Tom Varghese Jr. MD, MS, MBA

Tuesday's final light over the Chicago Lakefront.

Today, Scientific American turns 180—the oldest continuously published magazine in the U.S. 🎉

Since 1845, we’ve shared the wonders of science with the world.

💫 Dive into 180 years of discovery: sciam.com/180
🧬 Explore pivotal moments in science: bit.ly/4mNTpGY
🎁 Win prizes: sciam.com/180contest

Real patriotism is wanting your country to be better.

Real patriotism is wanting every single person who lives in it to have a stake in its success.

Real patriotism is wanting the best for everyone in it. To have the best healthcare, education and life chances.

I don’t need a flag outside my door

Remember when COVID vaccines were first available? Remember how they saved lives and helped us move toward normalcy? Remember how relieved and grateful we were? Remember how amazing our healthcare workers were? Remember how science rescued us?

Roy Williams to Receive North Carolina Award for Public Service - Chapelboro.com Former UNC men's basketball head coach Roy Williams was named as one of six winners of the North Carolina Award earlier this week.

A well-deserved honor. Roy Williams followed in his mentor Dean Smith's footsteps, in leadership on the court and never hesitating to speak out on important issues off the court. He's a proud son of Western NC
chapelboro.com/sports/roy-w...

As long as guns are easily available to crazy people, mass killings directed at so-called soft targets will continue. This is a fact. Countries where it's more difficult for crazy people to obtain guns have less shootings. This is also a fact. Do with these facts as you will.

Exceptional research leaders awarded first Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowships | Royal Society Seven pioneering researchers have been announced as the first recipients.

We are very happy to announce the seven pioneering researchers who are the first recipients of the prestigious Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowships, long-term awards that support exceptional mid-career research leaders in the UK. #RSGrants royalsociety.org/news/2025/08...

Between RFK decimating the CDC, normalizing Ashli Babbitt & the umpteenth school shooting... I'm losing the will to post.

#ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files

The Pain of Perfectionism It’s the fault people humblebrag about in job interviews, but psychologists are discovering more and more about the real harm it causes.

The idea of perfectionism as a form of admirable striving is a dangerous misconception. “I can’t stand it when people talk about perfectionism as something positive,” a psychology professor said. “They don’t realize the deep human toll.”

The first hospital pagers were in use in 1949 (!)...but the terminology of resident/attending physicians being ‘on call’ feels increasingly obsolete. Our tools of communication and practice have evolved...so what do we call being ‘at the ready for urgent patient concerns?’ Neologism pls.
#medsky

Kyle Schwarber’s historic four-homer night leads Phillies to a dominant 19-4 win over Braves Schwarber became the first Phillie since Mike Schmidt and the 21st player in MLB history to finish a game with four home runs. He also set a franchise single-game record with nine RBIs.

Kyle Schwarber became the first Phillie since Mike Schmidt and the 21st player in MLB history to finish a game with four home runs. He also set a franchise single-game record with nine RBIs.

Sept. 11 Victims’ Lawsuit Against Saudi Government Can Go to Trial, Judge Rules Information uncovered by plaintiffs has already undermined the FBI’s conclusion that two U.S.-based Saudi officials “unwittingly” helped al-Qaida hijackers after they arrived in America.

NEW: More than two decades after victims and families of the 9/11 attacks began trying to hold the Saudi government responsible for aiding the Qaida terrorists who carried out the plot, a judge has ruled that a lawsuit against the kingdom can go to trial.

The End of the Automatic Drain in Pancreatoduodenectomy - STITCHES Why knowing when not to place a drain may matter more than how to manage one. The Bottom Line: Routine prophylactic abdominal drainage after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is no longer universally necessa...

When not to place a drain may matter more than how to manage one.

After #pancreatoduodenectomy, routine drains aren’t the standard anymore:

✅ Omit in low-risk
✅ Use selectively in high-risk
✅ Remove early when safe

JACS Missions Statement Exceptional science for the practicing surgeon in The House of Surgery®.

www.facs.org/for-medical-...

Honored to introduce our new mission statement for @acsjacs.bsky.social

“Exceptional science for the practicing surgeon in the House of Surgery”.

Looking forward to our work ahead. 🙏🏾

@facs.org

Welch: Everybody's missing the point here. The point is, he's doing this on purpose. He's priming the public to get accustomed to having the military in the streets

Figure highlighting selected opportunities for promotion of CKM health and prevention of heart failure at the individual, health-care system and community, and population and policy levels. CKM=cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic. Copyright: 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heart failure affects more than 55 million people worldwide. 🫀

A new Lancet Series, presented at #ESC2025, serves as a call to action for clinicians, health systems, and governments to prioritise the primary prevention of heart failure. tinyurl.com/2sty9386

The new AHA/ACC/Multisociety #ClinicalGuideline on high #bloodpressure provides updated recommendations for clinicians on the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults.

Get the details in #JACC: www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/...

#Hypertension #CardioSky #MedSky

Map of Australia and RFDS Bases

I visited the The Royal Flying Doctors Service base in Alice Springs & marvelled at their amazing work. Australia spans the width of Europe from Portugal to Ukraine & Turkey (see superimposed map). Delivering medical care to this great Southland is a challenge! #surgery #australia #RFDS #health

🎯🎯🎯👇

On the latest episode of the #OperativeWord, host @tomvarghesejr.bsky.social, is joined by Dr Timothy Pawlik to discuss his recent JACS article, "Association of Discharge Against Medical Advice with Surgical Outcomes and Healthcare Cost."

Listen at: theoperativeword.podbean.com/e/e36-associ...

Larry Summers: "This is way beyond anything Nixon ever did ... this is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism. Firing statisticians goes with threatening the heads of newspapers, launching assaults on universities, launching assaults on law firms. This is really scary stuff."

CoC Accreditation Is Becoming More Accessible to Rural Hospitals CoC accreditation addresses disparities in rural cancer care by offering tools for program development and data monitoring.

Only 7.9% of rural hospitals (excluding critical access hospitals) in the US are CoC-accredited, compared to 35% of urban hospitals.

This article describes favorable approaches to achieving accreditation for rural hospitals. 🏥

Utah…

I just realized I owe Janette Sadik-Khan a huge thank you for developing NYC’s Summer Streets program and leading the creation of the Citi Bike program. She made my ride yesterday possible on both counts. And based on the vast number of people I saw out riding, I’m not alone @jskstreet.bsky.social

When the cryptocurrency entrepreneur Eric Schiermeyer heard that President Trump was holding small group dinners with major donors, he saw opportunity. Mr. Schiermeyer reached out to a lobbyist with connections in Mr. Trump’s orbit, who arranged for him to attend a dinner with the president at his private Mar-a-Lago club on March 1 in exchange for donations to a pro-Trump PAC called MAGA Inc. totaling $1 million. The personal and corporate donations were among dozens of seven- and eight-figure contributions to MAGA Inc. from crypto and other interests revealed in a campaign finance filing on Thursday night that hinted at the access Mr. Trump accords those willing to pay. At the dinner, Mr. Schiermeyer, who had never given a federal political donation before, presented an idea for a cryptocurrency called “U.S.A. Token” that would be distributed to every citizen, according to interviews and a flier he distributed to attendees that sets out details of the proposal. He hoped it could be su

Cryptocurrency interests, which have benefited from the Trump administration’s dismantling of a yearslong government crackdown and from the Trump family’s financial interest in the industry, appear to have been the most generous industry, accounting for nearly $45 million in donations to MAGA Inc.An affiliate of the exchange Crypto.com gave $10 million, while the crypto services company Blockchain.com donated $5 million. The venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who are heavily invested in crypto, gave $3 million each. Ondo Finance, which has a partnership with the Trump family’s crypto company, donated $2.1 million to MAGA Inc., on top of $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

The scale of Trump's pay-for-access scheme outlined by the @nytimes.com is mindblowing. Crypto contributions resulting in business deals with the Trump family crypto businesses, oil companies buying influence and later reaping benefits from friendly policies, and a $1 million pardon.

Welcome lunch for our new fellows @utah.edu

#flashtheU #flashtheUFriday

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander: "I don't think the line for the [Democratic] party right now is between progressives and moderates; I think it's between fighters and folders."