In my third year of medical school, I started a rotation at the nearby VA hospital. Walking toward the polished glass doors that morning, I saw my reflection — clean white coat, assured expression to cover up how lost I felt. It was my second clinical …
Doctors are life long learners. The feedback to read more is often heard by medical students and residents in their quest to acquire the knowledge to understand health and disease processes and direct patient care. With so many demands on a resident an…
Residency training is often considered to be one of the most daunting experiences in a physician’s career. Each day comes with its own package of highs and lows. Every year is a new challenge, and a young physician has to adapt significantly as the jo…
What if I told you that, as your doctor, I’d rather listen to your memoir than to your lungs? Or that while I find the sound of a beating heart a marvel to behold, I’m more interested in hearing the jazz song that you wrote or talking about the words t…
I remember the day well. The dean of my medical school called me directly. As soon as she announced herself on the other end of the line, I knew it was bad news. Deans don’t tend to make social calls, and I was right. She was calling to tell me that I …
A kind resident or attending asks me, “I’m going for a coffee run. Can I get you anything?” I politely decline. “You sure?” “Yeah, I’m actually doing a caffeine-free residency.” A mix of utter disbelief a…
I am a young physician practicing medicine in the “motherland” of God-gifted Ethiopia, which is located in eastern Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. I want to share my personal story, as well as to expose some of the serious problems faci…
On October 23, 2018, the Mega Millions lottery jackpot was 1.6 billion dollars, making it one of the largest lottery jackpots in history. In the week leading up to the drawing, the hospital was abuzz with chatter. Discussions about the possibility of b…
There’s always so much to write about, and there’s never any time. I work too much; it’s become evident recently that I need to cut down. I have started noticing that things affect me much more than they ever did; there are days I hide my tears, and …
Last Thursday I got up at 5 a.m. to bake a lasagna. Admittedly, lasagna for breakfast is not my typical go-to, but last Thursday was the last session of a year-long advanced faculty development course on teaching skills that I co-direct and teach. In o…
