I've been a family medicine residency faculty member for nearly 5 years, and I've come to observe the yearly cycle of a residency over that time. Reminding myself of that cycle helps me weather and celebrate the peculiarities of each time of year.
July-September: Adjustment
Every resident's role changes on July 1. For the first-years, it's their first day of being called "doctor." Second- and third-year ...
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Recently, I was having a discussion with a colleague about being a doctor. She confided in me that if someone asked her about becoming a doctor, she would tell him or her to become a nurse practitioner. After reading the emotional open letter to our policymakers in Washington DC, it may sound like a reasonable suggestion. After all, why go into this much debt and spend so much ...
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Watching my grandfather pass away changed my life. It wasn’t sudden and it shouldn’t have been unexpected. Yet it seemed unnatural, mysterious, and incredibly uncomfortable. I can still remember receiving the phone call from the hospital, my mother letting out a distraught cry that my grandfather was no more. My initial reaction was shock and confusion: I just couldn’t understand what had happened. Looking back, he had been under intensive ...
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When I came to medical school, I was certain I wanted to do primary care. Despite the forces that steer many of us off the path – how many times have we heard, “but you’re too smart to do primary care!”? – after three years of medical school, I was still committed to primary care.
But I struggled with which type of program would be best for me. I applied to both ...
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"Aren't those decorations looking nice?" asks a soft voice beside me.
Startled, I turn to find a young woman wearing a red-and-white sari. Her head and face are swathed in the folds of the sari, leaving only the large red bindi on her forehead clearly visible.
We're sitting on a grassy tuft amid a large campus green. All about us stand buildings with signs in both Hindi and English. Atop the central ...
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Predatory Publishers, Batman! The news out of Gotham City (New York Times) tells a tale of deception and woe. “Pseudo-academia?” How can open access to information be a bad thing, and why does Nature call some of these journals “The Dark Side of Publishing”?
What is Open Access?
Open Access is a movement encouraging free and unrestricted access to published material. The movement takes many forms, from ...
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The practice of medicine is based on a solid fund of knowledge and a physician’s ability to quickly assimilate and organize information during a patient encounter. However, the process of making a diagnosis and formulating a treatment plan is not always straightforward. Often, what separates the truly exceptional physicians from the rest is the ability to attack problems from alternative angles–more simply put, creativity.
Traditionally, medical education is centered around science. ...
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For over a decade, I have advised pre-meds on how to maximize their chances of getting into medical school. During this time, as I witnessed thousands of anxiety-ridden pre-meds wade doggedly through the murky waters of medical school admissions, I have noticed pre-med difficulties often pale in comparison to those of pre-meds parents. It’s often much easier to be the athlete on the field than the coach on the sidelines. ...
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As a first year medical student, one of our many responsibilities is to shadow a nurse once a month to gain an appreciation for their job. On one such shift, I asked my nurse-preceptor his greatest complaint about doctors. I expected to hear something about respecting nurses, or spending more time listening to the patients. Instead, I heard this:
"I wish doctors would communicate better with each other."
Doctors are notorious for ...
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One of my many mentors died recently: Will Deal, former dean of UAB School of Medicine, passes away at 76.
I had seen him 6 days before at a restaurant – he seemed in perfect health. We made lunch plans.
As I have thought about Will over the past 4 days, I thought about mentoring, because he mentored so many people. I thought about intern applicants who ask about ...
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"A comprehensive and extremely useful roadmap for doctors."
-Eric Topol, MD, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine
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Past 6 Months
Dear lawmakers: This is what it’s like to be a doctor today
Matthew Moeller, MD | PhysicianA gun owner responds to Sandy Hook
Edwin Leap, MD | PhysicianIs Chris Christie too obese to run for president?
Jeffrey Parks, MD | PhysicianIf I’m wrong about guns, can you please explain why?
Claire McCarthy, MD | PhysicianPrimary care doctors may no longer be needed
Doug Olson, MD | PhysicianWalgreens moves into primary care, and it’s our own damn fault
Kevin Pho, MD | Kevin's Take