In the 1984 rock mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, a fictional band discusses the controversy surrounding one of their album covers. “There’s such a fine line between stupid and …” the lead singer says, realizing where they’d crossed the line of tastefulness. His guitarist finishes his thought, “… and clever,” he says. In life, in […]
“After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill — the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: All I’m offering is the […]
As an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist, I witness plenty of tragedy. But I don’t lay awake at night anymore grieving bad outcomes — that is the privilege and purview of loved ones. While family and friends may move through Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ classic stages of grief, doctors do not have that luxury. To give […]
“I remember you,” said Gracie with the look of having found a long-lost friend. “You gave my husband the option to be treated aggressively in the hospital or return home with palliative care. He chose to go home.” I hesitated to ask, “How did he do?” Gracie went on to say that her husband had […]
After many years of being mostly housebound by chronic illness (which includes chronic pain), here are a few of the dilemmas I’ve faced over and over. I’m confident that I’m not alone in my “should I/shouldn’t I?” world. Do I accept an invitation from a friend to get together or do I refuse it? If […]
I’ve written previously that financial independence is plan B. Plan A, of course, is life. Your work and time are precious, and life is too short to be wading through a morass of unhappiness only to get to some endpoint or goal. While I definitely believe in front-loading the sacrifice, the cost should not have to be […]
I volunteered to work Saturdays. And to do walk-ins. And to take all comers, not just our patients. It has been an interesting journey. Some clinics put their newest, least experienced clinicians on the very front line of doing urgent care. Here, it’s the opposite. I’ve got 39 years under my belt, and I see […]
Four years ago after moving back to Iowa City, I needed to find a new primary care doctor. I went to the University’s website and scanned the list of general internists. There I noted a physician that I had known when she was a medical student during my prior stint at the University of Iowa […]
The face of a 2-year-old Honduran girl, dwarfed by the adults who only appear as legs in the photo, communicates undeniable anguish. Used to represent the horror of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, the photo became a lightning rod for controversy when it turned out that this particular child was not […]
So out in the varied land of hospital medicine, I have noticed something that I have no clear explanation for. It turns out there is often a gap in productivity between that of NP/PA providers and physicians. The range of the gap varies wildly – I just got off the phone with a group leader […]
