Education

An excerpt from Cured: A Doctor’s Journey from Panic to Peace. Dead bodies surrounded me. They lay on their backs, supine in medical terminology. I imagined some staring at the white plastic sheets that covered them completely, others glaring at their closed eyelids. Their smell, a mixture of formaldehyde and death, made me gag. Corpses…

“Julie” began the telehealth encounter in her car, greeting me with a cheerful smile. The sun glimmered through the driver-side window, illuminating the water spots to sparkle like diamonds. “How are you doing with your suboxone dose? Do you feel that you need to go up, or are you happy with your current dose?” I…

“Checkmate,” she whispered. A silent wave swept across the tournament area. Players turned their heads in our direction, eager to see who had lost 30 seconds into the round. It was me—I had fallen victim to the infamous four-move checkmate. My opponent, a five-year-old girl who could barely reach the other side of the chessboard,…

I am sitting at my desk, scribbling down notes as my pre-recorded lecture races ahead of me at two times speed. My phone buzzes with another New York Times notification about the spread of coronavirus variants. I regret turning on push notifications about breaking news, but I can’t look away now. When I consider changing…

One of my most impactful experiences during my third year of medical school was spending time with my patients and getting to know them. I went into medicine because I believed in the special relationship between doctor and patient. As I was shadowing in college, I was amazed by how within minutes, a stranger would…

On Inaugural Day, January 20th, 2021, Amanda Gorman eloquently recited her poem “The Hill We Climb.”. Instantaneously, she electrified a nation that resonated deeply with her words. For many, she became the highlight of the Inauguration as she revived an appreciation for poetry and the meaning it can create. Through the nuanced phrases and occasional…

Decades of job loss, the opioid crisis, and the current pandemic have all shaken the already tenuous health care system of rural America. This is happening in the wealthiest nation on Earth, with a GDP of over 20 trillion dollars. Why is this happening? And how can the medical education system better prepare future physicians…

From a medical perspective, ‪Mr. G’s case seemed straightforward. His GFR had fallen. His kidneys were failing. Dialysis would be required as the best treatment for his renal condition. When I met with Mr. G later in the afternoon, he was in despair. He could not see how dialysis would save his life and expressed…

Over 100,000 medical and surgical resident physicians and fellows (combined, “house staff”) are the first-line physicians for most patients in the nation’s 1,100+ teaching hospitals. Maximum weekly work hours regulated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) are colloquially cited to be 80 per week. Notably, however, they are 80 hours averaged over…