KrisEmily McCrory, MD

Think about what you want to accomplish this year, then list how you can achieve your goals.

The push to provide customer service comes at a cost to the physician-patient relationship.

Reflect on what requests you want to accept before obediently saying yes, especially those that detract from your career goals.

This doctor believes the American health care system can and must do better in terms of providing for patients.

A recent wave of sickness in this doctor's family made her realize how inconvenient it is for many people in this country to be ill.

A recent case of a patient left in the cold in Baltimore is not an aberration, it's a symptom of a larger problem with this country's health care system.

Although women make up half of medical students and greater than a third of attending physicians, medicine has its fair share of problems.

This family medicine doc weighs the satisfaction of the job with the various challenges - finan-cial or otherwise - she faces.

After the past year, it's imperative that we improve ourselves and our communities instead of lay-ing blame or complaining at the condition of our world.

With the future of healthcare as uncertain as ever, now is the time for physicians to step up and take a leadership role.

Physicians understand there is nothing voluntary about MOC, and failing to maintain certification can lead to negative professional outcomes.

A better EHR might seem to be the solution to many physicians' frustrations, but in reality, oppressive quality markers are at the heart of the problem.

Because the replacement for Medicare's SGR is complex and potentially difficult to participate in, physicians must arm themselves with knowledge.

Why should you go to a live CME conference? There are multiple benefits, not the least of which is networking with your peers.

Death can haunt those of us in the business of healing. Despite our best efforts to stave it off, we ultimately find that we have little control over its arrival.

Every year I continue to feel blessed to be a physician. I would never say it is easy, but I have yet to find myself wanting any other career.

We need to accept that identical medical offices with rigid protocols may not serve our individual patient populations in the best manner.

This full-scope family physician worries that compartmentalizing medicine hinders doctors from fully understanding their patients.

My office is understaffed, overworked, and I'm drowning in paperwork. I do not have time for vomiting.

Having been a resident not that many years ago, here is some advice for the new doctors as they take on the world.

Primary-care docs will not be able to shape the future of medicine unless they attract young doctors to follow in their footsteps.

Physicians are expected to keep personal emotion distanced. Yet, even as we care deeply for our patients, we fail to do the same for ourselves.

The demands of unproven quality measures create a constant stream of paperwork and erode the essential foundation of the doctor-patient relationship.

My week started with three deliveries in less than 24 hours. The last one occurred a mere 40 minutes before my first patient visit Tuesday morning.

We are robbing our patients of the resource of our time and I truly believe their health is suffering for it.

This year I resolve to communicate better with my patients. Here are five tactics I will use to accomplish my goal.

I am a family doctor, always seeking out ways to see one more patient in the day, finding one more resource, helping one more patient through challenges.