Erin K O’Brien MD
@erinkobrien.bsky.social
Feminist, rhinologist
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
My latest, SILENT CREEK, has been launched into the world!!
October 7, 2025 at 12:17 PM
My latest, SILENT CREEK, has been launched into the world!!
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: Don't just say this is about "thoughts and prayers," right now. These kids were literally praying.
August 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: Don't just say this is about "thoughts and prayers," right now. These kids were literally praying.
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
I don't know who needs to know this, but Pro Publica has an online thing that will format a letter to your US health insurance company to demand the records behind a claim denial. (which the insurance is then legally required to provide in most cases)
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
Find Out Why Health Insurance Denied Your Claim
You likely have the right to access records that explain why your insurer denied your claim or prior authorization request. Use ProPublica’s free tool to generate a letter requesting your claim file f...
projects.propublica.org
December 11, 2024 at 2:39 AM
I don't know who needs to know this, but Pro Publica has an online thing that will format a letter to your US health insurance company to demand the records behind a claim denial. (which the insurance is then legally required to provide in most cases)
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
Study of female surgeons finds they were passed over for surgical referrals, paid less for equivalent procedures and given less time in the operating room, They also had to use tools too large for their hands as surgical spaces & tools were built for men.
www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/cha...
www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/cha...
Gender bias holds back female surgeons, study finds
Women now make up over half of medical students in Canada, but only one-third of practising surgeons. A new study suggests part of the gap stems from gender norms embedded in workplace culture. The re...
www.mcgill.ca
July 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Study of female surgeons finds they were passed over for surgical referrals, paid less for equivalent procedures and given less time in the operating room, They also had to use tools too large for their hands as surgical spaces & tools were built for men.
www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/cha...
www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/cha...
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
Booker: Do you think we got the right to vote for women because a bunch of men on the House floor got together and said “on the count of three, women get the right to vote..” That’s not how it happened… Change doesn’t come from Washington. It comes to Washington.
April 27, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Booker: Do you think we got the right to vote for women because a bunch of men on the House floor got together and said “on the count of three, women get the right to vote..” That’s not how it happened… Change doesn’t come from Washington. It comes to Washington.
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
Reason #2. "Of the 100 brand-name drugs, 32 were finished in the US, while 67 were finished in countries in the European Union, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, & the UK." #Tariffs will increase the cost of your medications.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/report-detai...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/report-detai...
April 4, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reason #2. "Of the 100 brand-name drugs, 32 were finished in the US, while 67 were finished in countries in the European Union, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, & the UK." #Tariffs will increase the cost of your medications.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/report-detai...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/report-detai...
@amyklobuchar.com thank you for sponsoring a bill to repeal the import taxes! Just called and left a message for Rep Brad Finstad to vote to repeal higher taxes on imported goods.
R’s against higher taxes, right?
R’s against higher taxes, right?
April 3, 2025 at 2:21 AM
@amyklobuchar.com thank you for sponsoring a bill to repeal the import taxes! Just called and left a message for Rep Brad Finstad to vote to repeal higher taxes on imported goods.
R’s against higher taxes, right?
R’s against higher taxes, right?
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
'NIH cuts could affect hundreds of medical studies at the Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota'
Minnesota and 21 other states have sued the NIH over the Trump administration’s steep cuts to grants that fund medical research in the United States.
minnesotareformer.com/2025/02/10/n...
Minnesota and 21 other states have sued the NIH over the Trump administration’s steep cuts to grants that fund medical research in the United States.
minnesotareformer.com/2025/02/10/n...
NIH cuts could affect hundreds of medical studies at the Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer
Minnesota and 21 other states have sued the National Institutes of Health over the Trump administration’s steep cuts to grants that fund medical research in the United States. If those cuts are implem...
minnesotareformer.com
February 10, 2025 at 9:02 PM
'NIH cuts could affect hundreds of medical studies at the Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota'
Minnesota and 21 other states have sued the NIH over the Trump administration’s steep cuts to grants that fund medical research in the United States.
minnesotareformer.com/2025/02/10/n...
Minnesota and 21 other states have sued the NIH over the Trump administration’s steep cuts to grants that fund medical research in the United States.
minnesotareformer.com/2025/02/10/n...
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
The policy starts Monday and applies to already awarded grants. The UofM received a $59.2 million grant in *December*. Republicans just defunded cancer research in MN and blew a huge hole in our state budget. This isn’t a potential future problem. It’s here, now, and devastating.
February 8, 2025 at 3:27 PM
The policy starts Monday and applies to already awarded grants. The UofM received a $59.2 million grant in *December*. Republicans just defunded cancer research in MN and blew a huge hole in our state budget. This isn’t a potential future problem. It’s here, now, and devastating.
I'm currently doing research on the diseases I treat as a surgeon. My research is paid for by small grants & donations, but the services & buildings where I do my research is funded by #NIH #indirect funding.Trump’s cuts to the NIH will stop research and close labs
Under fascism, no one is safe.
Universities stayed quiet as the admin targeted DEI & foreign aid, censored research, etc.
Now, they face devastating cuts to indirect cost rates, threatening research & operations.
Silence won’t protect institutions. It won’t protect people; it never does.
Universities stayed quiet as the admin targeted DEI & foreign aid, censored research, etc.
Now, they face devastating cuts to indirect cost rates, threatening research & operations.
Silence won’t protect institutions. It won’t protect people; it never does.
February 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
We are excited to welcome amazing guest faculty to our 12th Mayo Clinic Sinusitis course for ENT, Allergy & primary care, March 6-8, 2025
Join us in beautiful Scottsdale in learning about the best approaches to tackle sinusitis!
ce.mayo.edu/otorhinolary...
Join us in beautiful Scottsdale in learning about the best approaches to tackle sinusitis!
ce.mayo.edu/otorhinolary...
January 15, 2025 at 11:49 PM
We are excited to welcome amazing guest faculty to our 12th Mayo Clinic Sinusitis course for ENT, Allergy & primary care, March 6-8, 2025
Join us in beautiful Scottsdale in learning about the best approaches to tackle sinusitis!
ce.mayo.edu/otorhinolary...
Join us in beautiful Scottsdale in learning about the best approaches to tackle sinusitis!
ce.mayo.edu/otorhinolary...
Congrats are in order for my Mayo Clinic ENT colleague Dr Carlos Pinheiro Neto who is the new vice chair of ENT at NYU starting in March
Which means we are actively recruiting a new anterior skull base & rhinology surgeon at Mayo Clinic Rochester
Which means we are actively recruiting a new anterior skull base & rhinology surgeon at Mayo Clinic Rochester
January 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Congrats are in order for my Mayo Clinic ENT colleague Dr Carlos Pinheiro Neto who is the new vice chair of ENT at NYU starting in March
Which means we are actively recruiting a new anterior skull base & rhinology surgeon at Mayo Clinic Rochester
Which means we are actively recruiting a new anterior skull base & rhinology surgeon at Mayo Clinic Rochester
Honored to be invited to the New England Resident Sinus course at Mass Eye & Ear at Harvard. I dig deep into the old literature to talk about the origins of sinus surgery (original Lothrop, Denkers, Caldwell Luc) and how the old ways were reinvented for endoscopic approaches
December 7, 2024 at 3:45 PM
Honored to be invited to the New England Resident Sinus course at Mass Eye & Ear at Harvard. I dig deep into the old literature to talk about the origins of sinus surgery (original Lothrop, Denkers, Caldwell Luc) and how the old ways were reinvented for endoscopic approaches
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
The womeninmalefields trend is flipping the script on things said to and about women, including in MedSky, to highlight their absurdity.
November 26, 2024 at 4:24 PM
The womeninmalefields trend is flipping the script on things said to and about women, including in MedSky, to highlight their absurdity.
My “flex”, back when the bird app was a good place, was being named the top #ENT influencer on Twitter (I wasn’t trying, it’s just the algorithm). But dipping my toe back into being social on social media, hoping #OtoSky or #ENTsky grows here so we can share research & patient care & advocacy again
#OtoTwitter: The Top 75 Twitter Influencers in Otolaryngology and Association With Academic Impact
Objectives Social media has enabled discussion of relevant topics within otolaryngology. With increasing academic discourse occurring on virtual platforms, it is important to examine who is influenc...
aao-hnsfjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 23, 2024 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Erin K O’Brien MD
I know everyone is talking about Matt Gaetz but please don't miss this:
Georgia fired every single person on its maternal mortality review committee. Why? They didn't like that reporters found out that the state's ban killed two women www.propublica.org/article/geor...
Georgia fired every single person on its maternal mortality review committee. Why? They didn't like that reporters found out that the state's ban killed two women www.propublica.org/article/geor...
Georgia Dismissed All Members of Maternal Mortality Committee After ProPublica Obtained Internal Details of Two Deaths
In a letter, the state’s public health commissioner said the action was taken because “confidential information provided to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee was inappropriately shared with outs...
www.propublica.org
November 21, 2024 at 10:18 PM
I know everyone is talking about Matt Gaetz but please don't miss this:
Georgia fired every single person on its maternal mortality review committee. Why? They didn't like that reporters found out that the state's ban killed two women www.propublica.org/article/geor...
Georgia fired every single person on its maternal mortality review committee. Why? They didn't like that reporters found out that the state's ban killed two women www.propublica.org/article/geor...
It’s #GiveToTheMax day in Minnesota. Happy to donate to Channel One food bank and the Rochester Public Library, in support of a healthy and educated community
November 22, 2024 at 12:11 AM
It’s #GiveToTheMax day in Minnesota. Happy to donate to Channel One food bank and the Rochester Public Library, in support of a healthy and educated community
Give me your examples of #microfeminism:
-using “she” as the default gender for other physicians
-vocally agreeing with another woman’s comments or suggestions at meeting
-supporting another woman who is interrupted at meetings with comments like “I’d like to hear what she was saying”
-using “she” as the default gender for other physicians
-vocally agreeing with another woman’s comments or suggestions at meeting
-supporting another woman who is interrupted at meetings with comments like “I’d like to hear what she was saying”
November 20, 2024 at 3:38 PM
Give me your examples of #microfeminism:
-using “she” as the default gender for other physicians
-vocally agreeing with another woman’s comments or suggestions at meeting
-supporting another woman who is interrupted at meetings with comments like “I’d like to hear what she was saying”
-using “she” as the default gender for other physicians
-vocally agreeing with another woman’s comments or suggestions at meeting
-supporting another woman who is interrupted at meetings with comments like “I’d like to hear what she was saying”
I’ve been checking pneumococcal titers and recommending Strep pneumo vaccination for patients with sinusitis after this paper found decreased healthcare visits & antibiotics for sinusitis after good vaccine response pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34962358/
November 19, 2024 at 4:07 AM
I’ve been checking pneumococcal titers and recommending Strep pneumo vaccination for patients with sinusitis after this paper found decreased healthcare visits & antibiotics for sinusitis after good vaccine response pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34962358/
Looking for @mayoclinic.bsky.social colleagues on the BlueSky app.
Found new friends in Rochester (same huge medical center, different departments) on the old bird app, hoping to make IRL connections here where the skies are blue
Found new friends in Rochester (same huge medical center, different departments) on the old bird app, hoping to make IRL connections here where the skies are blue
November 19, 2024 at 3:11 AM
Looking for @mayoclinic.bsky.social colleagues on the BlueSky app.
Found new friends in Rochester (same huge medical center, different departments) on the old bird app, hoping to make IRL connections here where the skies are blue
Found new friends in Rochester (same huge medical center, different departments) on the old bird app, hoping to make IRL connections here where the skies are blue
I’m an endoscopic sinus surgeon specializing in chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyps, AERD, and benign sinus disease. My research is in biomarkers and inflammatory cells in CRS
November 14, 2024 at 3:09 AM
I’m an endoscopic sinus surgeon specializing in chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyps, AERD, and benign sinus disease. My research is in biomarkers and inflammatory cells in CRS