Medical
Why the preservation of the Affordable Care Act should matter to you [PODCAST]
“Is the ACA perfect? Not by a long shot. In Kentucky, where I live, there are only 2 insurers selling individual policies on the exchange. A Silver plan for my husband and myself costs $1,800 per month in premiums, with a $13,600 deductible and an out-of-pocket maximum of $14,600. Therefore, the total exposure every year…
Read MoreA physician’s mid-career and mid-life success
A mid-life crisis, re-assessment, re-envision. Hollywood’s cliché version epitomized by Chevy Chase driving the “family truckster” while flirting with Christie Brinkley and later trying to skinny-dip with her. Of course, it is more than that. Researcher, Brene Brown, calls it the unraveling. It is a pause. Turning off auto-pilot. A re-evaluation of goals. Clinically, it…
Read MoreThe culture of silence works against medical professionals’ wellness
This excerpt is adapted from Stress in Medicine: Lessons Learned Through My Years as a Surgeon, from Med School to Residency, and Beyond. I will never forget the moment when I learned that a longtime physician friend had taken his own life. My friend was younger than I, had been in practice for five years,…
Read MoreIn the midst of our COVID crisis, we must learn to take care of ourselves. And each other.
Applause every evening, volunteers sewing masks, personal phone calls, and check-ins – these are a few examples of the support that helped us get through the initial, brutal onslaught of COVID in New York City last spring. A year later, many hospitals across the country are full to bursting, the staff is exhausted, and medical…
Read MoreCOVID vaccine battles are as strange as the disease
During these early weeks of COVID-19 vaccine distribution, the response across the country has been, well, odd. Unlike any other vaccine that’s been administered, the reactions to this one have ranged from elation to envy to fear to anger. On December 14, 2020, Sandra Lindsey, a nurse in a hospital in Queens, New York, was…
Read MoreThe ideal elective surgery during a pandemic
Back in April 2020, it was all hands on deck in caring for COVID-19 patients at our medical center in Brooklyn, NY, where the number of severe COVID-19 cases was even higher than in neighboring Manhattan. The 710-bed teaching hospital had been entirely transformed into a COVID-19 care facility, increasing to more than 1,400 beds,…
Read MoreVaccination and trust in science and patience is the only way out of this pandemic
A COVID-free future is within our reach – a future where it’s safe to hug again and where our smiles no longer need to be hidden behind a mask. To get there, we will need a robust vaccination drive. We will need Canadians to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. But we will also…
Read MoreIf I listen hard enough, each patient has a sacred story to share
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…
Read MoreBeing a neonatologist and a mother [PODCAST]
“Being a neonatologist and a mother is living with the knowledge that the question ‘What would you do?’ could so easily become real, not hypothetical. And so what would I do? I don’t know, heartbroken mama. Because I feel too much, but I don’t feel enough. Because I know too well, but I don’t know…
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