Medical
A frontline physician’s experience with a COVID patient
She was the brightest thing in that white room. Warm brown eyes locked on mine. She peered out at me from behind an oxygen mask, a small woman hidden under a cloud of brown hair. Usually, when I came into the room to examine her, she was lying flat on her stomach, her chin propped…
Read MoreHow doctors are losing money every time a patient pays a bill [PODCAST]
“A practicing anesthesiologist for the past 14 years, when COVID hit, and the ORs came to an abrupt halt, I needed to occupy my mind. An opportunity to learn about the business behind running a practice came to me via a good friend who is a founding member of an award-winning Fintech on a mission…
Read MoreIt’s time to curb rising C-section rates in Canada
Even during the pandemic, labor and delivery are the most frequent reasons for hospitalization in Canada, with over 350,000 births per year. That’s happy news. But of these births, nearly one third are by Caesarian section (C-sections). That rate is far too high – and rising. C-section is the surgical procedure to deliver a baby…
Read MoreFalling in love during a pandemic: a lesson in self-soothing
The attending physician knelt next to the stretcher to repeat his opening line. “Hello, sir. What brings you to the emergency department today?” The man looked around in a daze, his lips quivering as if he was on the verge of crying. “The demons! The demons, they’re everywhere! Help me. Please, help me. I can’t…
Read MoreBuilding a bond of trust between patient and physician
We live in a world today where there is misinformation in abundant supply. What we see and hear in the media one day seems to be reversed the following day. What to believe, who to believe? Our world appears to be in a state of turmoil, a state of contradictions. Amid all of this, people…
Read MoreBeing a pediatrician did not prepare me for parenting
“Your child should always sleep on the back, by themselves, in their crib, bassinet, or pack and play with no stuffed toys or loose blankets.” These words are ringing in my ears as I put my newborn baby in the bassinet for the millionth time, only to get a shrill cry in return. She screams…
Read MoreHealth care’s tech renaissance during the pandemic [PODCAST]
“Just as the pandemic has forced massive technology adoption in the delivery of care, we will see the rapid, widespread implementation of innovative solutions that medical education has desperately needed for years. Technologies like computer-based training, adaptive learning using artificial intelligence, video game-based learning, and extended reality such as virtual reality and augmented reality can…
Read MoreSocial services resource overload: How using a simple interactive map can help
Stacks of flyers ranging from local free dinners to legal services collecting in a box or filing cabinet are familiar scenes in student-run clinics (SRCs). To anyone who has worked in social services, maintaining organization and keeping up-to-date resources can be a frustrating and common challenge. Across the nation, SRCs generally serve homeless, at-risk, and…
Read MoreThe Rx we were never taught to write
As a diagnostic radiologist, I could not have imagined anything more amazing than having the privilege of using “x-ray vision” to peer inside my patients’ bodies in search of the etiologies behind their symptoms and illnesses. But over time, I felt incredibly stressed, anxious, imbalanced, and overwhelmed, and I developed many symptoms and illnesses of…
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