Many times during difficult patient interactions — when I am not sure about the right thing to do — I let myself be guided by the question: “What would I do if it was my family member?” This internal dialogue usually cuts the clutter and lets me focus on the most important thing: the well-being of my patient. I can step away from the behavioral chaos and guide them in …
Treat your family like you treat your patients
I posted on social media that in 2019, I would compete in Ironman. I wanted to hold myself accountable and was announcing “I could do this.” My primary reason, so I thought, was that “I wanted to grow mentally and physically.”
Since then, I have been training six hours per week on top of my usual daily routine. I have been mentally and physically challenged in ways I didn’t think possible. …
This physician chose not to do a triathlon. Here’s why.
Sustainability is a bit of a buzz word these days. To be sustainable means that you only use what you need, leaving the rest to be used by you or others in the future. Sustainability is a popular topic in environmental sciences and refers to renewable agriculture, good stewardship of natural resources and recycling of waste. What about sustainability in health care?
In health care, we often describe The United States …
My garden has taught me a lot about health care
The woman waiting to see me looked every inch a lawyer or accountant in her black pencil skirt, pink shirt, and a Chanel-style houndstooth jacket. Her ankle boots were reminiscent of those worn by women in Victorian times with a row of small buttons up the side. She had a scarf loosely knotted around her shoulders, and her hair was …
What clothing choice says about a patient
Earlier this year, we put together a list of what we thought were the best medical apps for health care providers. Now at the end of 2018, we’re augmenting that list to give you a full picture of what we think are must-haves medical apps for those in primary care.
Safe Motherhood Initiative: ACOG DII SMI
Quick reference for common obstetric emergencies
Many of us in family medicine practice full-scope …
Must-have medical apps for primary care
I want to share how the era of immunotherapy, specifically immune-checkpoint-inhibitors, has changed the landscape of community oncology practice in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, for oncologists and, more importantly, patients.
I want to tell you the story of Joe. A stage IV lung cancer survivor story. (Name and details changed to protect anonymity.)
In 2015, Joe was diagnosed with stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adenocarcinoma. He had multiple metastases to other organs. …
A stage IV lung cancer survivor story
I never really had a true mentor. Or role model. I wasn’t sure if they were the same thing, or what the difference was, so I gave up. Sometime in middle school, I remember a teacher encouraging us to find someone we looked up to and develop a mentor relationship. I was 12, looked at my teachers who I thought were old, and ignored that advice.
In high school, I thought …
To my mentor: Thank you. I didn’t know how much I needed you.
We learn about it in school as a formula. There is a checklist that we are given, and we ask our patients these eight questions and then calculate whether or not they have depression. It’s so simple. Anyone can do it! I never once thought that I would be calculating my own score at the prime of my education.
I entered medical school full of hope after years of failures and …
How this student took care of his severe depression in medical school
Stepping into a hospital for the first time as a clinical medical student is a strange dichotomy. There is still so much you have to learn before you will become a physician, but you are quickly thrust into life-and-death situations. One of my early rotations was in the emergency room. As a student, you have no actual authority and must be closely monitored at all times. Many times you will …
I had just witnessed my first patient die
Part 3 of a series.
Patients with advanced cancer are particularly vulnerable to infection due to a compromised immune system. Moreover, the typical symptoms of serious infection, such as fever and chills, may be absent in cancer patients. If not identified and treated early, infection can lead to sepsis, a life-threatening reaction of the immune system that causes organ failure, shock, and death, as …
Why did it take over a week for doctors to initiate treatment?
It seems like natural human tendency to explain ourselves. When we are late to a meeting, we come up with an excuse in case anyone asks. When our kid starts throwing a temper tantrum at the store, people stare at us expecting an apology. In the same way, when we decide that there are things outside of medicine that are more important to us than the job – an explanation …
It’s OK to care more about things outside of medicine
As a woman in medicine, where the odds for pay, promotion, and leadership are stacked against me, I feel obligated to light the path for younger women who come behind me. It has taken me a while to be comfortable with my style of leadership, own my own voice, be able to regroup after rejection, and tolerate feeling on display and yet often invisible.
I wish someone would have told me the following …
5 powerful tips for women in medicine
Two device salesmen recently came unannounced to our small private gastroenterology practice. They were hawking a product that could quickly and non-invasively determine how much scar tissue had formed in a patient’s liver, a useful tool for assessing patients with hepatitis and many other liver conditions.
We are physicians, not entrepreneurs. We do not regard the colonoscope as a capitalist tool. Yet, these two salesmen were barraging us with facts and …
How should salespeople sell to doctors?
I entered residency self-assured, if not in my scholarly achievements, at least in who I am as a person.
I left slightly broken.
Something happens to you in residency, and you don’t realize the transformation as it occurs. It may be the loss of a patient who died on your watch, or the realization that you have not changed the world. It could be the constant fear of failure or punishment by …
A reflection on the last day of residency
Many cooks traditionally use broth derived from simmered bones of fish, fowl, or four-footed critters to flavor soups and sauces. Recently, bone-broth bars have popped up around the country and serve a non-caffeinated, nutritious alternative to tea or coffee. In some of these health-conscious establishments, the owners claim that these drinks also have filling, cleansing, and detoxing capabilities.
I decided to see if a daily cup of bone broth should be …
An orthopedic surgeon’s bone broth journey
With nearly 80 percent of internet users searching online for health-related information, it’s no wonder the catchphrase “Dr. Google” has caught on, to the delight of many searchers and the dismay of many real doctors.
What’s received little attention from physicians or the public is the company’s quiet …
How Google is quietly influencing medicine
During rounds, in between seeing patients, the medical student pulls out his phone and scans a dating app for new matches. In the team room, a resident opens Facebook before responding to a non-urgent page. Each of these instances may seem trivial enough, but I’ve seen both lead to poor evaluations, reprimands, or others whispering terms like “unprofessional.”
In the medical world, there’s an implicit understanding that while you’re at work, …
Don’t judge when trainees use dating apps in the hospital
In the last decade, specifically in the last five to six years, we have seen the gradual disempowerment of America’s physicians as well as their unfortunate patients.
Starting with health management organizations, managed care, all the way to the insurance exchange, doctoring has been forcefully wrestled away from physicians only to be placed into the hands of large insurers, administrators and the United States government.
The common denominator was never about improving …
The old days of medicine are gone
About halfway through the internal medicine residency, there comes a time when a resident must decide on what he or she plans to do after three years of training. We may come across a second-year resident saying: What should I do next? Should I become a hospitalist or plan for a fellowship? But in what? Cardiology and gastroenterology are fascinating careers, but is my resume ready for a competitive match? …
For residents unsure about their choice of specialty
I would like to offer some words of encouragement to what many call the “non-traditional” students pursuing medicine.
The term encompasses people in different aspects in their lives. It may be someone in a different line of work looking at medicine as a second career or another just getting started that didn’t take the traditional path in undergrad.
My own journey
I started medical school at 28 after spending six years as a …
10 tips for non-traditional medical school applicants
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