"A child is born with a food allergy. They do not choose to have their immune system compromised. Parents do not get the choice to opt-in or out of having their child’s body recognize ordinary food as a threat. Food allergies are a unique disease in...
"I believe there is an art to medicine, a psychological connection to your patients through a hands-on patient encounter. There are nuances AI may take decades to compete with. For now, in my lifetime, I hope that people examine patients and when...
"We can’t expect those with a business school mindset to solve physician burnout. What is needed is leadership throughout health care organizations by those with expertise in the core business, deep commitment to health care workers and patients,...
"I can imagine the horror of watching a colleague being attacked. I worry about the coworker who Lynne protected that day, since being a survivor can be so bittersweet. I can feel the shock of how quickly the violence escalated, tasting the bitterness...
"The first amendment protects your right to free speech. But it does not make you more right, more ethical, or more kind. And nor does it give one license to rewrite history as has been occurring since July 27th, adding insult to our experience. Let...
"Is your health care organization reeling from a bad EHR implementation? There have been rumblings from hospital leadership and congressional committees about the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospitals’ implementation of the Cerner Corporation...
"Scarcity has, in many ways, defined the COVID-19 experience in the U.S., from shortages in personal protective equipment to ICU ventilators and hospital capacity, to COVID test kits, to drugs like Remdesivir in hard-hit states. These shortages have...
"Technology continues to evolve every day. In the near-term future, portable and easily deployable robots will allow surgeons all over the world to perform minimally invasive surgery in an increasing number of procedure types and become even more...
"Dear resident physicians: Soon you’ll finish residency, and you may be wondering what’s next. Some of you will start fellowships, but most of you will practice your specialty. You may be looking for opportunities that are a good match with your...
"The problem with feeling like an imposter is thinking there’s something wrong with it. I know this is different from any way you have thought about it, but humor me. What happens when we are offered an opportunity but we feel like an imposter? We...
"Sufferers of diseases, particularly terrible ones like Alzheimer’s disease, and their loved ones need and deserve something better than science can deliver today. However, the scientific rigor of the clinical trials process where approval is only...
"'Hi, my name is Kristin Yates, and I am the OB/GYN doctor.' This is how I greet most patients for the first time. It has never really felt natural to introduce myself as 'Dr. Yates,' even now that I have been an attending physician for more than five...
"Although people think of medicine as a science—the facts reveal the diagnosis, the diagnosis dictates the treatment—most physicians acknowledge that medicine is as much an art as a science. It’s not like a simple math equation with one...
"I was a bit nervous about how she would perceive my advice. She could find it inappropriate and report me for making personal remarks. But I believe she sensed the sincerity in my words and appeared invigorated, uplifted, and excited. She was smiling...
"Always remember your humanity. You are not super-human. Make connections to your heart, to your mind, to others. Look closely at the situation that lies before you, listen carefully to all that is around you, and calm the pounding heart. Dig deep...
"In fully-humanized health care, I envision patients as clients, with doctors as part of the health care team in a role more akin to expert consultants and skilled proceduralists. The consumer is empowered in the network to drive his or her own health...
"While opposition to the vaccine may be hardening, pediatricians and family physicians enjoy an advantage the CDC and Dr. Fauci may not: namely, they are liked and trusted by patients. In general, parents look to personal physicians for guidance and...
"The idea was to try working in Rome for a year and see how it went. This sensible American plan collapsed under the weight of Italian bureaucracy. Luckily I didn’t investigate every angle before starting off; if I had known the true lay of the land...
"I have no doubt, given my extensive experience in health care and being a Black woman in America, that we as health care professionals have made the same mistakes as Chris Harrison with our patients. Instead of listening to and validating our...
"We have a chance to take a meaningful step in fighting burnout and mental health issues in the health care profession. We have lost too many valued and vibrant health care professionals due to an illness that is treatable but stigmatized –...
"Five years into my practice as an academic allergist/immunologist, my perceptions continue to evolve. Though once primarily informed by my mentors’ wisdom, I continue incorporating my experiences as both physician and autoimmune patient to guide my...
"It is no wonder that in 2020, a Doximity physician compensation report revealed there were no specialties in medicine in which women earned the same or more than men. We can all agree that many things could account for this, including structural...
"The problem with health care isn’t 'fixing' the system. The problem is continuing to ensure that profits can be made and millions can be employed while better health care outcomes and experiences are achieved. We won’t find the solution to that...
"Fifteen minutes for a checkup or urgent problem, thirty minutes for a physical. In the tiny gasps of time in between: Refilling scripts, checking labs, and signing medical supply orders and insurance authorization requests. Maybe lunch. Maybe a...