In today’s increasingly technological, data-driven, depersonalized world of health care, I wonder if the concept of “a good death” is even possible. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has caused me to reflect on this. What does it look like? How do you define it? As I did, a patient came to mind. He was a retired minister in his 80s. I had cared for his wife as well until she …
A physician’s work is hard. And it is sacred.
“I wrote a 55-word story in solidarity with my medical students and colleagues I had invited to share their lived experiences during COVID-19 on our Stories in Medicine blog. I wrote out of a need to “unmask” the guilt and angst of some of my colleagues and myself who, though practicing physicians, do not find ourselves directly on the front lines …
Why it’s so important for medical students and physicians to write and share their stories [PODCAST]
I distinctly remember one of many times I was reminded of “my place” in medicine. It was during the third year on a call day shift that had been lighter than most for our bustling hospital. As the residents were discussing who it was that had brought the good energy, I slipped in to mention that I often felt I had a white cloud energy myself. And the senior on …
The next time you’re on call, please rethink what white and black clouds mean
In 2019, a Policy One-Pager produced by the Robert Graham Center reported that the percentage of the active U.S. physician workforce in primary care practice declined from 32 percent in 2010 to 30 percent in 2018. Although family physicians represent 4 in 10 primary care physicians, in several states, a large percentage of family physicians are older than 55 years and anticipated to …
How to recruit more students into family medicine
“With COVID-19, we have both the unique opportunity and need to deregulate buprenorphine prescriptions. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAHMSA) recently updated guidelines for buprenorphine prescriptions. There are new provisions for telephonic initiation of buprenorphine and scripts up to 28 days for stable patients. Unfortunately, this does not circumvent the major issue: redeployed providers will not be able …
With COVID-19, a need to deregulate buprenorphine prescriptions [PODCAST]
Have you ever been faced with an upcoming shift at work and felt an impending sense of doom? This type of anticipation can be a real killjoy. However, taking calls, working nights, weekends, and holidays is all part of the job, right?
Worst. Call. Ever.
I was just drifting off, entering the first phase of sleep when the whole body is relaxed, and you’ve entered that sweet twilight zone. …
4 ways to decrease your dread of being on-call
After being kept up all night responding to pages, I was still half-asleep walking into Mr. Jenkins’ room for what I thought would be a routine early morning admission for new-onset seizures. From scanning through the electronic medical record, I was not expecting to encounter the unfortunate and complex array of social factors underlying his condition.
Mr. Jenkins was in his late 20s and had three children to take care of. …
What happens if you are both too rich and too poor for health insurance?
“Children are being encouraged to take on the superhero persona and help protect others. They do this in true average-person-as-the-superhero style by wearing a facemask alone, without any superhero powers or words. Just as wearing a facemask in public has been the norm for years in many Asian countries, it may become the norm worldwide. For this to happen, we need …
Medical education and engaging children in wearing masks [PODCAST]
Shifting nervously in our seats amongst 180 of our fellow medical school classmates, we focused in on the front of the lecture hall as our deans began their annual orientation address. “Each of you has worked so hard to get here. No one has gotten to this point by mistake. But also be wary that each and every one of you will experience imposter syndrome during your time here. Everyone …
Imposter syndrome and COVID: a medical student perspective
“We are health care workers. We are doctors, advanced care practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and so much more. We are on the frontlines. We are our parents’ children, and we are parents to our young children. For the first time, we are at an extremely high risk of being quarantined by the same beast we are trying to conquer. We …
Palliative care during the pandemic [PODCAST]
The Kaiser Permanente’s Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine opened this summer, and its students will not learn anatomy by dissecting a cadaver. Instead, they will don virtual reality headsets and dissect virtual bodies. The school does have a collection of pre-dissected, “plastinated” cadavers, but according to the chair of biomedical sciences students will spend the majority of their time studying electronic …
Without cadavers in school, will doctors be the same?
Around 50 percent of physicians are burned out, and many feel trapped in their job. Yet, I have heard it countless times from doctors who were able to cut back to part-time work that when they had more time away from work, they fell back in love with medicine. Moderation in all things seems to be key here, and I’ve experienced some of that lately myself after a really hard …
The benefits of taking more time away from work far outweigh the consequences
“It’s maddening to see the differences in health outcomes between the rich and the poor. Even more unsettling is reflecting upon the psychological pain accumulated when living in a fad-obsessed materialistic comparison-creating society, the postponed dreams, and the day to day compromise that those with less have to endure – thoughts that may be far removed from the ruminations of the …
Coronavirus exposes income-driven health inequality [PODCAST]
The dictionary definition of learning is “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught.” For leaders, the most crucial and common way of learning happens through experience, and as we often say, leadership is flying the plane while building it. Moreover, the onus of making the process of learning an active one is on the leader, and self-reflection is the key to it.
So, what’s self-reflection? …
Lifelong learning through skillful self-reflection
“Since the coronavirus outbreak, reports of anxiety have increased, especially among physicians. Physicians face numerous stressors, including fears of contracting the coronavirus, concerns about potentially infecting loved ones, PPE shortages, testing delays, and frequently making quick decisions with limited information.
Common symptoms of anxiety are increased worrying about one’s self and/or loved ones, difficulty sleeping, difficulty eating, poor concentration, increased heart rate, …
How to manage pandemic anxiety [PODCAST]
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
– Albert Einstein
“Mr. Thomas, are you OK? Sir, are you OK?” It was a full clinic day, and I had just improvised a treatment on him.
I had met this patient, “Mr. Thomas,” only once before. After meeting me …
Fascia in primary care: When chest pain is not in your chest
While the coronavirus pandemic has created financial strain for a lot of low-income and middle-class Americans, many wealthy people don’t seem to be as affected. The stock market is doing relatively well, and many of the world’s richest people are getting even richer. How is that even possible, you may ask? Here are three main reasons the rich are getting richer.
1. They create their own business. Instead of having a …
3 ways the wealthy increase their net worth
Oh, how we all learn and change with our experiences. It’s one of the greatest things in life that most of us (hopefully) are not the same person now that we were a few years ago. Looking back to when I first become a physician at the age of 22 (yes, that’s the typical age that most medical students across the world become doctors, because medical school comes straight after …
Doctors: Never pass judgment on the human being in front of you needing help
“As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds day by day at an exponential rate, we as doctors have been called to duty in unprecedented ways. Speak with any physician in the last few weeks, and you will be hard-pressed to find one who didn’t feel an intrinsic obligation- indeed, wish- to rise to the occasion with an all-hands-on-deck attitude, despite the taxing and …
Gender inequities and being a physician-mom [PODCAST]
As a physician and proponent of introspection, inner work, and self-awareness as integral components of health, wellness, and spiritual development. I watched with intrigue the dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 related articles, social media posts, and videos purporting to offer solutions for these troubled times. They professed to teach people how to fight fear, manage anxiety, cope with grief, and/or overcome unpleasant emotions. This onslaught reflected a pervasive …
Personal development and growth during COVID times
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