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JohnWyatt Crosby

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Dr. John Crosby is a family physician in Cambridge, Ont. His blog is a mixed bag of musings about time, stress and risk management for doctors.

ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR

  • 8/29/2012

    The biggest financial mistake doctors make, and how to fix it

    When they see doctors coming, bankers rub their hands with glee. How can they not get a better client? Doctors are well-paid, responsible, hard-working and never unemployed. And there is enormous stimuli for us to spend.
  • 8/22/2012

    Bring on the retinal scans already!

    I have 14 PIN numbers and they are driving me crazy. Why don’t I have them all in my iPhone? I do, but it’s a pain to look them up when standing in the rain. Recently, I accidently erased my iPhone.
  • 8/14/2012

    How to cut down antibiotic overuse

    We have probably all been there. It's 8 p.m. on the day before their vacation and two parents huddle over their two-year-old who has a cold. You are exhausted after a 14-hour day and just want to get home to a nice chilled glass of white wine and the peace and quiet of your living room, sit and stare off into the middle distance and think of nothing.
  • 7/26/2012

    Tips for getting along with your pharmacist

    Family doctors in Cambridge, Ont., where I work, had a meeting with local pharmacists and here are some tips for making their job easier—which will help your patients and you.
  • 7/18/2012

    My approach to helping patients lose weight

    “Doctor, I don’t eat anything and I’m gaining weight.” When I was young and foolish I used to get really snarky with patients who said this but now that I'm old and wise I remain non-judgmental. A lot of obese patients really don't eat a lot but are immobilized by their weight.
  • 6/26/2012

    Considering nursing home work? Here's a preview

    I find that by visiting the nursing home three times a week for a few hours, the job is much easier and I nip problems in the bud. The staff, patients and their families love it and I have one of the fewest rates of emergency department transfers in our area of 35 homes.
  • 6/19/2012

    The art of treating depression

    Depression is so hard to treat because it often comes disguised as organic disease. Anyone with unexplained pain, fatigue or weight loss who has a normal history and physical, lab (CBC and STSH, electrolytes, blood sugar) and imaging should be suspected. Refer the patient to a specialist if you (or they) are unsure about the diagnosis.
  • 6/10/2012

    Discharging patients from the hospital: a thankless task

    I work as a medical consultant on emergency wait times for eight hours of my week. A huge factor in emergency flow is backup of patients from the wards into the ER. There is little incentive to send patients home and huge disincentives.
  • 5/23/2012

    Tricks of the trade: lessons from 38 years in medicine

    Here are some things I have learned (some the hard way) over the last 38 years of emergency medicine and general practice.
  • 5/16/2012

    Would you fire your patient for non-compliance?

    I recently read where a pediatrician fired a family for refusing immunizations. Also, a few years ago I read of a patient in Western Canada who was fired for smoking.