I have noticed in the past month a marked increase in the number of texts I get from radiation oncology or medical oncology industry salespeople or locum tenens services. My mobile phone is not solely for work, but the texts are an increasingly annoying distraction from patient care, my family…

In January 2021, I contracted COVID-19. Minimally symptomatic and stuck at home, I had a glass of wine with dinner one day after testing positive and had the strangest tingling reaction on my tongue and throat. When I tried swirling the cabernet around, it affected my entire mouth. Could the…

Radiation treatments can be used to cure bladder, cervix, prostate, and rectal cancers. What if the time of day matters, and we can improve the accuracy of treatment simply with better coordination of scheduling? Radiation therapy is designed in a session called a “simulation”, during which radiation therapists work with…

Perchance the cell for whom caspases toll may be so ill that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself much better than I am, as those who are about me and see my state may have caused it to toll for me, and I…

Originally posted on the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, ​February 2, 2015 ​Recognizing the needs of patients as well as doctors is essential to healthcare. We may have ideas about what those needs are, but how do we include them in decisions about healthcare reform? Both patients and healers…

Patients need doctors. Doctors need patients. Let’s find a way to value both. — Everyone deserves a chance to be healthy. Physicians, of course, focus on helping patients. Unfortunately, I often see patients’ frustrations with the health care system itself directed toward doctors. Meanwhile, doctors are under increasing pressures on multiple fronts. Yes, we’re imperfect, but making physicians the primary focus of patient anger…

Originally posted on the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, ​November 24, 2014 Last year, I wrote about differences in how professional societies use social media during annual meetings. This year, the American Urological Association (AUA), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have…

Originally posted on the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, July 8, 2014 About one third of U.S. adults with online access will look up health information about a specific condition, but only about half will discuss what they’ve found with a doctor [Pew Internet]. Recent research suggests patients want…

Originally posted on the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, November 18, 2013 It’s always busy when you attend a professional society annual meeting — attending academic sessions on new research, health policy, educational sessions, networking, catching up with friends, recruiting or job searches, and more. Increasingly, these interactions are…