It is one of the last days of September. The sun, pale and tired, is slowly surrendering the humdrum of earth to the grey, soulless air. My father and I walk to our very final medical appointment, hopeless, exhausted, and befuddled. My father’s labored breathing is the only sound that fills the silence on our trip. As we drift to the entrance, …
“If you have never heard the term ‘financial infidelity,’ it doesn’t mean you don’t know what it is. In fact, according to a recent creditcards.com survey, 32 percent of respondents have financially cheated on their partners. Both finances and cheating can be complex subjects to discuss, even with and, sometimes especially with, those …
Premature babies (a.k.a. preemies) and their families are increasingly becoming a powerful voice in society. Life in and after the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is like being dropped off a cliff. I support the preemie community from pregnancy to NICU to home and into the adult years because I had a preemie. My daughter’s story is a stunning example of a system gone wrong and why better outcomes research …
One of the hardest questions to answer in a job interview is, “Do you have any questions for me?”
The question itself is not hard — as physicians, we can come up with plenty of questions. What makes it challenging is that we understand the timing and depth of any question we ask and can say a lot more than we want it to. We do not want to ask too …
During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2021), I became a high-school pharmacy technician. My senior year of high school ended in gray scrubs, gloves, and a mask. While I knew I was signing up for long hours of selling medication and administering COVID tests, I was not prepared for what else I would learn.
On my first day on the job, a couple approached me and asked …
“As physicians, we are masterful at suppressing so many of our emotions, and the thoughts and memories associated with them. However, trauma has a way of impacting us in great big obvious ways (as we saw with Will Smith), and not such obvious ways (perfectionism, workaholism, lack of boundaries).
I’m not suggesting …
The baby formula shortage has morphed into a full-blown ongoing crisis. Many stores report that more than half of baby formula products are out of stock. Babies who are six months old or younger should only be fed breast milk or formula. Any substitute may be nutritionally incomplete and may cause babies to have permanent problems in brain development.
What are the essential brain ingredients in the leading baby formulas?
Docosahexaenoic acid …
In late April 2022, headlines were plastered across the internet calling for the death of intermittent fasting. This was in relation to a New England Journal study out that week titled “Calorie Restriction with or without Time-Restricted Eating in Weight Loss.” I would have named it, “If you ask the wrong question, then you don’t get a helpful answer.”
The researchers asked if people lose …
I am a gopher. See my tiny paws. See them furiously digging and digging and digging. Little puffs of dirt and soil are thrown haphazardly over my little shoulders. My tiny brain was completely absorbed in the digging of that very inconsequential, very little, very specific hole. Tail in the air, head down, no breaks. Dig, dig, dig.
As a small intern in a big hospital, that’s me. Day after day …
“I almost quit my job in 2014. I didn’t like my life, and I didn’t like myself. I had a lot of problems personally and professionally, and I wondered if I was good enough to solve them. I often felt weak and powerless. People were coming to me for answers, but …
I was a nurse before I was a PA. As the mantra goes, once a nurse, always a nurse. I have lived on both sides of the toxic structure: the medical and nursing models. Nurses eat their young, then place an unrealistic and unsustainable standard of altruism onto their offspring. Many times, the worthiness of nurses is gauged by how much they are willing to give of themselves, work overtime, …
Eleven attorneys general (AGs) have responded to a long-awaited draft update on a nationwide opioid-prescribing guideline by asking that drafters do more to prevent prescription opioid diversion. Logically focused on law enforcement, the AGs, unfortunately, suggest reviving policies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already cited as potentially harmful to patients. In doing so, the AGs step into the practice of medicine which they are not qualified …
Several months ago, I wrote a post on a Facebook community of over 17K Black physicians. The post asked them what they would do and how they would react if their child told them they were gay. The responses I received ranged from “I will love and accept them” to “Heaven forbid!” to “I will beat it out of him!”
When I got over my shock, I realized that even as …
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“Physicians have a deep well of experiences to draw from in their writing. They witness dramatic episodes of heroism, cures, disappointments, and failures. They see unforgettable scenes, hear devastating words, make difficult decisions, and observe people at crucial moments in their lives. Most importantly, they witness the power of cause and …
With medical school graduation on the horizon, I wanted to share my pearls for success for any clinical rotation.
1. Integrate yourself into your team and be engaged in all patient care.
2. Ask questions and be motivated to learn.
3. Follow up on patients without being asked.
4. Be the “extra” pair of hands to help the team.
5. Be proactive in picking up new patients.
6. Come up with solid differentials and plans before …
I recently wrote a letter to the Davidson County, TN judge who will sentence RaDonda Vaught, a former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse convicted on two felony counts in the 2017 death of a patient. RaDonda faces up to 12 years in prison for her role in a complex chain of events that led to the death of Charlene Murphey. I shared my belief that incarcerating Ms. Vaught will not …
If I were writing a book about what it’s like to be a visionary pediatrician speaking up for children’s health, I would title it, The Hate We Get.
A few months ago, I received a death threat comment on a TikTok video I posted advocating for COVID vaccines.
My college-aged daughter called me, “Mom, I saw your TikTok video. That’s so scary. I’m so sorry.”
“I expected it. I’ve had worse.”
I did a …
“I had no recollection of this, but as I processed what Yael said, my response was the opposite of what one might expect—I felt tremendous relief! I was happy. My pain had a name and hopefully that meant that I could get well. I was a doctor, and I knew well …
Health care has fooled us into believing a number of myths that—taken at face value—sound logical and true. Here’s one of the most pervasive and dangerous myths: Pharmacy’s value comes from convenience and access. And here’s another one: 90-day fills, and automatic refills on prescriptions improve medication adherence and patient health.
It’s not surprising that people might champion the efficacy of these tactics. It feels easier to get 90 days of …
During the pandemic, the already significant number of people living with substance use disorder increased. According to data gathered by the CDC, in June 2020, 13 percent of Americans surveyed said they had started using substances (not including alcohol and tobacco) or increased their use in response to the stress of the pandemic.
The number of people who died as a result of an overdose …
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