Martin Quan, MD

"If it tastes good, it must be bad for you" is an adage frequently espoused by mothers everywhere in efforts to influence what their children eat. Chocolate, ice cream, bacon, cheeseburgers, and French fries are just some of the foods I remember, which would evoke such a sentiment expressed by my mother during childhood.

A 59-year-old male with a history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes is admitted by you foratrial fibrillation found on routine examination. He indicates that the only symptoms he has experienced is tiredness for the last few weeks and mild dyspnea on exertion. He has not had any previous episodes of AF.

With much fanfare earlier this month, the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration endorsed approval of 2 new highly-anticipated, injectable agents for lowering cholesterol, alirocumab and evolocumab. Although the FDA is not obliged to follow these recommendations, it is a only a matter of time before these two proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 inhibitors will be available by prescription in the United States.

Although commercial support for continuing medical education has been on the decline since 2008, it nevertheless continues to be a major revenue source for CME providers and a cause for potential concern.

For more than a decade, it has been an annual ritual to read headlines about a crisis brewing in Congress as it struggled to avert a looming Medicare disaster stemming from the imminent pay cut to Medicare physicians mandated by the "SGR". Like a broken record each time, spurred by warnings of physician groups of the dire consequences the slash in Medicare fees would have on medical practices and Medicare patients, Congress scrambled at the 12th hour to put off the mandated cuts for another year.

Although the obesity epidemic in the United States seems to have reached a plateau over the past few years, the prevalence of obesity continues to be high with 30% of Americans classified as obese, defined as having a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more, and an additional 30% overweight, with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2.

A veteran in the field of medicine gets a bird's eye view of life from the patient's perspective

Another viral outbreak has hit the United States causing fear and hysteria as well as action from public health officials. The index case for this outbreak occurred in my home state, California, and its spread has far exceeded that seen with Ebola virus.

It has been more than a decade since the findings of the Women's Health Initiative and even since that time the question of estrogen treatment remains contentious for the medical community.

September 30, 2014…this is the date marking the first case of the Ebola virus diagnosed in the United States. In the 6 weeks that followed, Ebola has not only dominated mainstream media attention but also fueled a national health hysteria and panic unseen since HIV in the early 1980s.

As the workload for doctors increases some practices and hospitals are turning to scribes to help with some of the duties. What they should be doing and how much involvement they should have remains a topic of discussion.

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" and "seeing the same glass as being half-empty or half-full" are two commonly cited adages and nowhere is their meaning more evident than in the ongoing debate of whether a pelvic examination should be part of the routine check-up of a female patient.

On June 7, 2014, the state of Missouri passed State Bill 716, a piece of legislation creating a new category of health care provider in the state, known as the, "Assistant Physician."

Disproven medical theories and practices can be slow to change, and nowhere is this truer than in the field of clinical nutrition.

A single accreditation standard for graduate medical education in the United States will not only bolster training programs for MDs and DOs, but also improve patient care.

Continuing medical education is far too important an endeavor to be subjected to a political process, especially one that is often driven by news headlines or the personal experiences of legislators or influential constituents.

A fundamental principle of medical professionalism is meeting the public expectation of acting in the best interest of the patient and community. Put more simply, physicians are trusted to do the "right thing."

Whether direct-to-consumer advertising is a good or bad thing remains a matter for debate, but what is not up for discussion is the need for due diligence on the part of physicians in managing patients who are motivated by those ads to seek medical attention.

Because e-cigarettes are marketed as a "safer alternative to tobacco smoking," concerns have surfaced regarding the potential for long-term health consequences that stem from inhaling vapor containing nicotine, propylene glycol, and by-products, as well as exposing bystanders to the substance second-hand.

Although the aphorism "more is better" is outwardly intuitive, its application to clinical practice is best exercised with extreme caution.

I find myself longing for the days when bags flew free on all airlines and when practices treated patients the same regardless of their willingness to pay an extra fee.

A commonly used adage is "there's no such thing as a free lunch." Suffice it to say that in the wake of the Sunshine Act, there may be no such thing as an industry-provided "free lunch."

As Editor-in-Chief of Family Practice Recertification (FPR), it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the launch of the online version of what is, for many of you, an "old friend."