The PMD Critical List: Do Doctors Bleed Blue?

A new survey finds physicians are shifting their political loyalties. Meanwhile, doctors in one US city are testing the effect of prescribing outdoor time for patients with chronic mental illness and the overweight. Those stories highlight this week’s list of must-read news articles for physicians.

• US Physicians Starting to Favor Democrats (Reuters)

A recent American Medical Association survey finds that doctors are giving more of their political donations to the Democratic Party. The shift maybe due to more women physicians and a changing job market for doctors, with more physicians ending up at nonprofits, rather than in private practice.

• Doctor’s Orders: A Walk in the Park (San Francisco Examiner)

As part of a pilot initiative, a great many Golden Gate City doctors are writing “park prescriptions.” The “outdoors medicine” is proving beneficial for patients with chronic or mental illness and the overweight.

• Nepal Earthquake: Doctors Operating in Tents (The UK Independent)

Volunteer doctors from around the world struggle to aid survivors from a horrific earthquake in Nepal on April 26. “The worst earthquake to hit the area in 80 years has killed more than 3,200 people and injured more than 6,500.”

• Many Factors Cause Long Waits at the Doctor (El Paso Times)

Here’s some real wisdom from a Texas doctor about the issue of patient wait times. There’s too much preoccupation with computers and data, he says, and not enough focus on profound communication between patient and physician.

• What if Doctors Didn't Have To Memorize? (NPR.org)

The “entire body of medical knowledge doubles every 3 or 4 years,” writes this physician, the new interim president at the University of Oklahoma—Tulsa, and “information quickly becomes outdated.” Instead, medical education must get serious about the importance of social determinants in healthcare.

• Doctors Throwing Fits (Slate.com)

Some hard-hitting observations from the best-selling author of a new book, “The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital.” “Only some doctors exhibit such behaviors, and incidents should be viewed in context,” Alexandra Robbins explains.

• More Doctors Demanding Payment Before Visits (WCPO Cincinnati)

Here’s a patient’s perspective report on “how high-deductible health plans mean that people are responsible for the first $2,000 or $3,000 of care each year.” Bloomberg News reported the “new trend” with physicians.

• ACP Publishes New Fenway Guide to LGBT Health (LGBT Weekly)

One of the nation’s leading physician groups has come out with an updated version of its textbook on treating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients. The mission: “delivering high quality care in an environment that is welcoming and inclusive.”

• Dr. Oliver Sacks: A Memoir (New York Post)

A pithy review of a new autobiography written by the renowned New York neurologist and author. Dying of cancer, the 81-year-old physician puts “his own characteristic brilliant and sober punctuation on a vibrant life.”

• The Science of Telemedicine (Wired)

Although it precludes the classic doctor’s diagnostic touch, medical professionals say telemedicine has a place in modern healthcare. “For patients with severe chronic conditions, telemedicine allows long-term monitoring that can decrease or prevent complications.”