A young woman stands in the freezing cold outside an urban Baltimore hospital. The woman, covered only by a thin hospital gown, moans incoherently at the man capturing her suffering on cellphone video. As seen on the now-viral video, she’d been left there by security personnel employed by the supposed place of healing just a few yards away. It hurts to watch.
Mass …
The truth behind that Baltimore patient dumping video
Walking up to the admissions desk I knew the routine. I stretched out my arm for my hospital band. A name, a number, and a doctor were what defined me during my many hospital stays. It was simple; my brain was too large for my skull. Brain surgery after brain surgery has occupied my life for many years, all while I have been studying to become a doctor.
I just finished …
Studying to be a doctor, while living as a patient
During a recent Las Vegas performance, an intoxicated concertgoer got on the stage and stood next to singer Celine Dion. This situation could have been handled in multiple ways, but Ms. Dion never lost her composure and handled the situation with grace and kindness. She brilliantly was able to diffuse the situation without anger while maintaining her dignity and that of the fan. The way she handled the situation and …
What Celine Dion can teach us about patient care
Six weeks ago, I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.
As a breast cancer and breast plastic surgeon, I see women all the time who are in the exact same place I’ve been since receiving the phone call from the pathologist. Shocked and terrified by the news, overwhelmed by what this is going to mean for their life in both the short- and the long-term, waiting for results from what seems like …
When a breast cancer surgeon gets breast cancer: being on the other side of the scalpel
In my last post, I told my story of how I got out of medical school with only $18,000 of debt. By the time I left residency, I had that whittled down to $6,000 at 3% interest. Then during the next three years after starting my practice, I had accumulated almost $500,000 of new debt.
Initially, I didn’t think anything of this new large debt, after all, I …
How this doctor eliminated $500,000 in debt
It was a long December.
A few years ago, my husband of 37 years got his death sentence: recurrence of liver cancer with mets to his lungs and lymph nodes.
He had a “Whipple” — a surgical procedure for pancreatic cancer — on Dec 24, 2015, and the surgeon discovered liver cancer too. So it was a 16-hour surgery. We were told he might die on the table.
His eyes haunted me as …
My husband was dying. I was being ignored.
I am an emergency medicine physician.
I save lives.
As an ER physician, my job is frequently misunderstood. A common question that patients ask is, “What specialty are you hoping to go into?” The misconception is that emergency rooms are staffed by cardiologists, internists, etc., who are trying to make extra income. That’s likely not the case anymore. Some also believe that we can take the place of their family doctor. Or …
What exactly does an emergency physician do?
My classmate and I were walking back to the residents’ workroom when we realized one of the psychiatry patients was trailing along behind us. I glanced over my shoulder and found a very short gentleman in a patient gown walking just a little too close to me.
“Serena,” he said, smiling at me.
I looked at my classmate. We were on inpatient psychiatry, and he looked as nervous as I was. Our …
Scenes from a medical student’s rotation in psychiatry
Dear Boys,
I am so blessed to be your mom. You each have amazing personalities, unique talents, and special characteristics. I know someday you will grow up and be strong men. Kind men. Respectful men. Successful men. Men like your grandfathers. Men like your father.
Someday when you go out into the world, you will find yourself working with all different kinds of women. You will work for women, beside women, and …
A physician mother to her sons
Some of the people under my care in the jail right now are quite ill. (This statement is always true, but it seems that the intensity of illness is greater now than usual.) As a result, the perennial question seems more urgent now: Is there any way to prevent All of This?
For some of them, it seems that the answer is No. Some of them sought out psychiatric services, attended …
A physicians care for patients in jail and wonders: Could it have been prevented?
I loved my Prius.
I’m not a car guy. I’m really not. But when my Prius started to fail after 120K miles, I took an active interest in picking my new mode of transportation. I had a few caveats. I was driving 100 miles a day. I wanted either a hybrid or fully electric car. And I needed something safe for the snow. Preferably four-wheel drive.
My first instinct was to get …
The Tesla and a failure of stealth wealth
Let me say first that any woman who has ever been harassed or assaulted should never be made to feel that it is her fault. It is always the perpetrator’s fault. Men can be boors, or worse, and testosterone can be toxic.
I went to Princeton University at a time when the ratio of men to women was 8:1, graduated from medical school in the 1980s, and raised two daughters. I’ve …
How to avoid #MeToo in medicine
These are tumultuous times for practicing physicians. The health care landscape is changing at breathtaking pace and less and less of our time is spent doing what we were actually trained to do: taking care of patients. I absolutely love the patient care part of my job, do everything possible to always remember why I went to medical school in the first place, and maintain focus on the aspects of …
10 steps to keep physicians sane
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In the early 1960s, President John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” It was a clarion call, a full-throated warning against national complacency in an era of great prosperity.
It was during this same period that community hospitals stood as the dominant force in American health care. By the mid-20th century, some 6,000 inpatient facilities had spread throughout the country, often serving …
Why hospital mergers are destined to fail
My last clinic patient of the day was a frail, elderly man. I initially found him to be ornery. He had the air of someone who was chronically irritated. He was also incredibly hard of hearing. Due to the awkward set up of the exam room and computer, his wheelchair was positioned in such a way that we sat side-by-side. His wife sat sleeping in her chair, her red lipstick …
Being a doctor isn’t glamorous. But this physician keeps coming back for more.
It happens all too often. I am done with a visit and wrapping things up. Sometimes my hand is even on the doorknob to leave the room. Then the patient says it. “Oh, by the way, doctor …” This is inevitably followed by some symptom they have that is serious and needs further attention. The classic case is when it is chest pain, a grave symptom that needs to be …
The simple thing patients can do to help doctors run on time
I’ve been thinking about mortgages and savings a bit more than usual lately, and with good reason. My father recently retired from his nearly 40-year career as a physician, and in trying to be a good son, I’ve been helping him prepare for the transition financially. This involved taking an account of what he has saved up, his investments, and his expected cash flow. For him, the future that many …
Using a mortgage to force savings: a good idea?
Many of my readers do not know who Barry Goldwater was, let alone of the Goldwater Rule established by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973. The rule advises against psychiatrists commenting on the mental health of public figures they have not examined. Obviously, a psychiatrist or any physician who has treated a public figure is prohibited to offer any public comment unless he has been authorized by the patient to …
Diagnosing the president disrespects those who truly have mental illnesses
The ad is compelling.
A surfer rides a blue wave, seen from below in crystal clear reflection. The Apple Watch on his left arm cuts through the surf, elegant, sparkling ripples trailing behind. Suddenly, it breaks the surface, and the screen lights up, announcing an incoming call.
Let’s face it, shall we? We are always connected. We are always wired in. We are always on.
We have become a world of interconnected people, …
The dangers of being always connected
Medicine has been called an anti-mentorship program: In that trainees tend to find a vast amount of physicians who they don’t want to be like, rather than finding tons of inspiring ones who they do want to emulate.
So how do we navigate this? How do we, as trainees, isolate and latch onto the physicians who are full of energy, life, and potential? Who are excited about what they do? Who have brilliant ways …
Find the mentors you want in medicine
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