After almost 80 episodes and 2 years of Podcasting production, I am sorry to say goodbye for now! - Life demands and family-related expectations have led me to make the decision to put an end to the FMG-IMG Podcast. As you can imagine, this requires quite a bit of effort and dedication time to be put together. Not only content preparation, guest invitations, editing, and publishing takes quite a bit of effort. Current professional demands and life commitments have led to a steep decline in the frequency of productions, and I made the decision as of last month that for now, I will be taking a hiatus at this line of communication. 

I hope you have enjoyed it very much and I thank you for reaching out to me for consulting, advice and mentorship. Your comments and feedback have been nothing but kind and I am truly grateful for your listening and being a fantastic audience.

Life will get us together again, and I will look forward to sharing other projects with you as soon as life gives me another opportunity, for now, I am putting away the Mic, and storing all the production gadgets. 

Thanks again for all the support over the last 2 years, I will keep you posted as things evolve and the new projects mature.

Happy end of 2021!

Best,

Dr. Alonso Osorio.

www.OsorioMD.com

Good bye!

EPISODE # 73

"Customer Satisfaction & Medical Care"

Today’s society increasingly demands transparency and access to information that allows for informed decision-making. The companies that created these surveys believe that by giving current and prospective patients and their families access to doctor ratings and comments, they gain additional insight into other patient interactions. As a result, they can make more informed decisions when choosing a health care provider.

These are examples of the questions, maybe not fully up to date, but will give you a hint into what you can expect on what will judge you daily (See attached Picture in the Box).

Customer Satisfaction Companies feel that access to patient satisfaction information allows the healthcare system to change policies, procedures, and communication techniques in their employees (Physicians, Nurses, Ancillary Staff, etc.) to ensure that they provide the best possible health care experience for our patients and families.

Customer Satisfaction, Verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and their implications with patient care are drastic and have implications in the work satisfaction, longevity, and even the stability of keeping your current job. Employers are even making decisions in hiring and firing, just based on the patient's perception of you and how "SATISFIED" they were with your care.

And trust me, "The customer is always right" - Sad but True. Well, guys, this is the name of the game, and as long as reimbursements percentages are based on customer satisfaction performance, these "judgment methods" won't be going away, not any time soon, at least not in my lifetime! 

And don't forget to share, if you care and found it useful!

Best, 

Alonso Osorio, M.D. 

Episode #72: Psychiatric Medical Clearance in the USA

As part of the emergency department (ED) evaluation of patients with psychiatric complaints, emergency physicians get asked to perform screening laboratory tests before admitting psychiatric patients, the value of which is questionable, and the evaluation of most patients presenting to the ED with a psychiatric chief complaint can be medically cleared for admission to a psychiatric facility by qualified physicians using an appropriate history and physical examination, including vital signs and an essential mental status examination.

We have proposed no need for routine medical screening laboratory tests based on current Evidenced Based Medicine (EBM) for years. Still, despite that, it has been ingrained in the institutional protocols that a certain amount of unnecessary testing must be done.

Despite the collegiate recommendations, still to this date, we do use an extensive battery of Laboratory testing (CBC, CMP, Pregnancy Test in all Women, UDS, UA, TSH, EtOH level, ASA/APAP Levels), driving up the cost of overall healthcare in America, without including other additional tests that might need to address their other chief complaints and the usage of ancillary Sonographic and Radiologic expensive workups (US / CTs / X-rays, etc.), some of them done due to fear for Medico-Legal liability or just due to protocols that have been implemented for decades that fall out of reasonable medical practice, and that to this day, remain to be part of the requirements for acceptance at long term psychiatric hospitals and mental healthcare-related facilities.

It remains a topic of enormous debate and an obvious source of financial waste. Yet, despite all this conflict, I do not see a deadline in which we can see ourselves caring for this vulnerable population anytime soon, at least to the remainder of my personal, professional medical career.

Take also into account that in the USA is not a rare occurrence to see the same patient in the ED several times a week, getting all these tests performed on them over and over, potentially contributing to morbidity, and why not, potential long term side effects, like the usage of ionizing radiation, like CTs, that has very well correlated with causing malignancies in human beings.

Having said all this, take a small dive into the topic, get acquainted and used to care and evaluate these patients in your medical wards and emergency departments thought your professional career. This topic was never taught to me as an FMG, and when I started my training in the USA, I didn't understand where this concept and process came to be!

Thanks for listening --- ONE MORE TIME !!!

Best to you all,

Your coach & mentor,

Alonso Osorio, M.D.

Episode #71 with Chase DiMarco

www.findarotation.com

FindARotation (FAR) is a platform by medical students and physicians for medical students and physicians to connect and schedule their clinical Clerkships, Observerships, and premed shadowing experiences.

Chase DiMarco founded FAR. Chase is an M.D./Ph.D.-C, MS, and MBA-HA. He is the Founder and educator at FreeMedEd, which began in 2014 to consolidate free educational resources for his classmates. He is the host of the Medical Mnemonist podcast, Rounds to Residency podcast, Medical Ping-Pong podcast, and co-author of "Read This Before Medical School."

Chase has a passion for making studying easier for all students, bringing great educational resources to the masses, and increasing the options and availability for clinical experience in healthcare professions.

You can find his works online at ChaseDiMarco.com/media.

FAR is a platform in which medical learners and clinical preceptors find clinical rotations, schedule clinical experiences, and take control over their academic future!

FindARotation.com Provides:

*Increased autonomy
*Increased transparency
*And increased affordability!

FAR is the first marketplace of its kind, allowing for crowdsourced resources for healthcare students and professionals. FAR allows for more options locally and nationally for students without the financial burden of a placement agency.

It also utilizes automated systems to decrease faculty, provider, and clinical coordinator time when it comes to clinical tasks. It aims to increase efficiency in scheduling student rotations and clerkships, finalizing documentation, and receiving payments (where necessary).

Follow Chase and FAR online @findarotation
or email Support@FindARotation.com for immediate help.
He can't wait to hear from you!

So, if you found it helpful, please share and comment, leave us a review, and follow me at:

OsorioMD.com / info@OsorioMD.com
Thanks for Listening,
Alonso Osorio, M.D.

#MEDICALEDUCATION, #INNOVATIONINMEDICALEDUCATION, #CLINICAL MEDICINE, #USCE, #EXTERNSHIPS, #OBSERVERSHIPS, #INTERNSHIPS
#IMG, #FMG, #ROTATIONS, #IMG ROTATIONS, #MEDED, #MEDTECH, #CLINICALEXPERIENCE, #CLINICAL CLERKSHIPS

We are celebrating Episode #70 - A milestone in my podcast production efforts. Briefly, I want to send an uplifting, motivating message to all of you and each of the IMG / FMGs that have found and secured a residency training spot for GME in the USA. 

After years of preparation, hard work, and dedication, you have accomplished a huge milestone—one more step in the lifelong ladder to professional success. 

The internship is full of surprises, amazing moments, and constant daily discovery, as ever challenging and very intense, physically and mentally overwhelming. But do not worry, it will be another type of stress, and you must have the determination to keep growing as a physician on this career effort that will never stop. 

Today is your internship... in the future, Fellowship or Attendingship. But the road, its endless, at least for the next few years, and the possibilities to explore are here for you.

Push hard, move forward, and keep dreaming!

Welcome to the American Graduate Medical Education...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Best wishes and Good Luck,

Your coach,

Alonso Osorio, M.D. 

info@OsorioMD.com

www.OsorioMD.com 

Thanks for listening!

By now, most of the recently matched IMGs are probably already in the United States looking for a place to live and applying for all the important documents in and outside their hospitals.

You Matched, Now What?

It is a short guide to find all the high-yield information to go about relocating to the United States and settling in. It contains valuable information on the number of things you need to do before and after your residency.

In addition, it also walks you through the things that you will have to learn during your first year, like how to pay your taxes before April 15 of next year.

This guide does not focus on the medical aspect of things; it focuses instead on the essentials, the basics of personal finance, immigration, and daily life in the United States.

The book is designed to help you navigate the non-academic aspects of your new life. From getting a place to live without getting scammed, and applying for your social security number, driver’s license, and other documents to making sure that you OPT-IN for the RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS that your hospital offers.

The book will explain why this is of utmost importance and give you access to a simple but useful budget sheet to track your expenses and savings. It will point you to numerous resources that will help you throughout your residency.

Dr. Ruiz-Cordero has planned to get an easy-to-read guide to all of you soon but don’t worry, you can pre-order the eBook on Amazon now, and it will become available for purchase at the beginning of July!

Check it out on the following!

link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097CQ96VP

Also, feel free to sign up for his newsletter as he will be sending relevant info (without spamming your inbox) in this link:

https://mailchi.mp/7c5e689c124f/drrobrc

Rest assured that the best is yet to come, and feel free to reach out if you ever need help, either through me or directly to him.

Thanks again for listening!

Alonso Osorio, M.D. 

info@OsorioMD.com 

www.OsorioMD.com 

We wrap it up with my personal comments about the main pitfalls to avoid while practicing medicine in the US.

My only hope is that some of you would corroborate my experiences or for the ones that have not gone through the life exposure to these situations to gather the knowledge or situational awareness to be ready on dealing with “Hot Button” situations during your medical school, residency, fellowship or current attending life as a practicing physician or provider in the USA.

• Actions punishable by the State Medical Board and Local agencies
• Completeness of Medical Records and Delinquent Files
• Business ventures could break STARK LAW (Physician self-referral), the Anti-kickback statute (AKS), and the Civil Monetary Penalties Law and here is the link for further information about this complex topic: https://oig.hhs.gov/compliance/physician-education/01laws.asp
• Prescription of Controlled Substances
• State required CME for license recertification
• Inappropriate sexual behavior, sexual approaches, excentric stuff!.
• EMTALA – What are it and its implications for Emergency and Non-emergency Providers
• Call schedule and Responsibilities
• Not reviewing or reading hospital bylaws
• Practicing Beyond the score of your practice
• Avoid anything that seems to be fishy, sketchy, or just if double-guessing yourself; avoid it altogether.
• Racism in America / Gender Bias / Segregation

Thanks again & I am hoping to get back on my schedule of material production once weekly! 

The consultation cycle is now open: 

www.OsorioMD.com

info@OsorioMD.com 

Best!

Alonso Osorio, M.D. FACEP, FAAEM, FAAFP.