Medical

There is a certain amount of privilege associated with being white, educated, and upper-middle-class while protesting as a frontline worker. There is also a large amount of protection and a lack of “ fear of consequences” mentality.  Case in point – my clinic held a kneel in as part of #whitecoatsforblack lives on June 5,…

Now that marijuana is legal for medical or recreational use in many states, growing numbers of Americans — including older people — are imbibing this popular drug. In fact, the percentage of people ages 65 and older who said they used some form of marijuana almost doubled between 2015 and 2018, a recent study reports.…

He did a double-take as we passed on our small town sidewalk the other day. “Hey Doc, I didn’t recognize you dressed like that, without your …”, he gestured to where my tie or stethoscope would have been. I was wearing a cafe-au-lait colored T-shirt and faded Levis. “Did you hear about the appointment with…

“I used to shoot people like you,” the patient said to me. He was one scary Vietnam vet, and I was one scared second-year resident.  Though not Vietnamese, I figured correcting him wouldn’t matter.  As an Asian American (Chinese on my dad’s side, Japanese on my mom’s), I’d experienced racism and bigotry before, and from…

“Recently, I realized that something needed to change in my family life. With three busy daughters at three different schools who participate in multiple activities along with my full-time job as an anesthesiologist, my life depended on accurate and concise communication. However, this was the third time in a week that a ball had been…

The annual meeting of my profession’s national society last fall may have been the last old-school, convention-size, professional meeting I will ever attend. I could be wrong, but it may mark the end of an era. Disruptive change to the convention business model was inevitable, though hastened by COVID-19. This year, the leadership of many…

The alarm goes off! Code blue! Code blue! The code blue team rushes to the scene. The patient is unresponsive. There is no pulse. The leader of the code team looks at the monitor and takes charge. The patient is in ventricular fibrillation (cardiac arrest) and would very well flat-line if prompt action is not…

I am writing this commentary in response to a seminal opinion piece published by Dr. Donald M. Berwick, of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, Massachusetts, in the online edition of JAMA, entitled “The Moral Determinants of Health.“ In light of recent societal events, and the moral reckoning that our society has commenced in…

The COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for all of us, and this includes our youngest children. It’s easy, and tempting, to think that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers aren’t affected by the pandemic. The truth is, though, that that life has changed for them, too — and for some of them it has changed dramatically. Even…