Primary Care
How writing and storytelling helped me recover from burnout
About five years ago, I did the first public reading of my non-academic writing. I was a 40-something-year-old physician, and I was terrified.
It was at a narrative medicine event, and I’d been selected to read one of my personal essays. A few days earlier, an experienced performer had given me some pointers. Identified which word in each sentence should be emphasized. Where I should add dramatic pauses, I now had …
Inside the life of a hospice physician: Bringing peace to the dying
“I don’t know how you do what you do.” About 90 percent of the time, this is the response I get when I tell people that I am a hospice physician. “Isn’t it sad to work with dying people all the time? You lose all of your patients… that must be so difficult.”
Having been exposed to the many different ways that people can die throughout my medical training, I see …
From patient to protagonist: the importance of narrative writing in medicine [PODCAST]
From reincarnation to meridians: Exploring the world of spiritual science [PODCAST]
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Join us on this episode of the podcast, where we speak with Marc Nelson, a scientific researcher, about the growing field of spiritual science. Despite the historical divide between science and spirituality, Nelson shares how pioneering work …
Binary medicine harms our gender-expansive patients
The first time I saw a preceptor use the American College of Cardiology’s atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (mercifully, ASCVD) risk calculator, I was hooked. As a first-year medical student, data nerd, and aspiring primary care provider, I love a good diagnostic tool. Watching as he entered our patient’s pertinent medical history, I ran down the list of risk factors for cardiovascular disease we’d just learned in my …
The secret life of physicians: work, home, and the battle for balance
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 …
Why pizza and thank you emails don’t cut it: a pediatrician’s take on physician appreciation [PODCAST]
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In this episode, pediatrician Wendy Schofer discusses physician appreciation. She emphasizes that appreciation is an offering of love that fulfills the psychological need for belonging and love. Wendy relates the five love languages to how physicians can …
AI vs. human doctors: Why patients prefer the real thing
In a Black Mirror-esque video I watched recently on YouTube, a young man with a persistent cough notices a booth labeled “Instant Doctor” as he’s waiting in a train station, and decides to give it a try. The somewhat pleasant robot voice immediately recognizes him and dutifully (creepily?) reads off his age, height, and weight. She then tells him he has two diagnoses: the first, a mild bronchial infection, is …
How to make small changes for big weight loss wins [PODCAST]
Why retail giants will revolutionize American health care
In health care, as in life, people devote a lot of time and attention to the way things should be. They’d be better off focusing on what actually could be.
As an example, 57% to 70% of American voters believe our nation “should” adopt a single-payer health care system like Medicare for all. Likewise, public health …
From addiction to exclusion: a physician’s struggle for redemption
Many consequences can happen to a physician who has faced the disease of addiction. One of the worst is to be placed on the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) exclusion list, which prohibits billing for both Medicare and Medicaid. During my hydrocodone addiction, I diverted the medication by writing prescriptions to my patients, who would bring the pills back to me for my use. I was charged with a …
Healing the healer: How physicians can overcome the struggle of caring [PODCAST]
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Join us in this insightful podcast episode as we welcome Karen Leitner, an internal medicine-pediatrics physician and life coach, to discuss the unique challenges physicians face when their loved ones need medical care. Karen shares her personal …
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Professional creep in medicine challenged by AI: How ChatGPT is revolutionizing medical diagnosis
Professional “creep” refers to the phenomenon where the responsibilities and expectations of a particular profession gradually expand beyond their original scope and begins to overlap with other professions. This can occur due to various factors, such as technological changes, societal expectations shifts, and personal and financial gains. Professional creep can be both positive and negative.
Goodbye, WebMD … and hello, ChatGPT!
As physicians, we are accustomed to hearing from our patients about …
Rural America’s health care crisis: Unmasking the physician shortage epidemic
Data published in 2021 by the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the U.S. could experience a shortage of 37,800 to 124,000 physicians by 2033. Rural America is struggling, as the majority of graduate training facilities are disproportionately located in metropolitan areas. This geographic imbalance directs doctors and residents away from already underserved and marginalized populations, leading to poorer health care access and increased morbidity and mortality rates. …
Why physicians are losing autonomy
There are difficult issues confronting physicians generally, regardless of whether they are primary care physicians or specialists or employed or in private practice. The list is long and growing as more and more requirements, costs, mandates, and regulations are being inflicted in an environment of decreasing compensation. All of these lend to the rapidly lost freedom and autonomy for a medical profession where these are foundational.
It seems clear that the …
Physicians: Don’t believe these career transition myths
Are you a physician looking to explore nonclinical career options and make a fresh start? While the thought of transitioning away from your current job might be daunting, these five myths about career transition should not hold you back – there are actually many opportunities available for advancing professionals like yourself who have the courage to seize them. By shifting our perspective on traditional notions of success and progression, we …
From community to corporation: the transformation of primary care [PODCAST]
Revolutionizing women’s health: a community-based approach
I’m building a platform for people to talk about all things women’s health. It serves the needs of education and awareness, peer support, and community building. These are all things I have wanted to offer, but until now, I didn’t know how to do so.
It started with trying to figure out how to leverage and embrace technology to bring my knowledge to patients. Every day I give the same information …
When AI rises: the great reversal of human privilege and its impact on society
In a broad, ironic sense, the relationship between privileged humans and the marginalized wilderness has shifted over time. As humanity evolved and overcame its previous disadvantages, people began to consider the possibility of limiting human population growth to protect the environment. However, with the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), it seems that privileged humanity may eventually become marginalized itself. This raises questions about whether AI should be restricted or …
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