I am an ICU nurse. I love what I do; It’s not just a career: It’s who I am. No other job could offer me the intimate opportunity to support and guide a total stranger through the worst (and occasionally best) days of their life. Nowhere else would I leave feeling humbled by what I do every day. Nothing compares to that. Simply put: You don’t find that sense of …
I am an ICU nurse. We are drowning.
“As medical trainees, we will shape the rapidly changing health care environment in this country. We are fiercely advocating for our disadvantaged patients, debating the price of life-saving medications, and carefully considering how the upcoming elections will shape the health care system in which we both provide and receive care. All the while, we handle our responsibilities and prepare to care …
Why medical trainees need knowledge and education on health care systems and policy [PODCAST]
I’m exhausted. I don’t think I’ll be able to forget these sleepless nights with the sight and sound of protesters in the streets right outside of my apartment. I’ve lied awake until 2 a.m. watching videos on Twitter taken by protestors themselves, torturing myself with the displays of violence that are complex to understand, but shocking nonetheless.
As I watched police officers and protestors clash on the lightbox in my hands, …
A better way to screen police officers
Thank you for listening to the podcast. There were some audio difficulties, which I hope you can overlook. It certainly does not take away from Dr. Syed’s message and her wonderful interview.
“An essential part of daily living for many people is faith. No matter what faith you belong to, people practice their faith in different ways. Most people have faith intertwined …
During the pandemic, faith keeps us together [PODCAST]
I am a newly minted surgical specialist, less than one year into practice. Residency was no walk in the park, but the clinical experience, along with hours of studying, reading papers, and reviewing practice guidelines, undoubtedly gave me the tools to practice modern, evidence-based medicine. As residency came to a close and the light at the end of the tunnel grew bigger and brighter, my excitement to move on to …
We need to stop seeing patients as dollar signs
Invisible and unassuming, the radioactive spider slowly descends from the ceiling, and before he knows it, Peter Parker’s life has changed forever. With that one bite, he is transformed from a normal man into a reluctant superhero. Only, that infamous spider is COVID-19, and Peter Parker is a health care worker during these troubled times.
It may surprise you to know that many of us in health care are uncomfortable being …
Health care workers in the time of COVID: reluctant superheroes?
I want to start with a moment of silence to remember so many who have been stolen from their families and communities as a direct result of rampant white supremacy, anti-blackness, and police violence: George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and too many others.
George Floyd was murdered on May 25. Protests began the following day in Minneapolis and have catalyzed a swift wave of righteous anger and rebellion …
Anti-racism must be a priority for medical institutions
“In my lifetime, I have encountered those who have seemingly endured far greater states of human privation than I could ever imagine (though I try to eschew establishing comparative equivalencies [or non-equivalencies] among human suffering as much as possible because such an impossibly herculean task never ends well). And what I have come to realize is that the nexus of all …
How emotional antibodies can help recover from the impact of COVID-19 [PODCAST]
“Empathy is more than just loving an elderly loved one. It is more than simply making the decision we may feel is best for our loved one. Empathy is different from sympathy. Empathy means putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes and making an informed decision. Empathy is seeing through our loved ones’ eyes, hearing through her ears, feeling her emotions, and …
Empathy is a crucial component when working with older adults [PODCAST]
Let me start by saying that I am a diplomate (i.e., “board-certified”) by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. I was completely in agreement that to display competence in my specialty after four years of residency, I should pass the oral and written exams required by the ABPN, further to prove I have maintained my skills, I have always found it …
How MOC is contributing to the demise of physicians
“Three Fleet enemas?” I ask the nurse. She isn’t much interested in a conversation with me about anything. She is busy.
“This man, so far as I understand it, does not have a colon.”
It looks to me like they want to reconnect his colon,” she says as if I hadn’t said what I just said.
“I am not a doctor,” I remind her, “but I don’t see how that is possible. Too …
3 enemas? For a man without a colon?
“When I first heard about medical schools fast-tracking graduation for students and shifting young residents into high need areas to fight the pandemic of COVID-19, I thought of how panicked those students and residents must feel. Asking them to step in to fight a battle we don’t know how to win, and envisioning them witnessing the suffering and death of multiple …
Protect our medical trainees during the pandemic [PODCAST]
“The USMLE has failed the medical education community, and subsequently, future patients, as medical students will undoubtedly have irreplaceable damage from this experience; however, like all tests, it is possible to learn from mistakes and improve. In these unprecedented times, we as students understand the need to be flexible, but in return, we ask not to be forgotten and left abandoned …
The USMLE needs better pandemic communication [PODCAST]
“The COVID-19 pandemic has turned medical education upside-down. From exclusively virtual pre-clerkship courses, to delayed clerkships, to canceled graduation proceedings, there has been massive disruption. Now, after weeks of speculation, we’ve learned how the pandemic will be disrupting the 2020-2021 residency application cycle. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is now recommending that all residency interviews be conducted virtually. While …
Dear AAMC: Please limit residency interviews [PODCAST]
An excerpt from When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error.
One of the selling points for the electronic medical record (EMR) was that it would be a boon for patient safety. Just having all the medical records in one place is a monumental improvement over …
Does the EMR improve or worsen patient safety?
“The reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in the comprehensive psychiatric emergency program (CPEP) began insidiously, with an initial sense of unease. Patients are brought into CPEP when they pose a danger to themselves or others. Often they are brought by police, but occasionally they come on their own or with concerned family members. CPEP is a locked unit, separated via locked …
Emergency psychiatry during COVID-19 [PODCAST]
“Over a period of about two years, our city experienced a very large influx of seniors. One nearby town grew by over five thousand people. This, in turn, created a surge of patients coming to the hospital. As most were older, they often had multiple medical conditions. They would almost always require more complex care. The whole system became overloaded because, …
How this emergency room nurse got diagnosed with PTSD [PODCAST]
“As a physician anesthesiologist who has previously been on assignment for Doctors Without Borders in a resource-depleted region fraught with conflict, I’d like to say there’s little I haven’t seen. But now, after four weeks of staffing COVID intensive care units and emergency response teams throughout New York City, I struggle to distinguish between the exhaustion of a distant war-zone and …
COVID-19 from the New York City frontlines [PODCAST]
Career transition is talked about a whole lot more these days than it was in 2004. Maybe I just notice it more now. Back then, I felt like I was the only one doing it. You know how it is when you are going through something difficult, and you feel utterly alone and unsure about what you’re going to do tomorrow? That was me, only I also felt like a …
I transitioned to a non-clinical career. What did that mean?
“Howard wants to go to the hospital. He knows he isn’t doing that great. He says he is having homicidal thoughts.” This from my supervisor, Linda.
Homicidal thoughts on the part of any client get our attention, especially so with Howard, because years before, he killed a man with a gun. I believe it was in a fight.
“He wants you to take him to the hospital, Ray.”
“Sure,” I say. “You think …
The social worker and a patient’s homicidal thoughts
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