“More studies are needed to fully understand the impact of in-home hospital care programs on quality and cost. Extending the waivers will give physicians, health systems, health services researchers, and policymakers the opportunity to further an…
Category: Hospital-Based Medicine
A story of a good death
Just over seven years ago, on April 22nd, my father heralded his 88th birthday with a thoracentesis to drain the fluid from his lungs. On May 3rd, less than two weeks later, he died, due to a blockage in his abdomen leading to sepsis, most likely from …
Toxicity, gaslighting, and passive aggression in fellowship
“Yeah, I mean, whatever, it’s a master’s! Have your own damn party.” My jaw dropped in disgusted shock. The wall was thin, very thin. Come to think of it, it wasn’t even a wall. It was a partition: the separation of space between different office space…
What it is like to watch someone die
At the start of my medical school’s clinical rotations, I was prepared with new scrubs, minute facts about diabetes and kidney disease, and a stethoscope that I struggled to hear murmurs with. What I was less prepared for was the emotional toll that se…
Why is it hard to find grace in medicine?
“If I make a mistake, my patient could go home in a body bag.” I don’t recall whom I first heard this from, but it stuck in my mind as terrifying thoughts do. And we wonder why burnout in medicine is a thing. Mistakes in medicine can cause …
Why is it hard to find grace in medicine?
“If I make a mistake, my patient could go home in a body bag.” I don’t recall whom I first heard this from, but it stuck in my mind as terrifying thoughts do. And we wonder why burnout in medicine is a thing. Mistakes in medicine can cause …
Advocating for a sick parent by confronting physician bias [PODCAST]
“I spent the first three days sitting next to my dad’s hospital bed, watching his chest rise and fall slowly. He was asleep the majority of the time, fighting off something unknown. Anytime he moved, I jumped up from my chair and stood where he c…
Hospitals are some of the least hospitable places
Dear new intern: As you embark on a year that will prove at different times stimulating, frustrating, rewarding, and exhausting, you’ve likely already been inundated with suggestions on how to thrive, or at the very least, survive what lies ahead. Whil…
A physician’s personal great resignation
It’s been a year since I retired from almost 40 years as a pediatrician (most of that time as a pediatric hospitalist). What have I learned? What surprised me? 1. I have finally caught up on my sleep. I have been convinced that I still had a cumu…
Mixed emotions on Doctors’ Day
So many mixed emotions as I scrolled the multiple acknowledgments on social media this recent Doctors’ Day. Although it is nice to be recognized, are we just supposed to forget the recent hostility and disrespect? Can we ever really thank those o…
