Journaling was never my thing. I would buy a pretty journal with great intentions of writing in it regularly. I would write in it daily for a week or two, then forget for a few days, and then forget about it altogether. When I started writing to process some emotions about my mother and my relationship with her, my journal writing was meant to be a brief and cathartic exercise. …
An excerpt from Medicine on Fire: A Narrative Travelogue.
I regret not keeping a diary or journal to write about patient encounters and interactions with peers, residents and attendings, not to mention the sundry characters connected to the academic health center where I trained and practiced. Had I done that, I would have had a lot more material to write about, and my …
As physicians, our primary goal is to provide the best possible care to our patients. However, even with the best intentions, medical gaslighting can occur, leading to patient distress and potentially harmful outcomes. Medical gaslighting is not often intentional. It can happen when physicians, under time constraints, facing diagnostic challenges, or experiencing burnout, inadvertently invalidate a patient’s symptoms or concerns.
Just a few years ago, I found myself on the other …
It’s no secret that health care workers are some of the most stressed and burned-out professionals in the workforce. Health care was a tough job even before we had to bear the brunt of the worst of the pandemic. Even now that we’re nearly four years out from the initial outbreak of COVID-19, we’re still contending with a myriad of challenges, such as mental health disorders and ever-diminishing staff.
Amidst …
Studies involving the virtue ethics of a sound medical practitioner have provided insight into the nature of ethical demands on the physician as a moral person. Kotze et al., the authors of “Virtue in Medical Practice: An Exploratory Study,” agree that thinking about virtues contributes to doctors’ and medical students’ thinking about common moral dilemmas in medicine. However, they also acknowledge that the question of what virtuous medical practice …
Federal and state regulators have intensified the scrutiny of physicians in recent years in response to mounting overdose rates and the corresponding rise in mortality. Many in health care see this as a good thing. They would be wrong.
Look no further than the many physicians who were acquitted or exonerated after being charged with prescription-related crimes. Their plight tells the untold story of the collateral damage inflicted on medicine as …
My grandmother had a beautiful garden that she expanded through years of effort in her terraced backyard. Despite rocky soil and areas of deep shade, her flowers blossomed, and the garden thrived. I do not know if her skills as a gardener were innate or learned through trials and failures, but I know my garden could certainly benefit from her guidance now.
In the medical field, there is a long-held misconception …
In the relentless world of health care, where long hours and high-stress situations have become the norm, finding happiness can often feel like an elusive goal for physicians. The pursuit of professional excellence and the demands of patient care can overshadow the importance of personal well-being and happiness. But what if we could shift the narrative from merely surviving the daily grind to truly thriving within it?
This journey to happiness …
Amidst significant rises in resident unionization, a policy shift is warranted to guarantee equitable compensation and overtime pay for resident physicians contending with demanding 80-hour workweeks. On October 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom made history by signing California Senate Bill No. 525 (SB 525) into law. This monumental legislation will increase the minimum wage for California health care employees to $25 per hour. While SB 525 addresses the …
Much has been written on the social divides laid bare and amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, the more divisive punditry and polemics have receded along with the COVID-19 mandates. And yet, as professionals in health care who have worked in direct patient care and in support of our clinician colleagues, we still see a broad gap separating the culture and worldviews of the people in health care and the …
A recent post on KevinMD resonated with me, probably because I am a doctor who grew up in a rural area and returned to a small-town practice in my home county. Like the author, I experienced the suffocating grip of traditional hospital employment as it slowly drained the life out of me.
Before burnout consumed me, I took proactive steps to start a micro-corporation and transitioned …
I’ve been reflecting lately because, honestly, I feel like I am—finally—good at primary care. With experience, patience, and, dare I say, wisdom, I experience satisfaction, knowing I can do this job. I’m the real McCoy. Or, in my case, the real McCarthy. And despite this, maybe because of this, the effort required often leaves me incapable of doing much else.
At 47 years old, having survived a pandemic, having found my …
Violence and assaults against health care workers are now reported at an all-time high. While health care workers comprise just 13% of the U.S. workforce, they experience 60% of all workplace assaults. Health care has been declared America’s most dangerous profession due to workplace violence. Health care and social service industries experience the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence and are five times as likely to suffer a …
ADVERTISEMENT
Medicine, for many of us, has been a calling. Since I was a child, I knew I would be a doctor, and I did everything in my power to make that dream come to fruition. Nearly 13 years of education, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, years of lost income and retirement savings, countless hours away from family and loved ones, and a disregard for personal passions and hobbies …
A monologue in the style of America Ferrera’s character Gloria in the Barbie Movie (original script by Greta Gerwig).
It is literally impossible to be a woman in medicine. You can be at the top of your class in medical school and residency, and yet you will never think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be infallible, but somehow, we’re made to feel it’s never …
It is a typical day on the inpatient unit. A patient is refusing medication, and I want to take her to court to compel her to take medication while her lawyer is arguing for her right to refuse.
Me: “She’s clearly psychotic. She has lost her family, and she has no place to live… all because of these delusions.”
Lawyer: “But is she behaving in a dangerous way?”
Me: “Being unable to survive …
ADVERTISEMENT
My flights had been delayed, and I did not arrive at the hotel in downtown San Francisco until almost 1 a.m. As I exited the Uber, struggling to shoulder my briefcase and wrangle my suitcase, I was a bit startled to hear a very loud voice coming from my left. “Hey, mister, do you have a dollar or two?” I had been in the city for less than one minute, …
It took four tries, but we synchronized the newest episode of Outlander perfectly. Just outside of Philadelphia, I’m watching the same scene in lockstep with my best friend, Corinne, one thousand miles away in St. Louis. We make all the same faces in response to the dialogue. We roll our eyes together when someone dares to suggest that Claire won’t be able to heal someone who’s sick.
“I’ll honor you until …
“A doctor must work eighteen hours a day and seven days a week. If you cannot console yourself to this, get out of the profession.”
During the 20th century, these famous words from Dr. Martin Henry Fischer (1879-1962) were often quoted to students on their first day of medical school with a veiled threat to “toughen up.” Unfortunately, remnants of this outdated “get over it or get out” attitude in …
ADVERTISEMENT
There may be a distinction between sensitivity and sensibility; however, these lines often blur and even overlap rapidly. Conducting oneself sensibly both at and outside of work automatically assumes that one’s sensitivity is well-attuned to the present times. Simultaneously, regularly refreshing sensitivity presumably ensures that one always carries oneself sensibly, both at and outside of work. Yet, it’s worth pondering: what is the origin of human common sense? Has our …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
