I’m at a loss for words—how can someone give something so beautiful to a complete stranger who is nothing more than a doctor?
I first met him a year ago when he was referred to us by the neurosurgery department following his brain tumor surgery.
I was the first doctor to meet him in the radiation oncology clinic. He was 40 years old, a laborer from the lower middle class, and accompanied …
A patient gave me the best gift of my life
I was in eighth grade when I boarded a plane alone for a flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia. The airport was a confusing but magical place. This was before the tragedy of 9/11, and by today’s standards, we got out of our cars and almost waltzed to the gate. The only stress I remember feeling was that of flying alone. Luckily, the flight attendants seemed genuinely happy to have me …
Planting the seeds of a work ethic
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
– Winston Churchill
This quote comes to mind when I look back at board prep and all the times I sat for those inhumanely long exams. You might be an early-career physician in the midst of prepping for boards following residency or fellowship at this very moment.
You might have just started a new job, in a new city, and have not yet established your favorite …
7 proven strategies to conquer board exam anxiety for physicians
As the crescendo of a seven-year alleged health care fraud investigation, the trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania opened in late April 2024. The trial is one of less than two percent of the federal criminal cases filed that ultimately end up in a jury trial. This flawed prosecution targeted an exemplary physician who, like the majority of physicians in the United States, has spent most of their lives …
The continued unjust prosecution of physicians
Bring adventure, mental and physical challenge, change, and calculated risk-taking into your life. I made “someday” happen. You can too. “Someday” it may be too late.
Somewhere, sometime, “someday” slips into our lives. Sometimes “someday” is restless, as in, “Someday I would like to travel to all seven continents.” Sometimes “someday” is bold and fearless—”Someday I want to climb mountains.” Sometimes “someday” is intellectual (learning a second language), athletic (windsurfing), or …
Make “someday” happen: the years of living dangerously
A physician in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) requires vast medical knowledge along with emotional resilience. I always thought I had a strong sense of compassion for my patients and their families until I had my own baby 1.5 years ago. It completely shifted my perspective. I started to understand parental grief and fear on a personal level, which reshaped my approach to work.
Before having a baby, I was …
The dual demands of a PICU physician
When people don’t understand the depths of hell the brain can take someone to, I am relieved for them. And I am also grateful for the journey I’ve been on—I would never have understood how someone who appeared “successful” on paper could consider taking their own life and think they didn’t matter unless I had lived it.
When I developed intense and pervasive suicidal ideation, I was on top of the …
If these words can save a life, they must be spoken
Physician Suicide Awareness Day comes and goes each September, bringing with it the sad and perplexing realization that physicians usually top the lists of professionals most likely to take their own lives—something often described as the “silent epidemic.” I sample recent literature on the topic each year, each time noting how varied and complex the statistics and issues surrounding it are. Over the years, there have been physician suicides in …
Physician Suicide Awareness Day: a call to action against the silent epidemic
Do you begin each day with a clean slate? What if you could?
How different would the new day be if you weren’t picking up where you left off—with the stuck energy, the stale energy, the energy of being drained at the end of the shift, at the end of the day?
What if, as we walked out of the hospital, office, or clinic, that energy was left behind, and instead, we …
The clean slate approach: Transform your day with this simple mindset shift
“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.”
— William Shakespeare.
In the dynamic world of business, the landscape is littered with tales of success and failure. However, a recurring narrative that I see repeated over and over and that ensnares many novice entrepreneurs is the misleading promise that “you can strike it rich or be successful with all ventures.” This piece of …
The truth about entrepreneurship: What no one tells you about business success
When I took the final exam after years of pediatric training, hearing my professors say, “You are now qualified and equipped to manage a pediatric clinic; congratulations” was a deeply touching moment for me. I felt fortunate to experience the profound satisfaction of seeing my efforts to help children recognized and appreciated. With eager anticipation, I awaited the assignment to the place where I would begin my journey as a …
How a pediatrician fights vaccine misinformation in a small town
As a physician, I spent years training to care for patients, only to realize by the time I completed my education that I wasn’t truly in control of my career. Like so many of us, I had been funneled into a rigid system that pushes physicians toward employment with large health care systems rather than allowing for independent practice or entrepreneurial ventures. It felt like I had been herded—herded by …
Systemic collusion: How big business and government herd physicians into traditional employment
Walking through the narrow alleyways and past artisanal businesses in the Lake Atitlán region of the Guatemalan highlands, a swarm of children followed us as if we were a parade or a moving tourist attraction. As a global fellow through the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI), I served as an interpreter and interviewer in this underserved region with extreme poverty a few …
The little boy who taught me the power of education in the Guatemalan highlands
Sue went to the operating room today, which was not at all what I recommended, not that we ever discussed my personal opinion on the matter. With a worsening small bowel obstruction, I woke up this morning and, realizing that matters had worsened overnight, I called her husband, Dave. I don’t think I woke him, but his voice, one complicated by little, if any, sleep and likely hours of talking …
When a doctor acts like one of the kids
If you are embroiled in a medical malpractice lawsuit today, you are in a difficult situation.
Your lawsuit is one of 85,000 medical malpractice cases filed each year. Regardless of what your defense counsel tells you about merit, no one truly knows how many lawsuits have merit. A prominent defense attorney has gone on record declaring that there is no such thing as a frivolous lawsuit and publicly disavows any notion …
Is your medical malpractice case just a coin toss?
As endocrinologists, we spend our days balancing hormones and fine-tuning metabolism, but when it comes to our own continuing medical education (CME) conferences, it seems our ability to maintain equilibrium goes out the window. We advocate for healthy living, yet our CME events are a hormonal disaster, like a cortisol spike right after a sugar crash.
Picture the scene: you roll out of bed before the sun, which is already a …
Why endocrinologists need to rethink CME: the secret to a healthier conference
When I was a teenager, I worked summer nights at the Funtown Amusement Park on the south side of Atlanta, Georgia. After work, as I drove home to the north side of Atlanta, I had to pass through “Cabbagetown.” In the early 1960s, during the days of segregation in the South, Cabbagetown was a shantytown neighborhood inhabited by tough, white folks who worked at the nearby Fulton Cotton Mills. On …
What my patients taught me about faith
The field of sports medicine is steadily growing, highlighting the imperative for a more inclusive workforce. There has been a notable rise in female athletes at all levels of sports. The success of U.S. female athletes at this summer’s Paris Olympics was dominant. The prominence of U.S. women in sports is evident by their winning of twenty-six of the forty gold medals awarded. Despite the clear rise in competitive women …
Why diversity in sports medicine is the key to better patient care
About midway through my pediatric residency program at a well-known children’s hospital on the East Coast in the mid-1990s, I found out what was wrong with me.
I told the chief of the pediatric emergency department, a Jewish woman, that I had finally learned the name of a device after I had patients use it many times. I knew what it was for, but I hadn’t learned its name. It was …
How a doctor with cerebral palsy defied the odds and transformed health care
For an introduction to SPR, read this overview. Additionally, you can explore the history of SPR.
When summoned for a peer review, how can you tell if it’s a sham? The biggest clue is whether the peer review process seems intended to help or harm you. If you feel sincerely supported by colleagues and the peer review proceedings are uniformly applied throughout your practice, you have less cause for …
Legitimate vs. sham peer review (SPR): Is there a difference?
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
