What a near-fatal near-miss taught me about trusting myself as a physician What’s worse than making a mistake? Knowing that you’re probably making one, and doing it anyway. I’m sure you’ve done this at some point in your life: Overrode your own instincts and made a …
This past week I was in an airport, returning from a fantastic family vacation. I was as relaxed as one can be whilst sitting and awaiting one’s boarding call. Then, from somewhere nearby, there was a beeping noise — a coffee shop’s electronic coffee maker, …
The surgeons are waiting in the ambulance bay. An ambulance screeches to a halt in front of them. A paramedic jumps out, and breathlessly gives report: “Speedboat accident! Nineteen year old female. Lost vitals twice but BP’s holding in the low 80’s. Both arms amputated …
A rather backwards and whiny WSJ OpEd titled “Take Two Aspirin and Call Me By My Pronouns” has sparked an explosive backlash from the larger medical community, and with good reason. Physician Stanley Goldfarb, retired dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, laments …
I was on the subway this morning, idly perusing Twitter, when a desperate tweet caught my attention: “Does anyone know who this blogger is? They sound suicidal. They need help. Please retweet.” The link was to this post by an anonymous American surgery resident. In …
The firstyear medical students are here! Today was the first day of the Interviewing and Communications Skills course that I co-teach. Last year, I wrote about how amazing this course is: Amazing that it exists (I never had a course like this) and amazing how …
I’ve started writing several posts this week, only to get pulled away by one thing or the other. By the time I’ve been able to get back to the draft, my thought and attention has already turned to another topic. I’ve now got very brief …
My most recent post at Mothers In Medicine: An essay on the current underrepresentation of women doctors in medical education, myself included… and few words about Doc McStuffins. A Teaching Moment