Why doctor’s should talk about the weather!
Sick? Click the boxes; tell the computer all; what symptoms do you have? Computers can fold in labs and other studies and spit out logical next steps. So, do we even need doctors? Surely, after my recent experiences with the medical profession, I wish we didn’t. And I fear I’m not alone. I fear some of you or your loved ones can relate — and have been talked to callously — or thoughtlessly — or examined more like hunks of meat than fellow humans swirling around the universe right along with the medical professionals. Before I go on, let me …
The Gender Pay-Gap: The Gap that Won’t Close
Women are a huge role in medicine, but when it comes to pay, they are still trailing men; and it is getting worse. Right away, many chalk the gap up to choice of specialty, work hours, or practice setting. However, Anthony T. Lo Sasso, Michael R. Richards, Chiu-Fang Chou, and Susan E. Gerber considered these factors. “The unexplained trend toward diverging salaries appears to be a recent development that is growing over time,” wrote Sasso, Richards, Chou, and Gerber. In 1999, female newly trained physicians in New York were paid $3,600 less than newly trained male physicians even if they …
Are board review courses just useful before your certification/recertification?
Considering all that is riding on your certification exam, passing it is of the utmost importance. It is, by all measures, the most rigorous test you will ever take. So how do you best prepare? Are board review courses helpful or are there other strategies for success? A quick scan of nearly any thread on the Student Doctor Network shows that yes, board review courses are a must when preparing for certification or recertification in any specialty. One comment that best reflects the consensus of opinion concerned the best way to study for the American Board of Family Medicine exam. …
How important is it to career advancement for women physicians to lecture in CME courses?
How important is it for a female physician’s career advancement to lecture in CME courses? To answer that question, we begin by relating part of the synopsis of a CME offered by Harvard Medical School. Entitled, “ Career Advancement and Leadership Skills for Women in Healthcare”. The course is designed to help women develop leadership skills in “key leadership skill set domains”, one of which is “Communication: Executive presence, dynamic and persuasive public speaking”, etc. To the extent that you consider Harvard Medical School a preeminent expert on various matters, that pretty much answers the question. To advance one’s career, …
What’s the right mix of CME courses?
When you’re a mom and a physician, you have to be an expert in time management and prioritization – there’s just no other way to get through the day. So when it comes to CME that must be attended to throughout the year, the question becomes how to accrue the credits in the most efficient manner possible. Are CME courses, in-person conferences or online offerings best? The strategy is very individual but here’s some information that may help. Online Courses Offer Efficiency There is nothing like an online course for efficiency and laser focused topics. You can pick up credits …
Top 10 Medical Job Boards (2)
5. Medical Careers Global As the only international medical job search engine on this list, Medical Careers Global (MCG) created a worldwide portal that connects healthcare professionals from different countries into one online platform. By providing low cost access to global recruitment (users can join for free), Medical Careers Global allows users look for career opportunities in places they may not have thought about or had access to before. Medical Careers Global not only provides thousands of job postings from around the world, MCG offers profiles and contact information for over 200 companies that can be narrowed down with filters, …
Top 10 Women Physicians (2)
Wafaa El-Sadr Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr founded and is director of the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP), director of the Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiologic Research (CIDER), and a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. El-Sadr is a prominent researcher and has led numerous research studies that have furthered the understanding of the prevention and management of HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and non-communicable diseases. Dr. El-Sadr is a member of the Technical Advisory Group on Tuberculosis for the World Health Organization and a board member for the Population Council. She has also served as …
Top 10 Continuing Medical Education Websites (2)
5. MomMD MomMD is an online magazine, community, and association for women in medicine. Providing unique resources and information, MomMD offers a variety of courses across the spectrum of specialties. MomMD helps to balance professional, education and personal resources among females in the medical field. In addition to individual courses, MomMD offers board review courses which offer more credit points than individual courses due to the larger course load of information. MomMD offers in Continuing Medical Education and Board Reviews are catered towards physicians, physicians working as locum tenens (“substitutes”), dental professionals, and over 50 other medical specialties. Special Offers, …
Electronic Records (2)
Legal Status While there is no argument that constantly updated electronic documentation of a patient’s health status brings improved care, there is increasing concern among legal experts and medical personnel that such documentation could open physicians to an increased incidence of malpractice suits. With the option of selecting from dropdown menus and the use of templates, technological features can easily encourage physicians to skip sections and not conduct a complete review of past patient history and medications, thus missing important data. Many physicians are unaware that electronic record systems produce an electronic time stamp every time a patient record is …
