“What has kept me comprised during this entire time has been the realization that this whole situation is not normal. It’s not normal for me; it’s not normal for millions of other people. This is not how pregnancy is supposed to go. This is a pan…
Category: OB/GYN
Normalizing infertility conversations in the workplace
I am a medical doctor—a hospitalist working in an environment with many talented professionals. We share our knowledge and our approach to medicine with one another in ways that profoundly affect our patients and other personnel in the hospital. At ou…
A physician takes maternity leave during the pandemic
I smiled as I waddled to the recovery room for the sixth time that day. Before maternity leave, my final case was completed; I left with my patients in trustworthy hands, and the loose ends tied up. As I walked to my car, I never imagined the circums…
#MedBikini and medical professionalism [PODCAST]
“While our bodies have been a bastion of the heart and soul of medicine, a group of our peers thought it was acceptable to diminish the capabilities of our bodies to pictures on social media. They thought our ability to be exceptional physicians …
I will be a doctor because I was once a patient
I found out I was pregnant the night before a chemistry exam. I had taken a break from stoichiometry to take a very different kind of test, one I bought from the nearest Walmart to avoid any indiscretion on the family Amazon account. After the second p…
The other side of believing the science
In medicine, we define shared-decision making between the patient and physician as our gold standard ideal. Leveraging separate ideals is our standard of behavior. So what must it feel like to a patient of faith when his/her physician tells him/her …
A physician experiences unprofessional behavior. What happened next? [PODCAST]
“Setting: An impersonal, windowless conference room within a hospital Characters: A nurse in charge (NIC), a department chair (DC) and me (ME) NIC: Thank you for joining us to discuss the report you made of unprofessional behavior in the operatin…
The vulnerability of abortion access and training
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how vulnerable access to abortion care is in the U.S. health care system. Abortion is one of the most time-sensitive, potentially life-altering procedures an individual can undergo, however, lawmakers since March have …
Nobody should ever be forced to make a medical decision on the basis of congressional hearings
On October 12th, 2020, I underwent a LEEP procedure to remove the distal portion of my cervix. In the wake of COVID-19, with PPE and willing staff in short supply to complete Pap smears in clinic, a colleague and I were trialing self-swab HPV testing &…
Physicians are tired of being judged based on their gender
It was an average Minnesota fall day. I ran out of the house to do a 3 a.m. vaginal delivery. I was tired, both mentally and physically. Medicine has always been such a joyous calling for me. I probably commit nearly 16 hours a day to my job in one …
