The sun was out, casting a warm glow over the world as the snow melted into slush. The air was crisp, invigorating, as I leashed up my pups for their morning half-mile walk. Today, I had an extra companion, another pup I was babysitting, turning my duo into a trio.
As we strolled, I couldn’t help but feel grateful. My health—both physical and …
It is a Tuesday morning in the city of Pune, India. The incessant rain has taken a short break. The first floor of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute is alive with a group of students. In a quiet corner, B.K.S. Iyengar is practicing yoga. His skin ripples as he settles into postures, pushing his body to unimaginable limits, but with beauty and grace—poetry, almost. Mr. Iyengar slips into his …
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In this episode, we speak with family and long-term care physician Sid Feldman about the KevinMD article “Antipsychotic use has been rising in long-term care homes, but we can do something about …
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In this episode, psychiatrist Chika Oriuwa discusses her KevinMD article, “How a psychiatrist rebuilt trust with a patient in crisis.” She also reflects on her book Unlike the Rest: A Doctor’s Story, …
Returning home from medical school for the holidays, I had an all-too-familiar experience for medical trainees, but with a cultural twist. My Chinese American family bombarded me with medical questions. “I wake up at 4 a.m. every day, 不舒服 (bù shū fu; body feels uncomfortable), feels like 心跳 (xīn tiào; heart palpitations).” “I get woken up at 3 a.m. every day, 胃痛 (Wèitòng; stomach pains), but I …
A former ICU nurse and close friend told me tonight that she wanted to start the new year on a positive note. I nodded, trying to absorb her optimism, but deep down, it felt like an impossible belief to hold onto.
Earlier in the evening, I finished watching Selena: The Series on Netflix. Tears streamed down my face, not just for Selena but for all those whose greatness was taken too …
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Join us as we explore the emotional toll of high-stakes health care with physician, speaker, and thought leader Pamela Buchanan. Discover her insights on the “emotional flatline,” a defense mechanism that shields health …
It’s capitalism, it’s greed, it’s the hospitals, it’s all those things, but for me, it’s sadness, it’s loss, it’s crying myself to sleep. Lest I sound ungrateful, I am appreciative of the income and career it has afforded me. I am not the victim but also not the perpetrator. In reality, we are all both at one time or another.
It’s the hushed calls to let me know a dear patient …
I used to pride myself on being a perfectionist and high achiever, and I held onto those identities tightly. Today, my diplomas are stored in a box at the bottom of a closet. I recycled the majority of my race medals, and reviewing my CV contributes to pain. I have created space from these visual reminders of how hard my past self worked to feel some sense of worthiness in …
In the United States, as many as 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage (before the end of the twentieth week of pregnancy) and approximately 1 percent in stillbirth (after the twentieth week, including time of delivery).
Parents who experience pregnancy loss are often left to grieve not only the child they never had the opportunity to know but also the loss of a future they had envisioned. The …
As an employee assistance program (EAP) therapist at a hospital, I am often called upon to help people navigate the emotional fallout of life’s most challenging moments. The wildfires devastating Los Angeles bring a unique layer of grief, stress, and uncertainty to our community.
David Kessler, a leading voice on grief, emphasizes that loss is not limited to death—it is any change or …
A few years ago, I decided to pursue a PhD. Why … isn’t it obvious? Being a psychotherapist who helps health care professionals navigate burnout and imposter syndrome, raising three teenagers, and holding multiple certifications in everything from DBT to MBSR to CCISM wasn’t enough—or so I thought.
In my work, I help physicians, faculty, and other high-achieving professionals process the relentless pressure of their careers. I often explain that their …
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While a new year offers new beginnings, it’s not about scrapping everything and starting fresh. Instead, it means sitting still and quiet long enough to truly appreciate life lessons and use them as fuel for growth.
So, here’s what I’m taking from one year to the next.
Peace
In 2024 I learned that life’s events can shake you to your very core, and there’s little you can do to stop it. But when …
As an emergency room physician with over 20 years of experience, I’ve faced countless moments of emotional intensity—saving lives, delivering difficult news, and navigating the chaos of a health care system stretched to its limits. Yet, it wasn’t a catastrophic patient case or a bad day at work that led me to my breaking point. It was the slow, relentless erosion of my emotional capacity. I call this state the …
Many songs and famous refrains flooded my mind as we transitioned into 2025. “Living on a thin line,” “It’s all over now, baby blue,” and “Can’t find my way home” were some of the notable downers. On the flip side (no pun intended), I was uplifted by “Land of hope and dreams” and “It’s gonna be a bright sun-shiny day,” and the thought that “Love [would] reign o’er me.”
Of all, …
Frank Sinatra’s 1965 hit, “It was a very good year,” framed the benchmarks of a life well-lived through relationships at various ages: when he was 17, “small-town girls … on the village green”; at 21, “city girls who lived up the stair”; at 35, “blue-blooded girls of independent means.”
Fast forward 60 years. What are the ingredients that now constitute “a very good year?” Data from a survey of 2,000 …
It’s crack-of-dawn early, and I’m on a flight. Working swing ER shifts has left me exhausted, barely packed, and running on fumes. But hey, as long as I’ve got my passport and clean underwear, I’m good to go. There’s a mall in every city, right?
I settle in, headphones on, ready to dive into the latest episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer. I’m beyond tired – there aren’t even words for this …
Suicide is the act of an individual ending their life. It is generally caused by the convergence of multiple factors, the most significant of which is untreated or end-stage psychiatric illness. As a practicing psychiatrist who has been involved in the Pennsylvania Physicians Health Program for more than a decade, I believe we need to do better to stem the increasing numbers of physician suicides. A better understanding of and …
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