I suffered through burnout twice in my career. Each episode was similar in that feelings of fatigue, exhaustion, and emotional overwhelm were predominant. Each time I felt like a failure as a mother and a physician. However, each episode of burnout differed by involving different triggers and calling into focus different aspects of my work-life imbalance.
For each episode of burnout, I was able to employ some particular methods to recover. …
When Luther Vandross released Dance with My Father in May 2003, he was hospitalized, recovering from a stroke. Despite his condition and minimal promotion, the song quickly became one of the most requested tracks of the time. Its profound emotional impact resonated widely, earning Vandross accolades for Song of the Year and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
Vandross was just eight years old when his father …
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We welcome family physician Michael Fine alongside insights from medical resident Fatima Khan. Join us as we delve into the transformative journey of the Scituate Health Alliance, spearheaded by Michael, and its pioneering …
I was at a meeting discussing issues concerning upcoming audits by various regulatory agencies and noticed a change that made me aware of the fact that many years have come and gone since I started this journey in administrative and public psychiatry. I was the only man in leadership at this table. I was the second oldest person at this table. Surrounded by a group of younger, intelligent, and energetic …
The internal medicine community is broad and varied, with a diversity of internal medicine physicians as its foundation. As we move forward as a country and as health care continues to evolve, we must embrace our diversity and afford equal opportunity to all segments of our physician workforce, including our international medical graduates (IMGs). The American College of …
I often find that many doctors come to me with doubts and are grappling with the idea that they don’t know how to manage the business aspects of their private practice. However, in working with them, most come to the realization that the truth is that the skills required to run a successful medical practice are not as foreign as they may think. In fact, they are deeply rooted in …
Recently, media outlets and social media influencers have been on fire with stories about new “miracle” obesity drugs that promise a quick fix for people wanting to lose weight. Lost in this chatter are the life stories of millions of Americans struggling with obesity and its physical and emotional effects. A vital question is being ignored: how can we continue to allow money to determine access to treatment when many …
The term “revolutionary” is used too often in health care. New imaging modalities, pharmaceutical breakthroughs, advanced medical devices, and artificial intelligence are all regularly proclaimed to be revolutionary to attract interest and attention. But those of us trained in medicine who work in these fields know that revolutions don’t happen—it takes 17 years for new research to reach the translational stage.
In reality, the best we can hope for is …
Imagine being completely consumed by the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Could you do this for a day? How about for a week? What if I asked you to do this all day, every day, for an entire month? Sounds exhausting, right? Medical students are asked to do this for four years. During that time, we navigated a world that was completely new to us in an unfamiliar environment alongside hundreds …
As cancer clinical trialists with sub-specialized practices, we treat patients from across the country. But while they must travel for treatment, there are clear occasions where we recognize that advice and consultation by telephone, video, and patient messaging are perfectly safe and far more convenient and cost-effective.
Telemedicine across state lines was the legal norm during COVID-19. Patients and practitioners quickly recognized that Americans deserved access to physicians unencumbered by …
I was in rheumatology private practice for just under four years as my first few years out of fellowship. During that time, too many of my patients were coming with obesity complicating a facet of their rheumatic disease. The most common example might be osteoarthritis, where excess weight directly applies force to joints like the lower back, hips, and knees, accelerating the disease and worsening outcomes. A less obvious example …
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It’s 4:57 p.m., and I’m anxiously tapping my foot in a stuffy cubicle, trying to ignore the pain of my compression socks seemingly cutting off circulation to my feet. I quickly glance at the timer. Thirty-one seconds. I close my eyes and say a quick prayer as I feel the agile kicks of my daughter, who this week is measuring the size of a cucumber! I do one final pass …
Resident physicians are vital to the health care system, delivering essential medical services while training to become fully licensed doctors. However, a troubling trend has emerged nationwide, with residency programs and hospitals frequently violating the rights and protections resident physicians are entitled to under employment contracts, state labor laws, and accreditation standards. I personally was forced to deal with these issues, despite having virtually zero knowledge regarding the legal side …
Yesterday, I couldn’t get up in time in the morning and had to rush to the hospital without breakfast. I was just afraid of getting noticed by anyone from my department that I was a little late. When I reached the outpatient department (OPD), I just got a text from my consultant that he was not feeling well, and I had to see all the patients in his absence. In …
Recent regulatory changes create a national staffing level for nursing facilities. Despite the much-needed rule change and the well-known stench of understaffed nursing homes that many Americans dread going to, most of the news cycle has portrayed this as a negative development. This is but one example where our patients are being manipulated into beliefs and actions that are contrary to their best health care interests. Recently, the same lies …
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Hangs up. Phone drops. Thud.
She blinks back, tears, and looks up.
Thyroid cancer, huh …
Typing, click clack … thud.
She sighs in relief.
Texts friends, invites family
over for comfort.
The next day, she calls
her doctor ready to talk,
ready to listen.
Behind the poem: not your typical haiku
I waited in line at the pharmacy, a familiar chain store. The man in front of me waited patiently for the technician to ring up his meds. I overheard her say to him, “$125.00. That includes your insulin.”
The man bowed his head and smiled politely, showing many missing teeth. He was dressed modestly. I did not know his name. I did not know him. I had never met him before. …
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