Some of the people I love most in the world currently smoke tobacco or have smoked for much of their life. So if you are reading this and you currently smoke, I want you to know that it is not my intention to shame you.
My favorite books in the last few years have all been about food. This is because I love to eat, I love to garden, and I wholeheartedly believe food is one of the top six most important determinants of our overall health (food, exercise, sleep, relationships, purpose, safety).
One of the most common things that I see in family medicine is patients with various aches and pains: low back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, just to name a few that I’ve seen this week already!
Many Americans take a dietary supplement, multivitamin, or herb on a regular basis or at least a few times per year. I take a few myself!
You want to be sure that supplements contain the actual ingredients stated on the label!
Hello all! I spent most of the week getting ready for my Family Medicine Board exam and spent most of Friday taking it. I feel quite confident I passed and will get the official word in a couple weeks.
Last week I wrote about young healthy people who often don’t see the doctor (even when they should). I have been one of those. But young people need doctors too. During my family medicine residency I found myself avoiding the doctor because:
One of the common questions I’ve been getting goes something like this: “I get why direct primary care would be great for older and sicker people, but I’m young and healthy… Why should I pay a DPC doctor a monthly fee to be their patient if I’m not going to need to see them all the time?”
I’d like to start a recurring segment called “Dr. Travis’ Soapbox,” where we dive into the pitches that I find myself giving over and over again in the clinic.
With Direct primary care (DPC), the primary care doctor is paid an affordable monthly fee that covers a broad set of primary care services, about 90% of everything needed for the patient’s health.
In my last post, I told you why I love primary care. It was a picture of what primary care could and should be. When primary care works well, it helps patients to stay healthy and happy.