Sitemap - 2023 - A Country Doctor Writes:

A Wide Range of New Year’s Celebrations

Looking Back at 2023 and Forward to 2024

A Year of Extremes: From Medieval Masks to mRNA Vaccines; From Science Denying Flat Earthers to the Prospect of Civil War

A Country Doctor’s New Year’s Resolution

Chronic Disease Drugs are Big Business, Antibiotics are Not

Clinical Pneumonia or Virtual Health?

When Remote is in the Mix

All I Want for Christmas: Seven Things I Wish My EMR Could Do

An End and a Beginning

A Christmas Message to All Physicians From a Swedish-American Country Doctor in Maine

A Christmas Message to All Physicians from Sir William Osler

A Gift in Every Housecall

Our Mobile Exam Room

A Science of Uncertainty and an Art of Probability

A Christmas Wish

Time to Think

Brief is Good

Brand Name Drugs and Generic Prescribers

The High Cost of Specificity

Seizures: Low P, Low D and Lots of THC

The Way Healthcare is Going, We Need More Nurses, Not More Doctors

When a Housecall is Worth a Thousand Tests

Pain and Suffering

A Samurai Physician’s Teachings

My Most Read Post is Also My Least Read Post: 13,900 Versus 14!

The Lancet: A Broken Heart is the Epitome of Mind Body Medicine

There is Comfort in a Name

Will Technology Keep Us From Thinking?

Dumbing Down Doctors: A Profession Without a Language

How People Live

Practicing Where the Action Is

Chapter One, Book One

“I Just Want an X-ray”

“Patient Requests 90 Day Supply”

Free Book to New or Upgraded Paid Subscribers, a $10.99 Value

A Note to my Paid Subscribers

Starting from Scratch

It Pays to Play Dumb Sometimes

Changing the Subject

Morbus Iatrogenicus

Scrubs, Ties and Stethoscopes

Playing the Odds

One-Liners

The Science of Placebo and Nocebo Effects Puts the Doctor-Patient Relationship on Par With the Effectiveness of the Pharmaceuticals We Prescribe

When I Escalated His GERD Treatment, My Patient Got Worse. Now I Know Why

Health Insurance is a Stumbling Block in Many Patients’ Thinking

Housecalls With Something Extra

The Parallel Realities of Health Care: Ratio and Intellectus

Peer to Peer

Why Not to be an Early Adopter

Cold Feet

The Man with Brown Fingernails

The Art of Measuring Blood Pressure: Pseudohypertension, Oscillations and the Silent Gap

Feeling Like A Doctor

Off Course

It’s Time We Stop Comparing Health Care to Manufacturing

November at the Farm

The Counterintuitive Concept of Burnout Skills, (With 2023 Comments)

No Refill

Losing a Patient Twice

Calling Mrs. Kafka

Annie Laughs With the Angels

What if Physicians Worked for Free?

On the Road and at Home in Maine: I Do House Calls

A Work Excuse

Ordering Tests Without Using Words: Are ICD-10 and CPT Codes Bringing Precision or Dumbing Us Down?

Avoiding Retirement

Twenty Questions

Primary Care is Messy

Allergies and Hives

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

A Stubborn Rash: When Doctors Don’t Communicate

TSH, T3 and T4: The Conductor and the Orchestra

Visions of Little People

VERTIGO: A Symptom, Not a Diagnosis

The Emperor’s New Bones

A Quick and Easy Way to Save Lives: Why I am a Suboxone Prescriber

Invisible Ties

The Horse Whistler

The Science of Clinical Intuition

Shooting From The Hip

The Dance

The Polyvagal Theory: The Science Behind Therapeutic Relationships, Stress Related Illness and Long Term Effects of Trauma

An Easy Choice

Canada’s Buttergate: Invasion by a Trojan Cow

Rule #1: Ask Questions, Even if You Think They're Stupid. Rule #2: Use Google

Medicine is Easy, but Metamedicine is Hard

All the President’s Mail

“Nothing Acute”

Ten Building Blocks of Therapeutic Relationships

The Gift of Time

Magnesium Deficiency: An Undiagnosed Underlying Mechanism Behind the Epidemics of Heart Disease and Diabetes

Does Tramadol Create More Cold Blooded Killers?

How Much Should Physicians Touch?

Why is the Patient Here?

If Nothing Else Works, Try a Horse

THE PAIN IS IN YOUR BRAIN: Your Knees Know Next to Nothing

Serving is No Longer a Useful Term, Especially For Snack “Foods”

The Art of Prognosis

The Art of Diagnosis

The Art of Antibiotic Selection

The Art of Asking

The Art of Listening: Beyond the Chief Complaint

Cholesterol Guidelines and the Bachelor with Platform Shoes

The Art of Listening: A Not-So-Simple UTI

The Art of Triage: What’s the Worst Thing This Could Be?

The Art of Asking: Show Me Where it Hurts

The Art of Explaining: Starting With the Big Idea

The Art of Asking: What’s Your Biggest Fear?

Apropos My Recent Post About the Lack of Leverage in Primary Care (from the Washington Post)

The Power of Silence (Reflections on Writing)

Lists of Three: Unforgettable Lessons from Medical School

The Art of Listening: Cause and Effect

The Art of Asking: What Else is Going on?

A Statin Interaction Reference

Abundance is a State of Mind, Some Days Harder to Achieve than Others

The Art of Prescribing (Or Not)

Common Medications Can Worsen Depression

Since When? Looking for Change: The Heart of the Art of Diagnosis

The Art of Listening: When the Inner Voice Whispers

The Art of Diagnosis: Teasing Out the Timeline

The Art of Medicine is Not an Algorithm

The Art of Diagnosis: Go With Your Gut, Dig Deeper, Step Back or Start Over

The Appalling Lack of Leverage in Primary Care

The Art of Tinkering: The Man With Cold Fingers

Talk, Think, Listen and Type

A Man With Sudden Onset of Gastroparesis

This Time, it’s Different: The Man Who Cried Wolf and the Doctor Who Listened

Embarking on Something New

An Evergreen Post

Paper Versus Computer

There’s a code for pain, but what’s the code for suffering?

Status Report: 15 Years of Blogging

Be Prepared! Older Doctor and Former Scout Leader Stops Bleeding at Home.

A Country Doctor Quits

Medicine is Child’s Play: Where’s Waldo, Spot the Difference and Whack-a-Mole

All the Lonely People: Primary Care isn’t a Team Sport Anymore, We’re Only Interacting with Our Computers

A Few Crucial Pieces of Advice for New Clinicians

Let Your Wife be Your Ozempic!

Speed Reader ≠ Speed Scroller

Video Wishlist?

Truthfully, the Physician Shortage Doesn’t Exist!

If You Find It, You Own It

Words and Stories in the Practice of Medicine

Aequanimitas – Doctors Stirred, not Shaken

Primary Care Has a Dirty Little Secret

NNT: The Number Needed to Treat in Order to Prevent One Bad Event

“I’m Sorry Mrs. Jones, But You Have Albuminurophobia”

Getting it Right

When the Doctor is the Treatment

The Gift of Time

Two Posts About Little Things

Primary Care Burnout: Crushed by the Upside Down Triangle of Today’s EMR

Why I Don't Order Fasting Labs Anymore

Demonic Dreams and Irreversible Psychosis from Commonly Prescribed Big Gun Medications

Why I'd Like to See You Before Making a Referral

Be the Guide, Not the Hero

Is the Cologuard Test a Good Alternative to a Colonoscopy?

Why Do Prescription Medicines Have So Many Side Effects?

Why Can’t You Refer Me to a Chiropractor?

Join me on Notes

The Lazy Man's Guide to Calorie Counting

The Art and Soul of Medicine Exist in the Ordinary

Mental Health Help or Systems Change for Burnout? The Answer Should be Obvious!

From Learned Professionals to Skilled Workers: The Dangerous De-professionalization of Medicine

Warfarin and Green Vegetables: You CAN Have Both. Here's How:

HCC: Hierarchical Condition Categories = Handouts of Cash for Crooks

Hypertension is Like Driving a 5-Speed in 4th Gear

If You Are a Doctor, Act Like One

What if Only 11% of Cancer Patients or Diabetics Were Treated for Their Disease?

Why I Don't Order Fasting Labs Anymore

Driving With James Taylor

There is No Magic GP Tree

TSH, T3 and T4: The Conductor and the Orchestra

Why Do Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Mortality Rates?

Progress Note: The Case of Migraines Triggered by Trigeminal Neuralgia

Tapering Off One SSRI to Start Another is Like Making a Gradual Switch Between Beer Brands

Is Ozempic Cost Effective?

A Moving Target (from my book CONDITIONS)

Why My EMR Report Card Contains Mostly Metadata

Two Patients With More Than One Diagnosis

Please Follow Kenny Lin

The Annual Physical: Is it Worth Having?

PSA and Prostate Cancer: It's Complicated

Understanding a CBC (Complete Blood Count)

Books by Hans Duvefelt, MD

ACDW: Blog Archive 2008 - present

Vertigo: A Symptom, Not a Diagnosis

As a Vegetarian, I Gained Too Much Weight

Why I Don't Order Fasting Labs Anymore

Abnormal Lab Tests Are Not Always a Sign of Disease

Don't Be Insulted if I Prescribe Narcan Along With Your Pain Medication

Practicing at the Top of Your License is Not an Option for Primary Care Physicians

Remembering the Specialist Referral Letter and the Consultation Report

Bucksport Recovery Community

I Love Explaining Medical Things

Old Habits Die Hard in Medicine

I’ll Tell You Where to Insert Your AI!

Brain surgery and sex toys in ancient times (via CNN):

Is Now a Good Time to Ask a Personal Question?

My First Video Post on ACDW and the First Chapter of CONDITIONS

Eye Drops Prevent Nearsightedness

Welcome to A Country Doctor Writes:

Grandmotherly Advice, Avoiding Burnout and This Week’s Medical Mysteries

The Future of Doctoring is Already Here: Do More, Give Less or Burn Out