Cardiology

While all of us see patients who smoke in their 70s or 80s, due to their limited lifespan from COPD, DM, malignancy, etc., and their expressed wishes to continue tobacco, we keep our admonitions to a minimum. We accept our patient has become learned enough through life to make their own decisions and accept whatever […]

Do you have a stack of journals piling up on your desk, beside your bed or in your email inbox? In 1950, medical knowledge was estimated to double every 50 years, but now the doubling time is every few months. At this rate, it is impossible to keep up with the literature, but a group […]

Fill in the Blanks: Q: “The diagnosis of type 2 MI is associated with a _____ prognosis.  ___% of patients will live five years after their diagnosis.” The answer is a) POOR and b) a staggering 40%. I did not know that. However, what I am aware of is the ambiguity around Type 2 MIs and […]

What comes to mind when you think of getting CME? I bet most of you would say sitting in an auditorium, whether that be during your local grand rounds or at our professional society meeting, like Hospital Medicine 16 in sunny San Diego this past March. Hanging out in the Twitterverse? Probably not so much… […]

As a nurse practitioner in hospital medicine I have multiple opportunities to interact with all sorts of physician hospitalist colleagues, hospital medicine group leaders, quality officers etc.  Often their interactions with me take on a certain wary curiosity, like I am some exotic monkey or another creature that is unfamiliar to them.  If I am […]

By reading the headlines recently, practitioners would not know if they saved or tanked the healthcare system.  One day disaster looms, the next we have moderated growth and business can continue as usual (and by business, I mean doing the correct things correctly). A new study, along with some recent data, helps shed some light […]