"The lack of diversity in academic medicine is a significant issue that can compromise our patients’ health and the education of our training clinicians. There is a vicious cycle in which there are few black academic physicians, leading to seemingly...
"Through empathy-based training, physicians and other health care providers learn the skills to have honest informed consent discussions without causing undo fear, while also preparing patients for all possible outcomes. Empathic skills make for...
"Today, more students are disclosing and speaking out about their disability and how their disability is an asset to their way of learning and what they can bring to their field. Across college campuses, more student-led organizations are forming to...
"The classic thinking has always been that a career in medicine is more than just a job; it is a passion, a calling, an anchor of identity. There is a pervasive stigma in medicine against the self-advocacy of the worker. Bedside care providers who...
"The weekend after Isabelle’s discharge, I take my shoes outside onto the driveway. The sky is a brilliant blue, and green tinges of leaves poke through shells of buds; the wind slips through my fleece. I scrub the spots of blood with an...
"The way to do this is by recognizing the power of words. I don’t mean fervently declaring one’s position and arguing why those who disagree are wrong. There has been way too much of this, and health professionals are no exception. Rather what’s...
"Stress is just part of the alcohol con trick. And the truth is that every benefit we have ever imagined alcohol giving us it doesn’t. It is a drug, and it works the same way as all other drugs. Many of my clients are doctors and nurses, and some...
"Crowdfunding models of paying for health care maximize the probability that all members’ eligible bills will be paid in full each month. These models come without the burdens of skyrocketing premiums and deductibles. Unlike traditional models,...
"Virtually everyone understands the importance of major medical insurance as it relates to unexpected high-dollar care for severe injuries and significant medical conditions, but the value equation for health insurance is quite different when applied...
"The data are remarkable and promising, though beyond the numbers is a bigger picture. Each data point represents a life – a mother, uncle, grandparent, loved one, friend. Technological advances in image guidance and therapeutic delivery are...
"The unvaccinated patient is the addicted person, the overweight patient, the smoker in the waiting room. Our antipathy toward them endangers their health, maybe their lives. The unvaccinated will not be convinced with stigma. They will be convinced...
"Physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, medical assistants, and other health care workers are a finite resource. They don’t grow on trees. And, though we all seem to deny it, they are human. The physicians I coach often wonder what they...
"Six air changes per hour and HEPA grade filtration of indoor air for our children is an investment in their futures for long beyond when the COVID-19 pandemic fades from view. We know there is poor indoor air quality in multiple schools, from...
"I imagine I would have, as I’m sure so many others do, headed to the Internet, reading both accurate and inaccurate information. While much of my visit with my genetic counselor feels like a blur, I left that meeting with a list of answered...
"The medical profession hasn’t changed. Our credibility hasn’t changed. Our commitment to care for you – to adore you, to grieve your diagnosis and what it means for you and your family – hasn’t changed. Our advice hasn’t changed. I’m...
"When you enter medical school, you put your trust into an unspoken promise: Work hard, pass all your classes, and you’ll come out as a doctor after four years. While mostly true, this perception doesn’t take into account the residency application...
"I am sitting in hot springs deep in the dark and crisp air woods – naked. It has been a day of lectures and workshops at a retreat with my fellow physicians. We are all naked in the effervescent, warm bubbles of the springs. In the dark, I can...
"I recognize that finding time for staff training and making sure the training is effectively practiced are challenges in a busy clinical setting. But taking care of patients means that both goals must be met to ensure safety, quality, and best...
"Confidence and humility are strongly related, but one arises when we focus on self, and the other arises when we focus on others. However, each attribute can become unhealthy when it becomes too extreme, or when we lose the perspective of the other...
"Physicians can find — or start — writing workshops at medical conferences, or just about anywhere else, at any time. These workshops can become part of wellness or burnout-prevention events. To interact with other writers, all you need is a...
"The worst part of the climate crisis is that our kids, my kids, may never get to witness the most beautiful parts of our world because they may, and will, cease to exist without our action and power. As I watch my own kids looking out over the ocean...
"In 2010, a landmark study from Princeton was published “proving” that money just doesn’t buy happiness. Study participants were asked to compare their emotional well-being from yesterday to today, and it appeared that making more than $75,000 a...
"The journey to becoming a physician is generally a linear path. Sure — there are exceptions, but for the most part, you can accurately predict what you will be doing in the future. For example, when you are in high school, the next step is college,...
"I love stories, either told, written, or listened to. Songs tell stories, as does art. Blogs such as the rich content open so many doors for rich conversations. Telling stories is part of who I am. My father loved to tell them, as did my grandfather,...