A few months ago, I was on call as a cardiology fellow, and I had to go up to one of the inpatient floors to do a stat echocardiogram on a patient. Given how hemodynamically unstable he was, I was rushing to the room as fast as I could with this hefty machine that could give important information about cardiac function …
Sorry, but I’m not part of the ancillary staff. I’m a physician.
As a fellow in cardiology, you sign up to be part of a specialty that can involve emergencies.
As a first-year fellow, usually you are running things by other senior fellows and attendings, and typically you are not the first person to make a decision on a plan. At times, though, there can be an exception to that rule, and it is …
The day that I truly became a cardiology fellow
I remember one day a few years ago when I was talking with one of my friends about the challenges of being a doctor after a tough day at work. I had seen a large number of patients within the span of a few hours, and in addition to many of them being sick, I dealt with family members who had so many questions and who wanted to provide me …
Medicine: A profession of sacred trust
In medicine, the seemingly simple questions become the complex ones.
“How’s it going?”
It is a question that is frequently asked whenever we encounter friends and acquaintances. In a given day, we ask this question many times out of courtesy and we expect to hear short, affirmative answers, such as “Things are good,” or “It’s OK” as we continue to walk to where we need to go since we are pressed for …
When the seemingly simple becomes complex
As I sit home spending Christmas with my family this year, I look back on the past few years of my practicing medicine and realize how much of a luxury this is. While most jobs allow employees time off for particular holidays, health care is a profession where we are called on numerous occasions to sacrifice our time in order to care for others. Frequent are the calls we make …
Both patients and doctors are at the whim of uncontrolled time
With the recent attention given to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the cases diagnosed in the United States, one of the main ways in which the public is being informed is through social media. Every single day on Facebook, I see at least one story posted about the Ebola epidemic and its potential impact on the U.S. public and …
Ebola in the digital age: How doctors can confront it
Recently, I have been reflecting more about my musical journey as an organist over the past 15 years. It has been great to learn how to continue my medical training to the best of my ability while still trying to keep my musical interests alive. Despite the busyness of medical training, I have thankfully had opportunities to perform publicly, as well as meet other musicians. I began …
A musician’s guide to medical training
Having been born and raised in the United States, I have become accustomed to the reputation of the U.S. as being ahead of the curve in terms of advances in numerous fields including medicine, and the research that we produce in these fields strongly backs up this claim. I have been reminded of this over the past few days while following coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
American health …
Can the Ebola epidemic promote the development of medicine?
Inevitably, there will come a time in our medical journeys where we will have to have a difficult conversation with a family about the passing of a loved one. Sometimes, it will be an expected event after a patient has dealt with a long illness at an advanced age; other times, it will be an unexpected event in a person who looked healthy a short time before. These events can …
Honoring families in times of grief
Over the past few months, more attention has been paid to the prescription drug epidemic, with increasing rates of accidental deaths noted across the country. Legislatures in different states are currently considering laws to provide first responders access to reversal agents, such as naloxone, to treat people found on the scene who have likely overdosed on these medications. With increasing media coverage, the public is becoming more aware about the …
Navigating the prescription drug abuse epidemic
When one hears the words “language barrier,” it usually brings up images of a person who is in another country of which the national language is not his own. If you have visited a foreign country without fully knowing the primary language, you can start to feel out of place fairly quickly. Despite one’s best efforts to navigate the country, a part of the cultural experience is lost without knowing …
Breaking down the language barrier in medicine
From an early age, I was encouraged by my family to consider a career in medicine. I was told it was a well-respected profession, offering financial security and community respect. Seeing the white coats, stethoscopes, and grateful patients at my childhood doctors’ visits made the field mysterious and intriguing, and these stuck with me as I grew older. I also developed a love for music at an early age; I …
Being a whole doctor serves patients best
“I’m so sorry, but it looks like the cancer has spread.”
As I heard these words come out of my mouth, I knew that in a split second, a new reality was created in the mind of the patient that I was talking to. I looked at his face and saw that he was trying to remain strong, but in his demeanor, it was apparent that dreams were crushed and that …
Unexpected lessons from an unexpected patient
A guest column by the American Board of Internal Medicine, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
The debate about recertification recently in the New England Journal of Medicine and highlighted earlier this week on KevinMD.com and in an Associated Press article brings to light some of the real challenges facing the future of the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.
I have been through …
ABIM: Maintenance of Certification – For the public
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