I have heard from more than one retired anesthesiologist about becoming aware of the weight of the pager after it is relinquished. I imagine other physicians engaged in critical care, trauma (physical and emotional), other emergencies, and obstetrical care might have heard similar descriptions. Have I left anyone out? We do a pretty good job of negotiating chronic professional anxiety at a subacute level. In fact, we are so accustomed …
Last month marks one year since the killing of George Floyd, and over that often-tumultuous timespan of public outrage, nationwide street demonstrations, and protest, Americans have been forced to take a critical and introspective look at ourselves as a nation of a diverse citizenry.
In the last year, we have confronted how racism in the day-to-day practices of our police and overall criminal justice system impacts the Black community. …
“Consciousness.”
What is it?
Are we aware of it?
We deal with it every day as surgeons. We are on the other side of the drapes while our anesthesia colleagues put our patients out of “consciousness” and under anesthesia.
The other day, I had a young, nervous, 41-year-old patient call to ask me: “Will I be asleep or awake for surgery?”
I replied to my nurse that it would be general anesthesia and that he …
“Hi, my name is Kristin Yates, and I am the OB/GYN doctor.” This is how I greet most patients for the first time.
It has never really felt natural to introduce myself as “Dr. Yates,” even now that I have been an attending physician for more than five years. To be fair, for the first several years of my career, it felt uncomfortable to refer to myself as “Dr. Yates” because …
With the COVID-19 pandemic inflicting havoc on everyone, there is no doubt that physicians and other health care workers are most affected. The looming fear for yourself and your family adds to the current burden of responsibilities you encounter and conquer every day.
When the pandemic started in 2020, the struggle was about finding a cure and controlling the spread of the virus. With the advent of vaccines in 2021, the …
Some clinicians say we have lost the art of physical examination with medical technology having increased presence in our practices. In my cardiology practice during a patient examination, I must remain mindful so as not to miss something unexpected or new, despite often knowing the echocardiogram results before entering the room. Sir William Osler might very well think this is like putting the cart before the horse, and perhaps the …
For 15 days, we lived at Children’s National Medical Center when our daughter Evelyn was diagnosed with leukemia. As a physician, I had felt like I had lived at the hospital before, but this was different. The first few days were a blur – long days followed by sleepless nights at home alternating with sleepless nights next to Evelyn’s hospital bed. My husband Kevin and I dressed in layers those …
I had a crazy thought.
Each time I walked into a room to see a patient, I would ask them a question that would be more in line with this blog than with the usual “Where does it hurt?” and “What’s wrong with you?” taught in medical school.
Remember that the room I was walking into was often a virtual room (seeing a patient via Zoom) or an audio room for a …
In the “Show-Me State” of Missouri, physicians receive their licenses from the Board of Registration for the Healing Arts. Seriously! This quaint term harkens back to a time when newly minted doctors had a relatively easy time realizing their desire to meld compassion, knowledge, and skill in order to relieve human suffering.
Armed with credentials suggesting that we have the right stuff to avoid doing harm, many of us are drawn …
I rarely cried growing up. The time I remember most, I was twelve. I was pitching in the semifinals of the Tennessee State Dixie Youth Baseball tournament to qualify for its equivalent of the Little League World Series. In the first inning, I gave up a walk and two hits, including a three-run home run.
However, in the next five innings, I pitched hitless, scoreless ball striking out 15 batters total. …
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
This childhood rhyme aims to teach children to be resilient, that not all words have to hold power. As psychiatrists, we know this is a lofty goal. So much damage and hurt can come from a simple word. Here is an example of how the word “behavioral” has hurt me.
I work at a large statewide nonprofit organization as …
I love science. I enjoy studying the human body and its amazing ability to adapt, heal, and restore. I love critical thinking, problem-solving, and forward progress, but the practice of medicine is not a science experiment. In medicine, I manage people with heavy burdens and complicated stories. I juggle laundry lists of problems. I stare at suffering, in its many forms, in the face. And despite my greatest desire to …
Although people think of medicine as a science—the facts reveal the diagnosis, the diagnosis dictates the treatment—most physicians acknowledge that medicine is as much an art as a science. It’s not like a simple math equation with one undeniably right answer. Even when the diagnosis is clear, there may still be multiple appropriate treatment paths that deliver similar outcomes. And there are many cases where the diagnosis is not definitive, …
Toward the end of my clinical career, I didn’t feel like I had control over much at all. The patient safety issues loomed large. We used ridiculous workarounds for broken processes. The constant vigilance to provide excellent care in a suboptimal environment was exhausting. I didn’t see anything I could change. Based on my work with physicians as a coach, I think that the sense of powerlessness and being a …
More than 36,000 aspiring physicians recently matched into residencies across the United States.
More than 7,500 earned their degrees at international medical schools. These newly minted doctors, many of whom are U.S. citizens who chose to study abroad, will play an outsized role in treating the underserved communities hit hardest by the pandemic.
It’s well known that the United States faces a massive — and worsening — shortage of doctors. The country …
Programs and applicants displayed incredible adaptations during the 2020-2021 virtual residency interview season despite the adversity they faced due to COVID-19.
Moving forward, virtual features may be integrated with traditional methods for a more equitable and favorable experience. We present here a discussion on the pros and cons of the 2020-2021 “virtual” residency interview season — and ways of hybridizing virtual and in-person practices that reimagine modern interviewing and improve applicant …
“Something’s wrong with Eddie.”
In four words, my entire wedding day collapsed around me. I’d just arrived at a beautiful Gothic chapel in a rented 1950 Rolls Royce, mom and dad on either side of me, prepared for a picture-perfect first look with my groom. As his mother’s words echoed in my ear, I immediately thought of all the scenarios that could be easily remedied so we could move forward with …
In my first year as an attending hospitalist, I personally discovered what Hippocrates realized millennia before, “Life is short and the art long.” Clinical reasoning is an intellectual labyrinth that can only be mastered with deliberate practice, introspection, and perseverance.
However, I soon found that spending hours poring through manuscripts and cases was not only cumbersome, but often counterproductive. It dawned on me then that athletes faced a similar predicament, one …
Most of us have heard the phrase “success is about who you know,” and that couldn’t be more true. The people we surround ourselves with are a direct reflection of our life and success. One thing that affects this is emotional intelligence, or EQ for short. It’s not just about how smart you are; it also has to do with your ability to understand and manage your own emotions and …
The surgeon becomes the surgical patient. That was my summary thought after discussing my vision problem with my former partner, an ophthalmologist well versed in treating cataracts. Despite having performed eye surgery on thousands of patients in the course of my own professional career, the “privilege” of being on the other side of the knife was not without some anxiety.
Two factors helped limit my concern. First, I trusted my surgeon …
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