Surgery
An anesthesiologist’s solution to outdated OR case scheduling [PODCAST]
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In this episode, we speak with Michael Bronson, an anesthesiologist, founder and CEO of AnesthesiaGo, about his journey into healthcare entrepreneurship. Michael discusses the pain points he encountered as a scheduler for anesthesia staff and how he …
An anesthesiologist’s story: Going beyond the protocol to save a life
I was waiting for my son at the ice rink in one of Chicago’s northern suburbs. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch the Illinois State Championship games. A parent, who knew I was an anesthesiologist, grabbed me by the elbow and said, “Hey, Doc, someone in the lobby is not feeling well.”
I went to the lobby, where I saw my firefighter friend performing chest compressions (CPR) on an older …
The surgeon-anesthesiologist relationship: Learning to work together in the OR
Last week I walked past him sitting outside of the OR. It was morning, before all of the first start cases, but he had been there all night. I already knew this. Two back-to-back transplants overnight. He, a surgical fellow, me, a critical care anesthesiologist who was a surgical resident over a decade ago. I could see the circles under his eyes that seemed to take up over half of …
Physician burnout solutions should be focused on subtraction not addition
I am naturally a problem solver, and I share this characteristic with most of my fellow physicians. When I felt burned out at one point in my career, I was certain that a literature search would help me solve the problem by giving me answers I could use to make my burnout a thing of the past.
My research, within the academic literature and information on the web, led to some …
Confessions of a surgical resident: trials, tribulations, and the 26-hour shift
An excerpt from Twenty-Six.
5 a.m.
“Reminder to everyone, morning round at 6, lots of new patients,” flashes a message from Puta on the residents’ WhatsApp group.
It’s dawn, and the first rays of sunlight illuminate the corner of the bedroom. I roll over, but the alarm clock on my phone keeps ringing. …
Why the internet can’t replace your doctor
I saw a patient recently with a new brain tumor. She came with an internet search that suggested she had five years to live. I cannot beat that predictive confidence. The best I could do was to poke holes in the assumptions that servers and algorithms had made, to question the arc of the future, and finally to tell her that the tumor was small, likely benign, with minimal effect …
Why would a pediatric neurosurgeon go crab fishing in the Bering Sea?
At one point, many of us will ask the questions, “Am I going to die? Am I safe? Who can I count on? It could be as you face your mortality or find yourself in a dangerous situation. Or, as it has been for many frontline health care professionals while facing a job-related risk like contracting COVID-19. Medical professionals are not the only ones who have experienced high levels of …
Maximizing physician potential: How coaching can aid in conflict resolution, enhance health care leadership and build stronger teams
Every day, in my job as an anesthesiologist, I am called upon to manage conflict. Sometimes, it’s between two members of my team, sometimes it’s between coworkers, and many times it is a conflict I may have with my own co-worker or peer.
Whether it’s because someone I supervise is chronically late or underprepared, I have to go …
Skydiving and surgery: How one doctor translates high-stress training to saving lives
An excerpt from The Heart of Fear: A Surgeon’s Collection of Stories on Adversity, Passion and Perseverance.
Each step is calculated.
Each step is deliberate.
Each step is taken with the goal of saving a life.
Everyone needs a hobby, but skydiving can predispose you to precarious scenarios. When you’re in a high-stress situation, your training kicks in. You do what you need to do to regain control, deploy your reserve, and fly your …
Beyond textbooks: the importance of empathy in medicine
An excerpt from All Bleeding Stops.
Megan continues to take his blood pressure every few minutes. With growing tenderness Denis watches her fidgeting with the IV, biting her lip, eyes flitting from one machine to the next, desperately seeking the reassurance she knows will never come.
She thinks she’s not a good doctor because she hasn’t memorized enough textbooks or performed enough …
The paradox of health IT: Improving care, impeding communication
Advancements in health IT have created ease and efficiency in delivering health care that has never been seen before. Electronic ordering and prescribing have reduced medication errors from misinterpreting handwritten information. The interoperable transmission of critical patient history, lab work, and digital imaging from one hospital to another has reduced costs and unnecessary extraneous tests. Virtual care and telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized how patient encounters are …
Certified, but denied: the impact of board certification on patient care [PODCAST]
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In this episode, we’re joined by Emmanuel K. Konstantakos, an orthopedic surgeon, and Jeff Morris, an attorney and CEO of the American Board of Physician Specialties. They discuss the ongoing debate about physician board certifications and the …
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Earning trust in anesthesia: How recognizing limitations can improve patient safety
Working with and supervising residents takes a certain degree of trust. Empowering residents with trust can be a difficult proposition for educators. There’s a moment early in the career and education of an anesthesia resident where they earn the trust of their faculty and supervising attendings. This moment is not contingent upon the memorization of a textbook or the demonstration of intubation skills. It doesn’t depend on the recitation of …
Revolutionizing vascular surgery: How embracing endovascular techniques saved the specialty
An excerpt from The Medical Jungle: A Pioneering Surgeon’s Battle to Revolutionize Vascular Care and Challenge the Medical Mafia.
Still no matter what anyone said, I knew in my heart that endovascular grafts and endovascular aneurysm repair were going to be a game-changer and that vascular surgeons had to get involved …
Beyond the physical: How hand injuries affect identity and expression [PODCAST]
Navigating the gray area: a doctor’s perspective on treating a colleague
“Musta been the ham sandwich,” he said as he leaned onto the operating table and belched a couple of times. We were halfway through an operation, and Doug, my partner, didn’t look all that good. I’d been in practice for all of a year, still greenish, and he, ten years my senior, was my guardian angel, my guide through the vagaries of the world of private practice, and the best …
The hidden costs of teaching surgery: an academic surgeon’s perspective
I ran across one of those bordering-on-sappy Facebook posts that always pull me in, asking people to describe their job poorly and make it comically accurate. The photographer admitted she would flash clients, shoot someone, and then frame someone else. The bartender alluded to being a psychiatrist, marriage counselor, babysitter, and thirst quencher. You get the picture.
I am sure that each specialty in medicine has its own pithy, confuscating …
The hidden link between soft skills and patient safety
The skill
Patient safety, patient experience, workforce health, and cost-effectiveness are critical outcomes with an important common root. They’re all impacted by our ability to communicate effectively and respectfully. Additional terms to describe these skills include people, interaction, interprofessional, relationship, and social skills. They can even be used to describe behaviors inherent in many properties of complex adaptive systems, such as the butterfly effect, flexibility, and adaptability. The more we understand …
The abusive surgeon and the sleep-deprived intern: a novel
An excerpt from Doctor Zhulik.
Christmas Eve
“You know, you’re the worst f*cking intern I have ever seen.”
“I don’t know why the hell you’re even trying to become a surgeon, Appleby. You have the manual dexterity of a chimpanzee.” A heavy man, Bernstein’s belly burst out of the gown, threatening to push …
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Past Week
Past 6 Months
Recent Posts
-
The obesity care gap for U.S. women
-
Why extending ACA subsidies is crucial for health care access
-
What heals is the mercy of being heard
-
Physician night shifts: Analyzing the financial and personal trade-offs
-
Why police need Parkinson’s disease training
-
Federal graduate-loan caps threaten rural health care access
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