My brother has a lung disorder related to rheumatoid arthritis which may eventually cause him to need a lung transplant. It’s as troubling to write about as it was to hear about a few months ago. Were my brother at the top of the lung transplant list and a judge decided to change the rules and give the next available donor lung to a little girl ...

Safety used to be the first concern patients would have when they come in for consultations for aesthetic treatments with facial injectables. Several years ago unsafe practices with unapproved FDA products had much media attention. Patients are more cautious, do more research and read online social media reviews prior to their arrival to our ...

If the Medical Intensive Care Unit has a scoreboard, I don't want to see it. Some days it feels like the home team always loses. Patients that look like they are about to recover take a nosedive. The real fighters eventually give up. The most hopeful clinicians must face the grim inevitable. But sometimes you just need one, good ...

I'm not a doctor basher. In fact I'm actually quite the contrary. Over the course of my career I have worked with some great docs. They have been encouraging, helpful and generally treated me as a peer. During my education I had physician preceptors and early in my career I had physician mentors. In my practice I have consulted with ...

Since graduation, I've had plenty of reminders - good and bad - that I am no longer a student. There is the ''PA-C'' behind my name and my shiny new state license. A paycheck arrives every two weeks like an airplane dropping supplies on a desert island. And, of course, I now hold myself to an even higher professional standard. While these ...

Dear Career Coach: I am wondering if you have any thoughts or advice about finding a job after age 60. I have been in practice for about 18 years. I am finding it rather scary to quit my job because I am worried about whether I will really be able to get another job. What do you think? Dear Mature Job Seeker: Employers are looking for two main ...

We made it through one quarter of my first year as a physician assistant. Let's take this opportunity to reflect on some of the lessons learned during my first three months. It's sort of like your boss' 90-day evaluation, but without the sense of impending doom. Transition is Tough - Whether you are moving into a new career or a new city ...

I had a student ask me recently if I had a dermatoscope and if I could show her how to use it. The answer was simple enough. No, I don't need one. This of course led to the logical question...Why? This blog post was inspired by this exchange. The simplest answer to this question is that if I see something that looks abnormal, I biopsy it. ...

Her only enemy was time. There was too much of it. As my patient lay in her bed and slowly suffocated, each tick of the clock brought a desperate battle to stave off panic. Ms. M had dealt with her difficult lungs for years. Without explanation, the delicate tissues and air sacs had hardened and scarred; they stiffened and refused to ...

Graduation day is just around the corner (but who is counting?), so I've decided to reflect back on the ''lessons learned'' during my clinical year of PA school. It has been a challenging and rewarding experience for me. There have been ups and downs; both were very much needed. Live and learn, as they say. Avoid asking questions that ...