Renee Bacher writes about medicine, healthcare, healthcare tech, business & higher education. She specializes in physician professional development, otolaryngology, rheumatology, aging & Covid-19.
How Locum Tenens Can Offer Flexibility for Otolaryngologists and Mitigate Burnout
In the past, there was a stigma that locum tenens was for physicians who couldn’t get a “real job.” Doctors who did this temporary work may have been viewed as not being on top of their game, or they were retiring and on their way out. Not so anymore. According to the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations (NALTO), every year about 52,000 locum tenens providers take care of more than 7.5 million Americans.
Solving Inequities; Improving Care
How the Polycystic Kidney Foundation is reaching out to underserved communities and addressing disparities.
What Happens to Medical Students Who Don’t Match?
Even for the top medical school students in the country, an otolaryngology residency is one of the most difficult specialties to land, and nearly 40% of applicants don’t match. Last year, 574 highly qualified applicants competed for one of 341 openings. That left 233 aspiring otolaryngologists without a residency in their chosen field. After four years of hard work and big student loans for many, what happens to these students?
“It’s an extremely challenging situation to work through, partly ...
Nonmedical Use of Gabapentin, Opioid Agonist Medications Becomes Prevalent
Nonmedical use of gabapentin may frequently coincide with nonmedical use of methadone and buprenorphine among people with an opioid use disorder (OUD), according to a recent study (Drug Alcohol Depend2022;234:109400).
“Emergency!” A TV Series That Transformed Pre-Hospital Care, Turns 50
“The show instilled in the public’s mind that paramedic programs needed educational and taxpayer support,” says emergency physician Ronald D. Stewart, MD, FACEP, who served as a consultant on the series and is a professor emeritus in emergency medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “When budgets came up, the thought of not funding an outreach program like a paramedic system became unacceptable to the public and any legislative body.”
According to Dr. Stewart, at the time “E...
4 New Otolaryngology Department Chairs Share What They Think the Future Holds for Academic Medicine
It doesn’t necessarily take a crystal ball to see the bigger future of otolaryngology, but the details can sometimes be a little murky. ENTtoday asked four newly minted chairs of otolaryngology departments how they made it to their positions, what they feel is the most important aspect of leadership, and what they feel the future holds for academic medicine.
News From the Frontline: How Emergency Physicians in Ukraine Are Coping
With thousands of civilians killed since February in the Russian war on Ukraine, the Ukrainian people face one of the biggest challenges in their history. As officials and observers allege war crimes, we spoke with three on-the-ground physicians about what is happening, how emergency physicians there are coping, and what they need to survive.
Is Radiofrequency Ablation a Good Alternative to Surgery for Benign Thyroid Nodules? A Look at Benefits, Risks
Ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a minimally invasive alternative to thyroid surgery, has been used internationally to shrink large, benign thyroid nodules for more than a decade. But only in recent years has there been growing interest in the U.S. in this procedure, typically performed by endocrinologists, radiologists, and otolaryngologists.
“As a thyroid surgeon, I became aware of literature that arose in Asia and Europe, where radiofrequency ablation has been used for many...
Crisis Emergency Department Challenges in a Long Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen crisis standards of care created and implemented in emergency departments across the United States, from waiting rooms converted into treatment spaces to patients back-transferred from urban hospitals with oxygen shortages to rural centers. While some of these documents have been successful, others have been problematic.
What Did Pandemic Mitigation Measures Do to Our Children?
Wearing masks, social distancing, hybrid learning and other attempts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its mutations have taken a toll on children over the past two years. Teachers and pediatricians are seeing it at work. Parents are dealing with it at home. And a therapist without a packed schedule is hard to find for a struggling child or teen.
Head and Neck Cancer: What Can Be Done to Mitigate Differences in Diagnosis Between Healthcare Providers?
Head and neck cancer has been described as a collection of rare diseases, which means means that pathologic expertise in accurate diagnosis is essential. Certainly, there are differences between how a community-based practice and a tertiary care center might approach head and neck cancer diagnosis. But what are they, why do they exist, and what options are there for collaboration?
ACR Town Hall Offers Research, Tips on Physician Burnout
Burnout manifests in healthcare providers as physical exhaustion, compassion fatigue and feeling that work has become meaningless, taking a toll not just on providers, but also on their patients and the healthcare systems in which they practice, said Allen Anandarajah, MD, professor of medicine and associate chair for wellness, University of Rochester Medical Center, N.Y., at a virtual town hall delivered by the ACR on Oct. 27, 2021. However, both individual and institutional ways exist to help reverse its effects, he added.
Howard Blumstein, MD, assumes RheumPAC Chair
Howard Blumstein, MD, Rheumatology Associates of Long Island, Smithtown, N.Y., is the new chair of RheumPAC, the ACR’s nonpartisan political action committee (PAC). The Rheumatologist (TR) spoke with him about why advocacy matters in the field of rheumatology and more.
New Imaging Techniques and Therapeutics May One Day Help Researchers Solve Hearing Loss
The road to understanding the various causes of hearing loss and finding the most appropriate treatments has been figuratively as narrow and winding as the inner ear itself. But new imaging techniques using nanotechnology, as well as research advances in pharmaceutical treatments, may mean a wide range of solutions are within sight...
New Booklet Offers Tips for Diagnosing Lupus, Images of Presentation on Skin of Color & More Insights
For decades, rheumatologist Cindy Flower, MD, accumulated images of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in her patients, as well as clinical vignettes to use in teaching at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados. For decades, she has wanted to do something wide-reaching with these materials, sharing information from her practice and her mentor, the late Prof. George D. Nicholson, DM.