Once upon a time there was a pandemic, despite what the “deniers” and conspiracy theorists say. This rare disease outbreak shook every corner of the globe, yet brought out the best in people, people who put their lives on the line to care for the sick and dying.
But to this day, I still hear and read about folks who are convinced the COVID-19 pandemic was blown out of proportion and …
COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account
Teaching is a blast! As an attending, I love to employ offbeat methods, with absurdity and humor, at times skirting the edge of political incorrectness, all for the purpose of enhancing one’s medical education.
Educating medical students and residents by practicing physicians is a tried-and-true element of medical education, a practice dating back through the ages, where those without formal education in the art of teaching provided instruction. This tradition continues …
The surprising power of laughter and creativity in medical training
One day, you find yourself on the edge, peering into the abyss. Then someone pushes you in. Welcome to the first day as a surgery intern. Few folks outside of medicine fully fathom the rigors a doctor must endure during post-graduate training. From the get-go, we were thrown into the fire, responsible for complicated, sick hospital patients, in what felt like a prolonged boot camp, where ridiculously long hours, horrid …
Inside the grueling life of a surgery intern
“Money makes the world go ’round.”
Whether you believe this this figurative adage or not, it is a hard truth. Money is ubiquitous; it pervades everyday life. And money is the cornerstone of business. So I’m shocked to hear “pretty much nothing” when I ask residents what they’re taught about business and money these days.
Not to insult anyone’s intelligence, but I’ll venture an assumption. If you are a medical student, resident, …
The myth of wealthy doctors: Why business education is vital for every physician
Life is short, so make yours extraordinary. Capitalize on what makes you, YOU, and be your own unapologetic self.
The Almighty designed us as unique but imperfect and flawed individuals, prone to sin and blundering error. But that’s the great part of being human; we’re expected to sin, blunder, and make mistakes. We’re made to err for the sake of learning and growth; otherwise, we’d wither into uninspiring nothingness. Keep this …
Bring the real You to your workplace
Medical students are an odd bunch. At least in my day. Warning: The following may seem a little distasteful, violating the doctrine of proper decorum expected of medical professionals. I feel your anguish for those bent to the more sensitive side, but to sugar-coat a narrative only robs it of its essence.
I attended the Medical College of Wisconsin in the late 1980s, so what follows may not represent medical training. …
Hearing loss can be a real pain in the rear. Aside from its annoyance on friends and loved ones, it can pose a significant health problem. For instance, there is growing evidence linking hearing loss and dementia.
Yes, impaired hearing can lead to dementia, which is an impairment of cognition. Cognition is the mental process that allows one to acquire knowledge and understanding through thought. It is the …
Hearing loss is a significant public health problem
This year, I stopped doing surgery — giving up the knife, so to speak. It wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve been a surgeon for 32 years since graduating from medical school. It’s been a distinct part of who I am for most of my life.
This doesn’t mean I’ve retired. I’m still practicing in a clinic-based setting and still do procedures in the office. I just no longer operate …
Giving up the knife: Saying goodbye to surgery
I had my very first surgery ever, just last year. Despite being cut upon, it was a remarkable experience, and the staff cracked jokes at my expense, even as I was going under. In the mood for some inappropriate medical humor? Well, perhaps not in this public forum; I’ll save it for gatherings less formal and where beer is plentiful. Suffice it to say, I survived and was treated well: …
The doctor as a patient: a view from the other side
“It’s my right not to be vaccinated. It’s my body.”
So goes the argument for the COVID anti-vaxxers, emphasizing personal freedom taking precedence over everything else. Unfortunately, and perhaps unfairly, we health care providers do not have that same freedom; our profession requires us to perform our duties despite the risks to us. We place ourselves in jeopardy each day we come to work, and we cannot simply refuse care for …
COVID vaccination: If not for yourself, then for the rest of us
I run outside, barefoot, and encounter natural phenomena along the way. One of these is dog poop. Ironically, there’s been recent chatter about dog poop on our community Facebook page. It’s a topic worthy of multiple posts and the impetus for the rather absurd bit of writing to follow.
The Facebook posts center on those anonymous people who fail to pick up their dog’s waste. Since I’m …
Why dog poop is a metaphor for challenge, controversy, and change
“I used to shoot people like you,” the patient said to me.
He was one scary Vietnam vet, and I was one scared second-year resident. Though not Vietnamese, I figured correcting him wouldn’t matter. As an Asian American (Chinese on my dad’s side, Japanese on my mom’s), I’d experienced racism and bigotry before, and from different races, not just white. Even as a doctor, I understood I ‘d still encounter it. …
What ever happened to forgiveness?
As an Asian male, I grew up with my share of racist encounters, some very ugly and downright scary. Yet I refuse to blame an entire segment of the population for the misdeeds of a few. I refuse to allow circumstances to shape me as a person or my attitudes, and instead, I try to live my life as virtuous as possible—taking care of patients as best I can, being …
When intolerance is another form of hatred
Whenever I discuss matters of money and business with medical students and residents, I‘m surprised by the responses: “Zilch, nothing,” or “Are you kidding?” Sadly, our doctors-in-training still receive little to no education in this arena.
There’s a stigma surrounding physicians and money, based largely on fact, which has become a beacon for all sorts of disingenuous, exploitive people who view doctors as over-stuffed pinatas, belly-full of money, ready to be …
Avoid the stigma: money advice for young doctors
History is important. “The farther back you look, the farther forward you will see,” Winston Churchill once said.
Particular to our profession as doctors, William Osler’s famous adage: “Listen to your patient, he is telling you the diagnosis,” rings true even to this day. But there is another, often forgotten edict, created long before these two figures came into being, handed down from generation to generation. And that is: “Listen to …
A rare case solved by listening to your patient. And your mother.
“Come on, bring it on! Come on, bring it on!” the little girl repeatedly chanted behind the drawn curtain in the pre-op holding area. I pulled the curtain back and peered in to see my young patient in the bed and happy as a lark, her mother was sitting next to her trying to contain her laughter. Other patients and staff members giggled as they passed by, hearing this mantra …
Where’s the humor in medicine?
Time is our most valuable resource. It’s nonrenewable — once spent, you can’t get it back. We all understand this logically to varying degrees. But many of us feel the compulsion to manipulate time, to restructure it to fit our lifestyles. “Make the time,” is the common expression, as if we could create something out of nothing. You can’t. You can’t change the laws of nature and “make” time, no …
We need more unstructured time for doctors
I came across a letter I wrote to a patient while rummaging through some old files on my computer. I flashbacked to what triggered this: a response to a letter she had sent me, one that was, shall we say, extremely unflattering and quite scathing in the way she described me and our last encounter. From the letter’s tone, I sensed she held back on using more profane language to …
A doctor’s apology can go a long way
“Put me out of my misery!” I’ve pleaded to anyone within earshot in the throes of a grueling day, a rant from one feeling burnt out. There are days I want to pull my hair out, even the ones that aren’t gray. One night I caught myself grunting, “I hate my life,” while heading out the door at 12 a.m., after an already exhausting day in the OR. No sane …
How this physician handles burnout
“Doctors are people too,” I once was told, by a patient no less. Sarcasm colored her choice of words, implying we doctors ought to descend from the heavens above and relate to patients like … well … people. Not a bad idea, one that humanizes the incomprehensible doctor-speak we unwittingly projectile-vomit onto our patients. Hmmm … talk to patients like one normal person to another?
Easier said than done. A doctor’s …
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