Oh no, it’s a doctor hopper. You know who I’m talking about: the patients with twenty previous doctors documented in their chart. The ones who took years to be diagnosed. The ones who still have not been diagnosed, but insist something is w…
Category: primary care
How this physician’s self-care awakening helped her lose weight and take control of her health
For many of us, the term self-care is synonymous with self-indulgence. I used to think so too. Our thoughts immediately race towards behavior that would require us to take time away from our loved ones or somehow shortchange them of our responsibilitie…
Family medicine and the fight for the soul of health care [PODCAST]
“Overall, the health system in the United States is still not tilting its axes in favor of either primary care or family doctor. What is worse, family doctors as a collective are more balkanized and less cohesive than ever. There is a sense among…
The value of hope
We all need hope. It is powerful and its absence is devastating. Hope allows us to move forward and to dream. Over decades of practice, I have found it to be the most powerful medication I can give a patient. When we dispense hope, we must be as honest…
Coding for social determinants of health and unmet social needs
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…
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…
