The most talked-about posts of 2010

Here is a recap of this year's Common Sense Family Doctor posts that received the most comments from readers (here or on other blogs such as Healthcare Headaches or KevinMD.com), in chronological order. Happy holidays and see you all in 2011!

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1. The decline of VBAC: hearing hoofbeats, thinking zebras (3/10/10) - Why women in the U.S. undergo far too many Cesarean sections, and the numbers are still climbing.

2. Shining Knights and heroic family doctors (4/1/10) - The heroism of primary care clinicians will always be underrated.

3. The cost-conscious physician: an oxymoron? (4/13/10) - Maximizing value in health care needs to be taught in medical school and residency.

4. Where will new primary care docs come from? (6/4/10) - Analyzing recent research on how to attract students more likely to pursue primary care careers.

5. What soft drinks and cigarettes have in common (7/21/10) - My critique of the controversial AAFP-Coca-Cola "consumer alliance" and the mixed message it sends to our patients.

6. Spain: an unlikely primary care model for the U.S. (8/14/10) - The successful transformation of Spain's primary care system provides a guide for how to do the same in the U.S.

7. Health reform: 4 changes to expect at your doctor's office (8/23/10) - An excerpt from my U.S. News blog post on how health reform legislation could change the patient's experience.

8. Quality assessment in primary care: an imperfect science (9/6/10) - How can we objectively measure "good" primary care in order to raise its quality nationwide?

9. The meeting that wasn't, and a surprise announcement (11/1/10) - Why I no longer work at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

10. Direct primary care: health reform's missing piece? (11/18/10) - Highlighting a primary care payment model that hasn't received nearly enough attention in Washington, DC.