Those Dumb Physicians Aren't Getting The Job Done
The insurance company insisted that they would be saving money in the end. So they sent the PA (physicians assistant) to my patient's house. They didn't take in to consideration that I was just there a week before. Or that I made home visits on a regular basis. In fact, they didn't even inform me about the appointment.My patient later told me that the exam was exhaustive. The PA, who incidentally graduated school the day before and had never seen an actual patient as a licensed practitioner, poked and prodded the ninety year old woman for over an hour. He asked her about drugs and ...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - June 4, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Till Death Do Us Part
Even though they were such carelessly spoken words back then, Jill took her vows seriously. Till death do us part.She was just a child when she married Tim. He, a few years her senior, was like a father figure. But they grew together: first professionally and then personally. When the kids came, everything changed. He spent late nights at the office, and she transitioned her schedule to part-time so she could be home in the afternoons. Jill’s love grew and expanded. Of course the romance was still there, but what she valued as she grew older was the companionship. Her and Tim were partners in every sense o...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - June 2, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Safe Zone
When I first began the practice of medicine, I used to think of the entranceway to the exam room in mystical terms. How else could I explain my patient's willingness to suspend all social rules and norms upon passing through those magical doors? They would sit down in front of their baby faced-doctor and talk about things. Private things. Scary things.Conversations occurred that would be unthinkable if two strangers were to meet in the outside world. I learned of abuse and infidelity, pain and yearning, secret joys and countless regrets. I bore witness to the inner pain and struggles that ofte...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - May 26, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
In-between
We walk into the hip burger joint for dinner. It's not like what we had when I was growing up. Not exactly a greasy-spoon, and not fast food either. We sit on stools which pull up to butcher block tables. The television above us is playing Ferris Beuller's Day Off. The volume is muted and a radio blares When Doves Cry by Prince. A mother sits in front of us with her two teenage children. A boy and a girl. She mouths the words to the radio as her kids bury their heads in their mobile devices. Her face is animated, and her body sways with the music. I understand. Be...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - May 22, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Good Grief on Voice America
My interview with Cheryl Jones on Voice America regarding my book: I Am Your Doctor And This Is My Humble Opinion. (Source: In My Humble Opinion)
Source: In My Humble Opinion - May 21, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Do Our Words Hit The Mark?
Loitering in the hallway of my son's school awaiting his parent/teacher conference, I completely forgot that the woman introducing herself and shaking my hand was an alcoholic. I forgot that she had visited me in the office a decade prior for a consultation. I forgot all of it.What I remembered is that we had gone to high school together. We had grown up in the same city, in the same neighborhood, on the same block. We were never compatible socially. She was gregarious and popular, and I quiet and introspective. We may have nodded familiarly or said hello if we passed on the street, but ...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - May 18, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
MU With Or Without You
The whole thing was rather awkward.I have to admit that I was nervous. I perused the records before he walked through the exam room door. These conversations were always difficult and felt out of place in the office. But I had looked at the numbers over and over again. There was a glaring deficiency that had to be corrected. I planned to jump in right away, but we got sidetracked..He wanted to discuss blood pressure. His cholesterol numbers were slightly off, and we spent quite a few minutes discussing the difference between HDL and LDL. I readily counseled on diet and exerci...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - May 12, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
As I Lay Dying
As I lay dyingOpen the windows and doors. Welcome the wayward breeze, biting cold, tendrils of sun, or beating rain. Worry not of the elements as they caress my motionless body. Discomfort, after all, is for the living of which I am still yet a part.Talk as if I am myself. Even if I don't answer. Argue and disagree as we are wont to do. If you offend, I may curse you silently. Wordlessly. Or if you bore, I will likely ignore you altogether.Weep and I will weep too. Laugh and I will laugh with you. Pray and I will remain solemn. Joke and and my lifeless coun...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - May 5, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Closing The Intimacy Gap. When Doctor/Patient Narratives Intertwine
From my book reading 4/23 at Bookends and Beginnings. I Am Your Doctor And this Is My Humble Opinion. (Source: In My Humble Opinion)
Source: In My Humble Opinion - May 4, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Does Your PCP Feel Like A Doctor Anymore?
We both agreed that it was unfortunate.I sat on Paul's living room couch with a computer perched on my lap as he recounted the events of the last few weeks. His business flight was interrupted by severe spasms of cough and high fever. He called me upon landing, and based on my advice, went to a local urgent care center. After waiting for a few minutes, he was seen by a friendly and competent physician who diagnosed him with pneumonia. Antibiotics were started, and he was given the name of a local physician to follow up with in a few days. Paul was never the type to rest. He took the antibiotic...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 30, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Good News
Janice had come to terms with her disease. The swelling in her legs and the shortness of breath were overwhelming. Her gasping for air with almost every movement made the sedentary life her only option. Her family members had long since moved away or died. She was alone.The current bout of heart failure had been severe enough to land her in the hospital again. The paramedics shook their heads in disgust as they hauled her out of her cluttered, cockroach-infested apartment. The ride to the emergency room was her first trip outside of the confines of her four small walls since the last hosp...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 28, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Words
It's metoprolol.m-e-t-o-p-r-o-l-o-lThe nurse on the other end of the phone sighs as she tolerates my tirade regarding pronunciation. They all know that I am particular about such things. For metoprolol is neither metoclopramide or metalazone, and the difference could be life altering. I live in a world of words. Trained in a language created to parse pertinent details. Dysarthria or dysphagia? Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, dyspnea on exertion, or orthopnea? Each variant a spectrum of flavor. A morsel chewed, swallowed, and digested into its basic parts to be rattled off in staccato sente...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 26, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Google Hangout Interview with John Bennett
John Bennett and I discussed my book this evening on a google hangout. (Source: In My Humble Opinion)
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 21, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Legacy, Some Thoughts On The Death Of Jonathan Crombie
My wife loves Anne of Green Gables. And every so often she scours Netflix or Amazon Prime looking for the movie to play for the kids. She is almost always unsuccessful. Last night, however, she was able to find a version on you tube (with Spanish subtitles none the less). She popped a bowl of popcorn, and we all settled down to watch this ageless classic. We were engrossed. How could you not fall instantly in love with "Anne spelled with an E". Her hyperbolic and histrionic nature all the more endearing as the plot grows. Of course, you can't help but like Gilbert also. At fi...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 19, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Fixing The Primary Care Crisis by @Drschimpff
The American health care system is in crisis. Year after year we see prices rise and quality of care spiral downword. The more money we throw at the problem, the worse things get. A bevy of politicians, health care consultants, journalists, and even doctors scurry relentlessly for a solution to to this colossal mess. But, until now, none of them have understood enough to distill the disparate facts into a coherent plan of action.That all changes with the publication of Dr. Stephen Schimpff's treatise:Fixing the Primary Care Crisis: Reclaiming the Patient-Doctor Relationship and Returning Healthcare ...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 14, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
