been limited by “stay-at-home orders” and mass travel restrictions. The availability of vaccines provides a sliver of hope but also raises many questions. Issues our society must address include prioritizing equitable vaccine distribution and the potential for coercive mandates on vaccine use.
Read MorePhysician Support for Ethical Vaccines
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our society has had to adapt to unprecedented restrictions and limitations. During this trying time, it has been difficult to find points of optimism. The rapid development of vaccine candidates utilizing varied techniques remains encouraging.
Read MoreTransgenderism | Gender Identity | Gender Dysphoria: Crosstalk
Despite the Authority of Scripture, there are those who are confused on this issue and from that confusion (combined with political correctness) there are professionals guiding individuals through the process of hormonal treatment (as normal) and very tragically, even surgical interventions.
Read MoreTo go or not to go, that is the question
I am sure you, like me, have faced this question on countless occasions. In our busy professional lives, we are constantly being reminded of annual society meetings. We joined them for professional enrichment and acknowledgement of credentials. Possibly our paper is accepted to be part of the program. And yes, we do get some CME credits and a chance to socialize with colleagues. But do we go or not? Life is so, so busy, and the kids’ school and athletic events are right at the same time. I’d have to get someone to cover my practice and my church commitments. I think I am spinning too many plates!
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Christian Medical & Dental Associations® News Releases
Read MorePraying With Patients
Dr. Autumn Dawn Galbreath explores what a variety of secular physicians have to say about praying with patients in the exam room. It’s a topic that is vastly important to Christian healthcare professionals. Not surprisingly, there was a wide range of options among secular physicians.
Read MoreA Lack of Self-care in Healthcare
How many times have you gone to clinic when you were sicker than the patients you were treating? Listened to other people’s woes and stresses when your own were weightier? Given your last emotional resources to a patient whose need was less than your family member’s? Forfeited sleep while advising a patient of how curative it is? Advised a patient about nutrition and exercise right after scarfing a quick lunch from the vending machine?
Read MoreSharing Experiences and Decreasing Isolation in Healthcare
An article crossed both my inbox and my Facebook feed this week entitled “Here’s Why Women Doctors Need Time Together.” It certainly wasn’t an academic study, but, as a woman physician, I was intrigued by the title. One sentence summarizes the author’s major premise: “There is an amazing power in gathering, shared experiences and decreasing isolation.” And I agree. When I watch my kids play sports or perform, I gather with other parents who share that experience—and we cheer as loudly as we can. When my marriage needs refreshment, my husband and I gather with other couples who share the experiences, both joyful and difficult, of marriage—and the isolation of our challenges is decreased.
Read MoreSustaining Our Joy in Practice
My eldest child left for college this fall, having chosen to attend school in Scotland. Yes, that’s right. Scotland. It’s a long way away. It’s also a place I had never previously visited. We went on a family trip to Scotland in March—partly to visit the school he now attends, and partly to have one last bang-up family vacation before we became a family that no longer lives under one roof. On that trip, we had not one, but two, flat tires on our rental car. A consequence of our struggles driving on the left side of the road, perhaps?
Read MoreNarcissism in Healthcare
I was looking up some information on the American Association for Physician Leadership website when an article caught my eye: “Are You a Narcissist?” I hadn’t decided what I was going to blog about this month; not surprisingly, narcissism was not on the list of things I was considering. But the article piqued my interest, so I clicked on the link and read the entire thing. There was even a quiz I could use to find out if I am a narcissist. You will be relieved to know I “passed” the quiz with a non-narcissist score! That was reassuring, but I was curious as to why this article interested me so much.
Read MoreFacing the Rise of Suicides in Healthcare
As a second year medical student, a member of my medical school class committed suicide. I didn’t know him well, but his death impacted me. Made me ask a lot of questions. Why didn’t I know him better? Had I gotten to know him, could I have made a difference?
Read MoreMy Doctorate in Secret-Keeping
Preparing to meet my next patient, I pick the next chart up off the counter. “Bob Smith,” married middle-aged patient, chief complaint: STD check. “Weird,” I think, “Mary Smith’s husband’s name is Bob, too. What a coincidence.” I open the exam room door, and Mary Smith’s husband, Bob Smith, is sitting inside.
Read MorePhysician Substance Abuse
According to a 2009 article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, “Approximately 10% to 12% of physicians will develop a substance use disorder during their careers, a rate similar to or exceeding that of the general population.” But while our addiction rate may be similar to the rest of the country, the characteristics and consequences of our addictions are not.
Read MoreHealthy Healthcare Marriages
Doctors have had a bad rap on the marriage front for a number of years. We’ve long been accused of having a much higher divorce rate than the general public. For many years, there was not a lot of data on healthcare marriages, but strongly held popular opinion characterized a high percentage of us as overworked divorcees whose devotion to our patients cost us our marriages.
Read MoreWomen in Healthcare Still Earn Less than Men
And so begins a New York Times article about the recent JAMA Internal Medicine analysis of physician pay disparities. The central message of the analysis is that women in healthcare, on average, earn $20,000 less per year than their specialty-matched male colleagues.
Read MorePhysician Burnout
It was a relatively slow evening at work when I got the text. My phone vibrated on the clinic countertop as I was looking over a chart. “Are you busy? Can you talk?” I figured those words couldn’t be good, coming as they did from a young intern I mentored when she was a medical student. I found myself wondering if she had lost a patient.
Read MoreHow Do I Know if I’m Gay or Not?
I’ve had the opportunity to have a number of young male patients, who during their teen years, have felt attracted to other guys and have begun to wonder if they might be homosexual. I think it’s very important to point out that it’s completely normal and extremely common to be attracted to other guys when you are a teen. In fact, most young men feel closer to other guys than they do girls.
Read MoreThe Supernatural Joy of the Lord
This edition’s Impact Story is brought to you by Mike O’Callaghan, DDS, a CMDA dental member practicing in Michigan. Mike has led several GHO short-term mission trips and serves on the Dental Advisory Council. He recently published two articles: one was on the topic of short-term mission trips and other titled “Human trafficking and the Dental Professional” was seen in the most recent edition of the Journal of the American Dental Association. ADA members can view the article online here or in JADA print form.
Read MoreNegative Health Consequences of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior
The health effects of same-sex sexual behavior are many. The public, government, and judiciary are being lead to believe that same-sex sexuality is a normal variant with interactions and results equivalent to heterosexual sexuality. However, this position runs contrary to professional literature and the track record of history.
Read MoreMy Heart Attack and the Running Father
As a physician, I have taken the journey of life with many patients and have listened carefully. Bubbling under the surface of everyone’s life resides doubt, anxiety, and fear – like some primal three-headed beast. Even in lives that seem under control and doing well, it’s there – trust me.
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