"These changes on the horizon for our country are unlike anything we have ever experienced. We have only experienced an expansion of rights for those who have been denied fair treatment. Going backwards only infringes our ability to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Future laws that could…
"The visit with my patient helped to change my perspective. I should not have made assumptions about her based on my implicit bias. I highly recommend the Harvard Implicit Bias tests as an exercise in introspection. We also need to share and reflect on our experiences — especially when we…
"We must believe that inside, where our spirits live, there is an understanding, a belief, in those people we have loved and who have loved us, that they will live in us even if they are far away. And perhaps more important these days is that our physical presence is…
"We can talk about the system-based approaches we have instituted to avoid burnout and the negative emotional consequences that arise from medical errors, miscommunication, or negative outcomes that occur outside our sphere of control: Just culture. Peer review. Physician health and wellness committees. Social events. CMEs about burnout. Burnout surveys.…
"Maintaining a relationship during nursing school takes some effort. Your time is taken up by studying, classes, clinicals and labs. Oh, did I mention studying? At the end of the day, there is just not much time left for significant others. Now, I am referring to romantic relationships here, but…
"More studies are needed to fully understand the impact of in-home hospital care programs on quality and cost. Extending the waivers will give physicians, health systems, health services researchers, and policymakers the opportunity to further analyze these programs’ results to determine the future for this person-centered care model. The movement…
"No one anticipated how the pandemic would impact their Deaf colleagues’ work environment and career opportunities. Yet, 15% of adults report some form of hearing difficulty. This number increases dramatically with advancing age, with 50% of those aged 75 years or older experiencing hearing difficulty. The exact number of Deaf/Hard…
"As physicians, we are masterful at suppressing so many of our emotions, and the thoughts and memories associated with them. However, trauma has a way of impacting us in great big obvious ways (as we saw with Will Smith), and not such obvious ways (perfectionism, workaholism, lack of boundaries). I’m…
"I almost quit my job in 2014. I didn’t like my life, and I didn’t like myself. I had a lot of problems personally and professionally, and I wondered if I was good enough to solve them. I often felt weak and powerless. People were coming to me for answers,…
"Physicians have a deep well of experiences to draw from in their writing. They witness dramatic episodes of heroism, cures, disappointments, and failures. They see unforgettable scenes, hear devastating words, make difficult decisions, and observe people at crucial moments in their lives. Most importantly, they witness the power of cause…
"I had no recollection of this, but as I processed what Yael said, my response was the opposite of what one might expect—I felt tremendous relief! I was happy. My pain had a name and hopefully that meant that I could get well. I was a doctor, and I knew…
"I know many physicians are already maxed out. Technology can make that worse. As soon as you introduce what will be perceived as new obstacles to moving from A to Z, all they’re going to think is, “I can’t do what I need to do. I’m exhausted and I’m behind.…
"Looking to the future, since I only froze one embryo and my ovary reserve is diminishing, we are hoping to go through another infertility treatment cycle. Although, once again, the medications are once again being denied. Infertility is just like any other mental or physical health condition and should be…
"Having a physician partner who knows us well, who we can trust, and whose judgment we value exponentially increases the odds of accurately making the distinction between self-limited illness versus a significant disease process. This will also assist us in navigating the health care system such that we receive only…
"We’re encouraged to mentally rehearse life-saving procedures for conditions that occur so rarely we might go our entire career without performing them. And the reality is that I could spend every minute of my free time this way and still have an unexpected situation arise during my next shift. So,…
"Have you ever wondered how many times death has not come, but could have? On the corner of Church Street and Dubuque how close was I, pausing to assess an ice-sheeted puddle just before a woman turns, her head turned too, searching for what? A snack? A phone? A child…
"Oh no, it’s a doctor hopper. You know who I’m talking about: the patients with twenty previous doctors documented in their chart. The ones who took years to be diagnosed. The ones who still have not been diagnosed, but insist something is wrong. They’re just jumping around until they get…
"A few months ago, I embarked on an ethnographic study to understand what health care professionals saw as the psychosocial needs of pediatric patients. This involved conversations with several doctors in Pakistan, who had volunteered to share their views about pediatric patient care. As I engaged in deep, organic discussions…
In this episode, we talk with writer Dustin Grinnell. He takes us behind the scenes on his ideas for his books, his research process, and how he brings medical stories to life. We also delve into the realm of speculative fiction, and how that intersects with medicine, technology, and ethical…
"The Great Resignation. I doubt there is a medical practice out there that has not been affected by it. And experts predict we are just at the beginning. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ early data from 2022 shows that health care is among the top three industries increasing in…
In this episode, I interview Jim Dahle, creator of the White Coat Investor. He has literally created a new asset class of content: the health care professional personal finance space. He discusses how he got his start with the White Coat Investor, why his message still resonates today, and how…
"I propose that we look at what each choice in food does for us: How does it make my body feel? How am I able to sleep and move and focus when I eat this food? How am I giving my body what it needs right now and what will…
"Medical errors exist at the far end of a continuum of unexpected events in clinical practice and they are devastating for all involved. Even when care is attentive and patient compliance perfect, unexpected outcomes occur in medicine. Unanticipated diagnoses, delays in diagnosis, premature death — these are all included in…
"Even low dose mercury toxicity can be harmful to human health in a variety of ways: enhanced free radical stress, reduced glutathione levels, increase in apolipoprotein E g4 genotype expression, promotion of neurofibrillary tangles and altered immune sensitivity. It has been implicated in contributing to autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinsonism, and…