Claudia Finkelstein, MD
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Physician voices
The parable of the Chinese farmer is a story with many versions. In shorthand, it goes something like this: a farmer's horse escapes - the neighbors say, "How terrible!" The farmer says, "Maybe." The horse returns, bringing some wild horses…
The parable of the Chinese farmer is a story with many versions. In shorthand, it goes something like this: a farmer’s horse escapes – the neighbors say, “How terrible!” The farmer says, “Maybe.” The horse returns, bringing some wild horses with it. The neighbors say, “How wonderful!” The farmer says, “Maybe.” The farmer’s son falls off one of the wild horses while trying to tame it and breaks his leg. …
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My journey through the parable of American health care
Physician voices
While preparing yet another talk about burnout, I had a brainstorm. I created a counterpoint PowerPoint (or tongue-in-cheek complementary model) to The Stanford Model of Professional Fulfillment. Perhaps it was a particularly irreverent or flippant stage of my own stuttering…
While preparing yet another talk about burnout, I had a brainstorm. I created a counterpoint PowerPoint (or tongue-in-cheek complementary model) to The Stanford Model of Professional Fulfillment. Perhaps it was a particularly irreverent or flippant stage of my own stuttering burnout. Maybe it was passive-aggressive pent-up frustration. Whatever it was, I came up with a “new and improved” model for physician burnout. I’ve gotten rather burned out on burnout. …
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Physician burnout reimagined
Physician voices
I signed up for yet another program in my relentless quest for self-improvement (and perhaps recovery from decades of physician hood). This one features Dr. Lisa Lahey, co-author of Immunity to Change. This is my second encounter with the book…
I signed up for yet another program in my relentless quest for self-improvement (and perhaps recovery from decades of physician hood). This one features Dr. Lisa Lahey, co-author of Immunity to Change.
This is my second encounter with the book (when the student is ready the master will re-appear?) in which she and her co-author, Robert Kegan, lay out a model to uncover “the disjunction between understanding the need for …
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Why our quest for self-improvement is failing: Uncovering the immunity to change in health care
Physician voices
In my self-righteous youth, I bristled at the thought of physicians unionizing. Certain our collective altruism and professionalism would prevail. Unions were for oppressed laborers, not well-regarded, well-paid professionals. Reading the recent paper in JAMA and 30-plus years in the…
In my self-righteous youth, I bristled at the thought of physicians unionizing. Certain our collective altruism and professionalism would prevail. Unions were for oppressed laborers, not well-regarded, well-paid professionals. Reading the recent paper in JAMA and 30-plus years in the field have caused me to think again. That, and recently having provided support to a young physician couple with a newborn.
There is nothing quite as messy, all-consuming, and awe-inspiring as …
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If a program doesn’t care for fellows, could a union?
Physician voices
Since writing a cathartic post about being burned out, I've received supportive messages as well as concerned calls from friends and former colleagues. Some were worried about my well-being. Others agreed with the sentiments. One note in particular resonated. It…
Since writing a cathartic post about being burned out, I’ve received supportive messages as well as concerned calls from friends and former colleagues. Some were worried about my well-being. Others agreed with the sentiments.
One note in particular resonated. It named cognitive dissonance as part of the problem. This dissonance is pervasive in society. The gap between what we say we stand for and what we actually do …
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Cognitive dissonance in the medical profession
Physician voices
Tuesday, at the podium in a small auditorium, I realized that my time was finally up. Even as an educator/administrator (non-clinical) physician, I was done. Preparing to give a canned talk -- a requirement of my current career strategy --…
Tuesday, at the podium in a small auditorium, I realized that my time was finally up. Even as an educator/administrator (non-clinical) physician, I was done. Preparing to give a canned talk — a requirement of my current career strategy — facing a group of anonymous medical students, the only thought going through my head was, “Why don’t we blow through these slides and get out of here?”
Normally, I relish public …
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Burnout follows from physician to wellness director
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