Physician

Princess and the pauper: Both deserve health privacy

Physician

March 28, 2024

The sad news of Princess Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis is a sound reminder of the sanctity of a person’s health status and their right to privacy.

I wasn’t sure which adjective I should use to describe Kate’s diagnosis – “sad,” “tragic,” or “devastating.” All are equally true, depending on whose perspective you consider. No doubt a cancer diagnosis is “sad” in the public’s eyes and even harsher in Kate’s. In my …

Finding peace in the face of loss: a father’s journey with hospice

Kimberly Chapman, MD

Physician

March 28, 2024

How do you make sense of someone dying? The only way I know is to put it into some context so that, if possible, some good can come of it.

Some of you may have known about my dad’s Parkinson’s disease. He’s had a fairly rapid decline over the past four months, and now he’s rapidly declining again. He has been on home hospice for the past three months. He has …

From doctor to family: Witnessing both sides of end-of-life care

Jessica Bloom, MD

Physician

March 27, 2024

We all have those moments in medicine when we know that care has become more futile. Then we do everything in our power to educate, support, gently guide, and give permission to patients and families. There are moments that treating for a cure goes against our tenet to “first do no harm.”

I never would have imagined that I would be on the family side of these debates. I had a …

Exploring pulmonary and ICU insights through cartoons

Drew Harris, MD

Physician

March 26, 2024

I’ve created cartoons using DALL-E, each with its own humorous caption. They’re all original ideas from me, but I used the AI to visualize them. Although they mostly touch on topics related to pulmonary and ICU medicine, I think they could catch the interest of a wide medical audience. Given the pulmonary theme, I decided to call the series Take a Breath.

Thin places: Where memories come alive

Greg Smith, MD

Physician

March 25, 2024

I was listening to Marty Smith of ESPN do the Fore Please, Now Driving podcast for the 87th Masters Golf Tournament this year. The discussion turned to how some places like the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, are just full of memories, ghosts, wisps of recollection, and echoes of voices and cheers long gone that sometimes seem to be brought forward and magnified in our own day and …

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Thin places: Where memories come alive

From fear of loneliness to embracing solitude

Dr. Damane Zehra

Physician

March 25, 2024

Young children have different hobbies and preferences while playing in every part of the world. Some things are universal, but many are influenced by the culture of that specific area or the living conditions of that family. In the subcontinent, young girls are very fond of playing with dolls. Most of the time, these dolls are handmade by their moms or …

Get over toxic situations by leaving them

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

March 24, 2024

“Get Over It” is a 1994 album track that marked the Eagles’ reunion after a 14-year hiatus. The tune reached number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song was written by band members Don Henley and Glenn Frey (1948-2016). Henley is known for his biting, often cynical lyrics, and “Get Over It” is no exception. The song is a commentary on the ‘victim mentality’ that the songwriters felt was …

The spiritual crisis of the employed physician

Dike Drummond, MD

Physician

March 24, 2024

Our physician coaching team and I have extensive experience working with thousands of doctors over the past 13 years who have approached us feeling burned out, exhausted, and uncertain about their future.

We have developed a structured method to assist them in recovering from burnout by focusing on new strategies aimed at constructing their ideal practice.

For years, we’ve recognized that these strategies can be categorized into seven distinct groups.

It has recently …

Corporatization of medicine: Are patients and physicians the losers?

Samer W. Cabbabe, MD

Physician

March 24, 2024

Despite technological and pharmaceutical improvements in the advancement of medicine, many changes that have occurred in the delivery of medicine during my 15 years of private practice in plastic surgery have had detrimental consequences for both patients and physicians. I will briefly review these changes and provide my perspective on the future of medicine in the United States.

The development of electronic health records, with the ability to access, chart, and …

The Alaska Air Flight 1282 door blowout and patient safety

P. Dileep Kumar, MD, MBA

Physician

March 23, 2024

Alaska Air Flight 1282 was on a trip from Portland to Ontario, California, on January 5, 2024. Barely six minutes into the flight, passengers heard a loud bang and a whoosh as the door plug in the middle section of the aircraft blew out. An unused exit door in the mid-part of the aircraft’s main cabin detached and fell out of the sky. One of the passengers sitting close to …

Fostering Black joy in an anti-DEI environment: community, resilience, and equity

Bernice Fokum, MD, Udoka Oji, MD, and Abdullah Pratt, MD

Physician

March 22, 2024

As Black History Month draws to a close, it is crucial to recognize the ongoing challenges faced by Black physicians and the importance of fostering diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and belonging in the medical field. National rhetoric condemning DEI efforts has made for an increasingly difficult environment for Black medical trainees to thrive. This Black History Month, we had the honor of hosting three events aimed at celebrating Black excellence …

Beyond the oath: the unaddressed challenge of physician impairment

Scott Ellner, DO, MPH

Physician

March 22, 2024

Despite their idealized oath to do no harm, physicians are still human, and as such, mistakes, errors, and the unpredictability of life still occur. Although the stories that grab headlines are of doctors intentionally harming patients, such instances are exceedingly rare. Far more prevalent, however, are the cases of physicians who begin their careers with the best intentions, only to encounter challenges along the way. According to the American Medical …

Challenging patients and the art of empathy

Dr. Puspha Raman

Physician

March 22, 2024

On a fine afternoon, my nurse came in and gave me a heads-up. “Doctor, the next one’s a bit of a handful. Made a fuss scheduling, complained about her old doctor endlessly at reception … doesn’t seem like a picnic.” I smiled reassuringly, reminding her (and myself) that non-judgmental care is the cornerstone of medicine. However, my mind let out a little sigh, knowing that the next half hour was …

Physician burnout: a surgeon’s story of exhaustion, recovery, and systemic change

Julie Wei, MD

Physician

March 20, 2024

An excerpt from Safeguarding Physician Wellbeing.

There are numerous books written by physicians of various specialties, primary care, and subspecialists, on the topic of physician burnout. Most physician authors, like me, have been inspired to write a book due to personal experience with a high degree of burnout, and/or have had academic interests and research on the topic. Writing such books can be cathartic, intended as a warning for our …

Physicians are being forced to pass polygraphs if they want to continue to practice

J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhD

Physician

March 19, 2024

I am a former associate director in a state physician health program (PHP). I also hold faculty appointments at Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School in medical ethics and psychiatry.

There is a little-known nether realm inhabited by a subset of doctors who have or are suspected of having substance use disorders. These physicians often are referred to state PHPs which, because they’re generally considered voluntary in nature, have …

A geriatrician’s transformative walk in Italy

Paula Rochon, MD

Physician

March 16, 2024

I just walked about 90 km in six days along the Via Matildica del Volto Santo between Mantua and Lucca through the Appenine mountains in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy. This beautiful, lesser-known route, crossing regions once ruled by the formidable Countess Matilda of Canossa, offered a unique blend of physical challenges and the opportunity to connect with history.

As a geriatrician committed to enhancing the health and well-being …

How to face our mistakes: Using the military’s after-action review to improve morbidity and mortality conferences

Neel Vahil, MD

Physician

March 16, 2024

Nearly three decades ago, David Hilfiker, a family medicine physician in rural Minnesota, authored an essay in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Facing our mistakes.” In the piece, he chronicles three major medical mistakes he made during his long career practicing medicine. Some of the mistakes are horrifying and others simply tragic, but he is brutally honest and forthcoming—displaying a frank self-reflection that is too frequently absent …

The fifth vital sign

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

Physician

March 15, 2024

An excerpt from Narrative Medicine: The Fifth Vital Sign.

“If you don’t take a temperature, you can’t find a fever.”
— Samuel Shem, The House of God

I enrolled in a creative writing course at a local university to better understand the parameters of narrative medicine. I learned about the pillars of the narrative, such as poetry and creative nonfiction, and our class …

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The fifth vital sign

Assisted suicide is the wrong prescription

Joseph E. Marine, MD, MBA

Physician

March 15, 2024

America expends much time, effort, and resources when people become seriously ill, bringing many face-to-face with their own mortality. For patients and their families, it is an emotional and difficult time under the best of circumstances. As a cardiologist, I participate in the decision-making that comes at this time, and it has provided me with the honor of delivering care that has allowed patients to rebound from acute illness and …

Anesthesia is not my name: Knowing each other’s name improves results in the OR

Dr. Zsuzsa Csik

Physician

March 15, 2024

As an anesthesiologist, I recall countless occasions when colleagues from the other side of the drape addressed me, like, “Anesthesia, did the patient receive antibiotics?” or “Anesthesia, I need more muscle relaxation here!”

Especially in my first years as a young physician full of insecurities, it intimidated me, so I never complained and only spoke up when vital.

Nowadays, I grasp the unspoken rules of the OR and can navigate the daily …