The sensory limitation of wearing masks

Physician
June 28, 2020

Without a doubt, life has been peculiar since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic. The social, political, financial, and emotional tolls have been staggering; however, most recently, I’ve been interested in the sensory deficits it seems to be unmasking. Despite being back out in society, at work, or venturing into my children’s school, I have yet to resume seeing people’s faces. The world, as I know it, has become a …

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The sensory limitation of wearing masks

In these times of crisis, remember the Golden Rule [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 28, 2020
YouTube video

“We are in the midst of a crisis in humanity. While we are still dealing with COVID pandemic and its deleterious health, economic and societal consequences, our troubling past of racism and inequality is rearing its ugly head.

The senseless killings at the hands of police, the shameful subjugation of persons of color, the systemic prejudice of a person based upon gender, …

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In these times of crisis, remember the Golden Rule [PODCAST]

How a physician finds laughter during this dark time [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 27, 2020
YouTube video

“With my passion for writing and connecting digitally with others in health care and the general public, this ‘downtime’ has allowed for an expansion of these interests. I’ve begun recording on my podcast, a multidisciplinary conversation between women who thrive in fields that traditionally they haven’t thought to be able to (or shouldn’t). I’ve spent more time than I ever could …

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How a physician finds laughter during this dark time [PODCAST]

Communication in the time of COVID

Physician
June 27, 2020

I stirred awake when my husband’s cell phone rang.  It was early, and we had gone to bed late, and slept little.  My father-in-law was in the ICU in a hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He was now intubated, hooked up to a ventilator, victim to COVID-19.  We would eagerly await phone calls from the ICU physician or nurse, wanting updates on how he was doing.   Did his oxygen saturation …

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Communication in the time of COVID

Physician wisdom learned from picking strawberries

Physician
June 27, 2020

I just want a few berries.

This was my comment that started the earthy discussion. We were visiting with friends who have a thriving garden producing more than they can consume.

As we talked about the types of lettuce and greens in the neatly organized rows, I heard mention of strawberries.

No offense to the other things growing, but the mention of berries had me dialed in. Where? How many? Ready to pick?

We …

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Physician wisdom learned from picking strawberries

The social worker and a patient who lost her son

Conditions and Diseases
June 27, 2020

Debby Ann has a pit bull, and I remembered that when she called me recently.  It had belonged to her son, who is now deceased.  He was murdered.  She wants to meet me for lunch.

Debby Ann is a pretty lady, at least she was the last time I saw her. We worked together for a while.  She has an especially pretty face, and nice blond hair.  In her twenties, I …

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The social worker and a patient who lost her son

Safe restaurant practices as crisis therapy: lessons from a bartender

Conditions and Diseases
June 27, 2020

With a leftover airline credit to spend, I recently decided to take a quick trip down to southern California and make one of my routine treks along Interstate 5 from San Diego to Orange County. I wanted to see how the area was dealing with the pandemic and enjoy some sun.

No trip would be complete without a visit to my favorite bar in Encinitas, which had expanded its barbecue offerings …

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Safe restaurant practices as crisis therapy: lessons from a bartender

An emergency physician explains the importance of being fragile [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 26, 2020
YouTube video

“I had been trained to be this way. No panic, just a calm journeyman’s approach to any affliction, like a mathematician working an equation. Years of preparation, acquiring a skill set, building up my vault, had readied me to stand in the lounge like a zebra.

And so, I stared at my hands to see if I was actually here, to see …

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An emergency physician explains the importance of being fragile [PODCAST]

Ensuring equity and coverage for future coronavirus vaccinations

Conditions and Diseases
June 26, 2020

With promising early results of a coronavirus vaccine, there is increased excitement among the American public and policy-makers for a possible resolution to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, despite cheerleading by the scientific community and industry leaders, numerous uncertainties remain. Even with a favorable trial, the earliest “doable” COVID-19 vaccine, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious …

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Ensuring equity and coverage for future coronavirus vaccinations

A doctor plans a funeral during a pandemic

Physician
June 26, 2020

“A great man was lost today.” Those were my words to my wife at 1 a.m. several weeks ago on the phone, in reference to her father.  While she was attending to our younger boys two hours away at our home, I was staying with my mother-in-law, doing the best I could to help my father-in-law struggle with end-of-life issues.  He had tragically been diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer just …

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A doctor plans a funeral during a pandemic

What every clinician needs to know about Pride

Physician
June 26, 2020

This June has entered without the typical parades, rainbow flags, and jubilee. As the coronavirus lingers and the optimistic case for controlling the spread of COVID-19 casts a long, somber shadow over sections of the country, Pride seems like an afterthought. As a gay emergency physician, and someone who never found particular importance in the Pride events I’ve attended in the past, I wanted to share why Pride matters …

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What every clinician needs to know about Pride

Are doctors damaged goods?

Physician
June 26, 2020

We sat down at a sun-drenched table in an outdoor restaurant enjoying the fresh breeze while sipping on our favorite drinks. He is a man with immense talent, a slight frame, and the art of the skill in dissecting the arborized vessels away from his main focus during surgery.

He is also one with a keen perception of absolute relations between right and wrong. He has the finely formed hands with …

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Are doctors damaged goods?

How discovering trauma changed this doctor’s life

Physician
June 26, 2020

For as long as I could remember, I had always wanted to be a doctor. I used to destroy my younger sister’s dolls, giving them incurable, permanent-marker-based diseases, surgically treating various ailments with craft scissors.

The other earliest memory I have is of being told I had a few months to live at the age of five. I remember sitting in the surgeon’s office, staring at the lucite paperweight on his …

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How discovering trauma changed this doctor’s life

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How racial issues affect both doctors and patients [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 25, 2020
YouTube video

How do racial issues affect patients’ physical and mental health, and how do we address them during regular visits? For those without the lived experience of the black community, how can we learn and educate ourselves? How are the current protests different from those in the past? In order for us to make enduring changes that arise from the protests, what needs …

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How racial issues affect both doctors and patients [PODCAST]

10 lessons from my first year as a female attending physician

Physician
June 25, 2020

1. Change is slow. In fact, it’s much slower than I ever imagined. Part of the issue is that people don’t like change; another is that workplace culture often doesn’t support new ideas.

Tackling this issue: Shift your focus. Get to know people first. Be present. Changing perceptions and convincing people to change first requires that you know them, and they know you.

2. Patience is a virtue. …

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10 lessons from my first year as a female attending physician

When Brooklyn meets Alabama: a physician story from a 50-year career

Physician
June 25, 2020

I never expected to have a friend from Alabama. My upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, didn’t include anyone from the South, and this was a time in American history when the South was in turmoil. I recall black and white images on our family’s TV showing federally enforced integration of schools and communities, swelling civil rights marches, and disturbing scenes of riots and attack dogs used to intimidate …

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When Brooklyn meets Alabama: a physician story from a 50-year career

Embrace the growth mindset while practicing the humbling business of modern medicine

Physician
June 25, 2020

As a newly minted neonatal-cardiac intensivist, I was all ready to take on the world. I mean, caring for the babies with congenital heart disease (CHD), congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDH) and all other congenital anomalies and premature birth. I was excited and ready for service. It was my 27th year of “being a student.” I had gone through the grind of medical school, residency training, fellowship training, and an additional …

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Embrace the growth mindset while practicing the humbling business of modern medicine

How can we stop the spread of coronavirus?

Conditions and Diseases
June 25, 2020

I have chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and I do not want anyone to infect me. Because of my leukemia, I have low immunoglobulin levels, so I am extremely cautious. If I were to become infected, it would mean that I did something to put myself in danger. We have been telling people for the last three months to socially distance, but people still want to go to bars and restaurants and …

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How can we stop the spread of coronavirus?

The day you finish residency is just a normal day for everyone else

Physician
June 25, 2020

I was listening to a podcast the other day about this woman who kayaked the inner passage from Puget Sound to Juneau, Alaska. She was describing the end of her journey, the day she paddled into Juneau, and she noted that it was so anticlimactic. She paddled in, after 66 days and there was no one to celebrate the end of the journey with, the harbormaster was badgering her to …

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The day you finish residency is just a normal day for everyone else

The superhero within during the time of COVID-19

Physician
June 25, 2020

Over the past few months, my 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son have been confined almost entirely to our house and backyard to shelter them from the coronavirus pandemic.  They know that “the virus” is dangerous and invisible.  However, like superheroes facing adversity, they found their own escape from the confines of their world to their imaginary world of superheroes.  During the day, my son insists on wearing a frayed and …

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The superhero within during the time of COVID-19

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