I have a new hero. Her name is Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH.
Dr. Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician in Flint, Michigan. She grew up in a suburb of Detroit. She graduated from the University of Michigan before attending medical school at Michigan State University. During her clinical years (the 3rd and 4th years of medical school), she spent many months at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, which serves as a clinical training site …
Recently, two states in India halted all use of Avastin for the treatment of eye disease following the report of 15 patients who underwent emergency surgery for potentially blinding infections at the C.H. Nagri Municipal Eye Hospital in Ahmedabad. Though further investigations are ongoing, there is worry that the cluster of infections centered around a tainted lot of compounded Avastin. This most recent event serves as a reminder of …
It happens each time one of my children enters the teenage years (sometimes a little bit before). I go from having a lovely child and feeling like a reasonably pleasant parent to having a moody houseguest and becoming a shrew.
You’d think, having gone through this now four times, that I’d figure out how to avoid it. Or that I’d expect it. Or not let it bother me so much. Nope. …
I had a patient last week who was a real pain in the ass. Wait. No. He was actually a really nice guy. He wasn’t a pain in the ass; he had a real pain in the ass. Literally.
I was initially concerned about a pilonidal cyst, given the unfortunate fact that he was previously afflicted with this condition (which I consider to be incontrovertible proof of Satan). But, fortunately to …
As a mother of three daughters, I frequently find myself singing along to the catchy tunes of Taylor Swift. Singer, songwriter, and overall superstar Taylor Swift is famous for penning undeniably captivating love songs. She is popular not only because she has the voice of an angel, a cutting edge look, and a fierce attitude, but also because she is honest and real. Taylor has an uncanny ability to put …
Last May, I reflected on my path from medical school to starting a health tech company in San Francisco. In an environment which fetishizes the “dropout founder,” I always met perplexment when I said I planned on returning to medical school. Now that graduation day is around the corner, I thought I’d shed light on my choice for clinical practice and what I learned on the other side.
Medical …
“Liver Transplant Surgeon Addicted to Alcohol” — reads like a headline from a tabloid paper selling sensationalism.
How could it be?
How could a liver transplant surgeon, someone who sees up close and personal the devastating effects of alcohol on the body, be addicted to alcohol? Surely the diseased, fibrosed, hard, shrunken cirrhotic livers with dilated and engorged veins that can rupture and bleed catastrophically; the yellow eyes and skin of the …
Today is a remarkable day for me. I’m officially leaving private practice after almost 18 years, to return to academic medicine with a faculty position in a highly regarded California department of anesthesiology.
Why would I do that?
There are many positive reasons. I believe in the teaching mission of academic medicine: to train the anesthesiologists of the future, and the scientists who will advance medical care. I enjoy teaching. The years …
Foria wants you to know they are selling vaginal suppositories of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) called Fiora Relief for menstrual cramps. Each suppository contains 60 mg of THC and 10 mg of CBD.
Foria claims they can treat the pain of menstrual cramps and endometriosis. Is this possible?
THC and cannabidiol (CBD) are compounds found in marijuana. The psychoactive (i.e., high) from marijuana is believed to be due to …
In a few weeks, thousands of medical students find out where they have matched for residency. I still remember the excitement and anxiety of peeling back that envelope and hoping I would see my top choice. My medical school had a tradition of putting each 4th year’s name in an old doctor’s bag. One by one, our dean would pull out a name, the student would contribute $1 to the …
It’s been six years since I graduated from internal medicine residency. Enough time to give me some perspective, but short enough to still remember the highs and lows vividly. I recently had the opportunity to talk with a bright and energetic group of medical students. (Really, though, is there any other kind?)
The conversation turned to any advice that I had or maybe I felt obligated to give some as part …
I find myself standing in front of six first-year medical students. They’re waiting for me to tell them something about how to become a physician entrepreneur.
These students are now elite amongst their peers. They’re the ones who’ve had the courage to sign up for my course. And, perhaps unbeknownst to themselves, they’re also among the 1 percent of early adopters to lead the way for health care change.
How do I …
It was after shoveling winter snow that Brett began to cough. It was a dry cough, a morning cough, a “smoker’s cough.” It persisted, grew deeper. Several weeks later, there was a particularly harsh cough and in the sink was a crimson blob. Frightened, he called his doctor.
For 71 years old, Brett looked healthy. His lung exam was clear and the cough was gone. A case of bronchitis? The chest …
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The parental drive to protect your child is passionate, and learning that your child needs surgery is jarring at best and terrifying at worst. As her guardian and provider, your instinct is to prevent harm to her at all costs, and even if you know that surgery is ultimately in your child’s best interest, the thought of her going through an invasive procedure, combined with the presence of illness or …
All medical students start out as the best of the best: You had to be to get into medical school. So now that you’re in, what are some of the things you can do to attain the specialty you really want? How do you set yourself apart from your peers?
1. Get out of your head. Telling yourself you can’t achieve a competitive residency is your first barrier. If you can’t even …
Recently, the wife of a prominent Boston businessman — one of my many wealthy, white patients at Massachusetts General Hospital — greeted me this way: “So what foreign medical school did you go to anyway?”
For background, I’m a petite, Middle Eastern young woman with a headscarf, and I’m guessing I do not resemble her vision of what a doctor “should” look like. That image is probably taller, whiter, male and …
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Without a doubt, parenting is simultaneously the most rewarding and difficult job we have as adults. As a child psychiatrist and mom, I am always asked if I find it easier to parent given my profession. I always respond by saying, “I was the perfect parent until I had children!”
I am also universally asked about how to raise happy children. I always pause before I attempt to answer this question. …
It will be six months since my mother passed away.
I kept my mother’s illness a secret. Not because I was ashamed and embarrassed but I did not want to advertise to the entire world of what she was going through out of respect to her and my family. So you sit there, put on a front like everything is cool and continue on your daily routine, until one day everything …
Me: Hello Mrs. Smith, my name is [BEEP!] Dr. Gandolfo and I am a [BEEP!] gastroenterologist. [BEEP!] Your doctor wanted me to [BEEP!] talk to you about something that showed up on [BEEP!] your CT scan.
Mrs. Smith: Who are you? I [BEEP!] didn’t hear your name?
Me (louder): It’s Fred Gandolfo, I am the [BEEP!] stomach doctor. [BEEP!] I need to talk to you about [BEEP!] that CT scan you had. You see, there was … [BEEP!] [BEEP!] [BEEP!] Can you straighten your …
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As surgeons we are privileged to have our hands work inside someone’s body with the intention of alleviating suffering, removing sources of pain, excising diseased organs, fixing this or that, ultimately to improve someone’s quality of life, prolong it or at times even save it.
Yet we also know that people can suffer complications from surgery, that in some cases are fatal, and where our good intentions seemingly backfire. Patient deaths …
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