Medical

As doctors, we carry more educational debt than most other professionals. We want to enjoy a nice lifestyle for our efforts, so we buy nice houses and spend our money. To make our hard work and sacrifices worthwhile, we have to invest our earnings to keep up with inflation. Choosing how to invest our money…

“Our country, and the world, is beyond exhausted by COVID-19 and the utter chaos and destruction of lives it has caused. All people, including physicians, are being pushed beyond capacity. What do we mean, collateral damage? Originally related to war: the unintended result of a terrible, unprecedented event or action. We may not be in…

“Physician burnout” and “physician wellness” are now ubiquitous terms in the health care profession. For example, the ACGME’s common program requirements for residency now have an entire section dedicated to “well-being.” In addition to the numerous avenues currently available for physicians to improve their own wellness, I would also like to propose psychoanalysis as an…

Like most situations that physicians encounter in their work, end-of-life conversations are not easy and require preparation and training. Yet these patient discussions are among the most satisfying I’ve experienced in my career because they’ve made me feel that I’ve made a true difference, offering comfort and a certain level of control to patients and…

I received so many messages from my last post, and I figured it would be useful to perhaps answer some of them for all to see. Is it safe to see family over Thanksgiving? Yes. If you live with them. That’s it. The only potentially safe alternative is requiring guests to self-quarantine at home for…

After I retired, our regional medical center realized they had accumulated scores of physicians of major capability and stellar professional reputation whose careers had either concluded or entered their closing years. Though I had retired from a different institution, I had been on staff there for twenty years, so they graciously absorbed me into their…

President-elect Joe Biden revealed on November 9, 2020, the members of his COVID-19 task force.  His swift announcement of the task force clarifies that addressing the health and economic problems related to COVID-19 is his immediate priority. The president-elect has assembled an advisory team of medical experts. The team, which includes an impressive list of…

Many women suffer through years of painful menstrual periods before they are able to get an answer about what’s causing them: a common and often undiagnosed condition called endometriosis. What is endometriosis? Endometriosis is a condition that occurs when tissue much like the tissue that lines a woman’s uterus — called the endometrium — starts…

“Antiracism requires action-oriented work and calls us to ask, how will we work to become antiracist? How will we change our institutional culture and systems to become antiracist? As Latina medical students, we have seen and experienced racism in many aspects of society and have felt the need to change our institutional culture. If we…