In Practice: Reflections from NPs and PAs

September 21st, 2017

The Opioid Epidemic: One Year Later

Harrison Reed, PA-C

A year ago I wrote a blog for In Practice and an editorial in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAAPA) that discussed the factors contributing to the opioid epidemic in America. If the passionate reaction to those articles is any indication, the topic stirred both intellect and emotion. Since then, the issue […]

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June 20th, 2017

Mending Broken Hearts: A Profile of a Heart Surgeon

Alexandra Godfrey, BSc PT, MS PA-C

“Resilience makes space for feelings. It’s different from depersonalization—something that we see in medicine today. The depersonalized response to tragedy is ‘too bad, so sad, get on with it.’ Depersonalized physicians believe feelings are too risky and painful, so they can’t imagine that feelings exist in others.”—Ross Ungerleider, MD Ross Ungerleider, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at Driscoll […]

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June 9th, 2017

How Giving Friends and Family Medical Advice Made Me Sick

Emily F. Moore, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC, CCRN

The other night, my sister called me asking if she should take my niece to the emergency department.  She had been complaining of abdominal pain with on-and-off vomiting and diarrhea for a couple days.  According to my sister, she had gotten to the point where the pain was unbearable. I quickly ran through my niece’s […]

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May 31st, 2017

Curing the Toxic Culture: First, Honor Thy Patient

Harrison Reed, PA-C

In March I wrote a blog post for In Practice that detailed some of the devastating effects of a toxic workplace culture. It’s worth a read, but the main points are easily summarized: abusive environments in medicine affect nearly every aspect of professional performance and hurt both businesses and patients. They lead to lower productivity, […]

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May 18th, 2017

Changing Health Care — Reflections from Across the Pond

Megan Tetlow, PA-C

I’m an American physician assistant living and working for the government-funded National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K. I also write for this blog about the differences between the U.S. and U.K. health systems. I have thus far been moderately successful at avoiding political discussions in the public sphere. But the recent passage of the […]

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March 15th, 2017

Toxic Talent: Why High-Performing Jerks Aren’t Worth the Trouble

Harrison Reed, PA-C

Susan Fowler’s first day on the job did not go well. She had just joined the ride share company Uber as an engineer in late 2015 when the messages arrived. Hours into her first official assignment, Susan’s new manager contacted her over the company’s communication system to ask for sex. Susan was so struck by the […]

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March 3rd, 2017

Asking Pediatric Patients About Drug Use

Emily F. Moore, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC, CCRN

I remember the very first time I obtained an adolescent HEADSSS assessment in graduate school (HEADSSS being the acronym for Home environment, Education and employment, Eating, peer-related Activities, Drugs, Sexuality, Suicide/depression, and Safety from injury and violence). Walking into my patient’s room, I was likely more nervous than my patient was. I recall telling my […]

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February 2nd, 2017

From Leogane to Longwood: How Different Are Our Patients?

Elizabeth Donahue, RN, MSN, NP-C

When I worked in family medicine, I considered my practice to have two very distinct patient populations — the pediatric population I served from their birth to adolescence and the adult population — each with a very different set of needs. Now that my practice has changed and I care exclusively for patients over age […]

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January 8th, 2017

7 Medical Terms to Ditch in 2017

Harrison Reed, PA-C

Your new diet plan might fail. That daily planner might collect dust on the corner of your desk. The gym membership gifted by a well-intentioned (but not-so-subtle) cousin might go unused. But fear not. You can still resolve to make 2017 just a little bit better than last year. And it starts by cleaning out […]

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