Articles matching the ‘Infectious Diseases’ Category

February 20th, 2024

Variability in Consult Volume Is a Major Contributor to Trainee Stress — What’s the Solution?

Back when he was program director of our ID fellowship, Dr. David Hooper would give the applicants a description of our program. One of the key parts was his estimating the workload — in particular, the number of new consults per day. “We average three to four consults a day,” he said. “But there’s a high […]


January 25th, 2024

Printed Medical Textbooks — Going, Going, but Not Quite Gone

Take a look at the things behind my desk at work: cute photos of family and dog a bunch of sentimental objects, gifts from grateful patients or colleagues a smattering of miscellaneous plaques and clocks pictures of our current (awesome) first-year ID fellows and other stuff a bunch of books, several of them many inches thick […]


January 2nd, 2024

Reflections on Working in the Hospital During the Holidays

For the zillionth year in a row, I spent the Christmas holiday working in the hospital. For me, it’s not much of a sacrifice — we don’t celebrate Christmas, and my kids are long out of school so the strict limits on when we can take vacation are a thing of the past. But it […]


October 31st, 2023

HIV Research Highlights from IDWeek 2023

Having already featured an important non-HIV clinical research study from IDWeek — the amazing ACORN trial — I turn now to a grab bag of HIV-related studies, a veritable Halloween treat bag full of them. (Note to self: What’s with that “Halloween treat bag” reference? Couldn’t you come up with a less awkward way to link […]


October 17th, 2023

A Brilliant Strategy for Conducting Clinical Trials — The ACORN Study

The secret to doing a great clinical trial is quite simple. Here, I’ll share it with you: Come up with an important clinical question for which there’s true equipoise. Choose primary and secondary endpoints that people care about. Make the inclusion and exclusion criteria easy to understand and chosen so that they define a readily available […]


October 8th, 2023

An October ID (and Non-ID) Link-o-Rama

For those venturing next week to IDWeek here in Boston, fall gives us our very best weather. Comfortable sunny days with brilliant blue skies, cool evenings, low humidity — great weather for exercising and sleeping. Usually you just need a light jacket. And now, after one of the rainiest Septembers on record (boo!), October has […]


September 8th, 2023

Endless Recertification in Medicine — Some Thoughts About the Tests We Take

The tests issued by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) for credentialing physicians are much in the news again. There’s even a petition circulating to eliminate the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) process entirely, signed by nearly 20,000 physicians. I have a bunch of memories, thoughts, and feelings about ABIM and the tests they issue. They’re […]


August 18th, 2023

My Vote for the Weirdest Antibiotic on the Planet

If you’re an ID doctor, there’s an excellent chance you’ve treated patients who have non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) with clofazimine. In fact, based on a poll done with the utmost scientific rigor, it’s well more than half of you. And if you’re not an ID doctor, there’s a decent chance you’ve never even heard of it — […]


May 8th, 2023

As the Public Health Emergency Comes to an End, How Are We Feeling About This?

As you no doubt heard, on Friday, May 5, 2023, the WHO declared the end of the global health emergency from COVID-19. Here in the U.S., the federal public health emergency will expire on May 11. That’s Thursday, just a few days from now. These events reflect two realities that, while seemingly contradictory, make these decisions reasonable […]


April 28th, 2023

What is the Future of HIV Primary Care?

Here’s a figure I’ve made for an upcoming talk, which is entitled “The Future of HIV Care.” It summarizes several eras in HIV treatment, finishing up with the current unprecedented successful phase where most people with HIV take 1–2 pills a day, have virologic suppression and no clinically apparent immunodeficiency. HIV is often the least […]


HIV Information: Author Paul Sax, M.D.

Paul E. Sax, MD

Contributing Editor

NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases

Biography | Disclosures | Summaries

Learn more about HIV and ID Observations.