Physician

Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely road.  Everyone dreams of life after a successful round of funds being raised, staff being hired, and plunging headfirst into the making and shipping of widgets.  But there are many days which no one talks about, where a budding entrepreneur must find a way to get ideas from their brain to a whiteboard to a minimum viable product.  In those times, progress can seem elusive, and ...

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The dictionary definition of learning is "the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught." For leaders, the most crucial and common way of learning happens through experience, and as we often say, leadership is flying the plane while building it. Moreover, the onus of making the process of learning an active one is on the leader, and self-reflection is the key to it. So, what's self-reflection? ...

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There are many jobs where people work long and hard. But I will assert that none train as long and hard, and at so much expense, as doctors/surgeons that manage the emergencies for their specialties and take night call, on top of managing a full-time practice. The key point I am trying to make is that doctors, as a profession, basically agree to “show up.” That is what sets us apart ...

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I was reading this article in the New York Times about Dr. Lorna Breen, and it literally took my breath away. This awful pandemic has claimed so many lives, in so many different ways. Sadly, it made me think of a medical school classmate of mine who took his own life a few years ago. He arranged for this to post to Facebook:

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Oh, how we all learn and change with our experiences. It’s one of the greatest things in life that most of us (hopefully) are not the same person now that we were a few years ago. Looking back to when I first become a physician at the age of 22 (yes, that’s the typical age that most medical students across the world become doctors, because medical school comes straight after ...

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As a physician and proponent of introspection, inner work, and self-awareness as integral components of health, wellness, and spiritual development. I watched with intrigue the dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 related articles, social media posts, and videos purporting to offer solutions for these troubled times. They professed to teach people how to fight fear, manage anxiety, cope with grief, and/or overcome unpleasant emotions. This onslaught reflected a pervasive ...

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The first day I started work as an attending physician in primary care medicine, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. This was not the heroic, selfless, service-oriented job or the romantic life "as seen on TV" I had imagined. Riddled with heavy school debt, despite my best efforts to join debt relief programs, I had a frustrating job with nothing but red tape and hurdles to jump over. And ...

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Many physicians would like to use their skills on the mission field, but have a hard time finding an option that fits into their busy schedules. Several years ago, I looked for a medical mission, but I couldn’t find one that would work for me, so I came up with the idea of setting up a medical mission experience in my own town. A local mission meant I wouldn’t need to ...

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A few weeks ago, I became a full professor of medicine. The grand moment happened 28 years after graduating from medical school. The week after the promotion letter, my daughter's MCAT results were in, and she was hitting submit on medical school applications. Fun fact, I had her at age 28, my chief resident year. 

In her quest to understand the application process and career trajectories in medicine, my ...

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