It’s time to return civility to medical discourse

Physician
September 1, 2020

I was scrolling through Facebook when it popped up. “Live! America’s Frontline Doctors address COVID-19.” A group of physicians in white coats stood before the Supreme Court, speaking into a microphone. As I stopped to watch, I was surprised to see several familiar faces—physicians I had interacted with on various social media physician groups.

I knew from reading previous posts on social media that these doctors were proponents of the drug …

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It’s time to return civility to medical discourse

Why the pandemic is the perfect opportunity to introduce meditation to children

Conditions and Diseases
September 1, 2020

As the globe continues to surf the wave of this unpredictable global pandemic in a time of technological advancement, one question seems to come up often during pediatric outpatient visits: Will the kids be OK?

One thing is for certain: all this uncertainty and stress will surely impact the next generation. Experts across the globe are hypothesizing what inherent traits these “baby zoomers” will gain and how COVID-19 will impact the …

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Why the pandemic is the perfect opportunity to introduce meditation to children

A letter to my first patient

Medical Education
September 1, 2020

It was only my first week in the hospital as a third-year medical student when we met. I entered your room early Tuesday morning. Only knowing your chief concern, I knocked on your door and entered the room. You didn’t complain when I awakened you. You didn’t complain when I asked many questions about a story you had already relayed multiple times to others. You didn’t complain when …

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A letter to my first patient

A post-COVID medical world

Physician
September 1, 2020

As we navigate everyday life in the midst of battling COVID-19, our thoughts naturally migrate to what medicine might look like post viral pandemic.

As the new norms of social distancing, virtual meetings, and little to no human contact continue, we cannot help but wonder will these new social norms become permanent behavior patterns? And if so, what implications do they have for the physician and patient alike?

Humans are a social …

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A post-COVID medical world

A physician on the importance of taking pause

Conditions and Diseases
August 31, 2020

“I’m one of the doctors taking care of your dad.”

As a resident, I made this call countless times.  Even more than breaking bad news to patients, I feared surprising their families at night by telephone.  Nearly always, though, people were calm and certain despite the circumstances, and their response was always the same:  “Do whatever you have to do.”  As a fellow, I looked forward to leaving those calls behind.  …

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A physician on the importance of taking pause

Real estate syndications: Are they a right fit for me?

Physician Finance
August 31, 2020

Have you been thinking about investing in real estate? There are many benefits to owning real estate, but as physicians, most of us are already busy with our full-time clinical careers. It can be difficult to find the extra time necessary to learn how to purchase and manage a real estate property.

You may or may not have heard of syndications; it allows individual investors to come together and pool their …

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Real estate syndications: Are they a right fit for me?

An ode to hospital cafeterias

Physician
August 30, 2020

I have been nourished by cafeteria food since elementary school. I remember the public school pizza squares with its melted artificial cheese, the fruit cocktail drenched in sickeningly sweet syrup, and 2 percent chocolate milk pints—costing $1.65 per meal. In college, I enjoyed access to a wider selection, including $6.50 custom omelets and midnight mozzarella sticks to fuel late-night study sessions. However, nothing came close to the quality and …

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An ode to hospital cafeterias

7 tips to balance family and professional needs during the pandemic

Physician
August 30, 2020

The reality of being a medical practice owner is that we are small business owners and very vulnerable to the impact of COVID.  Having previously worked in the telemedicine industry and because I am a psychiatrist, I initially felt that I was in a good position to adapt to this crisis – and this has been overall true, but the reality is it hasn’t been so easy in other ways.  I was …

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7 tips to balance family and professional needs during the pandemic

What we can learn from England about universal health care

Health Policy
August 30, 2020

It’s winter in Oxford, and I’m biking to the John Radcliffe Hospital, the flagship medical center of England’s National Health Service. It’s raining, and the chain on my bike keeps slipping off the gear. “Figures — I shouldn’t have bought a bike from an antique shop.” Back in December, my school had offered to send me across the pond to immerse myself in the British health care system. Seeing as …

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What we can learn from England about universal health care

I am tired. But I still love emergency medicine.

Physician
August 30, 2020

I love being an emergency doctor. I loved my residency, my co-residents, and my attendings.

I love my training: watching, learning, treating.

I love the emergency department, the vastness, and the variability of emergency medicine.

But I am tired.

I am tired of feeling like a workhorse, a production line made to just churn patients in and out.

I am tired of being told that my worth as a doctor is based on my time …

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I am tired. But I still love emergency medicine.

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Why is the government so scared of directly negotiating drug prices?

Medications
August 29, 2020

President Trump recently signed two executive orders directly related to prescription drug prices in the U.S.

One order would allow the “reimportation” of prescription drugs from Canada. This longstanding idea would allow U.S. pharmacies and drug wholesalers the ability to pay generally much lower prices for their prescription drugs by getting them from Canadian suppliers who benefit from government management of the system. Many consumers have been buying direct from Canadian …

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Why is the government so scared of directly negotiating drug prices?

What it’s like to work in long-term care during the pandemic

Conditions and Diseases
August 29, 2020

The worst day of a COVID-19 outbreak in long-term care is the first day.  There are tears.  How did it get in?  How did we fail?  How do we tell the families? When does the media show up? There is shame, tremendous shame.  Shame that we put on ourselves and that the outside world puts on us.

Then the shame turns to fear.  Where is it?  Who …

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What it’s like to work in long-term care during the pandemic

Please listen to those in the trenches

Patient
August 29, 2020

Where have the months of summer gone? The hazy, lazy days of summer to be spent out on the lake, picnicking with friends and family, state fairs, all the fun things we long to take part in. Occasions that should call for one to be present at with anticipation such as class reunions, weddings, baptisms of new babies, graduation ceremonies – all have come to a screeching halt. Even the …

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Please listen to those in the trenches

An insufficiency of enoughness: a doctor’s reflections on anxiety

Conditions and Diseases
August 29, 2020

My college graduation was approaching, and I was slated to start medical school in the fall. I was happy. You could find me with an impossible smile, singing along with the windows down to my favorite song — Beat of the Music by Brett Eldredge — as I made my way through menial errands. Everything felt like sunshine.

Before I knew it, the metaphorical firehose of medical school was underway.  I …

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An insufficiency of enoughness: a doctor’s reflections on anxiety

The impact of COVID-19 on human kindness

Physician
August 29, 2020

Human kindness is a trait that, though inherent within our genetic make-up, can also be a learned behavior.

The absence of human kindness is blatantly visible to others when a lack of compassion and/or empathy permeates within an interaction with another human being.

As our daily life responsibilities continue at a steady state: mundane things such as paying bills, holding down a job and successfully interacting with co-workers, our ability to respond …

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The impact of COVID-19 on human kindness

When physicians get sick: We are just as human as the patients we treat

Physician
August 28, 2020

Physicians are natural caregivers. We are in-tune with the needs of our patients, often to the detriment of our own health. It is a rite of passage during medical school to stand in for lengthy eight to ten-hour surgeries, as retractor holders, keeping the surgical field clear for the surgeon. The thrill of being part of surgery makes us forget our own needs; the bleary-eyed fatigue of having woken up …

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When physicians get sick: We are just as human as the patients we treat

Appreciation in the personal finance world

Physician Finance
August 28, 2020

Appreciation in the personal finance world has two different components to it:

  • Quantitative: increasing value of net worth and financial assets
  • Qualitative: feeling of gratitude for one’s finances, resources, and circumstance. This is not dependent on the dollar amount.

These are both important, but the qualitative is the best predictor of increasing wealth and personal wellbeing.

We are programmed by these components, which makes our brain to focus on what is wrong …

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Appreciation in the personal finance world

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