The past months have unearthed and amplified passionately opposing opinions about international events, in particular regarding Palestine and Israel. In addition to attending protests, calling my representatives, and having conversations with people I know, I’ve been publicly sharing my feelings about Palestine and Israel. While I stand firm in what I believe, my feelings around it are complex: I’m Jewish, and I’m anti-Zionist.
We encounter complex beliefs and feelings, many of …
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The pendulum in the physician wellness space continues to move, and for good reason. When mindfulness started becoming more mainstream in medicine, it was often touted as the solution to burnout and, subsequently, led to a lot of mandatory workplace mindfulness programs. (For me, personally, my meditation practice is what ended my burnout, but I am fully aware that isn’t the case for everyone.)
Building resilience became a wellness box-to-check that …
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After ten years as a hospitalist, I stopped practicing clinical medicine to focus my energy on helping doctors and other health care professionals reconnect with their professional (and personal) lives in a more meaningful way. I primarily do that through meditation, a stress-reduction technique called tapping (also called EFT), and coaching.
Since the pandemic ramped up in March, I’ve been donating my services to work with docs on COVID-related stress, and …
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What was the first question that popped into your head last time you had an adverse outcome with a patient? If you’re anything like me, it was: “What did I miss?”
As physicians, we tend to be very hard on ourselves. It starts as undergrads (we must get perfect grades, scores, activities, and clinical experience), and it escalates from there. Whenever we fail to be perfect, we inundate ourselves with, “What …
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There are aspects of practicing medicine that will always be challenging and stressful, even in a perfect system. Avoiding dangerous drug-drug interactions. Keeping up with the overwhelming amount of new data on diagnostic and treatment modalities. Telling a patient that they are dying. The uncertainties of call night.
In addition, medicine tends to attract some pretty type-A, intense, perfectionist people that are all-too-willing to sacrifice their personal needs for the needs …
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Three years ago, I left the only path I had ever known to pursue uncertainty on the other side of the world. But let me back up. In July of 2011, five years into my career as an academic hospitalist, the residency work hours changed. Although the intent was obviously to benefit the well-being of the residents and the safety of patients, it took a tremendous toll on attending physicians …
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