These articles are written by anonymous clinicians. They have been selected and edited by Kevin Pho, MD.
I arrive 7:15, 15 minutes before I was supposed to come in. I make sure to bring a shelf review book, knowing that I will be getting significant use of it that day.
After surreptitiously observing my surroundings, I attempt to seek out a physician of sorts, a guide, a mentor, a guru that could aid in my quest for knowledge and experience. I am seated in a chair against a …
A letter from a physician to her former employer.
This may seem to come out of the blue for you, but for me, it is something I have thought about often. You will likely not remember the details like I do, so let me spark your memory.
It was a Thursday, and my husband, who I have known since I was 19 — not unlike you and your wife — was diagnosed …
Over the past month, I’ve slowly rediscovered my love for writing. Though I have never considered myself a strong writer, I have fond memories of it providing an outlet for my thoughts. The history essays that everyone dreaded writing in high school were some of my favorite assignments. I spent days wording and rewording my sentences while my classmates wrote them quickly the night before they were due. It felt …
We brought his family into a separate room with plenty of chairs. Sitting to the right of his father and mother, our attending uttered the first words in the room.
“I think you know what I am about to say.”
His mother took in a deep sigh, her eyes already swollen from inconsolable tears.
“I think he is dead.”
The whole room sank. We were all punched in the gut by those words.
“Oh my …
For the first couple of years of medical school, the constant stream of exams and the anxiety that came along with each one seemed never-ending. I told myself that it was worth sacrificing my personal health to better the lives of others.
I put off addressing my own mental health needs to keep advancing to the next level of education. I let stress manifest itself in new ways that my body …
This has not been an uncommon occurrence over the past 2 1/2 years. In my bed with my laptop when I should be asleep, looking at blogs, taking quizzes, checking out stats on different specialties to find my place in this crazy world we call medicine. This wouldn’t occur all the time but enough that it was noticeable and something I clearly wanted resolved.
On these nights my thinking started out …
Medical school attracts very similar kind of people. Most of us are high-achieving, intelligent people with the common goal of helping others. It is beautiful to think of all of the potential patients we could serve working together. Applying to medical school and medical education often suppresses that potential.
Somewhere in between all of the courses one must take to enter medical school and the dreadful MCAT, it becomes a number …
My dad is a locally famed and sincere career politician. All my life I have seen him value public service over personal wealth. As a young lawyer, he worked in Washington DC for the Department of Justice during the civil rights movement, and he often shares stories of his tour of duty in 1960’s Alabama. After that service, he came back to West Virginia where he has been elected to …
To whom it may concern:
I am writing to you with great sadness, but with relentless determination to ignite change. I am a doctor with a disability. Two years ago I began residency training in pediatrics. The privilege was overwhelming as I stood a doctor in the very halls where I had been wheeled in as a patient with a brain tumor. I couldn’t believe that I had actually made it, …
Exercise. Growing up I competed in multiple sports. The physical enhancement of the human body through movement sparked my interest in human physiology and kinesiology. Consequently, my interest in physiology ultimately led me to medical school. It only felt natural, when medicine became what felt like the bane of my existence, that I’d revert back to this pursuit’s humble beginning. Given the fact that time was a scarce resource during internship, …
Medical training in the United States is a long and tedious process. It begins in college, when one must complete the mandatory prerequisite curriculum and take a medical entrance exam; your score on which is directly compared to other applicants, immediately labeling you as a competitive candidate or not. The process of applying requires the completion of multiple comprehensive applications, the compilation of countless hours of research, clinical experience, letters …
Dear Ms. Bresch,
I couldn’t help but notice the barrage of negative press you’ve received lately regarding the significant price increases in EpiPens. A 461 percent increase since 2007, to be exact. People who require this medication for themselves or their children are up in arms about spending over $600 for a twin pack of autoinjectors. Most of these people have life-threatening anaphylaxis if they are exposed to certain allergens. To …
A.J. Smith, a pseudonym of course, walked into my office today, unhappily. Most of her topical medications for acne caused too much irritation. The ones that didn’t, weren’t working. The doxycycline caused photosensitivity in the past. But her friend’s dermatologist gave her isotretinoin, better known as Accutane, and she completely cleared. As such, that’s what my patient demanded. There was only one problem. The degree of her acne didn’t warrant …
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A few months ago, I was on my general surgery rotation on the colorectal service as a medical student. It was in the late afternoon that we started a case of a robotic rectopexy to repair a rectal prolapse. Our patient was a kind and warm 89-year-old woman. The operation finished without a hitch.
As we undocked the da Vinci machine, the resident and I began to suture closed the multiple …
Hi there,
Allow me to introduce myself.
I’m you.
I’m you 20 years ago, or 45 years ago if you were in the Class of ’72. I’m you one month ago if you were in the Class of 2016. I spilled coffee down my shirt, my hair is kind of a mess, and there are dark circles under my eyes from long hours spent studying.
Sound familiar?
Great. Then you’re in the right place. The …
I’m feeling pretty good about myself today. My patient, recently admitted to home health care, was just not herself, low O2 sats, irregular heart rate with pain on inspiration and feeling a little clammy. While her recent surgery was a neck fusion, it still didn’t completely eliminate the possibility of a pulmonary embolism. Instead of spending 15 to 30 torturous minutes in her primary doctor’s voice mail hell, I made …
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Three weeks ago, I changed jobs. I left a high-tech, high-volume teaching hospital in one of the largest medical centers in the U.S. for the greener pastures of a small, private community hospital. Why? I needed a less stressful position, lower acuity patients and to be rid of the madness of commuting.
I am a registered nurse with experience in emergency and trauma nursing, critical care, electrophysiology and cardiovascular surgery. I …
It was the first day of my prestigious internship at the cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation center. I was a senior in college and eager to apply my knowledge from the field of exercise physiology to make an impact on the people beginning rehab. This was my first real opportunity to work as part of a health care team while proving that this is the right field for me to be …
I am forced to attend one of these mandatory continuing medical education (CME) events. My malpractice insurance provider has a deal with the state medical association. To get lower rates, I have to be a member of the association and every 2 or 3 years attend a risk management training session.
I make it on time, despite the traffic.
As I walk into the lobby of this rather nice building, looking for …
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Aristotle said, “To avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.”
Sometimes I wish I was nothing; surely, that would just be so much easier. I screw up all of the time. And I hate it. My latest gaffe was killing our simulated patient by causing him to aspirate. I’m sure no one in my group is still persevering on the events that unfolded during the sim. I also really …
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