When my now ex-husband and I first met, he asked me about my favorite things to do. At that time, I did not have a ready answer. It was my third year of general surgery residency, a time for proving that I could handle it all: being the in-house senior surgery resident on call, starting to manage surgical teams, and being responsible for lists sometimes reaching dozens of patients. I …
What guides and directs your decisions in your private practice? As the physician owner, it should be your choices and decisions, made without influence from third parties. That is physician autonomy.
In 2012, an article by E. J. Emmanuel and S.D. Pearson defined physician autonomy as “the freedom to determine both the conditions of practice and the care delivered with the principal goal that care decisions are aimed at promoting the …
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a best-selling self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. The book outlines universal principles that can be applied to personal and professional success. This article explores how health care professionals can use these principles to improve patient care, collaboration, and effectiveness.
1. Be proactive. Health care professionals must be proactive in staying up-to-date with the …
Towards the end of a busy clinic afternoon, I felt my phone buzz with a page in my jacket pocket. It is rare to receive pages on our phones in the middle of the day because we usually get messages through the EMR or direct calls to the office. I called back the number to the sound of an exasperated ER doctor who had been trying to reach the PCP …
How big is my ego? The trouble with a career in medicine is that you spend four years in a classroom and not managing people. It is impossible to gauge the size of your ego if you don’t have a stack of small unit leadership situations with which to calibrate it. The most needed quality as a physician leader (or any leader) is humility. Athletes and prior military folks tend …
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Join orthopedic surgeon Michael Day as he shares his insights on how to reverse the acceleration of aging through lifestyle, habits, and even thoughts. Michael explains the role of neuroplasticity in enhancing the performance of our bodies …
Three months ago, a case was discussed in the multidisciplinary tumor board. A 17-month-old child was admitted through the ER with a posterior fossa tumor (brain tumor) and multi-level spinal cord compression due to tumor deposits. The tumor was so extensive that only a biopsy could be performed rather than maximum safe resection. The biopsy report was discussed in the MDT (it was medulloblastoma), and after considering the neurological deficits …
Mr. Sanchez had been feeling unwell for days before he decided to visit the emergency room. When I walked into his room, I immediately noticed that he was scared and anxious. His sore throat had been persistent for five days and was now so severe that he couldn’t eat or drink anything. He had also developed a rash covering his entire body, which was only getting worse. The lymph nodes …
Imagine that you are suffering from chronic pain.
The pain keeps you awake at night so you don’t get much sleep. Lack of sleep most nights and the ensuing chronic fatigue causes you some anxiety during the day. Your primary care physician suggests that she is concerned with the increasing amount of aspirin and ibuprofen you are consuming to manage the pain. She can prescribe opioids to help with the pain, …
About five years ago, I did the first public reading of my non-academic writing. I was a 40-something-year-old physician, and I was terrified.
It was at a narrative medicine event, and I’d been selected to read one of my personal essays. A few days earlier, an experienced performer had given me some pointers. Identified which word in each sentence should be emphasized. Where I should add dramatic pauses, I now had …
It is staggering to think that our medical school scholars have fallen in line with the dictatorial components of the “deep state of medical education.” John Abramson, MD, a graduate scholar of Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown medical education institutions, recently published in “Imprimis,” a publication of Hillsdale College, eloquently and astutely links the disintegration and decreasing quality of health care in our nation to the “medical-industrial complex,” let alone, the …
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The ACLU is currently tracking over 400 anti-LGBTQ bills this legislative session, the highest number on record. Over 150 of these pertain to transgender people, including many targeting health care for transgender youth.
As of April 2023, thirteen states have passed laws or policies banning gender-affirming care for youth, while more than fifteen others have introduced similar bills and policies. These actions may forbid or criminalize evidence-based medical treatment for …
The health of world leaders has often played a critical role in shaping the course of history. Decisions made while under the influence of poor health or illness can have far-reaching consequences, and the untimely demise of some leaders has altered the trajectory of nations. This article explores the lives of a few famous leaders whose health issues significantly impacted their countries …
Eleven-year-old Abby sat nervously in the emergency department, her eyes darting around the room as she clutched Patches, her beloved stuffed sheep. Her guardian sat beside her, anxiety etched on her face as she explained the situation to me. Abby had been diagnosed with depression at the tender age of nine after suffering years of abuse and neglect at the hands of her biological parents.
A few months ago, a loving …
“I don’t know how you do what you do.” About 90 percent of the time, this is the response I get when I tell people that I am a hospice physician. “Isn’t it sad to work with dying people all the time? You lose all of your patients… that must be so difficult.”
Having been exposed to the many different ways that people can die throughout my medical training, I see …
Nearly 290,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023. Thankfully, the vast majority will be diagnosed with clinically localized disease and can be cured with either surgery or radiotherapy. Emerging clinical trial data have cemented stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), a form of radiation in which ≤5 daily doses are delivered with high precision in generally five or fewer treatments, as a curative option for most men with …
The medical field has always been an ever-evolving landscape with technological advancements, treatments, and diagnoses. But the workforce behind these advancements also plays a crucial role in shaping the medical industry. Over the years, different generations have contributed unique work habits and values, impacting how doctors practice medicine. In this article, we will explore the work habits of Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials and discuss how these generational differences …
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