Pain and suffering together is a universal language. It is unspoken, one that a person of any age feels when they see a loved one die, or when someone sees another human being suffer when nothing more medically can be done.
I once saw a Vietnam War veteran who, within a few years of returning home, suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke. He was robbed of his ability to walk, to talk, …
Why this medical student chose to pursue medicine
Spoiler alert: Plot points of the movie “Joker” are revealed.
“Joker” opened to a mix of rave reviews and criticism on October 2, 2019, amid fears of mass-shootings at theaters in the U.S.
This left law enforcement agencies scrambling to beef up security at movie theaters to prevent any untoward incidents. Quite ironically, October 2, is also the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi — the crusader and champion of non-violence.
Warner Brothers even …
How “Joker” gets mental illness wrong
Flu vaccination prevents millions of flu-related illnesses and deaths annually, but vaccination rates are low for many reasons.
During the 2018-2019 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 45% of U.S. adults received the flu vaccine. While this is an increase of 8% from 2017-2018, it falls way below the national goal of 70% of American adults …
Why the flu shot cannot give you the flu (and why you should get one now)
Australian singer/songwriter Sia (born Sia Kate Isobelle Furler), 43, is known for wearing elaborate wigs and headpieces that hide her face. However, the “Chandelier” singer is not hiding the fact that she was recently diagnosed with the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
“Hey, I’m suffering with chronic pain, a …
Physicians explain Sia’s chronic pain
“When you start seeing your worth, you will find it harder to stay around people who don’t.”
– Unknown
After graduating from my residency a few years ago, I accepted a job within my organization as a staff psychiatrist and a medical director.
The idea of familiarity was a big driver in my ambivalence towards pursuing alternate opportunities, even when they came knocking on my door. As the job started and progressed through …
Get rid of the guilt. You matter as a physician.
Tuesday, getting ready for work. Standing in the shower, it hit me. I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted a drink.
I almost got a blob of conditioner in my mouth as I snorted out loud.
“Mom, you OK?”
“Yeah, baby, I’m great.”
Incredible, actually.
Like so many, my habit of using external things to feel better was well ingrained. As a kid, I’d sneak ziplock bags of homemade cookies. In residency, stress eating …
Changing the habit of physician drinking
As I lay there awaiting my shock, the doctors milled in and out of my room over the course of several hours. It was a normal but hectic morning in the emergency department with ambulances and code blues pulling my doctor away.
Before pushing the Propofol and completing my cardioversion, the doctor flatly stated something I’d heard many times before. With a certain look in her eyes, she shared a personal …
5 hidden symptoms of physician burnout
At a certain point, we’ve all got to go home.
Whether it’s the end of the shift when the factory whistle blows and the assembly line stops rolling for a brief period while new people take our place, or late in the day after the last patient has been seen and our notes are all written and our portal messages have …
Can answers to after hours calls be automated?
This past August, I attended the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) District VI meeting in Wisconsin. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Bringing it Back Home,” with a keynote presentation focused on developing the emotional habits to influence others and “embody the inner attitude of a leader.”
After a day of much self-reflection, I decided to stop by the poster presentations during a break between the major talks. …
The medical illiteracy epidemic
The Skeptical Cardiologist was recently greeted by headlines announcing that an international panel of 14 unbiased researchers had concluded that it was OK for humans to continue eating red meat and processed meat at current levels.
The startling news was a reversal of what the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the American Heart Association, and the American Cancer Society …
A cardiologist’s take on red meat consumption
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between them.”
– Achilles Charles Debussy
Silence is an important part of our everyday lives. Yet, we often don’t consider its critical importance in helping us to reflect on what we’re doing. This is especially important in medicine where we’re so busy sometimes that we forget that what we say and do actually has huge implications on people’s lives.
This is even …
Physicians need moments of reflection throughout their days
In previous posts, we have reviewed the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), as well as the off-label prescribing of gabapentinoids, for treating anxiety disorders. Anxiety is such a ubiquitous problem that it is not surprising that many other compounds have been used off-label as well. In this posting, we will review some of the common ones: propranolol, mirtazapine, and quetiapine. …
Second-tier, off-label treatments for anxiety
Returning from my week of vacation, I was greeted by the usual stack of mail, faxes, forms to be signed, throwaway journals, and a fully loaded group of in-basket messages that had piled up in the electronic medical record that needed attending to.
One of the pieces of mail was an unsolicited package with a bright red label on it, along with …
We have to do better than DNR tattoos
We all want to get home as quickly and safely as possible at the end of the day. The other day — as I braked for a red light and turned my right blinker on — I not only looked to see if cars were coming from the left but also checked my rearview mirror.
In a moment of introspection, I suddenly wondered: “Why am I doing that?” What difference would …
Being oversensitive to others’ opinions can be harmful
“Fashion Is Moving Too Fast, and It’s Killing Creativity,” by Veronique Hyland, talks about burnout in the fashion industry. As a former Fashion Designer turn physician, my curiosity was piqued. If you substituted the word “medicine” for “fashion,” the title would be just as relevant to the medical industry, as it is to the fashion industry. Yes, medicine is moving too fast, and it’s killing creativity and our doctors. Burnout in the fashion industry stems from the need to …
Burnout in fashion and medicine: A fashion designer turned physician compares notes
My first transgender patient was a teenager who said although he was born female, he’d protested his gender from the time he could talk. He told a story of being asked, “Well, if you are a boy, where is your penis?” and he pointed to his umbilicus (which was an “outie”). OK, no problem, we have a gender clinic I can refer you to.
When he came back and asked for …
A physician is worried about gender transition in pediatrics
As a profession, we’ve yet to standardize maternity leave and breastfeeding allowances for women. Given the length of medical training (seven-plus post-graduate years), timing (prime reproductive years) and slow increase in the ratio of female to male surgical residents, females choosing to start families during training are particularly afflicted.
We just celebrated my son’s first birthday. I had him during one of the busiest years of my surgical residency, and it’s …
Advice to a pregnant surgical resident
On October 1, 2019, Nevada began allowing individuals to avoid living in late-stage dementia. The new statute recognizes the legitimacy of an advance directive that instructs health care providers to stop hand feeding food and fluid by mouth. Individuals have already been completing such directives in New York and Washington. The Nevada law is the first that explicitly authorizes such instructions.
Growing …
Avoiding late-stage dementia with advance directives for stopping eating and drinking
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 54-year-old woman is evaluated for flushing of the face of 1 year’s duration. These episodes occur two or three times per week and last about 30 minutes. She went through menopause at age 50 and is on estrogen and progesterone hormone therapy. She also experiences episodes of anxiety, …
MKSAP: 54-year-old woman with flushing of the face
Dr. Ryme had been retired at least thirty years from medicine when he met me, his last pupil. I was a freshly minted doctor, and he became the first teacher of a new course at my new school called “Life as an Independent Doctor.”
At our first office visit, after telling me his life story, he quizzed me, “And furthermore, Dr. Braun, you’re an attending physician now. You are no longer …
What it means to be an attending physician
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