
Open minds, mutual caring, life-long learning, better health
Long Time No See. Oh Look a Book
To those still subscribed to this blog, I’m sorry for the hiatus. My last post was about how great summer…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: Lung Cancer August 2025
Happy mid-August, everyone. August brings to our awareness specific conditions to include Children’s Eye Health and Safety, Gastroparesis, National Breastfeeding,…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness June 2025
June is my birth month. This year I listened to my friends and therapist and prioritized my needs (fishing and…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: Thin Bones – May 2025
Welcome to May! This year, we will focus on osteoporosis. In previous posts, we have covered hypertension, fitness, work wellness,…
Keep readingPath to Homestead: Spring into action 2025
Over the Winter, we reflect on the year that has passed and look forward to the year to come. In…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: Public Health April 2025
The month of April brings awareness to many specific conditions (the full list is at the end). The separation of…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: March 2025 Bleeding Out
In previous years, we focused on HIV/AIDS and patient safety. This month, we are focusing on bleeding disorders and how…
Keep readingPath to Homestead: Two Years in Review
The last path to homestead entry was April 2023; so much has happened since! We moved the hydroponics to the…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness February 2025: Cancer Prevention and Science
I hope that everyone is investing in their health and well-being. Remember, the first rule of Zombie-land is cardio. We…
Keep readingMurder is Wrong
The murder of United Healthcare’s CEO has led to a national response: a catharsis mixed of celebration and condemnation. Murder…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: August 2023 Overdose
This month is a special one for me. This marks the end of a contractual obligation. Though I paid to…
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Pressurized Vasculature
Blood Pressure is the silent killer. Years of elevated blood pressure damage arteries, capillaries, and veins affecting every organ system.…
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Path to Homestead: Just Keep Swimming
Dory had it right, “Just Keep Swimming.” It’s crazy to think that it has been 2 months since my move…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness June 2023: PTSD
June is my birth month, so let’s talk about health. June is Alzheimer’s and Brain, Cataract, Myasthenia Gravis, Aphasia, Congenital…
Keep readingPath to Homestead: Sprouting up
It is Spring, and it is time to get up on the farm. We are not outside the last frost…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: May 2023 Lupus
Welcome to May! May is quite the Awareness month comprised of American Stroke, Arthritis, Cystic Fibrosis, Better Hearing and Speech,…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness – Patient Experience
Let’s talk about National Health Awareness. April brings to our awareness SO MANY specific conditions (the whole list is at…
Keep readingReflecting on The Laws of Medicine
The Laws of Medicine by Siddhartha Mukherjee is a very quick read comprised of a series of short essays that…
Keep readingMarch Health Awareness: Patient Safety
What a year it has been. I remember writing last year’s March blog like it was yesterday. Let’s talk about…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: February 2023 – Organ Donation
I hope that everyone is investing in their health and well-being. February brings to our awareness of specific conditions.…
Keep readingShared Decision Making: COVID-19 Bivalent Vaccine
Shared decision-making is when a clinician and patient work together to make decisions based on the best available clinical evidence…
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Path to Homestead: Part 4
The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year with only 8 hours and 33 minutes of sunlight in…
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National Health Awareness: January 2023
With 2022 coming to an end, we look forward to the opportunities ahead of us all. January brings our awareness…
Keep readingLessons From Covering Down
These days, this is considered Extreme Leadership: If the team is failing, the leader is failing. As one watches support…
Keep readingSitting With the Enemy
A day in the life with “The Administration” So here I am, day 2 of a 5 day conference for…
Keep readingWhen is it Too Dangerous?
Across the United States in academic, military, and private clinics, we are experiencing a healthcare worker shortage. Clinical staffing ratios…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness Month: November 2022 – Alzheimer’s and Family Caregivers
I hope that November is treating you well. This month includes Thanksgiving and I remain thankful for my readers and…
Keep readingTeacher, Mentor, Physician… Attending
In the beginning, we are all ignorant, carefree, and selfish infants. Through adversity, struggle, and learning, one slowly makes their…
Keep readingPath to Homestead Part 3 (House and Barn Stuff)
Part 3 of the Path to Homestead series has been split between the housework in this post and the food-related…
Keep readingPath to Homestead Part 3 (Garden and Harvest Stuff)
This first post is both for my own reference and to chronicle the thought processes, events, choices made, and lessons…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: October 2022
I hope that you’re enjoying October and are looking forward to a great Halloween! October brings to our awareness specific…
Keep readingWhen Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to Their Mercy or Gratitude: 48 Laws of Power in the Business of Medicine
It has been a terrible day in the clinic- to top off a month of resignations of clinical staff. You…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: September 2022
I hope that you are investing in your health and well-being. September brings to our awareness specific conditions. These conditions…
Keep readingUse Absence to Increase Respect and Honor – Reflecting on the 48 Laws of Power
In the 48 Laws of Power, law 16 is to use absence to increase respect and honor. A nod to…
Keep readingThe Price We Pay: Costs Examined
As my family transitions to rural farm life, I am reexamining our budget. One major item of expenditure is the…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: August 2022
What an interesting time to be alive. I hope that you all are staying healthy and finding fulfillment in whatever…
Keep readingPath to Homestead – Part Deux
As the drops of precipitation fell on my hoodie, a thought dawned; water is life, but it also rots wood…
Keep readingTradition vs Innovation, still reacting….
“We have always done it this way.” Forbes Magazine described this as the most dangerous phrase in business. This phrase…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: July 2022
I hope that you are investing in your health and well-being. July brings to our awareness specific conditions. These conditions…
Keep readingTrust and Inspire
A military Captain barks orders to their squad, “cover the flank!,” “Cover fire!,” “Go, Go, Go!,” and his squad members…
Keep readingNever Outshine the Master
Part of my readings to better understand leadership at every level have been “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert…
Keep readingTradition vs Innovation, a reaction
“Organizations that identify and address pervasive mindsets at the outset are four times more likely to succeed in organizational-change efforts…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: June 2022
June is my birth month, so let’s talk about health. June is Alzheimer’s and Brain, Cataract, Myasthenia Gravis, Aphasia, Congenital…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: June 2022
June is my birth month, so let’s talk about health. June is Alzheimer’s and Brain, Cataract, Myasthenia Gravis, Aphasia, Congenital…
Keep readingTradition vs Innovation
“We have always done it this way.” Forbes Magazine described this as the most dangerous phrase in business. This phrase…
Keep readingRunning Away
Medicine is facing the Great Resignation and the effects are beginning to get interesting. In a survey of 124 institutions…
Keep readingMay 2022: National Health Awareness
Welcome to May! I hope that you have prepared your beach body because it is warming up and the COVID…
Keep readingPath to Homestead
We were in a desert. An area that was growing out of proportion to its own production. The reliance on…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: April 2022
I am cautiously optimistic that the COVID-19 numbers are staying down in our region. The worldwide data suggest a small…
Keep reading11 Signs You Should Fire Your Doctor Review from a Doctor’s Perspective
An article in the US News World News report with the title “11 Signs You Should Fire Your Doctor” was…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: March 2022
I am excited to see the overall downtrend of hospitalizations and death with omicron COVID-19 despite the fact that nearly…
Keep readingRecognizing ‘Measure the Shade’: Considerations for Medicine
I previously posted about three amazing posts that were written by another blogger (James Auvil) in 2015. Besides the business…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: February 2022
I hope that everyone is investing in their health and well-being. With Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sweeping the land, even…
Keep readingJoe Rogan is right….
No crap, there I was….Sitting in a Mexican restaurant, eating tonight. You see, I had a pipe burst in my…
Keep readingHear Me Out – The Great Restructuring of Healthcare is Needed
The pandemic has pushed hospitals to overcapacity. This should be expected with previous typical numbers of admission for normal ailments…
Keep readingReclamation of Expertise (aka: Why to Demand Respect of Your Profession): thoughts in hindsight
So there I was…. admin time, finishing notes, processing a Prior Auth, and planning training for a staff meeting. A…
Keep readingRecognizing ‘Measure the Shade’: Considerations for Business and Leadership
There were three amazing posts that I want to recognize written by another blogger (James Auvil) in 2015. These resonate…
Keep readingInflation
Inflation is the decrease in buying power for a given currency. As we see the prices rising at the grocery…
Keep readingWinter Solstice
Today, in the Northern Hemisphere, is the Winter Solstice. Today is the shortest day and longest night of the year.…
Keep readingHomestead- Inspection Week
After we purchased a dilapidated farm in Washington State, we spent a week inspecting and identifying the priorities for the…
Keep readingFood Deserts, Risks and Choices
When you think of progress, what does that look like? A city? A rural farm? A civilization? Progressive change? Conservation…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: November 2021
I hope that November is treating you well. This month includes the American Thanksgiving. This is a time where we…
Keep readingPerspectives of Residency Interviews: Then and Now
My life as a medical student interviewing for a residency program involved rotating through different programs that I was interested…
Keep readingDune : Yes, I am a fan-(boy) geek
I have loved this series since I was a kid. Of course I loved the new movie. However, I also…
Keep readingNational Healthcare Awareness: October 2021
I hope that you’re enjoying October so far. Hopefully, you are not scared by your health for Halloween this year!…
Keep readingRealizing a Forgotten Vision
My first evaluation explored not only what my supervisor expected of me, but what I expected from my employer, as…
Keep readingMedicine, Faith, COVID-19… a reaction
This reaction is to the discussion with Doctors Busey, Jones, and Plaxco. The podcast was released on October 4th, 2021,…
Keep readingNatural Pools
I have worked with aquaponics for years with moderate success. As with any system, balance is king and losses are…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness: September 2021
I hope that you are investing in your health and wellbeing. September brings to our awareness specific conditions. These conditions…
Keep readingNaïve Perspectives: Continuous Lessons
I am a caucasian male, who grew up in a predominantly caucasian town, with some minor diversity in a migrant…
Keep readingLeaving Afghanistan: Some Medical Considerations
Having served in the military, I have known many people who have served, fought, and were casualties in Afghanistan. After…
Keep readingBurnout, retrospective
“No shit, there I was…” When a patient is riffing with us about their terrible situation, it often starts with…
Keep readingTropical Diseases : GMO Mosquitoes
There is so much going on in the world today that it can be difficult to read or understand it…
Keep readingBook in Progress
I read through the medical journals over and over. The information was not sticking. The feedback from my wife and…
Keep readingExperts
In the end, we must push back the untruth that experts “do not know” as the public and fake news…
Keep readingNational Health Awareness : August 2021
I hope that you are investing in your health and wellbeing. August brings to our awareness specific conditions. These conditions…
Keep readingHomesteading : Crop Rotation
Currently, I live in a desert (also a literal food desert) and have been utilizing aquaponic systems to grow fresh…
Keep readingChildren and Adults
Recently I was told to approach everything as if I were teaching toddlers.
Keep readingCreative Outlets
Recently, I have been busy podcasting. This creative outlet has been fun and educational. The concept is to engage in…
Keep readingFinding Happiness : From the Abyss
We all get frustrated. We lose hope. Dreams become nightmares. We find ourselves in a dark abyss. Sadness, worthlessness, hopelessness,…
Keep readingFish! A quick review
Fish! Describes how a mundane job can become transcendental and engaging. The lessons learned in this book can easily be…
Keep readingNational Awareness Month : June 2021
I hope that you are investing in your health and wellbeing. July brings to our awareness specific conditions. These conditions…
Keep readingProof of Concept – Vaccine
COVID-19 is a force of nature that pushed our society to adapt in some uncomfortable ways. Fortunately, through the application…
Keep readingMedical Ethics and Selfless Service
This pandemic has led to many opinions regarding the governess of medicine in the United States. Should physicians unionize? Should…
Keep readingAnnual Physical : Why and Why Not?
Annual Physicals in Family Medicine are considered ‘bread and butter’ visits as they pay more than a follow up or…
Keep readingMillennials in Medicine
I recognize that this dichotomy of expectations from millennials as a consumer and as part of the workforce and realize…
Keep readingKnowledge Makes Ignorance More Precise
My patients have been very frustrated with the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) over the last year or so for…
Keep readingNational Awareness Month : June 2021
I hope that everyone is investing in their health and wellbeing. We have a limited amount of time in this…
Keep readingNational Awareness Month : May 2021
Healthcare can be quite overwhelming as it is difficult to focus on every aspect of health simultaneously. To simplify things,…
Keep readingThe Storm
El Paso is in the middle of the COVID-19 (shit) Storm. We had 7-8 months to prepare. Here we are…
Keep readingHobbies : Stay Balanced
I have always had hobbies. If we focus on only one pursuit, we deprive ourselves from other sources of inspiration,…
Keep readingLet Food Be Thy Medicine
I will apply dietetic and lifestyle measures to help the sick to my best ability and judgment; I will protect…
Keep readingRight Sizing Your Practice
What should be a simple question of ‘how many patients can a physician safely have on their panel?’ can be…
Keep readingWe’ve Always Done It This Way : Fixed Mindset and Pursuit of Infinite
Goals of the organization. In an interview, it is important to evaluate the values of the organization that you are…
Keep readingScheduled Absences : Benefits
Personal – Avoiding burnout is the number one reason to schedule absences (also known as leave or vacation days). Getting…
Keep readingCrucial Accountability : Review and Thoughts
Contracts and accountability are the expectation of employees. The contract is essentially a promise to perform a specific function in…
Keep readingSystem Reform : Please Steal This Idea
Healthcare is complex, I got it. In the US, it is broken. So, let’s get to the basics. What is…
Keep readingUnplugging : Weekend in the Mountains
When the grind of life seems to go on forever, it is worth unplugging. This last weekend, my family traveled…
Keep readingArticles on Burnout : Thoughts
Recent articles in the November/December 2019 journals including Annals of Family Practice (4 articles) and Family Practice Management (2 articles)…
Keep readingReturning to Health During and After the Holidays
Thanksgiving food coma, Christmas advent calendars, New Years hangovers. There are so many times during the holidays that overindulgent habits…
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