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Conditions and diseases
"Doc, your next patient is nonbinary." I say some version of this to physicians when I teach about LGBTQ+ affirming care, then ask, "What is the first thought that comes to mind?" The responses come quickly: "I freeze." "Oh, God.…
“Doc, your next patient is nonbinary.” I say some version of this to physicians when I teach about LGBTQ+ affirming care, then ask, “What is the first thought that comes to mind?” The responses come quickly: “I freeze.” “Oh, God. We were never taught that.” “I don’t know what to say.” “I don’t want to say the wrong thing.” Sometimes there is nervous laughter. Sometimes there is silence.
These are highly …
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Why do physicians freeze with LGBTQ+ patients?
Physician voices
"Mom, when I walk in the room, all they see is a deviant Black man." Those were the words my transgender daughter said to me after a recent visit with her primary care physician. She felt like everyone was judging…
“Mom, when I walk in the room, all they see is a deviant Black man.”
Those were the words my transgender daughter said to me after a recent visit with her primary care physician. She felt like everyone was judging her, and the doctor acted like she had a contagious disease. He was also preoccupied with her name choice and whether she would be getting a “sex change” surgery, and he …
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Allyship in action: Supporting your LGBTQ+ patients
Physician voices
Today's politicians have gone amok with their unchecked and uninformed rhetoric and have decided to turn a blind eye to the new number-one killer of children in America. They have chosen to focus on matters that don't matter, such as…
Today’s politicians have gone amok with their unchecked and uninformed rhetoric and have decided to turn a blind eye to the new number-one killer of children in America. They have chosen to focus on matters that don’t matter, such as my child’s gender.
Supportive families like mine are persecuted daily, and affirming physicians like me are being threatened with the worst nightmare of any physician: the loss of our license to …
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The ABCs of parenting an LGBTQ+ child
Physician voices
Several months ago, I wrote a post on a Facebook community of over 17K Black physicians. The post asked them what they would do and how they would react if their child told them they were gay. The responses I…
Several months ago, I wrote a post on a Facebook community of over 17K Black physicians. The post asked them what they would do and how they would react if their child told them they were gay. The responses I received ranged from “I will love and accept them” to “Heaven forbid!” to “I will beat it out of him!”
When I got over my shock, I realized that even as …
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LGBTQ+ basics: 10 things your queer patient wishes you knew
Physician voices
Even before I turned 16, I knew I liked girls. I also knew I liked boys. I didn't understand it. Why was I drawn to women? During that period of my life (between 11 and 16 years of age), I…
Even before I turned 16, I knew I liked girls. I also knew I liked boys. I didn’t understand it. Why was I drawn to women? During that period of my life (between 11 and 16 years of age), I was also in a boarding school. An all-girl boarding school, for that matter. It was torture. It went against everything I knew to be “right.”
That was the first time that …
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When the government comes for your trans kid
Physician voices
They say we should “work until we are old enough to retire.” What age is that? For some, retirement is at 65 years, and for others, it is never. As a physician, I guess I fell in the “never” category.…
They say we should “work until we are old enough to retire.” What age is that? For some, retirement is at 65 years, and for others, it is never. As a physician, I guess I fell in the “never” category. I never thought I would hang up my beautiful red pediatric Littman stethoscope with a picture of Princess Tiana on its diaphragm. I never thought I would replace my prescription …
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Calling the shots and bossing up: retirement at 52
Conditions and diseases
“Aunty blew her brains out a few weeks ago!” Words I shall never forget. For weeks, she had been in my thoughts. But I never called her. I didn’t because of all the myriad reasons we often give ourselves for…
“Aunty blew her brains out a few weeks ago!”
Words I shall never forget.
For weeks, she had been in my thoughts. But I never called her. I didn’t because of all the myriad reasons we often give ourselves for not checking up on each other.
In my case, they sounded like this; “I am 7 months pregnant, and it has been a difficult pregnancy.” “I am in an abusive marriage.” “My pediatric …
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Female physician suicides: a silent pandemic
Health policy
1. Thou shalt first become comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations with thyself, before ever trying to have them with any other person. At this point in our earthly lives, we must — as a matter of urgency — get into…
1. Thou shalt first become comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations with thyself, before ever trying to have them with any other person.
At this point in our earthly lives, we must — as a matter of urgency — get into that space of vulnerability and face our fears and insecurities. Dig deep to figure out why we are uncomfortable and get past that point with intention and focus.
2. Thou shalt educate …
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15 commandments for teaching your kids about racism
Physician voices
While researching for my next book, I noticed a peculiar trend: Most news reports about suicide linked victims to mental illness. It is nearly always depression, multiple personality disorder, or more depression. While it is true that personal mental illness…
While researching for my next book, I noticed a peculiar trend: Most news reports about suicide linked victims to mental illness. It is nearly always depression, multiple personality disorder, or more depression.
While it is true that personal mental illness and a family history of mental illness are often bonafide risk factors for suicide, they — collectively as mental health issues — are only one of many underlying causes of suicide …
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It wasn’t depression that led this physician to suicidal ideation
Physician voices
After my term as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, I could join the Air Force Reserves, go back to school or work as a pediatrician. I chose school and work. I had no specific "why," since…
After my term as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, I could join the Air Force Reserves, go back to school or work as a pediatrician. I chose school and work.
I had no specific “why,” since I earned the VA educational funds, it was more like “why not?” My friends and family had mixed reactions. Never one to dwell on a thought, I jumped in before I …
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Getting my MBA 30 years after my MD
Conditions and diseases
For those of you who have been following my story since this summer of 2018, you will remember that I quit my nine-to-five job to pursue a career in public speaking on a more semi-permanent basis. I started working essentially…
For those of you who have been following my story since this summer of 2018, you will remember that I quit my nine-to-five job to pursue a career in public speaking on a more semi-permanent basis. I started working essentially full-time with a national telemedicine company. I am extremely excited about the opportunity and very satisfied with the options it has given me to stay home — while I complete …
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Does that patient really need antibiotics?
Physician voices
Last Friday, as I sat finishing up notes on the last of my almost 30 physicals (this number is never any surprise for us pediatricians this time of the year, it’s back to school week, so every Thomason, Dickinson, and…
Last Friday, as I sat finishing up notes on the last of my almost 30 physicals (this number is never any surprise for us pediatricians this time of the year, it’s back to school week, so every Thomason, Dickinson, and Harrison is lining up for sports physicals and regular physicals and all sorts of clearance and medication forms that need to be filled out and turned in “yesterday.”) I took …
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A pediatrician finds her “why”
Physician voices
My name is Dr. Uchenna Umeh, and I am an immigrant (physician). As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an architect. My journey to becoming a physician started somewhat as a dare. I was born…
My name is Dr. Uchenna Umeh, and I am an immigrant (physician).
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an architect. My journey to becoming a physician started somewhat as a dare. I was born in Nigeria, the first child of six children from middle-class parents. My father served in the Nigerian air force; my mother was a banker.
Towards the end of my secondary education (I …
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An immigrant physician’s journey
Physician voices
So last week, I did the bravest thing I have done in a very long time — I quit my job. Yes, I put in my 60-day notice. This was my dream job post service in the U.S. Air Force.…
So last week, I did the bravest thing I have done in a very long time — I quit my job. Yes, I put in my 60-day notice. This was my dream job post service in the U.S. Air Force. I had dreamed of working in this establishment for months before my service time was up. I could not have been happier when I joined their team, a group practice …
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Why this physician quit her job
Conditions and diseases
I had not one, but two suicidal teen patients today. This is only one day after I had an eight-year-old suicidal patient come to see me. Three weeks ago, a 17-year-old female walked in, she had hung herself in her…
I had not one, but two suicidal teen patients today. This is only one day after I had an eight-year-old suicidal patient come to see me. Three weeks ago, a 17-year-old female walked in, she had hung herself in her closet one month earlier — saved only by the timely breaking of the crossbar of her closet — passed out on the closet floor by her mother. A 16-year-old male …
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A pediatrician’s healing spirit: treating depressed, anxious, and suicidal teens
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