How female social conditioning leads to burnout
There has been a lot of talk about physician burnout over the past few years, and as an occupational medicine physician, I’m happy to see that conversation is taking place. For too long, we just saw burnout as an acceptable hazard that just comes with the job.
But it’s become clear to me that there’s a big missing piece in the discussion of burnout — particularly when we try to answer …
How medicine is broken
I read KevinMD regularly. I see a lot of stories about how broken medicine is: how doctors are retiring, leaving early because they are overworked or underappreciated, or being manipulated by corporate medicine. All these complaints are valid. There are also articles about how residency is brutal and causes mental distress to trainees, with the onerous hours and unrealistic expectations. That, too, is true. Medical training, at least in my experience, is …
My personal cemetery
I love listening to podcasts on my way to work, and I was most excited when the second season of Dr. Death started. If you didn’t listen to the first season, it was about Dr. C. Duntsch, a neurosurgeon in the Dallas area who should never have been operating on people. He even left his best friend paralyzed from the neck down due to a botched surgery.
The second season follows …
Cancer: Why silence and anonymity are also courageous
Recently, I found a lump that was diagnosed as breast cancer. It is Stage IA, with a high chance of cure, but of course, more information might change that sooner or later. I have entered the uncertain world of being a patient – before this, as a physician myself, I happily avoided seeing the doctor.
While my cancer should be curable, and this will just be a …
The duality of being a female physician
I am a female cardiologist that graduated from medical school almost 20 years ago. Although my core personality has remained constant, I have been viewed through multiple different optics. What I find most interesting is that while most of my patients would unanimously agree that I am a smart, talented, and dedicated professional, I have never achieved this level of validation from other professionals in medicine.
I stay the same, but …
An empowered woman’s guide to better health [PODCAST]
Sexual health is health: It’s time to embrace that in medicine
For many of us, while in medical school and residency, sexual health history was mostly taught from a disease standpoint. If a patient had a complaint about sexual dysfunction, had a symptom or concern about a sexually transmitted infection, needed contraception, or had specific questions related to the reproductive system, then we took a sexual history. Sexual health history taking in many programs is limited to an elective in the …
Gender bias is powerful and harmful
The Boston Globe recently published an article on Dr. Jane Weeks, an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who declined treatment for breast cancer, passed out at work due to a pulmonary embolism in 2012, and ultimately died of breast cancer in 2013. I was a first-year fellow training at Dana-Farber in 2012 and vividly recall hearing that a well-known oncologist had passed out in the cafeteria. There were many …
Who gets to succeed in medical school: Improving medical student outcomes that matter
As I mentioned in my last article, “Who gets to graduate from medical school,” I find one consistent, uncomfortable truth: Whatever led to the gap in academic performance before medical school is likely to still be present and persistent during one’s medical education journey. The lack of access, inequitable distribution of opportunity, familial responsibilities, socioeconomic disparities, or systemic barriers that kept students from utilizing their full academic potential in …
A personal mission to get obese patients on GLP-1 agonists [PODCAST]
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“Obesity is not the consequence of bad behaviors it is a disease that finally has effective, safe, lasting treatments. Patients with obesity have been marginalized long enough. We, especially health care providers, have got to start taking …
Enjoying the spirit of the holidays with fewer spirits
The winter holidays are almost here. And it’s the time of year when food abounds and alcohol sales double. So, in the spirit of wellness and health, I’m sharing some ideas for alcohol substitutes, safe drinking, and some general information about alcohol. Enjoying the holidays with good company, food, and drink is a treat. But too much alcohol can be problematic, especially when taking prescription medications or when struggling with …
Start walking to improve health and well-being
I just walked 120 km over five days on the South Downs Way along the southeast coast of the United Kingdom. It was a beautiful walk through the pastoral English countryside, culminating in the dramatic chalk cliffs near the coastal town of Eastbourne. While not a technically difficult walk, there were certainly enough hills to climb, high winds, and rainy days to make us ready for our evening pub dinners.
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Lack of innovation is leading to disparities in diabetes care
Having spent over 30 years of my career in diabetes, first as a practicing diabetologist and later as a diabetes researcher, I’ve met many people with diabetes. And while diabetes care has evolved significantly over my career, I’m amazed to see that daily insulin management is just as complex and manual for many people, particularly those with type 2 diabetes (T2D) — daily insulin management is just as complex and …
Leading an organizational culture change? Consider an apology first. [PODCAST]
The slow progression of aging: Let compassion reign
There is one guarantee in life: you will age, no matter how hard you try not to. Some age with more grace than others, and some age so quickly it’s astonishing. Aging can come quickly or slowly, it is not necessarily determined by your age but the whole dynamics of the life you have lived and perhaps your relatives’ lives before you.
Aging isn’t just the change from dark hair to …
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Does your OR case scheduling process need a revamp?
I’ve been in the health care industry for over a decade. Starting a few years ago, I embarked on a new project: building a case scheduling platform specifically for anesthesia staff.
I’ll be the first to say that I never envisioned myself becoming a so-called “health care entrepreneur.” From my perspective, I’m just an anesthesiologist who stumbled upon an unaddressed pain point—the tedious process of building OR case schedules—and after looking …
If the hospital CEO emailed employees like Twitter’s CEO
To: [Group: all employees]
From: Office of the CEO
Subject: A fork in the road
Going forward, we will need to be extremely hardcore to streamline a restructured Health care 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly diseased world. This will mean working even longer hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will justify a new N95 mask each week.
Health care will also be much more profit-driven. Physicians and nurses will still be very …
With RSV, it’s time for primary care to step up to the plate
Every pediatrician is familiar with this endemic seasonal virus, expecting to see several cases in their office during the winter months and maybe even admit the occasional one for inpatient care. Even amongst the latter, most do well and recover without incident, though the stay can be prolonged.
However, the respiratory syncytial virus — when it causes pneumonia and bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways — can result in serious illness …
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How women manage and mismanage their health [PODCAST]
Past Week
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The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
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How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care
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How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship
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“Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)
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The hidden cost of delaying back surgery
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Rethinking medical education for a technology-driven era in health care [PODCAST]
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Past 6 Months
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What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
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Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
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Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam
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A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how
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The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain
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Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?
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Recent Posts
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Rethinking medical education for a technology-driven era in health care [PODCAST]
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From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness
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In medicine and law, professions that society relies upon for accuracy
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Diabetes and Alzheimer’s: What your blood sugar might be doing to your brain
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How motherhood reshaped my identity as a scientist and teacher
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Jumpstarting African health care with the beats of innovation
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Past Week
-
The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
-
How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care
-
How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship
-
“Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)
-
The hidden cost of delaying back surgery
-
Rethinking medical education for a technology-driven era in health care [PODCAST]
-
Past 6 Months
-
What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
-
Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam
-
A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how
-
The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain
-
Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?
-
Recent Posts
-
Rethinking medical education for a technology-driven era in health care [PODCAST]
-
From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness
-
In medicine and law, professions that society relies upon for accuracy
-
Diabetes and Alzheimer’s: What your blood sugar might be doing to your brain
-
How motherhood reshaped my identity as a scientist and teacher
-
Jumpstarting African health care with the beats of innovation
-
