Author's posts
I’m covering the practice of a “Dr. Feel Good”
Every now and then, a physician in a group practice or clinic setting disappears abruptly. Sometimes this is due to illness or a family problem; occasionally, the doctor has encountered a professional difficulty of one sort or another that precludes th…
Doctors have had it with tall tales (and those who tell them)
The majority of my coaching clients are physicians. It isn’t easy for them these days. For the most part, doctors are rational types who believe in science, data, and facts. They have trouble understanding why so many of their patients seem to have sig…
Yes or no questions may be hazardous to healthy relationships
A common communication problem: Although important questions often have complicated answers, sometimes we ask things in a way that shuts people down. When someone poses a question that calls for “yes” or “no” as the expected an…
No one is in charge of the free-for-all that is U.S. health care
During these solemn high holy days of repentance and reckoning, millions of Jews around the world beseech God to stop COVID-19 from spreading and ending lives. Although it can be soothing and reassuring to believe that the universe is governed by a su…
Why it’s important to embrace dialectical thinking
“Embrace dialectical thinking, stupid!” That’s the mantra I repeat when I catch myself getting worked up about a deep-seated belief, idea, or cause. Understanding the flip side of the equation helps me to neutralize powerful negative feeli…
The joylessness of harried medical leaders
How sad when a PCP calls, saying, “My chief warned me that if I don’t dramatically improve my productivity, I’m going to be terminated.” Such doctors are often patient-centered listeners who cannot bear to shift from healer mode to assembly line mode….
Mansplaining in medicine and how to solve it
My friend (I’ll call him Dr. Mensch) reached out to me because he fears that a gender war is unfolding in his division. He is worried that current cultural concerns about gender equity are degrading the previously harmonious relations between male and …
Are you a healer or a widget?
In the “Show-Me State” of Missouri, physicians receive their licenses from the Board of Registration for the Healing Arts. Seriously! This quaint term harkens back to a time when newly minted doctors had a relatively easy time realizing their desire t…
Organizations that nurture physicians’ careers can attract and retain the best doctors
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of assisting more than 2,000 distressed physicians – some with burnout, others with “rough edges,” still others with psychiatric conditions or misuse of drugs and alcohol. Some of these doctors were s…
The dissin’ physician: How does one become this way?
Patients mutter words like these under their breath as they leave the office or sound off when they get home. At the nurses’ station, feelings of resignation and exasperation are in the air. When is he ever going to stop acting that way? Dr. Diss (a f…
- 1
- 2
