Doctors

When PTO stands for 'pretend time off': Doctors struggle to take real breaks

7:01am May 04, 2024

by Mara Gordon

What's a typical vacation activity for doctors? Work. A new study finds that most physicians do work on a typical day off. In this essay, a family doctor considers why that is and why it matters.

Drug companies often do one-on-one outreach to doctors. A new study finds these meetings with drug reps lead to more prescriptions for cancer patients, but not longer survival.

Oncologists' meetings with drug reps don't help cancer patients live longer

10:01am April 22, 2024

by Sydney Lupkin

Drug company reps commonly visit doctors to talk about new medications. A team of economists wanted to know if that helps patients live longer. They found that for cancer patients, the answer is no.

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A medical worker walks to enter Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024.

South Korea launches legal action to force striking doctors back to work

11:07am March 01, 2024

by Anthony Kuhn

The South Korean government is targeting a medical group, as a doctor-walkout throws the country's health care system into chaos.

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Dr. Michael Mansour, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, is testing an AI-enhanced database he uses to help make diagnoses.

Health & Safety

AI could help doctors make better diagnoses

5:12am October 25, 2023

by Craig LeMoult

An artificial intelligence upgrade could be coming soon to a computer program called UpToDate that is used by more than 2 million health care professionals to make decisions about patients' care.

A researcher typed sentences like "Black African doctors providing care for white suffering children" into an artificial intelligence program designed to generate photo-like images. The goal was to flip the stereotype of the "white savior" aiding African children. Despite the specifications, the AI program always depicted the children as Black. And in 22 of over 350 images, the doctors were white.

Health & Safety

AI was asked to create images of Black African docs treating white kids. How'd it go?

10:48am October 06, 2023

by Carmen Drahl

Researchers were curious if artificial intelligence could fulfill the order. Or would built-in biases short-circuit the request? Let's see what an image generator came up with.

Many medical students do not attend lectures in the first two years, instead opting to watch recorded classes on their own time.

Medical students aren't showing up to class. What does that mean for future docs?

5:01am June 01, 2023

Most first- and second-year medical students don't attend lectures. A student and a professor suggest it's a good time to think a lot about medical education, starting with "flipping the classroom."

A picture from May 1 shows an abandoned hospital in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, a state in Sudan. Weeks of fierce fighting in the country have had a devastating impact on health care.

Health & Safety

Sudanese doctors should not have to risk their own lives to save lives

7:59pm May 24, 2023

The conflict has devastated health care: attacks on hospitals, threats against medical staff. Three Sudanese-American doctors share stories from their colleagues — and map out a plan for the future.

Winter can be hard, especially in the halls of healing. A doctor shares how this year's World Cup has become the holiday event she and others didn't know they needed.

Health & Safety

World Cup fever sparks joy in hospitals

9:00am December 13, 2022

by Grace Farris

Winter can be hard, especially in the halls of healing. A doctor shares how this year's World Cup has become the holiday event she and others didn't know they needed.

Despite its central role in the COVID pandemic, the infectious diseases specialty saw 44% of its training programs for doctors go unfilled.

Health & Safety

Newest doctors shun infectious diseases specialty

3:37pm December 12, 2022

by Pien Huang

The pandemic put infectious diseases doctors in the spotlight. The 'Fauci Effect' raised the number of fellowship applicants in 2020, but this year almost half of the training programs went unfilled.

Jerry Bilinski, a retired social worker who lives in Fayetteville, N.C., says he deserves a full explanation from his medical team of what led to a small gash on his forehead during his surgery for a cataract.

He woke up from eye surgery with a gash on his forehead. What happened?

5:01am November 28, 2022

Some doctors and medical practices voluntarily give rebates on a bill if an injury occurs during a procedure, while others will not, a medical ethicist says. Here's how patients can respond.