Tasia Isbell is a medical resident.

Pediatricians grapple with guns in America, from Band-Aids to bullets

Health Policy
September 20, 2023

“My best friend was murdered while we were walking home from school.”

The once lively thirteen-year-old boy now slumped in the chair across from me, his words spilling out with newfound heaviness. As I looked at him during what was supposed to be a routine well-child check, I couldn’t shake the air of depression that suddenly choked the room. In the months that followed, I received a call from his school: …

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Pediatricians grapple with guns in America, from Band-Aids to bullets

Physicians cry too: 6 tips for coping with death and grief as a health care worker

Physician
April 3, 2023

“FYI, your patient died.”

This message from another physician sat in my Epic inbox. Feelings of disappointment and sadness surfaced as I prepared to start my overnight shift in the emergency department. The death of a child simplified to an Epic chat message felt eerily impersonal and distant. 

Months prior to receiving this message, I had another traumatic patient experience in the same emergency department. I will never forget the feeling …

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Physicians cry too: 6 tips for coping with death and grief as a health care worker

Be the Simone Biles of health care

Physician
August 4, 2021

In a world full of white coats, wear a leotard.

The news of Simone Biles’s recent withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympic Games shocked the world. What was surprising to many was the reason—not a physical injury, but a commitment to prioritizing her mental health. Biles later revealed that she had been experiencing a case of the “twisties.”

So, what are the twisties?

Twisties is a term that refers to a mental block or …

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Be the Simone Biles of health care

7 reflections on grief and personal loss as told by a medical student

Medical Education
March 17, 2020

Being a medical student during your clinical years imparts a certain feeling of invincibility. For many of us, this is our first-time taking care of patients. Our history-taking and physical exam skills are being honed like superpowers. Our clinical knowledge is growing. We begin to take ownership of patients as our own.

With all but two clinical rotations left in my third year, and at the peak of my own feelings …

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7 reflections on grief and personal loss as told by a medical student

More than three hours late, but somehow still on time

Medical Education
August 28, 2019

The sound of a clock, hung haphazardly on a colorless cold wall, ticks repetitively — tick, tick, tick. Time continues to pass as my appointment scheduled for three hours ago seems like it will never come. I scheduled this appointment three months ago, and here I sit three hours later. The irony bounces around the room to the sound of the clock ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick.

A door squeaks open.

Just my …

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More than three hours late, but somehow still on time