Elisabeth Poorman is an internal medicine physician and can be reached on Twitter @DrPoorman. 

A doctor explains 10 misconceptions about abortion

Physician
November 2, 2022

The recent case of a fourteen-year-old girl being denied her medications for arthritis highlights that the Roe v. Wade decision has far-reaching consequences for women and girls. Disturbingly, the Supreme Court’s decision allowing for abortion bans also contains several factual errors. As a doctor, I think it is important that we understand the facts about abortion. I want to share the top 10 misconceptions about pregnancy termination that I have …

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A doctor explains 10 misconceptions about abortion

How to talk with a struggling physician colleague

Physician
February 1, 2019

My friend, Lello Tesema, and I were sitting in a restaurant in Harvard Square. It was the first, feverish bit of spring when it seems like the entire city has emerged en masse from their winter dens. We were sitting outside under patio lights, wearing regular clothes instead of our usual scrubs. I should have been happy.

As often happened in those days, I asked Lello if things were ever going …

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How to talk with a struggling physician colleague

What I wish my family had known about medical residency

Physician
July 9, 2018
YouTube video

I sometimes get messages from people who have lost physician colleagues and loved ones to suicide. It’s the specifics of these stories that wound me: a note left for an unexpected person; an insignificant fight at sign-out that in retrospect is full of meaning; the white coat that a woman wore when she jumped to her death. Each of these lives is complex, and each of these deaths …

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What I wish my family had known about medical residency

Medicine systematically disadvantages women physicians at every stage of their careers

Physician
March 5, 2018

When my friend was in her fourth year of medical school, she and her boyfriend sat down with their dean to discuss their residency applications. Both have since gone on to have successful academic medicine careers, but on that day in the dean’s office, they were nervous. My friend asked the dean for reassurance.

“I’m sure it will all work out,” she recalled the dean saying. “After all, in 20 years …

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Medicine systematically disadvantages women physicians at every stage of their careers

This doctor gave flu vaccines to her patients. You won’t believe what happened next.

Physician
November 17, 2017

Flu season is upon us, and with it a chance to test out my persuasion skills on a deeply skeptical public.

Consider this recent patient of mine, a young man in college who came in for an ankle sprain. “While you’re here, why not get a flu shot?” I asked.

He looked at me as if I were a car mechanic offering a few more add-ons to his maintenance exam.

“Oh, I don’t …

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This doctor gave flu vaccines to her patients. You won’t believe what happened next.

Anti-immigrant policies put people at risk during Harvey. And that’s just the beginning.

Health Policy
October 6, 2017

As Harvey’s devastation raged through Houston recently, the city’s mayor was compelled to address rumors that those seeking aid could be deported.

In the wake of a statewide ban on “sanctuary cities,” the mayor sought to reassure the Houston area’s more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants that they would not be targeted for deportation at emergency shelters.

Nevertheless, out of the disaster …

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Anti-immigrant policies put people at risk during Harvey. And that’s just the beginning.

Congratulations medical school graduate! It’s time to find a therapist.

Medical Education
May 30, 2017

To the graduating medical school class of 2017: Welcome to the profession.

Many of you will be moving, planning long vacations, and preparing for your life as a medical resident. Right now, you’re probably furiously reviewing handbooks on being a medical intern as you sit on a beach.

(Or, like me, promising yourself you will — right after you finish “The Fault in Our Stars.”)

Forgive me, but I have something to add …

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Congratulations medical school graduate! It’s time to find a therapist.

We do not take unhealthy alcohol use as seriously as we should

Conditions and Diseases
May 23, 2017

The middle-aged man in my exam room wasn’t an alcoholic. At least, that’s what he declared to me as I asked him questions about his drinking.

“I’m not like those people,” he said, smiling nervously. “I go to work. I don’t fall down the stairs. I don’t embarrass myself.”

As we spoke further about the consequences of drinking six to seven beers every night (and a few shots here and there), …

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We do not take unhealthy alcohol use as seriously as we should

Why many patients are afraid to come to the clinic

Physician
March 22, 2017

The young woman sat in the corner of my exam room, facing away from me as I asked her questions. Her answers were short. “I’m from El Salvador.” Why did she come? “Because of the violence.” Her voice was flat. Her hands trembled. I knew she had suffered terribly and I needed to ask her how.

Slowly, quietly, she recounted the gang violence she had fled in El Salvador. The assault …

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Why many patients are afraid to come to the clinic

This doctor stopped telling patients to lose weight. Here’s why.

Conditions and Diseases
October 21, 2016

Several years ago, I was meeting a young woman in my clinic for the first time. She was healthy but had been obese most of her adult life, even though she had tried many methods of losing weight. We spoke for a few minutes about diet and exercise, and she agreed to see the nutritionist.

A few months later, she came back to check her progress. She had lost weight, about …

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This doctor stopped telling patients to lose weight. Here’s why.

To the doctors struggling with depression: You are not alone

Physician
August 30, 2016

By the end of my first year of residency, I knew I was in trouble.

I was overwhelmed by the 15-hour days, the unbearable sadness of the tragedies I witnessed, my feelings of impotence and my fears of making a mistake.

My life was my work, and everything else seemed to be falling apart: my physical health, my relationships, my ability to sleep after months of night shifts.

Yet, I came to work …

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To the doctors struggling with depression: You are not alone