Medical facilities: Please keep your immune-deficient patients safe

Patient
April 21, 2021

“Go have a seat,” the receptionist at the imaging center told me, gesturing to the waiting room. It was a close, poorly ventilated space, and several of the chairs were already occupied. I turned back to the receptionist.

”I have a primary immune deficiency,” I patiently explained. “I spoke to the scheduler about this. She said I could wait somewhere isolated.”

”This is what we have,” the receptionist said indifferently and turned to …

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Medical facilities: Please keep your immune-deficient patients safe

Confidence is as important as becoming competent

Physician
April 20, 2021

As medical trainees, we learn how to be competent in our craft. If we are competent, it is assumed we will be successful and confident in our abilities. However, empowered performance requires a focus on not only competence, but also confidence. We stumble in our endeavors even though we may be highly competent.

The study of medicine does not support the attainment of higher levels of confidence; in fact, it actually …

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Confidence is as important as becoming competent

Daunte Wright’s death: intersectionality, racism, and ableism

Physician
April 20, 2021

Most of the world knows by now that on the afternoon of April 11th, a 20-year-old Black man named Daunte Wright was killed by a police officer in an inner-ring suburb of the city I call home: Minneapolis.

Most of the world is watching Minneapolis as Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck, is tried on charges of manslaughter and homicide. Several hours before I typed …

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Daunte Wright’s death: intersectionality, racism, and ableism

The price I paid to be in medicine

Physician Finance
April 20, 2021

A few weeks back, Match Day welcomed smiles and celebratory tears across the nation. This particular match season was fueled by a pandemic and virtual interviewing. I reached out to my friend who got matched to his top internal medicine residency spot in the Lone Star State.

“I’m ready to make some money,” he excitedly mentioned over our phone conversation. “No more filling in the blanks in FAFSA and piling additional …

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The price I paid to be in medicine

3 lessons I’ve learned as a doctor during the pandemic

Conditions and Diseases
April 20, 2021

COVID-19 has changed nearly every aspect of society as we know it, and doctors in hospitals across America are at the forefront of those changes. As a pediatric infectious diseases doctor who also writes curriculum to help the next generation of doctors prepare for their medical exams, I’ve seen firsthand how this current pandemic is changing our roles with patients, shifting what families and communities expect from us, and expediting …

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3 lessons I’ve learned as a doctor during the pandemic

Fear of vaccines grows with the need for medical ethics

Conditions and Diseases
April 20, 2021

We recently received the news that a patient had died during the night from mysterious clots related to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (OAZv). This tragic news came shortly after the U.K. revised its vaccination policy to restrict the use of the OAZv in younger adults and many countries paused the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, concerned over its link to rare …

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Fear of vaccines grows with the need for medical ethics

Physician morale and the doctor’s voice [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 19, 2021
YouTube video

“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 Governor Burgum’s decision was less influenced by fear …

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Physician morale and the doctor’s voice [PODCAST]

Congratulations on getting accepted into medical school during an unprecedented application cycle

Medical Education
April 19, 2021

As a fortunate incoming medical student, I would like to congratulate my future physician colleagues on getting accepted into medical school during an unprecedented application cycle. This piece is dedicated to the members of the class of 2025. Like you, I worried about matriculating into the class of 2025 on top of all the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic threw at all of us: worries about our …

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Congratulations on getting accepted into medical school during an unprecedented application cycle

Saving our mothers requires taking more than baby steps 

Health Policy
April 19, 2021

During Black Maternal Health Week, the news that Illinois became the first state to extend Medicaid coverage from the former standard of 60 days postpartum to now 12 months postpartum marks a major victory for women of childbearing age, especially women of color.  In Illinois alone, Black women are six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related conditions when compared …

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Saving our mothers requires taking more than baby steps 

Doctors can’t cope with the anguish of COVID-19 casualties

Physician
April 19, 2021

In the “before times,” most Americans went about their lives relatively unpreoccupied with death. In fact, one CBS News poll found only 14 percent of Americans spent “a lot of time” thinking about their own mortality.

What a difference a pandemic makes. With every masked trip to the grocery store, every passerby who coughs too close and every “doom scroll” through …

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Doctors can’t cope with the anguish of COVID-19 casualties

Why residents should invest in a 403(b) and a Roth IRA

Physician Finance
April 19, 2021

As a young professional who is trying to build wealth, I invest money. Although there is a myriad of different investment accounts and strategies, I invest in index mutual funds through my employer-sponsored retirement plan and my own Roth IRA. Yes, I have both types of accounts. Let me tell you why.

I invest in my employer-sponsored retirement plan (which is a 403(b), which is very similar to a 401(k) because:

1. …

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Why residents should invest in a 403(b) and a Roth IRA

The missing link in the vaccine chain: caregivers

Physician
April 18, 2021

About half of America’s seniors are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and close to three-quarters have gotten at least one shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

This is good news. Seniors have suffered disproportionately from the coronavirus. They have become gravely ill, passed away, and passed the time over the last year in complete isolation.

When the vaccines first became available, health officials wisely moved older adults to the …

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The missing link in the vaccine chain: caregivers

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A physician gives a dose of hope

Conditions and Diseases
April 18, 2021

During medical residency, one’s goal is two-fold: to provide compassionate and evidence-based care for patients and training and learning.

But when a global pandemic emerges, we rise to serve, upholding our oath to care for the sick and our duty to our profession. The privilege of this role during an unprecedented time in history means that I witness the toll this pandemic has taken on people from all walks of life. …

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A physician gives a dose of hope

How physicians can persevere through their current and future challenges

Physician
April 18, 2021

The end is in sight, but there are still months to go. How can we persevere when our strength has been collectively sapped over the last year, and our sense of grief at what has been lost will persist even when isolation and distancing are over?

To answer this, I’ve turned to three very different physicians and scientists.

Here are practical ideas drawn from their wisdom, expertise, experience and experiments for how …

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How physicians can persevere through their current and future challenges

Are letters of recommendation effective or burdensome?

Medical Education
April 17, 2021

A letter of recommendation is a document written about the applicant by a previous employer, professor, or anyone working in close contact with the applicant. This one document is supposed to describe you, your qualities, and your abilities — all in less than a few paragraphs. It can be an enormous determining factor in getting the job position, being accepted to a university, or matching your number one residency program. …

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Are letters of recommendation effective or burdensome?

It’s time to reframe second victim syndrome

Physician
April 17, 2021

The term “second victim syndrome” was first coined by Dr. Albert Wu in 2000.  The definition is “the effect of an unanticipated adverse medical event on a clinician.”  Certainly, the concept is pertinent to what health care professionals experience in their careers, but it comes with a very negative connotation.  There has been discussion in the literature of the need to change the name, but so far, nothing has really …

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It’s time to reframe second victim syndrome

How one doctor’s medical fraud launched today’s deadly anti-vax movement

Conditions and Diseases
April 17, 2021

An excerpt from The Big Lie: How One Doctor’s Medical Fraud Launched Today’s Deadly Anti-Vax Movement.

Inside the Royal Free Hospital in London, scores of reporters, physicians, and hangers-on packed the Atrium conference room, waiting for a press briefing to begin for five medical specialists who would deliver what would prove to be a historic—and dangerous—announcement.

It was February …

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How one doctor’s medical fraud launched today’s deadly anti-vax movement

Missouri and Texas: a tale of 2 COVID cultures

Conditions and Diseases
April 17, 2021

The Major League Baseball season is in full swing, and nothing reflects the variable nature of our country’s response to COVID-19 better than how major cities are continuing to respect (or ignore) the virus and their baseball teams are handling fans. In Toronto, they are not even letting the Blue Jays play in their country, while in North Texas, it is as if there isn’t even a virus out there …

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Missouri and Texas: a tale of 2 COVID cultures

Institute policies to proactively support physicians who are breastfeeding

Physician
April 16, 2021

I’ve been speaking with women physicians about the top challenges they face today. I’ve learned there are many—which honestly didn’t surprise me, given that 48 percent of women physicians report burnout symptoms (compared with 37 percent of their male counterparts).

Several have mentioned the challenge of breastfeeding while working—rather ironic considering what is known about the health benefits for mother and infant. Maybe their colleagues and …

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Institute policies to proactively support physicians who are breastfeeding

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