They never said it outright. Not at first.
They didn’t have to.
I was a physician at the edge of the Republic, serving those the system had long since forgotten. When the last doctors left, I remained. I healed. I endured. I became necessary.
And for that, the system turned.
Not with conviction, but suspicion.
Not with verdict, but process.
When I first started my career in medicine, CT scans and MRIs were nonexistent. Scientific advancements and technology facilitated the development of these and many other diagnostic tools.
These changes have enhanced medical care, enabling physicians to diagnose and treat patients more effectively. The integration of computers has played a crucial role in this advancement by ensuring better continuity of care, whether at home or in the hospital, through improved communication …
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
– Jiddu Krishnamurti
The American medical system is ill, and physicians are among its sickest patients. As a dual-boarded physician, an assistant professor of family medicine, and someone who has walked the halls of both academia and clinical practice, I have witnessed firsthand the symptoms of this systemic disease. It is a sickness that manifests in exhaustion, …
Last night when I came to work most of the beds in our 31-bed emergency department (ED) were full. There were more than 20 patients either in the waiting room proper or in the chairs that serve as “rooms” behind the triage area.
Much of the problem was the fact that we were boarding patients who were waiting on inpatient beds, psychiatric admissions, or transfer to higher levels of care elsewhere. …
Many physicians are feeling profoundly betrayed right now.
We dedicated our lives to medicine, science, and healing. We sacrificed. We put our patients first, often at great personal cost.
The current political and public health landscape makes many of us feel disregarded, unheard, and deeply disrespected.
Health care, and we as physicians, feel under siege.
Public health policies are shifting in ways …
I have felt anxious for most of my life.
Born into a poor family, my main goal has always been to become independent enough to support myself without needing to ask anyone for money to meet my basic necessities.
I witnessed my father frequently asking others for help whenever he faced significant challenges that his limited salary could not cover. For instance, he would reach out to people when it came time …
Until now, when a lawsuit is frivolous, once a doctor who is the defendant prevails, the case concludes. However, there is a next step. Whether it is taken depends on this doctor.
Prevailing means there is 95 percent confidence that the lawsuit is frivolous. Not every frivolous lawsuit is malicious; however, every malicious lawsuit is frivolous. Malice is actionable.
As of now, malicious prosecution cases are difficult and expensive to prove because …
This story is dedicated to all my female friends in medicine.
Didi does not love her job. What started as a noble purpose of helping people made her feel as though she has become a glorified customer service representative. She focuses on her Hippocratic oath, all right. She’s an internist in her 30s, seeing about fifteen to twenty patients per day, and she’s fed up with the sense of disrespect.
It does …
Just imagine when you felt hurt or betrayed by a colleague, patient, staff member, friend, or family member. Now, picture life if you could somehow free yourself of that hurt, pain, or discomfort. This article will discuss the concept of forgiveness and how it applies to our medical practice.
Examples of forgiveness
A white male racist burned down a predominantly African American church. The arsonist was convicted and sentenced to prison. He …
Practicing medicine is an incredible privilege. Our rigorous training allows us to combine science and compassion to heal and support patients through both challenging and healthy times. However, this privilege often comes with significant challenges, such as burnout and other struggles. Many doctors feel burdened by the time spent on electronic health records, drowning in documentation for nearly six hours …
I’ve witnessed what’s possible when we rethink pain management. By implementing a multimodal assessment approach at my hospital, I achieved a 50 percent reduction in inpatient opioid use, measured in morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs). The Numeric Pain Scale (NPS)—that 0-10 score we’ve leaned on too much—drives overuse when it’s the only guide, and with the U.S. consuming 80 percent of the world’s opioids as just 4.4 percent of its population, …
Cancer is a disease that demands long-term, resource-intensive treatment, posing an especially heavy burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In nations like India, where a significant portion of the population comprises daily wage earners, farmers, and small shop owners living in villages, the challenges are even more pronounced. For these individuals, a cancer diagnosis can feel like a death sentence—not just due to the disease itself but because of …
Long ago, before I started practicing medicine, I worked in the retail sector. I was 15 years old when I earned my first real paycheck. Surely, I worked other odd and end jobs before that first “real job.” I mowed neighborhood lawns, shoveled snow off neighbors’ driveways, delivered newspapers—anything I could do to make a dollar or two. But those odd jobs were not “real jobs” with tangible or steady …
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If I were to bet that the majority of physicians are familiar with that pit in their stomach—that sinking feeling of dread that comes with recognizing things aren’t going well—I’d probably win that bet. Contrary to collective wisdom, Wu (2000) first formalized recognition that doctors involved in critical incidents need help too. Now, twenty-five years later, doctors are still held to a standard that eschews the idea of making mistakes. …
I had two bunnies over a year ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a proper environment for them, just a large cage in the courtyard. During the day, they would roam freely, and I would lock them in the cage at night for their safety.
They were very dear to me. I talked to them, cuddled them, and let them eat whatever I ate. They loved eating from my hands. …
On August 6, 2021, a medical malpractice lawsuit was filed against me. The case involved care I provided between June 29, 2018, and August 3, 2018, while I was an employee at a medical weight loss clinic in Bethesda, Maryland. I resigned from that clinic in November 2018 due to concerns I had about my employer.
The complaint alleged that the patient was defrauded, hospitalized, sustained liver damage, suffered …
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Last year, 54 percent of physicians reported symptoms of burnout. Behind that statistic are thousands of dedicated professionals who entered health care to help people, only to find themselves drained.
I know because I was one of them.
I’m going to share how transforming my approach to leadership through coaching not only saved my career but can revolutionize outcomes across our entire health care system.
“Joh taar se nikli hai, woh dhuun saab nein suni hai.
Joh saaz pey guzri hai, woh kis dil ko pataa hai.
Everyone hears the cries of the chords,
No one knows what the instrument endures.”
—Asian verse
Whistleblowers are moral warriors. These are people with superior work ethics who come forward to report ethical and legal violations at their places of …
It is more than our job,
Our profession,
Our specialty.
It is our life,
Our calling,
Our vocation—
A privilege.
Taking care of the sickest of the sickest children,
The most hurt,
The most wounded,
The most injured,
The most vulnerable among us,
The most precious of human …
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Recently at the clinic where I’ve practiced for more than 30 years, the entire team became temporarily paralyzed by an IT glitch as a result of an upgrade, affecting the six-state organization. We weren’t able to use our EHR system. With the waiting room full of patients, we knew we had to move forward in rooming patients and switching to paper documentation. Our core mission is to take care of …
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