Before the contemporary context of spandex and exercise trends, physical activity and exercise were integral to daily life for most human beings across historical contexts. In this piece, we explore the historical roots of physical fitness born out of …
“Over the years, trainees poured their hearts out. I began developing wellness electives and curriculum. I ultimately became a founding co-chair of faculty wellness at one institution and the director of wellness at another. This “’final” evasive…
This health policy consultant may have never cried in a doctor’s office before (“My doctor made me cry. It summed up everything that’s wrong with health care“), but I can practically guarantee that her doctor has. I know this be…
After being a coach for a couple of years now, there is an immediate danger I see right now. Many of you are doing too much. Unsustainable, dangerous amounts of work. Dangerous to yourself and dangerous to others, which makes it dangerous for you, too….
An excerpt from No More Neckties: A Memoir in Essays. The sign that welcomed visitors to Wakefield, Nebraska, said: “Pop. 1030.” The town’s size didn’t vary in all the years I lived there. It was a close-knit community linked by…
“I’m sad you are leaving! But I’m sure you had your loans forgiven by coming here! So I am happy for you!” A colleague said this upon learning I was leaving to pursue a fellowship. Her comment stung. As a non-citizen with privat…
Doctors don’t get sick. Right? We’re certainly not supposed to. Throughout our training, the consequences of illness are dire—if you have to miss a day, someone else, someone you know well and care about, will have to fill in. They will pro…
Doctors don’t get sick. Right? We’re certainly not supposed to. Throughout our training, the consequences of illness are dire—if you have to miss a day, someone else, someone you know well and care about, will have to fill in. They will pro…
COVID-19 melted down the world at a very inopportune time in history. Just as medicine was getting a handle on previously intractable conditions, from sophisticated diabetes management to less invasive surgical procedures, a new threat that devastates …
Bringing in the mail recently, I was pleased to see a thick 5-by-7-inch booklet among the catalogs and bills. The anticipation of reading a few Reader’s Digest short stories and “Humor in Uniform” made the evening seem pleasurable. But when I opened th…
