Physicians should help patients resolve the issue of medical debt by advocating for change in the health care system on a local and national level and implementing charity care within their offices.
A physician outlines the RAND Health Insurance Experiment and its conclusion that the deductible feature of consumer-directed health plans can reduce health care spending significantly.
Consumer-directed health plans will result in a more responsive and sustainable health care system in which patients will take more responsibility for management of their chronic conditions.
The trend toward casual address and dress in the medical profession could reinforce the power differential that already exists between patient and physician and adversely affect the patient-physician relationship.
In part II of a pre-med student's experiences with his aging grandfather, the student struggles with his strong-willed grandfather's unwillingness to comply with doctors' orders.
A U.S. physician relates the culture shock he is experiencing working as an area medical officer in Eastern Africa for the U.S. Peace Corps in his latest online journal entry.