Episodes

"As I approached retirement from medical practice, I had an epiphany to take up writing and attended the Harvard CME course on Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals. I met some extraordinary people working in the health...

"As if COVID-19 weren’t bad enough during the pandemic, another public health crisis – substance use disorder (SUD) – has gone from bad to worse, while access to behavioral health services is shrinking. As of September,  of community...

"With my natural affinity for numbers, I analyzed the reviews’ precise impact after a few years, and the results were astounding.  The system generated over $225,000 during a 3-year period.  My practice acquired 162 new 5-star reviews on...

"You’re a clinician. You had a patient die under your care, and now your hospital is being sued. You are not named in the lawsuit, but you are being asked to give a deposition. How much of your time is this going to take? If some lawyer sends you...

"If you are happy with where you are in the current system – that is wonderful, continue what you are doing. However, if you are feeling trapped, frustrated, or like the work you are doing is no longer meaningful, then there are plenty of...

"When faced with an existential crisis, any organization, as large as a nation or as small as a marriage, will go one of two ways. Either it will bond together, coalesced in a common purpose, or it will collapse in a spasm of blame and shame. While...

"Coffee in hand, I decided to try and collect my thoughts. I realized that a large portion of the literature we grew up reading has in many ways tried to implant this subconscious bias that contributes to gender disparities and these ideas about women...

"When a patient is dissatisfied with his or her care, he or she can consult an attorney, who will enlist a physician 'expert' to determine if a doctor has deviated from the standard of care and whether that deviation caused a negative outcome. Over...

"The corporatization of medicine has destroyed primary care as a specialty. The primary care physician is supposed to be your go-to doctor, your advocate, the coordinator of your health care. Now that corporations buy out hospitals and private...

"For physicians who lack experience in end-of-life counseling, the process can be daunting at the beginning. However, they can be confident that once they have obtained the proper training, preparation, and experience, these conversations will be...

"Nowadays, I go on long walks through the city alone. I make dinner for one. When I go on bike rides, it’s a solo activity. I find comfort in myself, slowing down and making every small occasion a simple, peaceful one. I have a stronger sense of...

"Every professional I have done the exercise with admitted that their ideal patient was inspired by someone they were close to in their personal life. It was usually a family member, a best friend, or themselves. The ones who carry the most unbearable...

"The science of complexity lays a conceptual foundation for understanding “complex adaptive systems.” What all complex adaptive systems have in common is that they are all bound by the same set of physical laws. Their “behavior,” i.e., growth,...

"As health professionals, we have the platform to enact change within our own institutions, as well as local and federal governments. We must elect leaders and officials who spearhead climate action. We must reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare....

"Instead of focusing on one organ system, I want to know everything. The diagnostic challenge is to discern patterns of insults, symptoms, and lab tests that correlate with specific microbes, specific organ dysfunction, specific diet issues, and...

"Suicide is a path, whether fast or slow, that a person chooses to take because of their own reasons. We certainly can never predict suicide or truly understand it. But with that said, every time it happens, it is a tragic loss of life that time can...

"Our relationship with Big Pharma is a dangerous, nasty, and abusive one, and it can prove to be fatal too. Benzos aren’t limited to a specific class, race, gender, creed, etc. Many stars have died from mixing benzodiazepines with opioids or illegal...

"Had I understood the nature of my struggles and felt permitted and supported in actively addressing them, I would have been more effective, a better learner, and more fulfilled. After trying out a few clinical settings, a lot of reading, and some...

"Dr. Fauci navigated the delicate balance between his obligation to the American people as one of our most respected physician-scientists and holding on to his job in a federal government whose leader doesn’t take kindly to independent thought that...

"I am a nurse who has worked at a rural hospital. My husband is a board-certified family medicine doctor. In the fall of 2020, I was raped by my massage therapist. I know that everyone has an opinion of what they would do in that situation, and I was...

"When the public was made aware of the risk of transmitting the virus and the far-reaching measures of social distancing, closing schools, and lock-down, most Americans willingly complied. After all, they became aware, for the first time, of the risk...

"Now the room is silent as if nothing at all occurred. I stand watching the red stain forming on the pristine white sheet, mocking me in my failure. I trained at excellent institutions, survived residency, and served in combat. Now, here at a Level 1...

"I really shouldn’t complain. I haven’t lost my housing or job. I have plenty of food and toilet paper, and so far, no close friend or family have died from COVID. That said, this pandemic is hard. In fact, it is exhausting. During the spring and...

"It is dangerously unfortunate that the use of masks has been politicized in many parts of our nation. The Dakotas (or North and South COVID as they were recently called on Saturday Night Live) are far from exempt from this phenomenon. Likely, if...