Scott Abramson practiced neurology with Kaiser Permanente Northern California for over 40 years, from 1979 to 2020. Throughout those years, Dr. Abramson was passionately involved in physician communication and physician wellness endeavors. Some of his insights and stories from his experiences in these endeavors can be found in video format on his YouTube website channel: Doctor Wisdom.
Others are available in his recently published book, titled Bedside Manners, for Physicians and Everybody Else. What they don’t teach in medical school or any other school.
While retired from neurology, Dr. Abramson remains actively engaged in physician communication and physician wellness pursuits. He has conducted numerous workshops in these areas and has personally coached many physicians. He has developed programs on time management, physician-patient communication, marriage in medicine, burnout, the threatened physician, difficult conversations, storytelling, and his favorites: “The Secret of Happiness” and “What The Great Wisdom of Country Music Can Teach Physicians.” He takes pleasure in delivering talks on these and other subjects.
Scott Abramson practiced neurology with Kaiser Permanente Northern California for over 40 years, from 1979 to 2020. Throughout those years, Dr. Abramson was passionately involved in physician communication and physician wellness endeavors. Some of his insights and stories from his experiences in these endeavors can be found in video format on his YouTube website channel: Doctor Wisdom.
Others are available in his recently published book, titled Bedside Manners, for Physicians and Everybody Else. What they don’t teach in medical school or any other school.
While retired from neurology, Dr. Abramson remains actively engaged in physician communication and physician wellness pursuits. He has conducted numerous workshops in these areas and has personally coached many physicians. He has developed programs on time management, physician-patient communication, marriage in medicine, burnout, the threatened physician, difficult conversations, storytelling, and his favorites: “The Secret of Happiness” and “What The Great Wisdom of Country Music Can Teach Physicians.” He takes pleasure in delivering talks on these and other subjects.
“Bring me flowers now while I’m living.
I don’t need your love when I’m gone.
Don’t spend time, tears, and money on my old breathless body.
If your heart is them flowers, bring ’em on.”
These are the words of that great philosopher and country music singer, Tanya Tucker. A friend of hers had died, and someone suggested they bring flowers for the deceased. Tanya thought about this a moment. As she reflected on …
When I was a teenager, I worked summer nights at the Funtown Amusement Park on the south side of Atlanta, Georgia. After work, as I drove home to the north side of Atlanta, I had to pass through “Cabbagetown.” In the early 1960s, during the days of segregation in the South, Cabbagetown was a shantytown neighborhood inhabited by tough, white folks who worked at the nearby Fulton Cotton Mills. On …
Howera is a twenty-nine-year-old Ethiopian woman. She saw me in the neurology clinic for headaches. Two years previously, she had come to America to join her husband. Since her arrival, he beat her physically and abused her sexually. Being a stranger in a strange land and not speaking English, she suffered in silence. Finally, she could take it no longer. She ran away. For the past six months, she had …
Don’t blame others for the burned-out road you are on: It is your own “Ass-Phalt.”
OK.
I know that sounds harsh. We, physicians and other clinicians suffer under the demands of irrelevant EMR guidelines, insensitive hospital administrators, and tyrannical medical–big pharma dictates. However, all these are “external” forces. They are not our “phault.” But what about the “internal” forces, forces that may be, in some way, our “phault” (or at least under …
Here is a challenge: Review the schedule of patients you have seen today. As you recall each patient, ask yourself this question: Did I genuinely feel compassion towards my patient in that encounter?
I will be brutally honest with you (and myself). For me, on many days, that figure is maybe, at best, about 5 percent.
It’s tough. We are running 30 minutes late. Three irritated waiting room patients yearn for our …
When we physicians discuss “work-life balance,” we often imply that our dedication to our work is so consuming and imbalanced that we end up sacrificing time with our families. To achieve a better balance and promote a healthier family life, we strive to limit our work hours to make more time for our home lives.
I wonder if the reverse can also be true. When our home life becomes overwhelming or …
A friend of mine recently went into the hospital for a surgical operation. Afterward, she told me about a conversation she had with her doctors. Meeting with her surgeon and her anesthesiologist before surgery, this retired lifelong Sunday school teacher couldn’t resist the temptation to give them both a Bible lesson. “Let me ask you, doctors,” she inquired, “who do you think performed the first surgery?” As the doctors pondered …
Your plane is about to take off. Like most folks, you are just a little anxious about flying. It is very rare, but you know a lot of bad things can happen to the machine that carries you at 30,000 feet above sea level. Consider this: Would you rather the mechanic who inspects your aircraft be absolutely conscientious to every minute detail, be exquisitely perfectionistic in his examination of the …
KevinMD contributors, virtually without exception, have asserted the solution to events like the horrific tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, is “gun control.” Allow me to present an alternative viewpoint in the interest of diversity of opinion.
First of all, I favor reasonable gun restriction laws. But sadly, I don’t think that will solve the problem. Look at the city of Chicago. It has one of the strictest laws on gun control in …
Does this scenario sound familiar? You bring your car into the dealership for routine servicing. The service representative (patch on his shirt says his name is “Bob”) checks your car history. He tells you they will do the routine service check, but he also recommends the “manifold inspection,” a “carburetor cleaning,” and a “transmission flush.” Now you have no idea what the hell a manifold is or does, but you …
“How many lives did you save today, Dad?”
That is what my kids would ask me, rather sarcastically, many years ago, when they were young and when I arrived home late, missing our game of backyard basketball. They knew I was a neurologist. And, of course, they knew I didn’t exactly save lives since, as I had explained to them many times, my job consisted of giving folks lots of medications …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
