I was asked by one of my readers recently to write a post on how I maintain work-life balance during the all-consuming intern year of medical training. I love this idea because keeping myself sane while spending 80 percent of my time in the hospital has proven to be a constantly challenging task, and I’ve come up with a few ways …
5 tips to maintain work-life balance as a medical intern
I came across an interesting article in the New Yorker last week: “Why Chinese patients are turning against their doctors.” It is a fascinating account of the evolution of the health care system in China, highlighting the major changes that have led to increased patient-doctor homicides.
In a nutshell, in ancient China, traditional medicine reigned king, and people scoffed at the idea of Westernized medicine. This started changing in 1949 …
When patients attack: How safe are health care workers?
As part of a family medicine rotation, we recently discussed the importance of bringing spirituality into the hospital. The conversation was led by Stanford Hospital’s chaplain, Dr. Bruce Feldstein, an ER doctor in a former life. We began with definitions of spirituality, discussed personal experiences surrounding a spiritual moment, and concluded with how to take a “spiritual history,” a series of questions that explore patients’ spiritual or religious beliefs.
We even …
Is there a place for religion in the exam room?
An article published in the New York Times last weekend has been circulating widely on the Internet, and I feel that more than ever, physician voices are needed to reach the public and counter certain misconceptions put forth by the media.
The article, “Patients’ Costs Skyrocket; Specialists’ Incomes Soar,” charts the growth of specialist incomes in the past decade, using the case of a patient from Arkansas who had a …
Mohs surgery is vilified, physicians again fail to respond effectively
I was very happy to come across a new article in the Washington Post discussing the pros and cons of shortening medical school education to three years. This article could not have come at a more timely moment for me, as I just had a discussion about this very topic last week with one of my fourth year medical student colleagues.
Sitting in her Chicago condo as she completed modules for an …
Should medical school be shortened to 3 years?
I recently read an article in the New York Times titled “When Doctors ‘Google’ Their Patients,” which details one physician’s thoughts on whether or not doctors should look up their patients on the Internet.
What struck me was the fact that despite growing up with the Internet and being able to find information about practically anyone using Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, or Instagram, I have never once been tempted to find out …
Should doctors ever Google their patients?
On November 22, the FDA sent Silicon Valley’s leading personalized genetics company 23andMe a warning letter after six months of radio silence and recent increased efforts in marketing.
Excerpts from the chastising letter read: “As part of our interactions with you, including more than 14 face-to-face and teleconference meetings, hundreds of email exchanges, and dozens of written communications, we provided you with specific feedback on study protocols and clinical and analytical validation requirements …
Genetic counseling: The missing piece for 23andMe
Recently, a lot of my classmates have been passing around a New York Times article titled “Medicine’s Search for Meaning,” a piece detailing the high burnout rates of doctors-in-training and the inadequacies of medical education to address physician wellness. What I found to be of the most saddening paragraphs in the article goes as follows:
Nearly half of medical students become burned out during their training. Medical education has …
Acknowledge the human aspect of our medical experiences
After getting off a 15 hour call day, all I want to do is write.
These past 2 weeks death has been on my mind a lot, more than it ever has been. I have always known that physicians counsel patients and families on dying, but actually being the one to do it is entirely different.
How do you tell someone that their best medical option, the best thing you can offer …
The price for improvement sometimes outweighs the benefits
An attending once told me, “You can’t please ‘em all.” And it’s true. Sometimes in medicine, you just have to keep your head up and remember the bigger picture of why you are in this field.
A few months ago I did my internal medicine sub-I, which is a rotation medical students take in their fourth year when they are expected to perform on the same level as an intern. I’ve …
You have to develop thick skin in medicine
“I don’t want a tube down my nose. I’ve been through it before and I don’t want it again.” Charlie turned his head away from the team and crossed his arms in defiance. “I’d rather be sick.”
I looked at the intern, who looked at the resident, who just said, “Well, think about it. We’ll be back in the afternoon.”
“I’m also hungry and haven’t eaten in days,” Charlie added.
“Maybe some food …
Each patient is still human and deserves to be treated as such
I recently celebrated my birthday with a 9-hour picnic and for the first time in my life I was aware that some of my friends were starting to wear large hats and sunscreen. In fact, one of my friends was asking me about tinting her windows to block out excess sun.
Finally we are all now realizing what our mothers have been telling us since day 1 and what was popularized …
This is why you should wear sunscreen
I knew from the beginning that residency would be one of the biggest challenges in a career in medicine and reading Dr. Pauline Chen’s article, “The Impossible Workload for Doctors in Training,” put into mathematical terms what I had been sensing all along.
In what other profession do you go through four years of undergrad and four years of $60k/year medical school, only to end up working 100 hour weeks for …
Address the disease of residency work hours
I’m sure that many of you have read the New York Times post titled “Job Prospects are Dimming for Radiology Trainees.”
I don’t know about you, but this article made me feel more than ever that in order to choose the right specialty, you have to predict the future of the field. Don’t choose a field that’s going to be heavily affected …
Is outsourcing medical diagnoses a good idea?
Being a clinical student is not a walk in the park. When we get together for “Reflections on Clerkship” days every two months in our small groups, students let the floodgates open about the hardships they have been facing on rotations. I am no exception. Transitioning to a strict schedule in the hierarchical world of academic medicine has been no small feat. In fact I was planning earlier this morning …
The patient experience can be dehumanizing
Something that has been on my mind recently is obesity, specifically obesity in doctors. This may be because we cover obesity in a high percentage of our stories (1 in 3 Americans is obese, after all) or because I recently discovered that I gained ten pounds since moving to New York City. Either way, after watching Dr. Snyderman speak her mind on national television about how obese leaders are unfit …
Would you accept obesity advice from a fat doctor?
One of the things I have come to really enjoy and appreciate is the opportunity to interview the subjects of my articles and multimedia pieces. In a way, being a reporter reminds me a lot of being a physician-in-training – both roles require me to go into a room, learn an individual’s story inside out, and present the learned information for a further goal.
In my Public Issues Reporting class, the …
Reporters and doctors are more similar than you think
Back in 2004, after I was accepted into Stanford University, a friend of mine at the university took me around on a campus tour. He showed me the building he lived in (Donner), his cafeteria (Stern), Hoover Tower, and all the usual sights. When it came time for him to tell me more about his classmates and dorm buddies, he promptly pulled up a webpage on his computer. “You have …
How social media impacted a medical student’s career
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