Author Archives: Ryan Madanick, MD

About Ryan Madanick, MD

I am a gastroenterologist who specializes in diseases of the esophagus, with a strong interest in the diagnosis and treatment of patients who have difficult-to-manage esophageal problems such as refractory GERD. I can be followed on Twitter: @RyanMadanickMD (he/him)

#TowardsHealing: How Doctors Can Help the Country After the 2016 Election

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Ryan Madanick, MD

“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” — Hippocrates Doctors help the body heal. The body does the work, we just provide the help. It is now time for us to help … Continue reading →

Posted in Social Media | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Live tweeting from a meeting: A brief tutorial to help structure tweets

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Ryan Madanick, MD

After 5 years of live-tweeting several academic meetings, I am pleased to see its exponential growth. Yet physicians who are new to this practice frequently struggle to get started, especially without any live peer guidance. With that in mind, here is a simple proposal … Continue reading →

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Let’s stop using adjectives to identify patients

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Ryan Madanick, MD

We have all heard it, we have probably all said it: “My diabetics never follow my instructions” “That schizophrenic is back in the hospital again” “How should I screen cirrhotics?” “Did you hear about my CHF-er?” It might be easy to … Continue reading →

Posted in medical education, patient care | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Are we really training learners to manage diseases?

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Ryan Madanick, MD

If you pay close attention to medical education and training, you have surely read something like this as an goal or learning objective: “Manage inflammatory bowel disease and its complications” However, this is not exactly what our goals should be. One push in the … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, gastroenterology, GERD, Heartburn, IBD, medical education, patient care | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

CVS to stop selling tobacco products: some grass-roots contribution from the blogosphere?

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Ryan Madanick, MD

In 2011 I posted this petition to try to get CVS and Rite Aid to stop stop selling tobacco (see my 2011 blog post). Although the petition closed in 2013 with just under 2800 signatures, today is finally the day I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, patient care, public health, tobacco | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

I’ve heard it dozens of times: My gastroenterologist says s/he can’t do my endoscopy and colonoscopy on the same day. Sometimes it’s because it was considered too “dangerous”. Occasionally it’s because “that’s not the way we do it”. Sorry, that doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Ryan Madanick, MD | 3 Comments

In The Absence of Evidence…

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Ryan Madanick, MD

In this week’s JAMA, Scott Braithwaite, MD, MS wrote a Piece of My Mind editorial, “EBM’s Six Dangerous Words,” which made me think back to a former blog post of mine from 2011, “Doc, can I use this natural supplement?” What … Continue reading →

Posted in CAM, medical education, patient care | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Presenting on a consult service: Rule number four

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Ryan Madanick, MD

A while back, I posted three “rules” of presenting on a consult service. I’d now like to add a fourth rule. Rule Number 4: In patients with chronic disorders, consider more than simply a “disease flare” in your differential diagnosis. … Continue reading →

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An empirical scientific viewpoint about gun control

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Ryan Madanick, MD

For just a moment, let’s take a scientific viewpoint about gun control here and try to leave emotions (and the Constitutional argument) out. The best type of study to determine whether gun control and/or regulation would be a Randomized Trial: … Continue reading →

Posted in public health | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

A Rapid Rescue for a New Mnemonic in BLS

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Ryan Madanick, MD

In reviewing for my upcoming ACLS recertification through the American Heart Association‘s HeartCode ACLS program, I learned that the classic mnemonic for the Basic Life Support (BLS) primary survey, the “ABCs”, which stood for Airway, Breathing (including Look, Listen, and … Continue reading →

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