“I’m just the night doc,” you said. You said it with emphasis as if that explained everything and dismissed your incompetence, your lack of compassion, your failure to care. Unfortunately my sister was “just the patient,” who lay suffering hours before her death and the RN was “just the nurse” withholding the morphine that the daytime doctor had ordered for air hunger and agitation. The nurse called you in to …
I just finished my first call weekend as an attending. It was a 96-hour bender. I had 4 vaginal deliveries, 1 cesarean, rounded on 20 patients on Saturday (mostly new), 14 on Sunday. I admitted 5, transferred 2 out –one for persistent ventricular tachycardia and one for a possible liver abscess, all while juggling full days of clinic on Friday and Monday.
A few weeks ago, after feeding my face with rich, dense chocolate cake brought by a truly awesome nurse (for no particular reason other than a warm and generous spirit), I walked back into a room to check on a post-cardiac arrest patient.
After surveying his vitals on the monitor, I turned my attention to two nurses and a pharmacist who were discussing the management of his six drips. He was …
As a relatively young physician, I always enjoy my conversations with the older members of our profession, who’ve seen so much change over the last few decades. I’m fascinated with their stories about how different the medical world was when they were residents, how treatments were so novel, and how they used solid clinical skills to get to the diagnosis.
I have a long history with family medicine as my father was an early pioneer – heading up the family medicine program at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital in the 1970s. Even back then my dad was using physician assistants (PAs) — many of them former military medics in the Vietnam War era — who were part of what was at that time a brand new profession.
“A good surgeon has the eye of an eagle, the heart of a lion, and the hand of a woman …”
– 15th century English proverb
#ILookLikeASurgeon, a hashtag on Twitter and the movement it has inspired, has resonated deeply with me.
I look like a surgeon. There is so much more behind this seemingly simple statement of fact. I am not just stating that I have excelled and I have achieved and …
The vast majority of physicians enter medicine with an inborn sense of compassion. Junior residents, however, are the logistical workhorses of teaching hospitals — their north star is efficiency and they are measured largely on their capacity to “get things done.” The consequence is often a slide towards unwitting apathy. I, like all residents, have witnessed this reality first-hand. By reflecting on my experiences, I hope to discover insights we …
The job of being a doctor can sometimes be like that of your favorite sidewalk juggler. It used to be that a good family doctor would have to show up in the clinic for a couple of hours, make a few house calls, and be available if anyone needed him while he played a round of golf in the afternoon. (Really, this is quite an exaggeration but it sets the …
About a year ago, I wrote a piece on my blog called “How to Welcome Incoming Residents.” It was about my struggle with getting the right messaging, messaging about the reality of stress during residency and the necessity of incorporating self-care and outreach to others. This year at orientation, in addition to adding the great suggestions posted by readers of the article, I took a different tack. It was imperative. …
“This is our sickest patient,” my co-intern began as she told me about one of her patients I would care for overnight. It was my first week of intern year, and I was assigned the overnight cross-cover shift for a busy cardiology service. Introducing myself as “Dr. Tredway” still rolled awkwardly off my tongue, but I had grown more comfortable throughout the week in my new role as a physician. …
1. Be nice to others, even if there are a lot of butt sniffers out there.
2. Waiting to be seen is really hard. Try to keep a schedule and routine.
3. Get out for that walk. It will fill you with joy, well-being and makes the rest of the day calmer. Take other dogs on that walk to improve their well-being too.
“If he is hungry when he wakes up, and you don’t let him eat, we’re taking him to another hospital,” the man shouted. I stood trapped between a protective papa bear and his cub. My instinct was to find an exit, but I braced myself for more. This father gave me one last glare before side-stepping around me and wrenching open the door to his child’s hospital room. I glimpsed …
OK, “love” may be too strong a word — I like pre-visit planning. Pre-visit planning isn’t new. Many of you have done it for years, even before it had a name, for example when pre-ordering labs before a visit.
This article was originally written on August 11, 2015.
My psychotherapy supervisor taught me a tip during residency: to pay close attention to the very first thing a patient says, and more importantly, the last topic they bring up towards the end of session. (Because it’s likely that the subject weighing most heavily on their mind is too uncomfortable to discuss at the very beginning.)
There was once a little boy who loved to draw. He would wake up every morning, pull out his box of colored pencils, and let his hands explore the promise of a pristine sheet of blank paper. For him, the canvas was anything but empty, images and ideas exploded out of his mind and magically appeared on the pages in front of …
I have a confession to make: I sometimes look forward to my trips to the bathroom at work. Being a busy pediatrician, it can be the only alone time I get to myself; and on occasion you just need a quiet place where babies aren’t crying, and phones aren’t ringing. The other day as I was leaving the bathroom and returning to the bustling clinic, I did something strange. I …
I was an overachieving, well-rounded and sagacious undergraduate student. I majored in psychology, minored in biology and was an active member of the Psi Chi honor society. I was drawn to the study of psychology, and fascinated by the complexities of mental illness. I became certified as a research assistant and spent many hours with severely depressed individuals, who had become crippled by their illness. I was intensely intrigued by …
Have you ever had a professional photo shoot? I have had many, but not because I particularly enjoy being photographed. Actually, it is quite the contrary.
Photo shoots have always been a traumatic experience for me. You see, for some reason, likely as a creative form of cruel parenting punishment, my family of five siblings had a photo taken every year while growing up. …
“Dr. Gunter, I think, uh, there’s a fetal skull in the abdomen,” my resident said with that hesitancy that says I want you to tell me I’m wrong. The first time you diagnose something that is very bad you actually hope you are mistaken and want someone more senior to reassure you that you are overreacting and tell you that this is just an odd presentation of something benign.
That question is perhaps the most common one raised by patients facing a diagnosis of cancer for the first time. There are so many campaigns about how to “avoid” cancer: no white sugar, no chemicals, all-plant diets, regular exercise, don’t smoke, don’t drink. I can see how one can get the impression that if …
