The desegregation bus crash
I was nearly killed in a desegregation bus crash. They called it progress, but it felt like degradation. We were children, packed into metal boxes and sent across neighborhoods like test subjects. The crash was more than metal and blood, it was a system shattering itself. I survived, and I have spent the rest of my life making sure no child has to survive reform just to …
How tragedy shaped a medical career
Let us get this straight: Enjoying life is amazing. You should do more of it. Every day, if you can. But if you are truly committed to living well, you also need to get comfortable with something most people avoid like mystery meat at a buffet: preparing for your death.
Not obsessing over it. Not fearing it. Just preparing, so your loved ones are not left trying to solve your digital, …
A doctor’s guide to preparing for your death
There is evidence that coconut oil may be a potent weapon in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia and, perhaps, psychological problems such as depression.
Not just any coconut oil will do the trick, though. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is extracted from fresh coconut meat without the use of high heat or chemicals, preserving its natural nutrients, flavor, and aroma. VCO is typically pressed from fresh, moist …
Coconut oil’s role in Alzheimer’s and depression
As a psychiatry resident, I recently completed a rotation at an addiction treatment facility that looked more like a luxury wellness retreat than a medical center. The setting was picturesque: manicured lawns, private rooms bathed in sunlight, daily yoga and mindfulness sessions, and meals prepared by in-house chefs. The staff was warm, compassionate, and abundant, capable of delivering highly individualized, trauma-informed care.
Here, patients were treated not just for their substance …
How policy and stigma block addiction treatment
Imagine a patient is admitted overnight for a mild UTI. In the ED, she is told that a peripheral IV catheter (PIVC) needs to be inserted. She asks why—after all, she is volume neutral, taking her daily medications by mouth without issue, and her CBC/CMP are unremarkable. “It is just a precaution,” she is told—just a benign step in the protocol. For the two days the patient is hospitalized, the …
Unused IV catheters cost U.S. hospitals billions
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Medical student Devin Behjatnia discusses his article “The case for a standard pre-med major in U.S. universities.” Devin outlines why he believes a unified pre-medical studies major would better prepare students for …
Why U.S. universities should adopt a standard pre-med major [PODCAST]
As a physician, I spend most of my days telling patients to walk more, eat better, stress less, and maybe, just maybe, go to bed before midnight. So when I came across a piece on ancient Roman and Greek health habits, I had to laugh. Turns out, they were doing a lot of things right — without fitness trackers, $12 smoothies, or a trillion-dollar wellness industry.
We like to think of …
Ancient health secrets for modern life
I have been a pediatrician for over two decades. I have seen trends come and go: juice boxes demonized, co-sleeping debated, and screen time limits revised. But nothing has reshaped the pediatrician-parent relationship more profoundly than one thing: the internet.
These days, I do not just answer questions; I navigate a misinformation minefield.
It is common now for parents to walk into my exam room not seeking guidance, but ready for a …
How the internet broke the doctor-parent trust
As women in medicine, we have been taught to achieve, not advocate, especially not for each other. We keep our heads down. We hustle for credibility. And when we finally earn it, we are hesitant to speak it aloud, about ourselves or anyone else. As if naming our gifts makes them less legitimate.
When was the last time you publicly celebrated another woman in medicine for her brilliance? When was the …
Why don’t women in medicine support each other?
In medical school, we are taught how to recognize the signs of depression, how to assess for suicidal ideation, and how to document risk. We memorize screening tools, safety plans, and algorithms. But what we rarely learn, if at all, is how to hold the emotional weight of these encounters. We are not formally taught emotional literacy. Some may argue that emotional literacy can be learned informally over time, but …
Why doctors need emotional literacy training
The U.S. primary care system is unraveling. Fewer graduates are choosing it, and patients are struggling to find someone who stays. But in the background, one group continues to step up: international medical graduates (IMGs).
Quietly and steadily, they are filling the spaces others have left behind.
They are physicians who trained abroad, adapted to new systems, passed more hurdles than most of their U.S.-trained peers, and still chose to serve.
And yet, …
IMGs are the future of U.S. primary care
I still remember the day the shiny new EHR went live. We were promised instant access to every lab, perfect legibility, and (my favorite buzzphrase) “more time for patient care.” What arrived instead was a blinking cursor waiting for someone to type every blood-pressure reading, family-history nuance, and treatment plan. That “someone” was often the physician. Handwritten scrawl, once dashed off in seconds (illegible but efficient), was replaced by after-hours …
How I stopped typing notes and started seeing my patients again
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Health care executive David Fischel discusses his article “How robotics are reshaping the future of vascular procedures.” David explains how robotic-assisted systems are overcoming long-standing challenges in endovascular care by improving precision, …
How robotics are transforming the next generation of vascular care [PODCAST]
Women now make up over one-third of the physician workforce and more than half of medical school graduates, yet medicine remains shaped by a deeply entrenched culture of inequity. This inequity not only harms the careers and well-being of women physicians, it also jeopardizes patient care and weakens our national health care system.
As a physician and author of the forthcoming book Doctoring While Female: The Personal and National Toll of …
The high cost of gender inequity in medicine
Three years after mpox shocked the world, a silent crisis is unfolding in Africa while the rest of the world seems to have moved on.
When mpox (formerly called monkeypox) grabbed global headlines in 2022, it seemed like the next big pandemic threat. Three years later, the story looks very different depending on where you are. In Africa, mpox is still spreading and cases are rising in some countries. In the …
Mpox isn’t over: A silent epidemic is growing
Introduction
In most cases, family structures are not all they are cracked up to be. Though they may not seem like it, they are active environments that mold our bodies, minds, and emotions. Each interaction, habit, and feeling shared at home adds up to what we become. Studies have consistently demonstrated that family systems and their health impact the well-being of each individual within them. Whether it is the family’s love …
How your family system secretly shapes your health
Women are entering medical school in greater numbers and constitute half of all classes. There are many reasons to keep women in the medical workforce. Women physicians provide more preventative services and devote more time to psychosocial/family medical history. Studies show that patient satisfaction with women physicians is significantly higher than with men physicians. Elderly patients who received care from women general internists had lower 30-day mortality and readmission rates …
Women physicians: How can they survive and thrive in academic medicine?
You can live without a nipple, but what if you don’t have to?
Historically, this specialized region of the breast—known as the nipple-areolar complex—was one of the most vital aspects of human anatomy, providing not only nutrition but also immunologic safety for the infant via breastfeeding. The nipple deserves our respect; without it, human society would not exist.
While there are ample supplemental options today that allow people to …
The human case for preserving the nipple after mastectomy
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Health care executive Max Rollwage discusses his article “The promise and perils of AI in health care: Why we need better testing standards.” Max highlights the risks of relying on AI systems …
Why AI in health care needs stronger testing before clinical use [PODCAST]
For years, preventive medicine has centered on screenings, routine checkups, and occasional lifestyle interventions. Now, artificial intelligence is transforming that approach. It offers the potential to shift from reactive care to truly proactive, preventive health care. With machine learning models capable of analyzing vast datasets, from electronic health records and genomics to neighborhood-level social determinants of health, AI is enabling us to predict disease before symptoms appear. This paves the …
How AI is reshaping preventive medicine
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