"We have to heal ourselves first. That begins with caring for our own minds and bodies, and souls. It means not avoiding (as I did) caring for our own physical and especially our mental health. It means we must be a part of the lives of our families and loved…
"If you are encountering families with feeding concerns, I strongly encourage you to ask them if sitting down together for meals is part of their regular routine. The more prescriptive 'eat this, not that' or calorie counting model that has been traditionally used in medicine is clearly not working well.…
"Like some insidious conditions, feelings can fester. They can spread like cancer, and sap the spirit of nourishment until it starts to die, riddled with doubt and sensations of inadequacy. They can degrade the soul, as though it were suffering from a systemic inflammatory disease. But this progression, like many…
"Bipolar runs in my family, so I knew the harsh realities of this untreated illness. A family member faked his own death after a counterfeiting spending spree. My grandfather told people that I would die in a car accident, and he would take my body up to the mountain and…
"How do we create a world where all of us can express our unique selves the way we choose without derisiveness and shame? I am not here to criticize the wonderful parents and caregivers who are reading this – they only love their children. Common sense must prevail. I only…
"As the next wave of the pandemic unfolds, the rise in cases is once again straining health care systems. But that’s not the only reason hospitals and health systems could experience an influx of emergency or critical care visits. Findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging based at the…
"Frontline workers may have temporarily experienced a heightened sense of personal success and gratification, but I doubt many of us are still able to feel satisfied at this point, after all the repeated moral injuries and losing so many patients. COVID-19 assuredly changed me. The virus changed my residency experience.…
"As a mother, a physician, and an educator, I refuse to accept this as normal. It is not! What should we tell the parents of these young physicians? How do we explain to them that their dream of being a doctor became a nightmare with a tragic ending? What do…
"Provider organizations may look at their budgets and think the traditional model of fax machines and landlines is serving their entity in optimizing revenue streams. They may even look at their providers’ full schedules and believe there isn’t a patient population that still needs care. But this would be a…
"During COVID, the medical training system had to adapt because people couldn’t meet in person and even those that could didn’t have access to patients or facilities in the same capacity. However, the explosion of remote training tools that became available make this hybrid training method as good in many…
"As you wait, you have a lot of time to think. You comb through the past in search of something you might have missed. If we had acted sooner on the signs of his illness—had the cancer been diagnosed earlier—would Lee have had a better chance? You think about your…
"Last March, I was working in a small primary care practice on the west side of Denver. COVID-19 came to town. On Thursday, March 12, we were told the schools would be closing. On Friday, we were told that clinic staff had to wear masks — and the clinic had…
"There has been a growing wave of entrepreneurial physicians finding joy and value in starting consulting and coaching businesses. Many use their expertise to work with physicians exclusively. Our company has been excited to play a part in better spotlighting these businesses. Today it is now even easier to find…
"Transections, eviscerations, exsanguinations, amputations, decapitations, disembowelments, penetrations, disarticulations, emasculations, enucleations, incinerations—these things he has seen. But of late he chooses to see only the glimmering vials. His vision fades and darkens as he draws closer to the OR where the ultimate reality lies prepped, draped, framed, and illuminated, waiting for…
"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 me break this down. On…
"Her face is decorated in colors of the earth. With events on Earth Day and throughout the week, New York City celebrates sustainability and ways to live in harmony with the planet. Scheduled festivities include a march down Broadway with a mix of virtual talks and celebrations and in-person walks…
"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 that we need the…
"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 there are questions about the quality of care,…
"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, extensive tacit knowledge, and credibility. Physician CEOs have better outcomes in all…
"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 from the desperation of being so alone…
"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 electronic health record (EHR) replacing the VistA EHR. The $10 million EHR overhaul has been controversial since the…
"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 added impetus and new dimensions to existing conversations around health care supply…
"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 effective surgeons. To achieve our goal of having a future surgeon workforce…
"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 needs and wants. Virtually all of you are looking…