“Is she in pain?” I asked quietly as the pearlescent baby-shaped image on the screen folded its legs and then extended them. The radiologist doing my ultrasound had just finished pointing out a cluster of alarming abnormalities in our devel…
Category: OB/GYN
A financial checklist for the pregnant woman physician
Women physicians are disheartened when they discover the financial implications of having children. Most of us will not get paid leave. Many of us are the breadwinning partner. And most of us will not become stay at home moms so we will need to pay for…
When a physician attends the funeral of a patient
I stood at the doorway of the funeral home, a 26-year-old woman lying in the open casket off to the side. Standing out among the crowd of mourners was a tall man holding his one-year-old daughter, her curly locks of hair bouncing as he moved. It was on…
A medical student after an OB/GYN rotation: Here’s what he learned
On one of my first days on the labor and delivery ward, one of the attending obstetricians asked me what area of medicine I was interested in. When I said that I was applying into neurology this year, she said, “Ah! The other end of the body!” After a …
A medical student after an OB/GYN rotation: Here’s what he learned
On one of my first days on the labor and delivery ward, one of the attending obstetricians asked me what area of medicine I was interested in. When I said that I was applying into neurology this year, she said, “Ah! The other end of the body!” After a …
A proximate cause of wrongful death
An excerpt from Wrongful Deaths. “We will name Memorial Hospital, Dr. Julie Stone, Dr. Vijay Gupta, and ICU nurse Tracy Miller in a malpractice suit involving the wrongful death of Ivy Jackson.” Venjer appeared apologetic. “But Dr. Torrins is correct. …
The doctor is in, but please check your bias at the door
“What’s the deal with your people?” As a baffled second-year resident, I looked up through my scrub mask at the Caucasian female attending with whom I was operating. I had an idea about what she was referring to as I overheard her complain about a labo…
The Ellen Show broadcasts potentially harmful information about ovarian cancer screening
Ethical OB/GYNs everywhere sighed heavily when they realized from the action on their Facebook and Twitter feeds that the Ellen Show broadcasted incorrect and potentially harmful information about ovarian cancer screening to almost 4 million people. Mi…
On labor and delivery, there is an “I” in team
I’ve had this idea brewing for a while. It’s taken a while for it to form shape, to work its way from a random niggling thought in my head to something I can articulate with the passion and determination it inspires in me. On labor and delivery: There is an “I” in team. Yes, I […]
Flu vaccination in pregnant women reduces risk of hospitalization
Influenza is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in the United States. Influenza also tops the list of the burden of disease and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) according to a Eurosurveillance article. The flu is more likely to cause severe illness and harm pregnant women as compared to women who are not pregnant. Changes in the immune […]
