Articles By Kathryn H. Dao, M.D.

Blueprints to the Clinical Research Underworld
“If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, "Fight Club" 1999
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When To Give Up
He would have died. About 4 weeks ago, my 74 year old father-in-law, “Pops” was admitted to a small community hospital for delirium and worsening congestive heart failure. He was seen by a caring hospitalist and a local cardiologist who was deemed good by all the locals, but they could not get him better.
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Best of 2018: The Millennial Doctor- Mighty or Mediocre?
A 3rd year medical student started his rotation with me this past week and the rotation was a challenge for us both.
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Is DAS28 and HAQ-DI Headed for the Graveyard?
Dr. Joseph Smolen delivered one of the most elegant and informative talk on rheumatoid arthritis at this ACR’s meeting as a tribute to Dr. Paul Klemperer. Dr. Smolen led us on a journey, and had us feeling content with what we are doing in practice as we walked with him from historical discoveries of RA through new drug development. Then Dr. Smolen did the unthinkable: he made us crash!
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Because It's Rare Doesn’t Mean It Doesn’t Exist: A Tribute to Relapsing Polychondritis
During medical training, we were taught about rare diseases that are unlikely to be encountered, but there is a reason why our professors even mention these diseases. It is not just for our board exams; the lectures are for us to recognize the features of the disease when the rare patient comes across our exam table.
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Walking the Tightrope of Treat to Target in Psoriatic Arthritis
In the last few years, new studies have been published examining if early intervention and tight control (TC) of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) disease activity will have the same beneficial outcomes as it does for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
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Pain: Objectifying a Subjective Symptom
My typically pleasant 76 year old male was livid when I walked into the exam room. He was pacing back and forth with furrowed eyebrows. I gingerly inquired what was bothering him the most.
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Sexist Rheumatology
Cush and Dao are at it again. This time it's whether men or women are better patients. Cush says men are better patients; Dao says Er, not so fast bub! This is their light-hearted, gender biased debate on the best patients: Men vs. Women.
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The Board Certification Tango
Recently, I was invited to apply for an open seat on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the large organization that certifies physicians in the United States. Part of the process is to write a personal statement on my views of the ABIM mission and what I would like to accomplish.
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