I spent this past week worrying that my in-laws were going to divorce me. For sure. No getting out of it this time.
I do not keep a neat house. There are piles everywhere. Piles of books. Piles of papers. Piles of clean-but-unfolded laundry. Piles of mail. Piles of music. Piles (believe it or not) of instruments. Piles of shoes. Piles of …
What a messy house has to do with medicine today
I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was 10 years old, dressed in kid pajamas with sleep still in my eyes. I walked upstairs with a sense of purpose. “I can’t take it anymore,” I told my parents. At that point it had been a year since we found the surgeon who was finally able to offer the chance …
When is it right to share our personal struggles with patients?
This article adapted from a lecture presented by Pamela Wible, MD, at the 2014 American Academy of Family Physicians Scientific Assembly in Washington DC.
Why did you go to medical school?
I’m a family physician born into a family of physicians. My parents warned me not to pursue medicine. So I went to medical school. Ten years later, I’m unhappy with the direction …
Physician suicide 101: Secrets, lies and solutions
Americans tend to like fast things: instant coffee, sports cars, and speed dating. Many share a fascination with record holders, such as the world’s fastest runner or texter. And increasingly, the same goes for medicine. The number of minute clinics is exploding. Some emergency rooms now post their current wait times on roadside billboards. And increasingly, physicians and other health professionals …
It’s time to tell fast medicine to slow down
I just recently attended a meeting where there was a panel discussion on caring for Holocaust survivors. The person who opened the meeting spoke about how she felt inadequate when dealing with this population because she had no personal place of reference — she had no family members who died during the Holocaust, and so she couldn’t truly understand what the survivors went through.
I have a different thought.
Although every experience …
When you can’t share experience: The power of listening
An excerpt from Remedy for Burnout: 7 Prescriptions Doctors Use to Find Meaning in Medicine.
A doctor’s self-worth can be tied up with a lot of issues.
How well can we make a diagnosis?
How elegantly can we perform the surgery?
How happy are our patients? Our staffs? Our families?
How many articles …
Fall in love with medicine again
A few months ago I was paged by a medical student in the emergency room at ten o’clock. I had just changed my clothes, and before my pager went off my attention had been squarely fixed on the newest Jack Reacher novel.
You can usually tell when someone is going to ask you to come into the hospital from home, because there …
Medicine cannot be reduced to just a job. Here’s why.
Cheryl loved to dance. There wasn’t a time in our house when the the kids weren’t jumping up and down on the furniture, the radio blasting, and her body swaying in rhythm. Ironically, we were dancing when it happened. It was her fortieth birthday. The kids laughed and clapped as I dipped her dramatically and she sprung back into my arms. And then she crumpled. Tony, my youngest, giggled hysterically …
Years after a stroke, and wondering if the right decision was made
When teaching about life near dying, it is hard to achieve open conversation. No matter what one says in a lecture hall or what brilliant writers publish on the terrible state of end-of-life care, change is painfully slow. While we blame evasion by doctors of challenging conversations, failure by patients to plan or denial by families which blocks open communication, the …
The 75 Plan: Thoughts on Ezekiel Emanuel’s palliative care article
From seeing elegant pictures of our brain and spine, to definitely characterizing masses in the liver and guiding management of orthopedic issues, MRI has an established role in the delivery of optimal care. MRI is an amazing tool that allows us to see inside our bodies and helps us get answers about a wide variety of medical conditions. As a radiologist …
MRI: Myth or reality? A radiologist answers your questions.
There are times when a common cliché may be the best way to describe academic medicine in today’s medical centers. In fact, I have heard patients and their families complain about this, way too often. Simply put, there are many occasions when it seems that there are too many cooks in the kitchen.
When someone gets admitted to the hospital, chronic problems …
Too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil medical care
An excerpt from Service Fanatics: How to Build Superior Patient Experience the Cleveland Clinic Way.
Patients’ definition of their own experience is quite divergent. We ask patients for feedback, and the results are fascinating. We’ve found that patients often use the word experience in their comments: “I can’t believe how …
Patient perceptions of the hospital experience
What I found most disturbing about the man’s arm was not the deep, stellate laceration on the underside of his biceps.
It was the swastika tattoo next to it.
“Sir,” I said, “we’ll have you fixed up in no time. I’m going to numb up the wound, irrigate it, then repair the laceration with sutures and send you home on antibiotics and pain …
When treating neo-Nazis, should physicians have a choice?
I wear a lot of hats in my job. Though I’m a physician who specializes in the practice of anesthesiology, I don’t spend all day every day at the head of an operating room table.
Many days I spend in an administrative leadership role or conducting research studies. These functions support the best interests of my patients as well as the science …
What I love about being an anesthesiologist
I recently attended my 10-year medical school reunion class party, and I have to admit, I had a great time. From the beginning, my class was special. We had 104 amazing people who were truly inspired to make a difference.
However, regardless of how talented and hard working you are, medical school is one of the most challenging things you will ever …
To medical students and residents: It really does get better
“They need you in room 13,″ she said when I answered the phone and I ran back to the ICU. The patient was coding and for each minute that felt like an hour, we tried, and failed, to save her. She wasn’t breathing, her heart wasn’t working, and despite the 30 people gathered in the room, in the end, she died.
Running a code, as we call it, means that someone is …
Running a code is a team sport
I was on call last night.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not as bad as it sounds.
With over 20 partners sharing evening call, and residents getting the calls first, we do not have it bad at all. And certainly nothing like my obstetrician friends, who seem to go in every time they are on call for labor and delivery and then …
Why do doctors still use pagers?
As the birth of our first child loomed on the horizon, I couldn’t help but worry. As a first time mother and a pediatrician, I found the uncertainly coupled with too much knowledge of all manner of possible problems particularly unsettling.
In addition to worrying about my baby’s health, I grew increasingly concerned about how I would handle the balancing act that all working mothers must perform. Having put motherhood off in order to complete …
The choice between motherhood and medicine
Pretty much on a weekly basis I come across an article about how awful life is as a practicing physician. Articles focus on how unhappy physicians are with their jobs, with their hours, with their pay or with health care reform.
After almost a decade of practice, the fact is that I like my job.
Is it perfect? Absolutely not: quite far from it, in fact. There are certainly many times when …
There is something very special about being a physician
The ear, nose and throat specialist who treated comedian Joan Rivers on August 28 has been identified as Dr. Gwen Korovin, a prominent New York physician who is known as a voice doctor to many entertainers and Broadway stars including Hugh Jackman and Julie Andrews.
With a physician who is an expert in airway anatomy at her side, and all the technologic advantages …
Joan Rivers’ death: What went wrong?
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