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Critical Decisions

The ins and outs of our medical decisions

Health
The Key to Patient Empowerment

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on February 3, 2017

If you want clinicians in your organization to give decision aids to their patients, take the time to train clinicians how and why to use them.

If you want clinicians in your organization to give decision aids to their patients, take the time to train clinicians how and why to use them.

Bias
Sexual Harassment's Silent, Terrible Toll in Medical School

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on December 14, 2016

Organizational leaders, including medical school chiefs, chairs and deans, need to make it easier for their employees to report instances of sexual harassment without fearing for

Organizational leaders, including medical school chiefs, chairs and deans, need to make it easier for their employees to report instances of sexual harassment without fearing for

Leadership
Would Prince Be Alive Today If He'd Had a Different Doctor?

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on June 27, 2016

Physicians need better training on how to manage chronic pain and on how to help patients wean themselves from narcotics when they run the risk of being harmed by these medications

Physicians need better training on how to manage chronic pain and on how to help patients wean themselves from narcotics when they run the risk of being harmed by these medications

Resilience
The Wrong Way to React When Terminally Ill Patients Cry

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on April 1, 2016

The question remains whether the medical profession will take doctor-patient communication skills seriously enough to emphasize them in training and licensure.

The question remains whether the medical profession will take doctor-patient communication skills seriously enough to emphasize them in training and licensure.

Spirituality
The Dangers of Uninformed Belief

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on October 29, 2015

Russell Wilson’s pronouncements not only risk convincing his fans to waste money, but could cause some to delay necessary medical care, figuring those concussion symptoms will resolve with a gulp or two of miracle water.

Russell Wilson’s pronouncements not only risk convincing his fans to waste money, but could cause some to delay necessary medical care, figuring those concussion symptoms will resolve with a gulp or two of miracle water.

Diet
The Harms of Believing in Exercise

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on May 12, 2015

Pretty obvious lesson here, but I will state it anyway. If you want to avoid becoming obese, eat well and exercise. Perhaps less obviously, try to convince yourself that exercise is not the key to fitting into that five-year-old pair of Levi’s.

Pretty obvious lesson here, but I will state it anyway. If you want to avoid becoming obese, eat well and exercise. Perhaps less obviously, try to convince yourself that exercise is not the key to fitting into that five-year-old pair of Levi’s.

Diet
Calling Obesity a Disease Dooms Dieters

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on April 2, 2015

The better we succeed in convincing people that obesity is a disease, the less motivated obese people will be to fight back against these social and physiologic forces.

The better we succeed in convincing people that obesity is a disease, the less motivated obese people will be to fight back against these social and physiologic forces.

Intuition
Are Patients Harmed When Doctors Explain Things too Simply?

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on March 17, 2015

Sometimes fast-thinking is not so good. Which raises an interesting question for physicians trying to help patients navigate important medical decisions: Will they harm patients by explaining things so simply that patients make fast, erroneous choices?

Sometimes fast-thinking is not so good. Which raises an interesting question for physicians trying to help patients navigate important medical decisions: Will they harm patients by explaining things so simply that patients make fast, erroneous choices?

Education
The Lost Art of Not Ordering a CAT Scan

Peter A. Ubel M.D. on March 6, 2015

We can’t leave well-enough alone. What we know to be true – “this patient does not have an acute neurological problem” – isn’t fully true until we have imaged the heck out of patients and can see – fully and tangibly see – that their brains look just as normal as we knew them to be.

We can’t leave well-enough alone. What we know to be true – “this patient does not have an acute neurological problem” – isn’t fully true until we have imaged the heck out of patients and can see – fully and tangibly see – that their brains look just as normal as we knew them to be.