The Kumbh Mela festival in India and the social psychological implications of crowds
An excerpt from The Bonds We Share: Images of Humanity, 40 Years Around the Globe.
Once every 12 years, …
Physician
Discovering self through creative writing and medicine
“The balance to fact and analysis is feeling,” our narrative medicine writing instructor informs us. “You’ll find that each poem and essay and story that you write reflects a new aspect of yourself. Be curious about what’s going on. Allow new poems onto the page. Allow free writing in prose and poetry. You have worlds inside you.”
And then, predictably, the homework assignment for next week: “Create and post your ‘800 …
Continuous work coverage in health care: challenges and solutions
Two scourges of 24 x 7 x 365 coverage may be lost on-the-job sleep and soured on-the-job peace for workers, especially for health care workers.
Traditionally, attending physicians have had the privilege of call rooms while providing coverage for overnight health care services. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education expanded that privilege to resident physicians and fellow physicians. Now, it may be time to extend that privilege to advanced practitioners …
Hospital as a river: Navigating uncertainty and empathy
The hospital is like a river. Patients float downstream into our care, stay in sight for a moment, and leave after we have done everything we can to help them. Regardless of why they arrive or how long they stay, every person in the hospital will always leave, whether for recovery, rehabilitation, transfer, or death. Meanwhile, the hospital staff guard the river banks, keeping watch over the steady flow of …
The story of a cancer survivor and his bond with Lucky the Duck
There is no news that one can hear about oneself that is more dreadful than being told that you have cancer. The mind shuts down for a few minutes. No matter what the doctor is saying, the words do not register. It is like in the movies. The only difference is that the scene passes in the movies, and there is a happy ending. Not in real life. The scene …
1 in 4 attempt suicide: the persecution of autistic physicians
A young autistic surgeon makes several social faux pas, leading to clashing with his boss repeatedly. This eventually leads to the young autist being transferred to pathology against his will. Unable to cope with the change, he stands up to his boss to seek reinstatement as a surgeon, and he is consequently fired for disrespecting authority by standing his ground.
Sound familiar? That’s because it’s one arc of Read more…
We must protest our moral outrage
I’ve finally figured out why we – physicians – are called “providers.” It’s not merely because we render services. In addition, our role has become a commodity, genericized and stripped of autonomy. We are no longer free to practice as we wish. We have lost the ability to take medical matters into our own hands, to control them, and to resolve them ourselves. Having lost ownership of medical practice to …
Navigating feminism in medicine
“Become the doctor your parents always wanted you to marry,” said the T-shirt I purchased from the women in medicine interest group during my first year of medical school. I remember feeling like I should buy that T-shirt (and I did), yet it was also something I was never quite comfortable wearing. It was a “women’s cut” (how appropriate), which meant it fit snugly across the chest and sat high …
The emotional intelligence of physicians: Understanding and managing emotions for better care
The role of a physician is not only to diagnose and treat physical ailments but also to provide emotional support to patients. Understanding and managing emotions is a crucial skill for physicians, impacting their ability to provide empathetic and effective care. Moreover, emotional intelligence also affects a physician’s well-being and relationships in their personal life. In this article, we will explore the eight primary emotions identified by psychologist Robert Plutchik …
Navigating a malicious medical malpractice lawsuit: a case study
In line with my previous posts that explain how to resolve all medical malpractice lawsuits, especially frivolous ones, at the lowest possible cost for the physician and the malpractice carrier, this article addresses a malicious medical malpractice lawsuit. Malicious lawsuits deserve something more. Not only are they all frivolous, but they should exact a cost from those who seek to profit from them.
The forewarning
On June 19, 2018, a patient …
The sacred profession of doctoring
My heart goes out to the doctors who write about the unbearable burdens of doctoring in a corporate setting, feeling driven to see more patients than they want to within the span of an 8-hour clinic day. They’re tasked with dividing their time into shorter and shorter clinic visits, devoting more time to inputting data points into the EMR rather than engaging in meaningful patient conversations.
I have experienced both ends …
Revamping health care: Tackling outdated systems and shifting mindsets
Where do you start to update a system so deeply mired in antiquated technology and a culture so resistant to change?
Here’s where:
Health records requests. Why should I have to request my own medical records? When I do make a request, why does it take days to get them? Why do I have to physically pick them up? Why do I get a stack of papers, or, if I’m lucky, a CD? …
The fusion of fMRI and polygraph tech
Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury and I attended Los Angeles High School, separated by 15 years. He once spoke there and quelled the rumor that he failed English: “I got a C!”
His writings extend beyond the realm of reality into a dimension of creativity and hope. Oftentimes, we think mankind has reached the limits of understanding, but in reality, there are things we don’t know regarding the eternity of outer …
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A physician’s letter: Safeguarding patient well-being by opposing off-site infusions
I am writing to vehemently argue against out-of-office infusions for my patients. There are many general reasons for this, which I will enumerate. There are also often patient-specific reasons, such as frailty, chronic noncompliance with recommendations (which do not reach the level of a psychiatric issue but which make offsite infusions less safe), and patient-perceived intolerance of infusions (even if we see no objective signs of a reaction). While these …
Leaving hospital employment: a physician’s pursuit of independence
After nearly a year of planning my exit strategy, my final day as a hospital-employed physician was June 30th, 2023. How surreal to finally be independent! In a recent phone call, a dear friend and fellow physician asked what drove me to my decision.
“Because I felt like a failure every day,” I disclosed to my normally sympathetic colleague. To my dismay, he responded with a chuckle. I asked why he …
Primary care challenges: AI and virtual clinics
As I clicked onto the homepage of Amazon Clinic, I got a little bit nervous. Low up-front costs, straight-forward medical decision-making, bread and butter medicine at the patient’s fingertips. Have a UTI? As long as it is simple, no problem, here’s your antibiotic. Just a few clicks. Male pattern baldness? Click. Erectile dysfunction? Click.
Just barebones medicine without the pesky face-to-face human interaction. And with easy-to-follow “guidelines,” we don’t even need …
Navigating the broken medical system: challenges faced by foreign medical graduates
As I sit here contemplating the beginning of this unsent letter, I find myself questioning its intended recipient and purpose. The truth is, I don’t have the answers just yet. Perhaps, by the end of these few paragraphs, some clarity will emerge.
When I left my home country to come to the United States, I envisioned hospitals here as being on par with what we would consider “first-world country” institutions. I …
Navigating patient requests: Balancing care and communication
If you are a practicing physician, then you have definitely come across patients who want something that you feel is unnecessary. Sometimes those conversations escalate and become contentious, and sometimes you reluctantly give the patient what they request even though you know it’s not “best practice.” These demands and interactions can weigh on us and leave us emotionally drained.
In the pediatrics office, that can look like this:
- A parent wants …
Ensuring compensation during absences
As human needs continue to evolve, it is essential for our systems to adapt accordingly. One perplexing question is who bears the cost of human work. Do the systems pay for human labor, or do humans contribute to the systems, which, in turn, pay for their work? From an economic perspective, it boils down to humans paying for humans to work through human-devised systems. We won’t delve into the idea …
Navigating the rising challenges of dermatology residency applications
The path to becoming a dermatologist has become increasingly challenging in recent years. This is due, in part, to the competitive environment of residency applications, as well as the increasing emphasis on research output. In their publication, “Research Fever—An Ever More Prominent Trend in the Residency Match,” Dr. Ahmed and Dr. Adashi note that the number of research publications on residency applications has increased significantly over the past decade. This …
Past Week
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Health care as a human right vs. commodity: Resolving the paradox
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My wife’s story: How DEA and CDC guidelines destroyed our golden years
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The gastroenterologist shortage: Why supply is falling behind demand
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Why voicemail in outpatient care is failing patients and staff
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Alex Pretti’s death: Why politics belongs in emergency medicine
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U.S. opioid policy history: How politics replaced science in pain care
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Past 6 Months
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How environmental justice and health disparities connect to climate change
-
Will AI replace primary care physicians?
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A physician father on the Dobbs decision and reproductive rights
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What is the minority tax in medicine?
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Why the U.S. health care system is failing patients and physicians
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Alex Pretti: a physician’s open letter defending his legacy
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Recent Posts
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AI censorship threatens the lifeline of caregiver support [PODCAST]
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Demedicalize dying: Why end-of-life care needs a spiritual reset
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Physician due process: Surviving the court of public opinion
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Spaced repetition in medicine: Why current apps fail clinicians
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When the doctor becomes the patient: a breast cancer diagnosis
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My journey with fibroids and hysterectomy: a patient’s perspective
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Past Week
-
Health care as a human right vs. commodity: Resolving the paradox
-
My wife’s story: How DEA and CDC guidelines destroyed our golden years
-
The gastroenterologist shortage: Why supply is falling behind demand
-
Why voicemail in outpatient care is failing patients and staff
-
Alex Pretti’s death: Why politics belongs in emergency medicine
-
U.S. opioid policy history: How politics replaced science in pain care
-
Past 6 Months
-
How environmental justice and health disparities connect to climate change
-
Will AI replace primary care physicians?
-
A physician father on the Dobbs decision and reproductive rights
-
What is the minority tax in medicine?
-
Why the U.S. health care system is failing patients and physicians
-
Alex Pretti: a physician’s open letter defending his legacy
-
Recent Posts
-
AI censorship threatens the lifeline of caregiver support [PODCAST]
-
Demedicalize dying: Why end-of-life care needs a spiritual reset
-
Physician due process: Surviving the court of public opinion
-
Spaced repetition in medicine: Why current apps fail clinicians
-
When the doctor becomes the patient: a breast cancer diagnosis
-
My journey with fibroids and hysterectomy: a patient’s perspective
-
