I had been hearing so much about burnout in medicine; and one day, I realized it had crept up on me. It began at my mother’s funeral, when an acquaintance, a former family friend, approached me asking me to examine her painful toe. I tried to avoid her, yet I could not say no. Through my grief and exhaustion, conditioned by years of striving to live a life of purpose, …
A doctor’s struggle with burnout and boundaries
Doctors are worried, and rightly so. Recent rapid strides in artificial intelligence threaten to remove the need for doctors to a significant extent. There is an oft-discussed scenario that in the next two to three years, well-trained nurses or other mid-level providers, assisted by artificial intelligence, will be adequate to provide most medical care. So, are we going to see widespread unemployment among medical professionals?
The answer is complex. A recent …
Last week my nurse called me, weeping. A patient had called and abused her, threatened her, and said he would complain to authorities about her. This, because his insurance company had delayed his medication refill request by a week. My nurse was hurt; she answers patient queries and emails even on her days off. He is not the only one shouting at and threatening medical staff. In my 30-year career …
Why rudeness and AI are pushing doctors to rethink their approach
I didn’t know
when I placed my stethoscope on your chest,
listening,
that I was listening for the last time.
I didn’t know
that you said,
“when the doctor sees me, I will be fine.”
I wish I had held you longer.
If I had known it would be the last time,
I would have listened
to your heart
for a few more minutes.
I am sorry you had to go
too soon.
It still hurts so much when I lose,
and death steals
my patient.
Over …
The unspoken grief of doctors: How losing a patient changes them forever
Last evening I crumbled in the arms of my patient and wept. This was unknown territory to me, an unexpected role reversal. For three weeks after my Mom’s death, I maintained a stoic distance as patients offered their condolences, as they asked about my mother, and empathized. We doctors have been trained to do this, to face death, to keep our emotions at arm’s length. But this patient, who has …
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