Dike Drummond MD

Recent Posts

Medical Innovations for the Real World: The Universal Anesthesia Machine

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Medical Innovations for the Real World – the Universal Anesthesia Machine

What happens when you take a $75,000 anesthesia machine from a hospital in the developed world and drop it in a 3rd world hospital that suffers an average of 16 power outages a month and has no spare parts?

What seems like a really cool charitable donation to a needy 3rd world country is not only useless … is downright dangerous. It is NOT GOOD when your anesthesia machine stops working while your belly is wide open. The machines break down and end up in a back room of the  hospital in a First World Medical Technology Graveyard.

READ MORE NOW >>>

Medical School Burnout Common and Leads to Unprofessional Patient Care

Posted by Dike Drummond MD


Medical School Burnout is a negative influence on the Attitudes and Professionalism of the Majority of US Medical Students

Burnout was found to be present in the majority of over 2000 US medical students surveyed in 2010 and leads to measurable negative consequences as reported in a Mayo Clinic supported study..

This study reported in JAMA surveyed 4400 medical students with a 61% response rate for 2682 respondents.

Here are the highlights:

Tags: Physician Burnout

READ MORE NOW >>>

Healing the Healers: End the Battlefield Mentality and Support Your Colleagues when They Need it Most

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Healing the Healers … My Story …

The mother of the dead baby sat in her husband’s arms and simply asked “why?” over and over through the Vietnamese interpreter. I had no way to answer the question. I didn’t know why. There was nothing to point to. No defect in the child or mother or the actions taken in L&D.

All I could do was say “I am so sorry” … for your baby, for you … for everyone involved.

It was a nightmare … losing a baby during childbirth in my family practice residency. It was THE thing each of us dreaded the most. What happened afterwards was even more devastating in the long run. What happened was … nothing.

Tags: Physician Burnout

READ MORE NOW >>>

Antibiotics for a Virus? How to Just Say No

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Antibiotics for a Virus – Effective Communication of “NO”

READ MORE NOW >>>

Monty Python Hospital Sketch – still hilarious after all these years

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

This sketch from Monty Python’s Meaning of Life movie first released in 1983 – nearly 30 years ago now … is just as funny as the first time I saw it.
READ MORE NOW >>>

The Doctor will SKYPE You Now

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

the Doctor will SKYPE you now

Telemedicine, video technology and the need for speed collided in my brain today when I was researching a local Urgent Care Startup and found their “the doctor will skype you now” visit page.

READ MORE NOW >>>

Energy Vampires and Physician Burnout – Stop the Downward Spiral !

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Energy Vampires and Physician Burnout – stop the downward spiral

I recently heard that term for the first time on a popular online Physician Website. Energy Vampires are those patients (you know the ones) who seems to suck your life energy away every time you are near them.

Tags: physician wellness, Physician Burnout, Physician Coaching, physician stress

READ MORE NOW >>>

Disney Anti-Obesity Exhibit Shut Down after “flood of complaints”

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Disney World in FL, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield teamed up recently to create an exhibit called “Habit Heroes”, for the Disney World resort. Its purpose was to encourage kids to improve their health by choosing healthier foods – and reducing costs (and increasing profits to insurers) by doing so.
READ MORE NOW >>>

Death With Dignity – Oregon Family Doctor Peter Goodwin

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Death with Dignity

Peter Goodwin, a Family Practice Doctor who championed Death With Dignity laws in Oregon for many years, took his own life on Sunday using drugs obtained under a law he promoted.

Goodwin was diagnosed in 2006 with a rare brain disorder, corticobasal ganglionic degeneration, that progressively robbed him of his movement. He has talked publicly about what he would do if he received a terminal diagnosis. In his words …

“I don’t want to go out with a whimper. I want to say goodbye to my kids and my wife with dignity. And I would end it,”

READ MORE NOW >>>

5 Leadership Lessons from Star Trek: Captain James T. Kirk

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

5 Leadership Lessons from Captain James T. Kirk … is the title of a Forbes Blog Post written by Alex Knapp. Now I have always loved the old school Star Trek episodes with Kirk at the helm – except for the “Trouble with Tribbles” show. And James T. Kirk certainly had a distinctive leadership style. Here are the 5 lessons Mr. Knapp pulls out of his Kirk recollections.

1) Never Stop Learning

Tags: Physician Leadership

READ MORE NOW >>>
All posts