“I understand what it feels like to be in the depths of depression and hopelessness. I have had a lifelong battle with stuttering, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, and suicide.
I continually fight these battles and have learned to heal and recover through family, friends, and ultra-running. Since attempting to take my life …
Coming back from the brink of burnout [PODCAST]
I walk into the patient room, “Hello, I’m Dr. Seabury. What can we do for you today?” As soon as I see the unbundled child, I know there is a problem. I examine the patient fully. Carefully. The conversation that comes next is a challenging one.
“Strong concern.” “Slow growth.” “Percentiles.” “Development.” “Admission to the hospital.”
There is silence, then the words from the family flow forth. Angry, accusatory, confused, dismissive, worried, …
Let it go: A pediatrician reflects after a difficult conversation
For the better part of two decades in medicine, I considered printed journals an old friend. Getting my latest medical journal in the mail, opening it, enjoying the feel, look, and even the smell of the journal was almost like getting a monthly present. During training, Journal club was the substitute I needed for the Book of the Month clubs I could not attend with other friends. To this day, …
The case for ending printed medical journals
Every now and then, a physician in a group practice or clinic setting disappears abruptly. Sometimes this is due to illness or a family problem; occasionally, the doctor has encountered a professional difficulty of one sort or another that precludes them from continuing to practice. The abruptly disappearing physician’s patients must be cared for by covering colleagues. This is especially important for patients who are being treated with controlled substances …
I’m covering the practice of a “Dr. Feel Good”
“I was diagnosed over 20 years ago, and looking back, I feel privileged that I did meet the stereotype for anorexia and be forced into treatment. However, along the way, I have gained insight that people of all bodies share my struggles. And the use of weight/BMI to determine whether …
Eating disorders thrive in secrecy, so let’s talk about it [PODCAST]
There is a particular pang of regret I get when I think about the patients who I have failed to say goodbye to.
By this, I mean when a physician leaves a group or practice, they are often prevented from sharing their next destination. Like most young physicians, I had left my first employer within five years and was barred from sharing my next job details. I had learned in training …
During the current COVID-19 pandemic and with staffing shortages, you’ve probably heard the phrase “stay positive.”
Perhaps this message comes from well-intended institutional leadership, mentors, colleagues, family members, friends or even yourself.
On the surface, the mantra of “staying positive” sounds appealing. Of course, I want to be positive for my family, patients, colleagues, learners, or people whom I lead, right? But what does “staying positive” really mean? And what might be …
Why always being positive might be the worst thing for physicians to do
Everyone dreads the Friday 5 p.m. consult.
As a physician-in-training, I had more than one of those. But having young kids waiting to be picked up from daycare made that decision tougher.
In one particularly memorable event, I left work, picked up my daughter from daycare, and headed to catch the commuter train when I received the consult. In those days, bringing your infant with you to work would have been deemed unprofessional. …
What the Friday 5 p.m. consult says about your priorities
An excerpt from The Universal Rules of Life: 27 Secrets for Managing Time, Stress, and People.
Every January, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions. It’s a joyous time full of high hopes.
Ask people what they wish to achieve or hope to accomplish in the following year, and the …
An interview with Rich DiPentima, MPH, former chief of communicable disease epidemiology at the New Hampshire Division of Public Health.
Rosenberg: As the former chief of communicable disease epidemiology at the New Hampshire Division of Public Health and deputy public health director in Manchester, NH, you wrote an op-ed a few months ago that compared COVID-19 with previous pandemics. Can you elaborate?
Dipentima: With smallpox, the only reservoir was …
An epidemiologist talks about the “next” COVID-19 pandemic
This article is sponsored by Wall Street Alliance Group, specializing in physician financial planning.
Often, physicians only give minimal attention to their financial futures, but potential federal changes could make tax planning even more important. The proposed infrastructure …
Tax planning tips for physicians
Just as we begin to exit the latest surge of the global COVID-19 pandemic another challenge to health care is appearing—the efforts to combat physician burnout.
One example of a proposed solution is the Clinician Experience Project, which is now marketed to improve health care organizations’ patient satisfaction scores. In the midst of the worst global pandemic in 100 years, it is widely recognized that physician burnout is a widespread problem. …
The latest plague of the pandemic: a smartphone app
When you hear someone talk about a relationship that is oppressive, shameful, controlling, and detrimental to the person’s physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing: How would you define the relationship? Would you want the person to stay?
If you heard someone say that their relationship made them isolated, depressed, disconnected: Would you encourage them to stay?
This is the type of relationship people are often pushed into when subject to weight biases …
When it comes to diet culture, it’s time to end the abuse
In health information technology circles, interoperability has become quite the buzzword. A Google search for “Interoperability in Healthcare” yielded 28 million results. Given its pervasiveness, it’s not surprising that the precise meaning of the term is often obscured. The 21st Century Cures Act defined three key components of interoperability: “(A)… the secure exchange of electronic health information with, and use of electronic health information from, other health …
3 ways interoperability will improve health care
“The business of health care delivery differs markedly from other consumer and service industries in many ways. First and foremost, the economics differ. Specifically, the payers of medical care are often different from the customers, the government and third-party insurers are the primary payers, demand is inelastic, quality metrics are …
Why health care delivery is an exceptionally different industry [PODCAST]
Communicating with relatives that they may share a gene variant that could cause disease is problematic. Maybe you do not want to share that information with other relatives. Maybe other relatives do not want to know about such information.
Examples of such gene variants are BRCA1 and BRCA2 that predispose women to breast and ovarian cancer and men for some forms of cancer.
Medical practice may make more use …
Selectively sharing genetic information in the future
“I see lamenting the Great Resignation. I celebrate it. It’s not so much about what people are leaving – but where are they going? What have they empowered themselves to become?
The thought, ‘There has to be something more,’ has been pondered and fleshed out. We are stretching our wings, …
Why we should celebrate the Great Resignation [PODCAST]
The fertility rate in the United States, and globally, has been on a steady decline. This is the sixth consecutive year that there has been a reduction in the fertility rate, which has decreased by an average of 2 percent. Numerous factors contribute to the global decline in fertility, such as economic instability, increased educational attainment among women, delaying marriage, and the decrease in …
Why air pollution is making us infertile
The COVID-19 pandemic has been raging in the United States for over two years. Health care workers across the country have been chronically pushed to their limits as we navigate difficult situations on a daily basis. The advent of the COVID-19 vaccine, although a powerful tool in our crusade against the pandemic, has created a new branch of emotions for health care workers towards unvaccinated patients or those with vaccine …
How to cope with pandemic fatigue
I’ve had doctors listen to my heart many times in my life. Recent work I did in Pakistan as an anthropologist let me listen to theirs.
A few months ago, I embarked on an ethnographic study to understand what health care professionals saw as the psychosocial needs of pediatric patients. This involved conversations with several doctors in Pakistan, who had volunteered to share their views about pediatric patient care. As I …
Listening to the doctor’s heart
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