Author's posts
Burnout on the U.S.S. Enterprise
The original Star Trek television series, in my opinion, stands out as the best of the bunch. It lasted only three years (1966-1969), but it has retained a cult following. Among its many television “firsts” were the initial inter-racial kis…
Bad grammar makes me mad. I can’t help it.
Some of the most brilliantly funny men have the saddest personal lives. John Belushi, Chris Farley, and Sam Kinison were all preceded by Jerome Lester Horwitz, otherwise known as Curly of the Three Stooges: n’yuk-n’yuk-n’yuk. Why, soi…
Let’s close the gap between physician writers and writers who are physicians
“Oh, I didn’t know you’re a writer,” my neighbor said as I handed her a complimentary copy of my recently published book. “Not really,” I replied. “I’m just a physician who likes to write.” The conv…
The fine line between childhood illnesses and Munchausen syndrome by proxy
“Fine lines” in medicine often refer to situations where decisions are not clear-cut and require careful judgment. Perhaps the most tenuous of lines is the one between “real” childhood illnesses and those caused by Munchausen sy…
The physician of the future may not be a clinician
In a recent essay, I marveled at the qualities that will set apart tomorrow’s physicians from previous generations. And while everything I wrote I believed to be true, I suppose I neglected a major concern, a big blind spot as it were. In order t…
Sending in “tougher canaries” won’t fix the problem of physician well-being
Many surveys and reports have acknowledged that physicians are unwell, and their numbers have reached crisis proportion. “We aren’t going to fix this problem by noting that canaries are dying in the coal mine and … sending out for tou…
The real story behind Woodstock is not the brown acid
In my search for ever-obscure rock music from my generation – not the greatest generation but the flower generation – I came across a CD collection of rare songs titled “Brown Acid: The Seventeenth Trip,” appropriately subtitled: “Hea…
Medicine has become the new McDonald’s of health care
I was having a conversation with a colleague about a state-funded Medicaid managed care organization (MCO). She told me that the mental health performance measures used by the state to evaluate the MCO were all “placement and provider issues,R…
Reflections on human suffering
I was in my upstairs office when I heard the doorbell ring. I ran downstairs to open the door, unable to see through the opaque window who was on the other side. I opened the door, and there stood an elderly Black man and woman, well dressed, with leaf…
Kick start your writing with a surprise
One of the most memorable scenes in Goodfellas occurs early on, when the audience is introduced to most of the crew at the Bamboo Lounge. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) get into a tense exchange. Tommy seems to get offended after …
