Three months ago I got a Peloton bike. Overnight I went from a boring, 30 minute, mildly aerobic grind on an elliptical while listening to podcasts to getting my rear end handed to me by Peloton instructors, all in recorded classes I take on demand.
Yesterday my instructor was Cody Rigsby, a guy with a great sense of humor who says things like “if you need to regroup, namaste your ass in …
How to manage the transitions of your day
Most physicians have spent decades training for the day that they see their first patient or perform their first surgery. This extended time involved to become a physician does not leave a lot of spare time in college or medical school for most physicians to take any significant coursework in economics, finance, or investing. Yet, physicians have a tremendous amount of knowledge with regards to all aspects of health …
A physician in the venture capital world
In 2019, residents organized coast-to-coast to protest low pay, unsafe working conditions, and insufficient benefits. Residents at the University of Washington and UCLA walked out of the hospital in reaction to stalled contract negotiations. Residents at Yale interrupted a meeting to introduce a “Resident and Fellow Bill of Rights,” outlining basic rights such as …
The need for a refreshed perspective on life and practice, a renewed sense of the concerns of our patients, and an appreciation for the subject matter: This is what so many of us need while in residency training. There are rare moments in the midst of it all when a renewing of sorts takes place, is noticed, and makes a small difference. Let me share one of those moments with …
Renewal is what we need during residency training
In the neonatal ICU, a baby dies from necrotizing enterocolitis or NEC. It’s not the first nor the last time I’ll experience death during my medical career. Doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, surgeons, and the rest of the team spent the days prior to his death implementing medical interventions and procedures, hoping to arrest the process. Two surgeries, multiple blood transfusions, antibiotics, drips to support the blood pressure, intubation, and ventilator …
The right support system makes all the difference for physicians
I recently read a medical school commencement, delivered by a physician, that was both inspiring and sadly reminiscent of what physicians should aspire to throughout their careers.
This physician relayed how patients throughout her training and career had provided her with moments of clarity, helping her identify the “why” she chose a career in medicine. She went so far as to describe how a group of patients saved her from choosing …
Entitlement, arrogance, and isolation in modern-day medical practice
With the escalating pressures on hospitals, health care facilities, and practitioners to be cost-effective, it is increasingly difficult to justify spending money on education and training. Education and training are expensive when adding together the costs of curriculum development and educators. While finding the right person for the job is important in getting the job done, most, if not all, management would agree that the “right” person includes appropriate education, …
Continuing medical education: Why it’s important and how to make it effective
Finances were reported as the second leading cause of physician depression for men and women in 2018.
Doctors, like anyone else, face normal challenges that life throws at them. Additionally, they carry a huge weight on their shoulders as they go through rigorous training, are trained to put patients first, and are expected to increase …
Here’s why doctors are financially depressed
As a child, when I first read The Little Prince and saw the picture of the boa constrictor swallowing an elephant, I would often ponder what it felt like to be the elephant. Later in seventh-grade science class, when I learned of amoebae and how they surround and digest neighboring life forms for their sustenance, the same wonder followed. Enlightenment to what it feels like to be subsumed came to …
When physician leaders get acquired and squeezed
I work for a hospital network with the world’s slowest computers. I timed it: Last shift, it took me fifteen minutes to log on. The first computer obtained didn’t function at all. It had been worked on the day before by information technology services (IT).
Efficiency and time management appear to be amongst top priorities in medicine. “Did they get their aspirin 24 hours after getting their clot-busting drug after cleared …
IT deficits are eating hospital profits. CEOs need to wake up.
An excerpt from The Physician Inventor: The Doctor’s Handbook to Patenting Medical Devices and Methods.
“I love my employees, even though I hit one of you with my car.”
– Michael Scott
When you are offered a position at a hospital or practice group, you will typically negotiate a …
Intellectual property provisions in physician employment agreements
I’m still coming to terms with the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and the seven others killed in the helicopter crash.
Kobe was not just a superstar on the court. He was a dedicated father and community leader whose compassion, patience, and heart of service shone in every action.
To honor this amazing man, I want to share the lessons I learned from his Mamba Mentality that I …
What I learned from Kobe Bryant as a parent, coach, and doctor
The journey in medicine is a journey of goal setting. Doctors set goals all the time. We set the goal to become a doctor and then strive to achieve it. Once we decide on the chosen specialty, we set the goal for the residency training program we hope to match into, and we strive to achieve that. Match Day can be a day of great celebration for some, while it’s …
What can a doctor do to build confidence?
ADVERTISEMENT
Squid and other cephalopods have the amazing ability to change the color of their skin. In an instant, they can blend into their environment, matching the landscape perfectly to avoid detection. In contrast, they can turn a bright iridescent hue to warn predators or, in some circumstances, to attract a mate.
They do this in a rather complex way. Squid, cuttlefish, and octopus have special cells called Read more…
Being like squid is easy. Don’t be one.
My dearest daughter,
Life is unpredictable. In case I won’t be around one day, here are things I learned from being a doctor and a mother that can guide you always.
1. New level. New devil!
There will never be a time outside of death that life will stand still. Embrace change and know that as soon as you accomplish one goal, you will need new goals and challenges to continue to grow …
A letter to her daughter: 8 things I learned from being a doctor and a mother
If you or a loved one has ever been hospitalized, by day two or three of your hospital stay, you likely remember the doctor visiting you every day but not staying more than seven or eight minutes or 10 to 15 minutes max.
It may have felt like he or she was just “dropping by and laying eyes on you.” A month or two later, you get a bill with the …
A peek behind that 8-minute $300 doctor visit
In a young physician’s life, financially speaking, the single most important aspect to financial well-being has nothing to do with money; it has nothing to do with investments; it has nothing to do with budgeting and saving. I think financial advisors and financial planners sometimes miss the mark on what’s really important.
What does it take to be a doctor? I started dating my wife exactly one month before she started …
The most important aspect to a young doctor’s financial plan
My identity crisis attempted its first appearance five years ago. I had decided to leave my job as a psychiatrist in an outpatient, community-based practice. My professional role had become incongruent with the doctor I had envisioned becoming. In my misalignment, I had lost clarity in my identity as a physician. I was frustrated and felt ineffective and disconnected from my work.
I suspected that some of my colleagues were struggling …
Core values were key to reclaiming my physician identity
Every day we get bombarded in the news with health statistics. Coffee causes cancer! Coffee cures cancer! And so on. Many of these are meant to grab headlines (and, these days, web page clicks), and the articles they accompany are often very poor at telling the reader what they mean. They often have statistics, and health statistics can be complicated. Sad to say, even many physicians are pretty poor and …
Everyone needs rudimentary statistical training
The banks ask us a lot of questions. And we answer a lot of questions. All of them. They need our information to be sure that we are who we say we are, that our money is, in fact, our money and that our money remains safely tucked away in their virtual vaults.
Social Security number? Mother’s maiden name? Home addresses for the past ten years? Bank account numbers with balances …
When to tell your banker to mind their own damn business
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
