We’re all gonna die. It’s a simple truth that an astounding number of people neglect to acknowledge or accept. Some people die sudden, unexpected deaths, but most eventually fall victim to chronic or terminal conditions like COPD, heart fai…
Category: Hospital-Based Medicine
How hospitals can help with the opioid epidemic
Nearly half a million individuals with opioid use disorders are hospitalized each year in the United States. While they are in the hospital, medical providers often treat complications of this disorder, such as bloodstream infections, but rarely direct…
Words of wisdom to a residency’s graduating class
To my residency class: The clock is ticking, its hands spinning around its face faster and faster until I feel dizzy and disoriented. The remainder of the academic year can be measured in days, even hours for some. The carousel is slowing down to let s…
Fasting for Ramadan and being the on-call orthopedic trauma resident
A patient groans in agony lying atop a rigid spine board, carried by paramedics into the ER, his neck in a protective collar. The paramedics shout a summary of the accident. Monitors are attached to the man, flashing and beeping the cadence of vital si…
A medical student’s reflection of “firsts”
It is honorable to fight a battle in the face of an inevitable ending while not knowing when that end may come. First day of third year — the year most medical students take a sigh of relief as they put their Step 1 book on the shelf and prepare to fac…
A new rule that could be a game changer for health care
As President Donald Trump was fighting with Congress over the shutdown and funding for a border wall, his administration implemented a new rule that could be a game changer for health care. Now, hospitals must publicly reveal the contents of their mast…
Should we change resident duty hours?
As I listened to my attending explain how during her residency training she was on call every third night, I realized how the definition of “call” had significantly changed since that time. For her, it meant her shift started at 6 a.m. and …
The importance of being there for your patients
Halfway into my four-week hematology consults elective at the county hospital during my fourth year of medical school, I was surprised that one of my patients was a 25-year-old woman from Romania — exactly my age. This was highly unusual, as most of th…
Everyone has value. Even the angry man screaming at you.
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 …
You’re given feedback to “read more.” What do you do next?
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…
