When “Mildly Elevated” LFTs Won’t Leave You Alone: A Practical Guide for Primary Care
Michael Baca-Atlas, MD, FASAM
Michael Baca-Atlas, MD, completed his Family Medicine residency and Addiction Medicine fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill. He is a regular contributor to Hippo Education’s Primary Care RAP podcast and works across inpatient and outpatient settings.
Focus, Please: Adult ADHD in Primary Care
Adult ADHD is having a moment: patients are showing up with TikTok checklists, AI-generated “diagnoses,” and a lot of lived frustration. And honestly, that makes sense: untreated ADHD can look like chronic overwhelm, missed deadlines, “brain fog,” relationship conflict, and repeated experiences of feeling like you should be able to do things you can’t consistently execute. In primary care, the challenge is sorting out what’s ADHD, what’s a...
Revolutionizing Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: Long-Acting Injectables
The opioid crisis continues to strain healthcare systems nationwide, with millions struggling with opioid use disorder (OUD) each year. As the epidemic evolves, so do the tools available to combat it. One of the most promising advancements? Long-acting injectables (LAIs). These medications are changing the game—providing consistent dosing, minimizing diversion risk, and helping patients maintain recovery without the daily reminder of a...
Fellowships Unlocked: Why Primary Care Fellowships Might Be Your Next Move
In primary care, we often describe ourselves as “jack-of-all-trades” clinicians — experts in breadth and advocates for the patient as a whole person. Yet for many of us, there comes a point when we crave more depth, new purpose, or a different kind of impact. That’s where primary care fellowships can open doors.Whether you’re a resident contemplating what’s next or a seasoned clinician feeling the pull toward growth, post-residency...
Can AI Really Help Clinicians with Note-Writing? Let's Talk About It.
Imagine this: you’ve just finished seeing a full panel of patients, your inbox is overflowing, and you still have six notes to finish before you can even think about heading home. Sound familiar? Chances are you’ve daydreamed about a world where charting doesn’t steal your evenings or your sanity. Enter: AI note-writing assistants.
Spot the Scammers: How to Protect Yourself from Medical Scams
Let’s set the scene: You’re finishing up clinic, maybe finally stealing a minute for lunch, when your phone rings. It’s the medical board—or so it seems. The caller knows your license number, your full name, and insists your credentials have been used in a drug trafficking scheme in another state. They sound serious. You’re a responsible provider and a little spooked, so you listen.
Urine the Know: Using Drug Screens Wisely in Primary Care
As a primary care provider, you’re often the first to catch signs of substance use—and one of the most trusted to help manage it. Urine drug screening (UDS) is one of the tools in your back pocket, but it comes with questions:
Betting Against the Odds: Why Clinicians Should Care About Gambling Disorder
Gambling isn’t just a Vegas weekend anymore. It’s in your pocket, on your screen, and baked into your patients’ day-to-day lives—from push notifications for the next big game to ads between TikToks. This growing accessibility? It’s a serious concern for the rising rates of gambling disorders—and it’s something more of us in medicine need to be paying attention to.