Physician

Finding peace through surrender: a personal exploration

Physician

March 21, 2023

Words are everything.

They carry energy. They are the currency of our connection to each other. They are the currency through which we will share with future generations; they are how we communicate with people in generations past. And they carry weight in terms of how we speak to ourselves.

When we begin to grow in awareness of the words we are using and the language we choose, it sometimes becomes humbling …

The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH

Physician

March 21, 2023

Five-hundred and fifty-five. That’s the number of first-year emergency medicine (EM) residency spots that went unfilled in the Match. Before discussing the implications for nationwide residency programs, applicants, and patients, we must ask how we got here?! Emergency medicine used to be a “sexy” specialty. The TV series ER ran for 15 seasons. Emergency medicine was once a part of the infamous E-ROAD (EM, radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, dermatology) lifestyle specialties. …

Beyond the disease: the power of empathy in health care

Nana Dadzie Ghansah, MD

Physician

March 21, 2023

They are not just sick people in need of care. They are people with lives, hopes, plans, and dreams. A day before they showed up, they may have dropped a son at school, taken a daughter to soccer practice, made dinner, had lunch with friends, done their nails, or even bought a new golf club.

Of course, there is the drug addict with endocarditis, the perpetual drunk with intracranial hematoma, or even …

How to overcome telemedicine’s biggest obstacles

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Physician

March 20, 2023

The global health care sector has undergone a digital revolution, with telemedicine at the forefront of this transformation. Telemedicine offers promising opportunities to enhance patient care, reduce costs, and expand access to health care services. However, its widespread adoption faces several challenges that must be addressed for its full potential to be realized. This article discusses the barriers to telemedicine adoption and provides strategies for successful implementation by health care …

The patient who became my soulmate

Anonymous

Physician

March 19, 2023

As oncologists, we encounter numerous patients on a daily basis and form emotional bonds with many of them, especially if they survive long enough and continue to see the same doctor for several years. This bond can grow so deep that we feel their pain, cry with them, and sometimes even realize that some of our patients are our soulmates.

According to Wikipedia, a soulmate is a person ideally suited to …

Read more…

The patient who became my soulmate

Breaking the stigma: Addressing the struggles of physicians

Jean Antonucci, MD

Physician

March 19, 2023

The state of health care in the U.S. is widely considered to be inadequate. I recently learned in an online class that family doctors in Canada only have 10 minutes per patient. I am unsure who sets or enforces this rule and it is unclear why anyone would choose such a job. As an introvert, I understand the toll of being present for others all day, but 10 minutes to …

Life as a physician is sometimes like a runaway trailer

Christopher Nyte, DO

Physician

March 18, 2023

It was a hot day in Northern California, and my clothes were covered with the red dust of summer. At age 9, I couldn’t take a step on our property without grasshoppers launching themselves from the dry wheat grass. Colorful ladybugs were also out in force. I searched everywhere for a container to keep my prized bugs, but my efforts were to no avail. I headed for Mr. Maryfield’s trailer, …

The controversial origin of the Hippocratic oath

Brian Elliott, MD

Physician

March 18, 2023

An excerpt from White Coat Ways: A History of Medical Traditions and Their Battle With Progress.

So, who wrote this immortal Hippocratic oath: Hippocrates or one of his Hippocratic followers? Though no one knows for certain, the answer is potentially neither. The most compelling evidence for this argument is that the …

Erica E. Remer, MD

Physician

March 16, 2023

Imagine you found your dream home and hired an inspector to check it out. They walked around for an hour, kicking the tires on the furnace, taking pictures of the roof, peering up the chimney. In the end, they informed you they were done. You ask, “When will I get the report?” They reply, “What report? You hired me to inspect it. A report would be an undue burden.” Wouldn’t …

Why our quest for self-improvement is failing: Uncovering the immunity to change in health care

Claudia Finkelstein, MD

Physician

March 16, 2023

I signed up for yet another program in my relentless quest for self-improvement (and perhaps recovery from decades of physician hood). This one features Dr. Lisa Lahey, co-author of Immunity to Change.

This is my second encounter with the book (when the student is ready the master will re-appear?) in which she and her co-author, Robert Kegan, lay out a model to uncover “the disjunction between understanding the need for …

Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD

Physician

March 15, 2023

For some, it may seem strange to think of the doctor-patient interaction as a relationship. In the most basic sense, a relationship is a connection; it is how two or more people or groups regard and behave toward each other. Relationships are not static – they are influenced by an ever-changing social, cultural, and political environment. They must try to adapt or risk tension and strife; the doctor-patient relationship is …

Paddle your way to wellness: Navigating the whitewater of medicine and finding balance on the water

Tyler Jorgensen, MD

Physician

March 14, 2023

Whitewater paddlers make it look easy—staying upright in raging waters, navigating huge swells, and leaning and cutting at the right time to avoid dangerous obstacles. And when they do flip upside down, they can pop themselves right back up. It’s a marvel. But no matter how expertly they paddle, they always have to respect the power of the water. They can make careless and costly mistakes when they let their …

Fostering the next (diverse) generation of clinicians

Imamu Tomlinson, MD, MBA

Physician

March 14, 2023

As a medical student, I never saw myself as a future CEO or anything close. I was often the only Black person in the room in classes and rotations. After I became an attending, I spent a great deal of time and mental energy fitting in. Speaking up and having opinions were luxuries I couldn’t afford, let alone aspiring to leadership.

What made a difference? Having a mentor.

My mentor, Wes Curry, …

From grief to gratitude: How writing changed my life

Ryan McCarthy, MD

Physician

March 14, 2023

Dan died, and I became a writer. I didn’t know it, but I did. Back then, I wrote one story, almost by accident, trying to make sense of my personal chaos. That essay chronicled a small-town doctor losing a beloved middle-aged friend who was rapidly fading from pancreatic cancer. It felt like being dropped into a horrible Lifetime movie come to life, where one day in August 2016, Dan developed …

Beyond textbooks: the importance of empathy in medicine

Michael J. Collins, MD

Physician

March 14, 2023

An excerpt from All Bleeding Stops.

Megan continues to take his blood pressure every few minutes. With growing tenderness Denis watches her fidgeting with the IV, biting her lip, eyes flitting from one machine to the next, desperately seeking the reassurance she knows will never come.

She thinks she’s not a good doctor because she hasn’t memorized enough textbooks or performed enough …