Category: Oncology/Hematology

What does colon cancer screening have to do with self-driving cars? [PODCAST]

“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….

Alone and frightened is the way COVID patients die

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…

Live like you are dying

“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…

Moral injury and practicing oncology during COVID-19 [PODCAST]

“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…

This Lung Cancer Awareness Month is like no other

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 …

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Chadwick Boseman: a tale of two cancers in America

The recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has brought immense attention to the future of the Supreme Court with the scrutinized nomination of Amy Barrett amid the COVID-19 pandemic and upcoming presidential election. As an oncologist and public h…

A physician’s DIY rehabilitation miracle

My head used to be my greatest asset, and back in 2012, I had my life on track because of it. With a medical education and a few years of work experience on my back, I felt that I had options in life. I had even saved up to be able to buy a home. [&#82…

Lung cancer screening explained by a pulmonologist

Lung cancer screening is a process that is used to detect the presence of lung cancer in otherwise healthy people at high risk for cancer. In 2020, 229,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 136,000 people will die from the disease, making …

Help the public understand what more can be done to support loved ones affected by a serious illness

“Is ere anything more we could have done?” I am not the first person to ask this question, and I will not be the last. This past week I learned that an ex-boyfriend from my graduate school years, who had moved overseas in 2016 and disappeared off the g…

A medical student’s summer of 2020: Family matters

The summer of 2020 is easily one that I would rather forget but has been one that, I believe, will be etched in my memory for a very long time. After a brief vacation to visit my maternal relatives in India during last winter break, I welcomed  2020 wi…