Heartfelt with Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley

 
 
  • ESC 2019 Terrorism and Mass Casualty: All Specialties Should Prepare When did you last tie a tourniquet? Melissa Walton-Shirley learns that in the event of a mass casualty attack, anyone may be called upon to be a first responder.
  • ESC 2019 Cardiologists Should Prescribe SGLT2 Inhibitors Is it fair to expect cardiologists to now prescribe the new diabetes drugs? Presentations at the European Society of Cardiology Congress prove persuasive to Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD.
  • Rediscovering the Joy of Practice via a Rocky Mountain Reboot A burned-out physician who quit fulltime practice because of family responsibilities finds that locum tenens work in the Northwest was just the medicine she needed.
  • Are Exorbitant Corporate Salaries in Healthcare Unethical? Overworked clinicians struggle to provide quality care in a cash-strapped US healthcare system as CEOs and insurance companies rake in the cash. Melissa Walton-Shirley calls for a revolt.
  • No One Here Gets Out Alive: DNR Code Status Do healthcare professionals take enough time to communicate with patients about their do-not-resuscitate (DNR) wishes? Some recent experiences have raised concerns for Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD.
  • Philip Morris v Uruguay: A Story That Deserves Retelling A tiny nation takes on big tobacco. Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD, sees lessons for the US in this tale of two presidents, one an oncologist, who did not back down in pushing for libre de humo de tabaco.
  • ACC 2019 What's New and Useful in Hypertension From ACC.19 Melissa Walton-Shirley's takeaways on hypertension management, a topic close to her heart, from the latest studies and expert presentations at the 2019 American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
  • ACC 2019 Burnout: Is the Red Tide Finally Beginning to Turn? Burned out listening to burn-out talks? An intense session at ACC.19 left Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD, hopeful that some of those words would finally turn into action.
  • Beyond Go Red: The Lessons From Susan Lucci’s ACS The All My Children star experienced acute coronary syndrome last fall. After 15 years of Go Red for Women, why are we still missing heart disease in a postmenopausal septuagenarian, asks Dr Walton-Shirley.
  • Time to Eliminate Ageism and Sexism in Medicine The #MeToo movement prompts Melissa Walton-Shirley to reflect on the sexism she dismissed in her early career and the ageism she sees around her now.
  • Advice for Anyone Contemplating Locum Tenens Work After quitting full-time practice, Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD, joined the ranks of medical temp workers. Here's her advice on getting started.
  • AHA 2018 What's Needed After AHA 2018? ACTION A sparsely attended session on social determinants of health sounded very familiar to Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD. So if we know what to do to improve CV health, why haven’t we done it yet?
  • AHA 2018 Glad Your EF Is Better, But Stay on Your Meds While the TRED-HF trial may not be great news for patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and recovered EF, at least it eases this physician's conscience about her reluctance to curtail pharmacotherapy.
  • AHA 2018 Lipid Lollapalooza at AHA 2018 The release of the 2018 cholesterol guidelines and a bunch of lipid-oriented trials made it a bountiful day at the American Heart Association meeting for Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD.
  • Echocardiography: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Echocardiography is a great tool when used appropriately, but Melissa Walton-Shirley, MD, finds that poor-quality images and scanty reports often cause more confusion than clarity.
  • Closing the Office Door for the Last Time With a heavy heart, Melissa Walton-Shirley bids farewell to full-time practice. Ailing parents and RVU demands drive this transition to a new stage in her career.
  • ESC 2018 Do Cardiologists Care About CV Prevention? Everyone agrees that prevention is better than cure. However, few ESC attendees joined Melissa Walton-Shirley for the session on CVD prevention, preferring to stand in line to hear the latest hotlines.
  • ESC 2018 Cardiology 2028: Predicting the Future Melissa Walton-Shirley attended a session at the European Society of Cardiology Congress titled "Cardiology 10 Years From Now" and heard some realistic predictions.
  • ESC 2018 What's Driving Physician Burnout in 2018? At a session on burnout at the ESC meeting in Munich, Dr Walton-Shirley heard a first-hand account of a cardiologist who had a breakdown. The panelists left her hopeful that things will improve.
  • ESC 2018 Overprescribing in the Elderly: We Have a Problem Melissa Walton-Shirley sat in on a presentation about polypharmacy in older patients and learned some surprising statistics.