Hydrocodone: Then and Now
Today marks the one year anniversary of hydrocodone becoming a schedule II drug with more restrictive access. Has life been better under these new rules?
Blogs
Wine and the rheumatologist: reflections from EULAR (part 1)
I had a wonderful time in Rome, due in small part to the wonderful wines I drank with family and friends. When I got home, enjoying those same wines again made me wonder about the placebo effect.
Top 5 and Bottom 5 Clinic Tools
Rheums do not live by wits and cytokine blockers alone. We need tools, equipment and material goods to be the diagnostician, communicator, and technical wizards that triple-threat rheumatologists propound to be. Not long ago I ranked my top and bottom 5 joints. Now we tackle the most and least important tools of the trade in rheumatology.
Marketing 101
Why let your practice mix grow according to word-of-mouth, preferred provider listings and beauty parlor gossip? Be all you can be with a marketing plan for your practice and career.
Wine and the rheumatologist: required reading
A rheumatologist some of you may know gave me a book that changed my life. My wine-drinking life, that is.
Time to Listen
Every physician struggles with time and listening. Modern medicine infringes on both of these - and they may be the most humanistic things a physician can give.
Rheumatology - the Favored Few
A routine visit, followed by a few post-visit comments from the familly, is all it takes to remind me how great it is to be a rheumatologist.
Compounded Pain Cream Scams
I was methodically signing off on stack of refill requests, until I find one I don’t recognize. The patient is mine but the prescription (under my name) is not. It’s for a specialty compounded cream...
Women: stand up for yourselves!
I was recently offered a project that paid a lot less than what I feel my time is worth. My research on compensation suggests a male colleague would have been offered at least 2-3 times as much for the same project. At first I was insulted, but then I took a deep breath and said to myself, I need to negotiate for a higher price. Why not?
Wine and the rheumatologist: on aging
Here’s what I hope can be accomplished by this blog: to bring true stories of wine from our community forward for all to share. After my first blog, I received a note from one of my favorite people: Professor Frank Wollheim from Lund University and giant in the profession.
How do you handle questions about sex?
I had just finished going over the prognosis and treatment plan with my newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis patient. I asked if she had any questions for me. She did.
Does Recertification M.O.C.(K) Physicians?
Many rheumatologists need to go through the recertification process. The ABIM handling of this "requirement" has generated heated discussions over what appears to be an expensive, onerous, and irrelevant effort.