The hands were heavily stained black, the skin with severe eczematous changes, yet she did not mention them. She was a young mother who had come to the clinic to have her six-month-old baby boy seen by the “doctors from America.” I was the team leader of a faith-based medical team serving in the outskirts of Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania in Northwest Africa. We were there to provide primary …
Health care is now at a crossroads.
We’ve been hearing that phrase more often recently, but what does that mean? Being at a crossroads signifies that now is the time to make a decision that will affect the future in substantial and irrevocable ways.
Why is health care at a crossroads now? Americans are getting sicker as every year passes: “A 2007 study reported that seven chronic diseases have a total impact on …
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.
“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
– Verna Myers, diversity advocate
Fostering a culture of diversity and inclusivity in health care professional organizations is important for many reasons, and thus should be a priority. First and foremost, …
Trigger warning: This article discusses suicidal ideation. Please use your best judgment in reading. I am sharing my journey with caution in hopes that my reflection will help others, and I invite you to continue shall you feel it’s a safe and appropriate time for you to join in this discussion.
I am no stranger to existential crises. The moments where I realize my mortality and have a mild panic about …
It starts with an invocation. A prayer. A plea for redemption. This is how the Sabbath Town Halls, Sufi Naqshbandi, and Bahá’í community gatherings begin and end.
Around the world, communities of faith are much more than a sanctuary. They provide a space for healing and hope. As religious exemptions, hesitation, and resistance for vaccinations and public health policies have taken on a new fervor, the critical role of faith-based institutions in supporting …
Each day I am inundated with reminders of why doctors are leaving clinical practice. My peers are exhausted by pandemic patients and pandemic controversies. They feel unappreciated and overworked doing what was originally their passion. Many feel they are part of an industrial machine, turning out widgets in the form of patient visits or procedures. They want to leave. Should I? Wouldn’t it be easier to be a dog-walker, park …
Someone once described war as: “Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.”
Similar to flying: “Hours and hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of stark panic.”
My life is like that: Fairly mundane, routine and predictable — until it isn’t.
Near where I work is a sandwich shop. I have walked to it, but usually, under some time constraint, I drive. I have taken to getting a large sandwich, …
I started planning my escape in late 2020. I would find a way to quit health care, to cease being a practicing physician altogether. Living the life of a doctor-mom, I felt consumed with daily obligations and duties.
Guilt plagued me for feeling burdened by this life, for feeling it was a monotonous prison. The guilt soon transformed to anger. I was not showing up to my life in a meaningful …
As the latest pandemic wave seems to be easing, I am again thinking about traveling. I love to travel on vacation. A staycation can be nice, especially if there’s a lot to do around the home, whether that’s working on my home (decluttering and organizing anyone?) or just getting all the little things done that I usually don’t make time for. A break from working, but still at home.
Those homestay …
After working a 10-hour Monday, I came home and wanted to collapse on the couch. It was a typical day of dealing with more needs and demands than what was humanly possible to meet. Specifically, I was chewing on what happened at the end of the day regarding a patient’s unrealistic demands juxtaposed up against a medical system that cannot meet the physical and psychological demands of the latest wave …
“Do you plan to cut down on your hours?”
This was what my primary care doctor asked me after she found me complaining about multiple somatic symptoms.
As a psychiatrist, I always took pride in how I prioritized my family’s needs and found a work-life balance. I had decided to work part-time as soon as I graduated from my training. I belong to a dual physician household. Going part-time was the best …
You may be feeling hopeless. That wouldn’t be shocking, under the current circumstances. Reading the headlines, one can’t help but remember the beginning of the pandemic, when we were reading about “flattening the curve” and overrun, understaffed hospitals.
Additionally, the dark days of winter can be a difficult time for many, even under the best of circumstances. Losses from the year become highlighted, family dynamics are under strain, and we may …
The COVID-19 pandemic helped bring out people’s true colors. After two years of the unrelenting pressures of the pandemic, people’s true colors came out, and I will have a frank about this truth. As physicians, we often put our patient’s comfort before ours, but at what point does one have to stop and reflect on this.
As physicians, we are often put on a pedestal and have unrealistic expectations. We want …
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I was a third-year medical student in 1999 when the landmark report titled “To Err is Human” was released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), unveiling the uncomfortable truth about the fallibility of physicians and our medical system. I remember it vividly.
The publication’s scandalous revelation that nearly 100,000 preventable deaths occurred in hospitals each year shocked me. I recall feeling simultaneously offended and defensive at the implication …
An excerpt from Changing How We Think About Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals.
After I finished my residency in EM and started working as an attending physician, I realized I had a problem. I believe a lot of you have the same problem. Some of our patients are so angry, oppositional, and non-compliant that we get angry …
I recently had a good (albeit unexpected) cry and figured out that I have been in an unremitting fear cycle for about two-plus years. When the COVID pandemic first shut things down across the United States, my family and I had just started a much-anticipated ski vacation. On the way to the resort, we heard that Vail and other Colorado resorts had just shut down. When we checked into our …
Early into my military career and as an oral and maxillofacial surgery resident, I started to acknowledge the fact that, during periods of sleep deprivation that were initially inherent to my military training hours and then surgery call requirements, I found myself thinking dark thoughts that I had never experienced before. I scheduled an appointment with a Psychiatrist and was diagnosed with depression. Scratch that. I was diagnosed with “high …
It seems that each positive story I read about the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) is countered by a negative story.
One internal medicine physician writes: “Someday, with enough computing power and artificial intelligence, we may be able to have systems that can do some basic medical advice and education about health care that could end up saving doctors a lot of time and …
The details have been changed, but the story is true. A physician I know goes to work each day by 7:30 a.m. He is a confident, competent leader in every way within his clinic. But each night, he goes home to a spouse who is losing steam in every way. Diagnosed with a chronic condition, she is growing increasingly weak and dependent. He asks her how she is, and she …
Charlotte: I initially met Richard at a wedding. Standing near the much-desired sushi buffet, we quickly started talking about the broken infrastructure of the health care system. At the time, I was an exhausted intern in internal medicine, happy to have the right weekend off. I shared big dreams of one day creating a new model of medical delivery. Richard, a senior executive with decades of leadership experience, listened compassionately. …
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