HIV and ID Observations

February 24th, 2019

Why Choose Infectious Diseases as a Medical Specialty? Here’s the Beginning of My Story, with Bonus Podcast

Forgive the autobiographical nature of this post, but here’s a recap on how I started down the the path to becoming an ID doctor. To begin, understand that my first year of medical school was rough going. In hindsight, this wasn’t surprising. After majoring in English during college (with a minor in the Harvard Lampoon to […]

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February 18th, 2019

Yes, Many People Are “Pleasant” or “Delightful,” Even “Lovely” — But Should That Be in the Medical Note?

When writing medical notes, some clinicians include an appreciation of their patient’s personality and disposition in their opening line (the “Chief Complaint”), or when they’re wrapping up (in the “Assessment and Plan”), or in both locations. You know — it goes like this: “CC:  Ms. Smith is a very pleasant 62-year-old woman admitted with …” or: […]

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February 10th, 2019

Six Musings Triggered by the Latest Measles Outbreak

In 2018, there were 372 cases of measles in the United States, the largest number since 2014. This year, we’ve already had 79 cases, many from a large outbreak in the Pacific Northwest — where anti-vaccine proponents recently protested efforts to restrict nonmedical vaccine exemptions. A few ruminations triggered by this outbreak. 1. The vaccine […]

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February 3rd, 2019

An “Interview” with the OVIVA Study of Oral vs. IV Antibiotics for Osteomyelitis

An “interview” inspired by publication of a landmark clinical trial. All responses written by me — but be assured, they are based on reading the paper, the accompanying editorial, the supplemental appendix, hundreds of comments on Twitter (some of them from the study investigators), and even a few generous comments from the the senior author in […]

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