As we near the end of Nurses Week, I can’t help but express my gratitude for our true health care heroes: nurses. Throughout my 20 years in medicine, I have worked with nurses on a daily basis. As an innocent, bumbling medical student, they would teach me how to place an IV or how to supplement potassium. In residency, they would teach the ins and outs of ICU care even …
Nurses are the backbone of medicine—and they deserve better
Recently, I was sitting in the DFW airport after my son’s soccer tournament witnessing multiple flight cancellations. Travelers became upset because their plans were ruined due to “staff shortages.” I felt lucky as my flight was just delayed, and I had patients scheduled the next day. I needed to be there for them. Because of the increasing frequency of cancellations noted in the news, I had plans to rent a …
Health care’s band of brothers and sisters
An excerpt from What It’s Like to Become a Doctor: The Year-by-Year Journey From Medical Student to Practicing Physician, Greenbranch Publishing, 2016.
I passed the board exam in November 2011 to become a gastroenterologist. This is the last exam I have to take until I recertify in internal medicine in 7 …
This is what life is like for a gastroenterologist
An excerpt from What It’s Like to Become a Doctor: The Year-by-Year Journey From Medical Student to Practicing Physician, Greenbranch Publishing, 2016.
My third year of fellowship: June 2010 — July 2011
In July 2010, I began my third and final year of fellowship. This year was focused on honing all the skills we …
A gastroenterologist looks for his first job. Here’s his story.
As I was watching CNN news recently, I noted in the headlines different ways Obamacare is failing. Current problems discussed were the customers’ sticker shock of high deductible plans (up to $12,700 for families), the president blaming the insurance companies for having substandard plans, and the people blaming the president for losing their current insurance.
One patient even complained, “My new health care plan tripled in price, and now, it is …
Dear lawmakers: Why aren’t doctors involved in health care reform?
A follow-up to Dear lawmakers: This is what it’s like to be a doctor today.
Thank you to everyone for the positive feedback. Over 60,000 Facebook “likes”, tweets, and newspaper requests was quite a surprise. I was especially moved by the multiple tweets from hospices, physician groups, and individuals recommending my article. This article really has hit a nerve and shed light …
Dear Congress: Listen to doctors on the front lines of medicine
I am writing this letter because I feel that our leaders and lawmakers do not have an accurate picture of what it actually entails to become a physician today; specifically, the financial, intellectual, social, mental, and physical demands of the profession. This is an opinion that is shared amongst many of my colleagues. Because of these concerns, I would like to …
Dear lawmakers: This is what it’s like to be a doctor today
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