In health care circles these days, you hear about the social determinants of health (SDOH) almost as often as you hear: “You’re on mute!” SDOH are the conditions in the places where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, a…
Category: primary care
Unrequited: love in the time of COVID-19 [PODCAST]
“If you knew we are like the ‘Two Fridas,’ that our hearts are connected, would you change your mind? Would you stop as you are about to cut the artery feeding your heart and mine? If you knew that when you cry because of your lonelin…
Let’s talk about bullying in medicine
Very few are talking about workplace bullying, yet many are benefitting from it. It acts contrary to the principles of care at the heart of medicine — and we need to do something about it. How many physicians have wanted to leave medicine because they …
From the ground up: an invitation for self-care for physicians and health care professionals
I have deep roots in the Benedictine tradition at St. John’s University, MN. I took my first steps in Guild Hall, graduated from St. John’s Prep School and University, and later married my wife Ashley at The Abbey church. My understanding o…
Ubuntu philosophy in health care
Over the past few decades, we have seen a huge swing in our patients’ perceived quality of health care. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, individualism in health care has been taken to an extreme. Because of misinformation from non-medical so…
You take care of others all day. Here are 11 ways to care for yourself.
Many of us in health care tend to have qualities that brought us to our professions, which hinder our self-care. We tend to be self-sufficient to a fault, at times lacking the humility to acknowledge or accept we need help. We may also think we are inv…
What doctors and soldiers have in common [PODCAST]
“What makes soldiers and doctors good at their jobs are also the very things that make it hard to leave work at work. My former husband was, and is, very good at his job, especially when it comes to compassion and care for his patients. At work, …
Only patients can save U.S. health care
U.S. health care is going to hell in a handbasket, but only as patients can we alter this. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), hospital administrators and we patients are all guilty of worshiping at the altar of “patient satisfact…
Glowing and beaming represent physical evidence of joy in life
Glowing and beaming. Applying these terms to people has become somewhat dated, but to students of human nature, and especially doctors who meet people under all sorts of unusual circumstances, they still apply. A former colleague of mine, who worked in…
The case for ending printed medical journals
For the better part of two decades in medicine, I considered printed journals an old friend. Getting my latest medical journal in the mail, opening it, enjoying the feel, look, and even the smell of the journal was almost like getting a monthly present…
