Have you ever found yourself trapped in a job that seemed to suffocate your spirit? The kind of place where stepping through the doors invoked an overwhelming sense of dread, and encountering management left you feeling like your kindness and loyalty were taken for granted? Perhaps you’ve experienced a workplace where basic concessions seemed like an impossible ask, and your plea for them fell on deaf ears. In such an …
In 2013, I graduated with a BSN, drawn to nursing by a love for science and a passion for helping others. The promise of good pay, job security, and growth opportunities was a marketing pitch so convincing I never thought to question it. Before my first clinical experience, I vividly recall having to attend a self-defense class. At the time, it struck me as both odd and somewhat amusing that …
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We’re joined by Jill Wener, an internal medicine physician, as we delve into the transformative concept of dialectics. Join us for an exploration of how dialectical thinking can help you navigate complex emotions, foster better health care …
In 2023, roughly 2 million people will have been diagnosed with some form of cancer, and while cancer can affect everyone, it does not affect everyone equally. Women – especially women of color and women with lower socioeconomic standing – often face significant hurdles when it comes to accessing the health care they need to prevent, treat, and survive cancer.
The downstream effect
Although there have been significant efforts to address …
I read an essay advocating the disclosure of personal trauma on medical school applications as a means of overcoming stigma and taboo often associated with rape and other forms of trauma. The authors lamented that a culture of silence persists in medicine despite movements such as #MeToo. They concluded: “We, as physicians, have a duty to reduce shame to promote recovery in both our patients and in ourselves.”
Not …
One of my most stressful high school class memories was an AP English class I took during my junior year. Each week, we had timed writings where we were given a specific amount of time to write an essay on a given topic. As soon as the timer went off, we had to put our pencils down and raise our hands, signaling that we were done, regardless of what was …
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Join medical student Leana Pande. We’ll explore the vital role health care practitioners play in addressing intimate partner violence (IPV). Discover how education, training, patient-centered care, and risk assessment tools can empower health care providers to make …
In an impromptu listing of all the diseases his children had, I never would have guessed that the next word to come out of my attending’s mouth was “gay.” As an LGBTQ+ medical student with scars on my chest to prove it, this encounter only added to the collection of instances where I felt the weight of being underrepresented in medicine. Or am I?
Each year, the Association of American …
The universe can be a very confusing place.
Quite often, things will happen together or one-after-another that will cause even learned people to connect two events as causative when they are not. These misattributions are not just of academic concern. They can have real-world consequences.
In 1347, a plague began to sweep through Europe. At the time, no one knew what caused plagues, and the germ theory of disease was centuries away. …
I leaned over the bed’s railing, straining to hear the morphine-slurred words spilling out of his chapped lips. “Make them stop laughing,” he said, referring to the cohort of young nurses giggling around the code cart in the hallway. “I’m in here suffering, in pain, and I shouldn’t have to hear laughter. Tell them to stop. Tell their boss. It’s so unprofessional.” After spitting out the last spiteful words of …
Often the key to solving a troublesome problem is approaching it from a different direction. As 19th-century mathematician Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi wisely noted (and as popularized by renowned investor Charlie Munger), “Invert, always invert.”
Therefore, when we consider ways to transform our current health care system in the U.S. to deliver more reliable, equitable, cost-effective value, we should explore the factors that perpetuate a continued unreliable, wasteful system that propagates …
My overall feeling is that independent practices cannot survive in isolation, nor can they single-handedly drive the transformation needed for value-based care, population health, or to ensure that the most vulnerable have the primary care access they need. We do require financial partners and investment. However, it’s crucial to ensure that we align with the right partners who share a vision that will continuously improve pediatrics for the long term.
During …
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First, a disclaimer. I do not know Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and I am not involved in his medical care. As an academic infectious disease physician, I am ignorant of the internecine hierarchy of the Defense Department. However, I listen to the news and thus am aware of his recent prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. On National Public Radio, reporters were discussing why the secretary of defense did not …
I was recently reminded that you always learn something from your patients, no matter how long your medical profession is. I was reminded of this when I had the opportunity to treat a young person in transition. I reviewed the chart before walking into the exam room. Among other things, it listed the patient’s chief complaint (i.e., in this case, lower back pain), age of nineteen, female sex, and a …
Journaling was never my thing. I would buy a pretty journal with great intentions of writing in it regularly. I would write in it daily for a week or two, then forget for a few days, and then forget about it altogether. When I started writing to process some emotions about my mother and my relationship with her, my journal writing was meant to be a brief and cathartic exercise. …
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Join Adam Mariano, a health care executive. We’ll delve into the world of Big Data and tokenization in health care, exploring how these technologies are revolutionizing patient insights, data security, and health care outcomes. Learn about the …
Dr. Gray is a young, bright emergency medicine physician who recently relocated to Austin, Texas, to start his first job as an attending. Nervous and excited, Dr. Gray is eager to explore the lively city of Austin and start practicing emergency medicine on his own. After a few months in the city, he noticed higher rates of obesity, homelessness, and uncontrolled diabetes among his patients compared to his prior practice …
An excerpt from Medicine on Fire: A Narrative Travelogue.
I regret not keeping a diary or journal to write about patient encounters and interactions with peers, residents and attendings, not to mention the sundry characters connected to the academic health center where I trained and practiced. Had I done that, I would have had a lot more material to write about, and my …
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As physicians, our primary goal is to provide the best possible care to our patients. However, even with the best intentions, medical gaslighting can occur, leading to patient distress and potentially harmful outcomes. Medical gaslighting is not often intentional. It can happen when physicians, under time constraints, facing diagnostic challenges, or experiencing burnout, inadvertently invalidate a patient’s symptoms or concerns.
Just a few years ago, I found myself on the other …
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