These articles are written by anonymous clinicians. They have been selected and edited by Kevin Pho, MD.
I am a person—a person with hopes, dreams, fears, and a favorite color. I am just like anyone else, trying to find my place in this world. Yet you only see me as a nuisance. I am always in your way, you say. I am an idiot. My existence is like a personal insult to you—and you never miss a chance to show it.
I was once a bright-eyed child full …
It is undeniable that the radiologist shortage is here. While reimbursement is declining, free agents are few and far between, and compensation is exploding. Compensation per wRVU in the western region of the U.S. jumped nearly 16 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to MGMA. Job postings show salaries almost double what they were even five years ago, with signing bonuses, accelerated partnership tracks, and 12, 26, 34, or even …
A large part of patient care in the modern corporate setting is working within your restrictions. Most corporate health care settings will limit how wide your scope can be, and this often determines how you treat patients. As a family physician working within a huge corporate setting, this oftentimes leads to alternate outcomes, such as referring a patient to another office where a procedure can be done safely or having …
Suicide among resident physicians is a critical issue highlighted in various studies. Research indicates that depression is prevalent among resident physicians, with rates comparable to medical students, suggesting a pervasive problem across different levels of medical training. Burnout has also been linked to suicidal ideation among resident physicians, with a study reporting that 4.5 percent of American resident physicians specializing in surgery experienced suicidal ideation. Furthermore, while resident physicians may …
Resident physicians are vital to the health care system, delivering essential medical services while training to become fully licensed doctors. However, a troubling trend has emerged nationwide, with residency programs and hospitals frequently violating the rights and protections resident physicians are entitled to under employment contracts, state labor laws, and accreditation standards. I personally was forced to deal with these issues, despite having virtually zero knowledge regarding the legal side …
Yesterday, I couldn’t get up in time in the morning and had to rush to the hospital without breakfast. I was just afraid of getting noticed by anyone from my department that I was a little late. When I reached the outpatient department (OPD), I just got a text from my consultant that he was not feeling well, and I had to see all the patients in his absence. In …
Residents, particularly international medical graduates (IMGs), often navigate a challenging position within health care institutions, where hierarchical structures overshadow their authority and autonomy. This dynamic can leave residents feeling disempowered and vulnerable, underscoring the importance of understanding their rights and protections within their programs. For IMGs, cultural and systemic differences may further amplify these challenges, making knowledge of their rights especially crucial as they enter residency programs.
As a final-year resident, …
“I maybe have a tiny shred of compassion.”
A doctor I know wrote this in reference to a person they’d never met, a person who had been verbally abusive to many health care professionals. A person who was a prospective patient.
A tiny shred of compassion. Maybe.
I had met the patient in question, was the physician caring for them in the hospital. I was trying to find a PCP who would take …
Older physicians often bemoan what’s perceived as a decline in professionalism during residency training. Caps on the number of inpatients assigned to an intern or resident. Duty hour limits. Wellness retreats. While these may be imperfect, they’re at least aligned with or heading in the direction of what is the right way to balance the rigors of a lifetime of training in and practicing medicine with the safety, quality, and …
I recently concluded my application cycle with an acceptance, and I’ve been catching up on the news regarding medical school admissions. Admittedly, I’m disappointed. Also shocked by how much can happen while being occupied. It kind of felt like Neo getting out of his “bubble.”
Simply put, the MCAT is still important and should remain so, at least until other forms of assessment, such as the Situational Judgment Test, are refined …
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
– Maya Angelou
Since my teenage years, I have been watching Bollywood movies of all sorts. Maybe people from the subcontinent like them because no one can relate to these movies other than them.
My favorite hero was Sushant Singh Rajput. I liked him for his personality, his sweet smile, and the genuine look he had in his eyes. When he …
“Today is the first day of the rest of my life!”
I’m sure you’ve heard that many times before; I’m sure I have. But in my obscure point of existence in this endless universe, that statement has never been more accurate than it is today.
Being a physician has been a flame burning inside my chest my entire life. I decided on it when I was three years old, and aside from …
The banner in front of the ED where I work proclaims “magnet hospital.” “Magnet” status tells patients and visitors that the care from nurses (and ED technicians and patient care associates staff under their auspices) is so good that the ED should be a magnet, attracting patients and nurses to come here and inspiring other EDs emulation.
For many years, our ED’s annual census has been 100,000 patients. One might think …
As a child, I was a daydreamer, especially in algebra class. Picture this: my teacher, reminiscent of Droopy Dog but on a heavy dose of barbiturates, droned on from the textbook. And just like that, my mind would escape – soaring out of the window of my quaint Midwestern high school, wandering around the courtyard square.
Back then, several businesses on the square were small physician offices. You could spot white-coated …
Imagine this scenario.
You’re negotiating the sale of your widget. Despite your earnest efforts, you hit a deadlock. The buyer, after consulting an expert on “fair market value” for widget prices, firmly states they won’t purchase your widget for $5.
In a new tactic, you turn away from the customer, shed your white coat, don a pair of Groucho Marx glasses, and pivot back.
“I’m the CEO of WidgetCorp. Ten bucks, take it …
If you find yourself heading down a rabbit hole pursuing a diagnosis, consider using a Markov chain to get back out. No, it’s not a physical chain. It’s a metaphorical chain.
In mathematics, statistics, and research, a Markov chain is a series of branching events where the options of what comes next at each branch point are not limited by what happened at a previous branch point. That is, each step …
If there is one root cause of all the disgruntlement among health care workers, it is that we lost autonomy due to hospital consolidation. Relationships are largely about leverage. With rare exceptions, a single doctor cannot dramatically impact the bottom line of a hospital chain, whereas the loss of your professional income—particularly for those of us geographically rooted in an area with few alternatives—is devastating.
The beauty of locums is that …
It’s a busy day in the emergency department. The waiting room is full, and we are short-staffed. I just read an email from administration that morning about how our treat and release times are “slipping,” and in the same breath, they remind us of the importance of patient satisfaction. There are many patients in the department with chronic medical problems or chief complaints that could be interpreted as non-emergent. I …
How did I get here? Heading to the highest place I can find, in contemplation of jumping and falling to my death. I had always feared death before this point, but now it seemed the only logical solution. I seemed to have it all going my way. So why would a medical resident in a coveted training program in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, with a …
I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in my specialty’s national board organization and its lack of response to the tragedy still unfolding in Israel. Ophthalmology oral boards are currently scheduled for 10/20/2023 through 10/22/2023, and I have received multiple notifications this week regarding testing logistics but not a single reference to a terrorist attack on the scale of the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York City. …
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