Physician voices

12,748 articles · Since 2006

Articles, page 202

The impact of COVID-19 on resident burnout and how we can combat it

October 12, 2020Oct 12, 2020

Despite the pervasiveness of mental illness and burnout among medical providers, only in the past decade have providers begun to acknowledge and explore the psychological distress so many struggle with. As a resident, I have observed how COVID-19 has further complicated this situation by dramatically increasing stress while limiting our capacity to deal with that stress. This dangerous combination is setting us up for a surge in already sky-high burnout …

We’re not trying to survive, but to humanize

Samuel Shem, MD, PhD

October 12, 2020Oct 12, 2020

An excerpt from Man's 4th Best Hospital. “Why am I here?” the Fat Man was saying to us, his team gathered for the first time around in his new public clinic leaning up against one of the soaring buildings of…

An excerpt from Man’s 4th Best Hospital.

“Why am I here?” the Fat Man was saying to us, his team gathered for the first time around in his new public clinic leaning up against one of the soaring buildings of Man’s 4th. “And why are you? One day I looked around and asked myself, ‘Self of Fats, what else can you do for medicine?’ I answered: ‘A …

The Greatest Generation is dying out. It’ll really be our loss once they leave us.

Suneel Dhand, MD

October 11, 2020Oct 11, 20202

As a physician working in acute care medicine, one of the biggest delights of my job is regularly still having patients from the Greatest Generation. In the United Kingdom, I really enjoyed sitting with them and hearing their stories of mandatory city evacuations during World War 2, rationing, the Blitz, and the huge struggle to rebuild a devastated country after 1945. Visiting my grandparents in India when I was a …

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It is time to acknowledge the caretaking abilities of men

Deborah Edberg, MD

October 11, 2020Oct 11, 2020

Several months into the pandemic, I received a call from a troubled resident. She had been pulled from her inpatient rotations and was working remotely from home with her husband and one-year-old child. Shortly into our conversation, she confessed the guilt she was feeling at not enjoying the enhanced alone time she now had with her baby. She was instead mostly anxious about the learning experiences she was missing, and …

Telemedicine for proficient, longitudinal management of chronic conditions

John H. Wasson, MD

October 11, 2020Oct 11, 2020

Chronic conditions are justifiably an area of broad concern because of their adverse impacts on patients and effects on health care costs. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the role of telemedicine as a powerful tool for revolutionizing chronic condition management. Going forward, the policy question is whether clinicians should have complete flexibility as to when and how often to substitute telemedicine services for …

5 situations when you should get a second opinion

Miles J. Varn, MD

October 10, 2020Oct 10, 2020

A second opinion can be a powerful tool. It can help lower your risk of experiencing a medical error or misdiagnosis, allow you to explore all treatment options and their benefits and risks, connect you with physicians who have experience and success treating people with your diagnosis, and provide peace of that mind that your diagnosis and treatment plan are appropriate.

Research from the Mayo Clinic highlights the value of second …

A young doctor’s thoughts on our disaster response system, and why we need to change it

Giselle Malina, MD

October 10, 2020Oct 10, 2020

That first day of mid-March in the call center that was later to become the headquarters of our student lead COVID-19 hotline, the disorganization and confusion were almost palpable. I remember the other fourth-year student at the time, Eda, trying to manage the newly arriving group of student volunteers while simultaneously answering a phone line that was ringing off the hook. I remember the blur of motion as three nurses …

Meet the physician who loves his job

Hans Duvefelt, MD

October 9, 2020Oct 9, 2020

I only applied to one medical school. Maybe that was hubris, but I didn’t think so at the time. Then, in a moment of sudden insecurity, I asked myself, “What if I don’t get accepted?” During the six months between…

I only applied to one medical school. Maybe that was hubris, but I didn’t think so at the time. Then, in a moment of sudden insecurity, I asked myself, “What if I don’t get accepted?”

During the six months between my military service and the beginning of classes at Uppsala University, I worked as a substitute teacher in my hometown, teaching second to eleventh grade depending on where there was a …

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Meet the physician who loves his job

Giving little moments of joy reminds us of the human side of medicine

Andy Lamb, MD

October 9, 2020Oct 9, 20202

The cab driver pulled up to a small house, typical of the post – WWII era. He honked his horn and waited. He honked a second time, but no one came. He contemplated leaving, as it was near the end of his shift, but decided to go knock on the door. Through the door, he heard a voice and something scraping across the floor. The door slowly opened and a …

Fortune favors the bold: How a physician lives up to that motto

Sandra R. Weitz, MD

October 9, 2020Oct 9, 2020

My seven-year-old son’s soccer club motto was “Audentes Fortuna Juvat,” which translates as “fortune favors the bold.” Many years later, I discovered that this concisely stated philosophy is adhered to by the Trumbull College at Yale University, several U.S. Navy ships, and the 80th TAC Fighter Squadron, among others. In reflecting on my own path in life, I cannot think of a more fitting model that is likely to ensure …

How blessed was I to witness this true love story

StorytellERdoc, MD

October 8, 2020Oct 8, 2020

The little things? The little moments? They aren't little ... I noticed the two of them shortly after I arrived for my shift. I was standing at the counter, immersed in a chart, when out of the corner of my…

The little things?

The little moments?

They aren’t little …

I noticed the two of them shortly after I arrived for my shift. I was standing at the counter, immersed in a chart, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw them walk out of their treatment room. Together.

Slowly, they walked into the hallway, looking first to their left and then to their right, wondering which way to go. One of …

Assisted suicide: a change of heart

Dr. Eunice J. Minford

October 8, 2020Oct 8, 20202

When I was training as a surgeon, I was pro assisted suicide. I believed it was a humane act of kindness and compassion. I imagined myself to be in the place of the other and at times felt if that…

When I was training as a surgeon, I was pro assisted suicide. I believed it was a humane act of kindness and compassion. I imagined myself to be in the place of the other and at times felt if that was me, I’d rather be dead than live with that condition or this condition. I understand how easy it is to think and feel like this and not even question: …

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Assisted suicide: a change of heart

The poignant message in the balloon

Kellie Lease Stecher, MD

October 7, 2020Oct 7, 2020

After the combination of COVID-19 and George Floyd's death, it felt like time stood still across the Twin Cities. As a physician, I couldn't understand how a pandemic response could be partisan. However, I became even more shocked at the…

After the combination of COVID-19 and George Floyd’s death, it felt like time stood still across the Twin Cities. As a physician, I couldn’t understand how a pandemic response could be partisan. However, I became even more shocked at the partisan divide when it came time to discuss racism and gender equity. As a physician, we take an oath to protect life. We are trained to care for people in …

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The poignant message in the balloon

A physician learns where the light is

Prerana Chatty, MD

October 7, 2020Oct 7, 2020

Three months into my intern year, I was asked, “Tell us your name, where you went to medical school, and one thing you have learned about yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic.” For an icebreaker, the question caught me off guard.…

Three months into my intern year, I was asked, “Tell us your name, where you went to medical school, and one thing you have learned about yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

For an icebreaker, the question caught me off guard.

Moments later, the answer emerged almost as if I had summoned it myself – unassuming and unapologetic.

“I learned where the light is.”

This answer was also far more poetic and esoteric than the …

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A physician learns where the light is

The actor will see you now: the evolving role of a physician in a pandemic

Uche Ononuju, MD

October 6, 2020Oct 6, 2020

It wasn’t very long into medical school when I realized that the role of a physician feels just like that—a role. As a former high school thespian, I recall my Step 2 CS exam feeling a lot like a series of auditions—convincing twelve standardized patients that I was a competent physician with an abundance of clinical knowledge and the ability to remain cool under pressure during the notorious “curveball” questions …

How can you be in a relationship with someone if you don’t speak the same language?

Yan Ho Lee, MD

October 6, 2020Oct 6, 20202

There is nothing more indelible than the words of an unhappy patient. In fact, in the past ten years, I can count on one hand the number of patients who have expressed dissatisfaction either in person, online, or on patient portals. Even though negative patient interactions are so rare, unfortunately, I’m consumed by them. I ask myself the same question that other physicians ask themselves every time something goes wrong: …

One physician’s journey from burnout to bliss reveals the creative muse in all of us

Lara Salyer, DO

October 5, 2020Oct 5, 2020

An excerpt from Right Brain Rescue: One physician's journey from burnout to bliss reveals the creative muse in all of us. I was about to perform reconstructive surgery, to change someone’s life forever. My hands were posed above the body,…

An excerpt from Right Brain Rescue: One physician’s journey from burnout to bliss reveals the creative muse in all of us.

I was about to perform reconstructive surgery, to change someone’s life forever. My hands were posed above the body, and my knees felt wobbly. I inhaled briskly, and the scent of the sharp, sterile air shocked my lungs. Suddenly, I was acutely aware of all my …

Who could understand what it’s like to tell someone their loved one is dying?

Sami El-Dalati, MD

October 4, 2020Oct 4, 2020

I sat outside my patient’s ICU room, my eyes glancing from his chart to him and his wife. The picture was grim. My patient, Tom, was a 56-year-old man, severely ill from decompensated cirrhosis, was admitted for the third time in a month with hypothermia from sepsis. Despite antibiotic therapy, he was not improving. Now his kidneys were failing from hepato-renal syndrome with a combined liver-kidney transplant, the only hope …

Reflections of a physician coach

Susan Wilson, MD

October 4, 2020Oct 4, 2020

It has been six months since I have achieved certification as a physician peer coach. My motivation was the desire to provide both peer support and guidance to my colleagues in health care. Once certified, I began the process of reaching out to individuals and organizations and was surprised to learn that many in the field of medicine were unaware of coaching as a tool for wellness. Specifically, …

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Reflections of a physician coach

A love letter to the physician with depression

Rebecca W. Lauderdale, MD

October 4, 2020Oct 4, 2020

We’ve never met, but I’ll bet you could use some encouragement right about now. This has been a tough year. Maybe for you, like me, depression feels like an old song that keeps getting played and stuck in your head over and over through the years. Or maybe this is the first time you’re experiencing the weight of it in your body, the diminishing physical and emotional energy, the infuriating …

Physician voices

Articles, page 202

Real physician voices, twice a week

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