The day before the United States border with Canada shut down to non-essential travelers, my mother left Chicago to take care of my grandparents who lived by themselves in Ottawa, Canada. With the COVID outbreaks at nursing homes, she took it upon hers…
“Researchers should make clinical trials more accessible by providing patients with simple explanations of studies at a variety of locations, including community clinics and medical centers. Increased flexibility regarding transportation and visi…
October is traditionally known as breast cancer awareness month. For me, seeing all the pink on social media is a stark reminder of my brush with the terror of breast cancer. As I was about to scrub into an operation, I got a call from my office manage…
“How can I help you, sir?” I asked because it was clear he wanted help. I could sense the man’s distress over the phone. His voice cracked just a little, and he cleared his throat frequently. I hadn’t met him, and so had no image of him in my mind, but…
Some poignant moments with patients take me by surprise. I have had hundreds (thousands?) of difficult discussions with patients. They are all difficult and unique, but sometimes they unexpectedly and without good explanation, catch me off guard. I s…
“We can clearly see that exponential technologies are disrupting cars and phones. So why wouldn’t these technologies find their way into health care and gastroenterology? What do stool tests have to do with self-driving cars? We’ll soon find out….
I began my career in psychiatry with the desire to work with dying patients. This is an odd way to begin, but I had begun my career with interest in oncology and eventually discovered the field of psycho-oncology. After graduating, the first population…
“Hey, did you hear the news?” Tanya, my long-time friend, texts, referring to a social media post. It is peculiar (even perplexing) we get our news this way. “In a relationship,” engagements, weddings, buns-in-ovens. Baby pictures, white beaches, su…
“As our office begins to return to pre-COVID operations, it has been uplifting to have a relative sense of normalcy, even though morale seems to be reduced. It is difficult to promote team building and improve morale when everyone has to maintain…
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, a time when many people in my profession shine a spotlight on the dangers of taking lung health for granted. This year, few need the reminder. COVID-19 is deadly, contagious, and upending life as we know it. It …
