Last week, while on vacation, my husband and I were swimming in a salt-water inlet when a rainstorm hit. (Actually, I was indulging in my favorite leisure-time pursuit: floating prone, chin resting on my forearm, on a lime green inner tube.)
Fortunately, there was no lightning, though there was a bit of hail. We decided to stick it out. Heck, we were already wet.
As we floated along with the outgoing tide, …
As a physician, I’ve spent years working to provide care that’s compassionate and focused on the patient. But everything changed when I found myself on the other side of the system—as a patient. Suddenly, I saw health care through a new lens, one that revealed cracks I hadn’t fully understood before.
What I went through opened my eyes to the real risks patients face, especially those from marginalized communities. It was …
It all begins with a political movement for national health in the 1970s. There are no “health systems,” just doctors and hospitals. Fee-for-service is determined by conventional principles of cost accounting, in which payment for services compensates for overhead and leaves enough profit to remain in practice and enjoy the American dream.
There are health insurance companies. The purpose of health insurance is to protect patients against medical expenses, not to …
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How can gratitude guide health care professionals in navigating political uncertainty, misinformation, and the challenges of post-election transitions? Join us as Janet A. Jokela, an infectious disease physician and Treasurer of the American …
It’s crack-of-dawn early, and I’m on a flight. Working swing ER shifts has left me exhausted, barely packed, and running on fumes. But hey, as long as I’ve got my passport and clean underwear, I’m good to go. There’s a mall in every city, right?
I settle in, headphones on, ready to dive into the latest episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer. I’m beyond tired – there aren’t even words for this …
Suicide is the act of an individual ending their life. It is generally caused by the convergence of multiple factors, the most significant of which is untreated or end-stage psychiatric illness. As a practicing psychiatrist who has been involved in the Pennsylvania Physicians Health Program for more than a decade, I believe we need to do better to stem the increasing numbers of physician suicides. A better understanding of and …
I have an eye for finding beautiful clothes. Though I find jeans and shirts/kurtas comfortable, I’m not sure why I adore the shalwar kameez so much! Perhaps it’s because it’s my national dress, and I adore everything that connects me to my homeland. Secondly, I’ve been wearing it since I was a child. My mother was an expert at sewing clothes, and she made all of my dresses.
Jeans and shirts/sweaters/kurtas/tops …
In October, President Biden formally apologized for the U.S. Indian boarding school system—a brutal legacy of forced assimilation that inflicted profound harm on Indigenous communities and continues to reverberate today. For those who are unfamiliar, Native children at these boarding schools suffered horrific physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse, all while being isolated from their families and communities. By 1926, nearly 83 percent of Native children were attending …
With Jimmy Carter’s passing, many will reflect on his impact at home and abroad. Yet, one his most personal acts will also stand as one of his most enduring legacies.
At 100, not only was our 39th president the longest-lived president, he was also to first to publicly elect hospice care, prioritizing the quality of his last days over simply being alive.
When he first enrolled two years ago, the family’s announcement …
It’s not your imagination. Ransomware threats to health care organizations are at record levels and continue to rise. Last year, there were 389 reported ransomware attacks on health care organizations in the U.S., up from 258 in 2022. This year, there were 44 ransomware attacks against health care organizations in April alone, the most ever recorded for one month by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future and up from 30 in March. …
Do you remember the exact moment in your life when you had that knowing feeling inside that drew you to your chosen career? My usual answer to that question occurred in October of 1973, at 7 years old in 3rd grade, when my teacher rolled out a life-size skeleton. I was mesmerized, hungry to learn much more about the human body. But if I am being honest with you, and …
I imagined that medical school would be a challenging yet fulfilling journey—an opportunity to learn, grow, and ultimately make a difference as a physician or surgeon. We medical students dedicate over a decade of our lives, and many invest more than $200,000 (plus interest) for the honor of caring for patients. Yet, the surge of medical training-related memes and reels on social media captures our reality: “You have to laugh …
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Explore the complexities of adult ADHD with Muhamad Aly Rifai, a practicing internist and psychiatrist. This episode dives into the evolving understanding of ADHD as a lifelong disorder, the stigma surrounding diagnosis and …
Before her diagnosis, my mom was extremely active and healthy. She loved bird watching, walking, and volunteering at her church and its school. So in 2013, when she began experiencing symptoms like incontinence and difficulties with walking, we knew that something wasn’t right.
We faced many potential explanations for my mom’s symptoms before receiving her diagnosis. I remember the doctors testing her for numerous diseases like diabetes and multiple sclerosis (MS), …
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”
– Simon Sinek.
Business is equated with money—dollars, profits, ledgers, etc. But there is much more to business than finances. At the end of the day, you don’t take profits or losses home—you take home values. You rake in integrity. You create a playground of ethics for people. There are certain …
As health care leaders and providers, our ultimate mission is to provide safer care for all—but there’s a flaw in our system. Today, as many as 4 in 10 patients are harmed in primary and ambulatory health care settings, and up to 80 percent of this harm is avoidable. Patients should feel safe when they receive health care. Unfortunately, the pervasiveness of medical harm across all health care settings and …
As a training physician, the experience of navigating graduate medical education in today’s political landscape has introduced unprecedented adversity
Whether transitions in health policy or the continually evolving public perceptions of medicine as a field, trainees are now finding themselves at a unique crossroads where medicine, poignant societal issues, and personal morals intersect. While medicine is often influenced by policy of various forms, the current political climate, charged with intensely debated …
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In this episode, family physician Jonathan Staloff and internal medicine physician Joseph H. Joo join us to discuss the challenges and opportunities in reshaping health care systems. Drawing from their book, Reshaping Health …
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