Anonymous

These articles are written by anonymous clinicians. They have been selected and edited by Kevin Pho, MD.

The state of health care in America: Smell the bacon

Anonymous

Health Policy

May 19, 2016

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 …

It’s OK for medical students to make mistakes. Here’s why.

Anonymous

Medical Education

May 18, 2016

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 …

Should white coats be only worn by physicians?

Anonymous

Physician

May 7, 2016

Maybe it’s just me, and maybe this is a regional/local phenomenon, but I have noticed a sharp increase in the number of non-physicians who sport their white coats on a daily basis around the hospital.

First, let me preface this piece by saying I have absolutely nothing against any person who partakes in the care of patients; in fact, I commend all the helping hands that routinely dedicate themselves to health …

Surgical residency hurt the people that mean the most to me

Anonymous

Physician

April 27, 2016

Three weekday call shifts left and two more weekends. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining bright, and I am relieved to be walking towards it. The only question that remains is what will I have left of myself and my life when I get there?

I started residency with a husband who I loved more than life itself. I was codependent to a fault, never wanted to …

How duty hour restrictions are hurting residency training

Anonymous

Medical Education

April 10, 2016

As I get near the completion of an intense 5-year orthopedic surgery residency program, I had an interesting interaction with our hospitals sub-committee specifically tasked to address duty hour and resident fatigue issues.

As they gave examples from other departments about changes made to their programs regarding duty hours, a clear-as-mud connection was continually made. They spoke of “improvements” made as the result of residents stepping up to serve as whistleblowers …

The racism in medical education cannot be ignored

Anonymous

Medical Education

April 9, 2016

The abandoned retractor clatters dangerously close to the other edge of the sterile field, saved only by the quick reflexes of the scrub nurse. The attending lets out a brief laugh, “I guess we’re using the Madagascar technique,” then it’s back to the operation at hand. Minutes pass as I continue to stand in my assigned place at the attending’s side, prepared to offer whatever meager contribution I can to …

A medical resident commits suicide. Here’s how one colleague mourns.

Anonymous

Physician

March 23, 2016

In the hour after I heard the news, I experienced the full spectrum of typical reactions to a physician suicide.

One end of the spectrum came from the attending in a clinic, who when asked if the residents could go home and mourn their friend who just committed suicide, proceeded to tell me a story of how when her grandpa died before a final exam in medical school. She decided to …

Why the Flexner model is outdated for today’s medical schools

Anonymous

Medical Education

March 22, 2016

During my first year of medical school, I attended a “speed dating” event, where medical students met attendings from various specialties to get a better sense of what we could do with our lives once we graduated. Older physicians consistently remarked that they decided their future during their intern year. One even said that he waited until the end of his internship to decide on otolaryngology.

I, along with my fellow …

If this medical student was a test question, the answer would be depression

Anonymous

Medical Education

March 21, 2016

I’m not sure when it happened, but driving into the parking lot that cold winter day, I knew it had. Tears welled in red eyes, snot dripped out of my nose. I felt so alone and lost. My whole life I’d wanted this — the drive to the hospital and wondering whether I would change a life. But as I sat in my car, engine off, I didn’t want that …

5 tips for parenting a future surgeon

Anonymous

Physician

March 18, 2016

Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be surgeons.

Really. Don’t.

As the mother of a soon-to-be fellowship-trained surgeon, I know what I’m talking about. Listen to me. Ignore Willie Nelson. You don’t want your babies to be doctors; you want them to be cowboys.

Really.

Yeah, yeah, I know, your daughter is a whiz at all things mathematical and/or spatial. And your son is a science prodigy. Their eye-hand coordination is legendary …

Read more…

5 tips for parenting a future surgeon

How many more physicians will we lose to suicide?

Anonymous

Physician

March 16, 2016

Almost two years ago I went to the funeral of a medical school classmate. A little more than three weeks before he had jumped from a parking garage after finishing his clinic. He had a loving wife and three young children. He had the respect of his colleagues and the love of his patients. There was nothing out of the ordinary in his financial or personal life. It didn’t make …

A star medical student feels like he made a terrible decision

Anonymous

Medical Education

March 3, 2016

It is February of our last few months of clinical rotations. I am a rising fourth-year medical student at a well-known East Coast institution with a not-so-bad track record, I guess you could say. I scored in the top percentile for the USMLE Step 1, honored my third-year rotations, and have comments from attendings about how I am destined to succeed in this career. One might think that at this point …

The rise of workplace confrontation in medical practices

Anonymous

Physician

January 22, 2016

The workplace environment can be full of many obstacles, especially in the medical field. These obstacles range from difficult patients, to navigating insurances, to burnout, and so on. One problem, however, appears to be worsening over time and seems to go without discussion. As life has progressed and I have transitioned from a medical student to attending physician, I have noticed an increase in workplace confrontation between employees. Is this …

This surgeon loves her job. But it’s killing her.

Anonymous

Physician

January 1, 2016

What do you do when you love your job, but it’s killing you?

That’s an easy question if it’s asked by someone else. It’s a hard question when you’re asking it of yourself. As a physician, I give advice to people all the time — other people. If you have diabetes, control your diet. If you are obese, then lose weight and exercise. If you have COPD, then you better not …

Physicians with anxiety shouldn’t suffer in silence

Anonymous

Physician

January 1, 2016

I thought about you, the patient that I’m about to perform surgery on, all night last night and because I doubted myself, I took clonazepam to calm the anxiety so I could sleep. Today I’ve taken 10 mg of propranolol and some Kava, a natural supplement known to decrease anxiety.

As I start the surgery, the propranolol coursing through my veins blocking the sympathetic nervous system, I fear it will come. …

What it’s like to talk to patients, then cut them open

Anonymous

Physician

December 5, 2015

Every time I walk through the automatic sliding doors, that strong smell of ammonia stings my nose. The lobby is clean — too clean — with a vast amount of open space leading to the front desk. The just-below-comfortable air brushes against my skin, raising the hair on my arms and legs. Almost cold enough to be a morgue — but that’s later. The room is silent, except for the …

A medical student resents having to make smart choices. Here’s why.

Anonymous

Medical Education

December 3, 2015

The human experience is an exercise in connection. Nothing is seen, heard, or felt in isolation. This is what can make womanhood in a large urban city so challenging. A catcall is not a single comment, heard on a single morning about the tightness of your jeans or the way your hair falls; but instead carries with it every unsolicited thing you’ve ever heard about your body, a shadow of …

This doctor quit residency. And now she’s truly happy.

Anonymous

Physician

November 19, 2015

“I quit residency.”

Three words that many physicians couldn’t ever imagine coming out of their mouth, but for me, I say it all the time, usually with a smile on my face. I was a year and a half into my family medicine residency and decided it was enough. My decision mostly revolved around the birth of my son. My husband (a resident in the same program) and I planned to …

Maybe medical school applications should come with a warning label

Anonymous

Medical Education

November 12, 2015

I did some pretty crazy things to get into medical school (don’t worry, Mom, nothing illegal). For several years before applying, I became a medicine groupie. I read books about being a doctor, watched documentaries about medicine, and shadowed physicians for hours on end so I could imagine what it might be like. I watched many a friend go off to med school and graduate … and I waited, I …

If you don’t advocate for women, I don’t trust you with patients

Anonymous

Medical Education

November 1, 2015

I started medical school recently. Before it started, I told myself (and everybody else) that I would feel like a kid in a candy shop when I was here. I’d get to try different specialties and figure out which one I want to do out of everything that excited me. It really is kind of like that, don’t get me wrong. But I’m also confused and disheartened.

I had a different …

Anonymous

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