“Interviewing for medical schools was intense, excruciating, and terrifying. Despite the difficult questions, there are three that stand out to me. The first was to differentiate sympathy from empathy, where I spent 30 minutes defending my answer…
Category: primary care
How perceiving beauty makes us better doctors
Recently I have been talking with my medical students about how the recognition of beauty can shape our actions. We routinely behold lovely paintings, people, and vistas, I tell my students. And paintings, people, and vistas might move us. But we don’t…
Why I became a doctor: reflections on a calling
The landscape of medical practice has changed dramatically over the many decades I have been in practice. Most of these changes are intensely discouraging and depressing and are negatively affecting the physicians of today. The government, hospitals, n…
Connecting to patients: Just another day in clinic
The nurse bangs on your clinic’s door, “His blood pressure is 175; I checked it twice!” You go through the patient’s chart quickly. It seems like he was non-compliant before. It seems like he had psychiatric issues and was refus…
Do we still need the traditional office visit?
Like many primary care practices, after a hasty transition to a year of phone calls and video visits, my practice is slowly transitioning back to “normal,” meaning that we are now seeing more patients in person than by video. However, as I …
In memory of Bernard Lown [PODCAST]
“Ever the teacher, the Dr. Lown we knew modeled ‘The Lost Art of Healing’ (the title of one of his books) in the clinic, the laboratory, and the halls of power. As health professionals, we watched him listen carefully to his patients;…
Language is a barrier for many patients. Let’s change that.
My role as a care coordinator for a local mobile health clinic — the mobile outreach clinic (MOC) — comes with responsibilities seldomly awarded to an undergraduate, 20-year old, volunteer student. MOC is unique in that it not only provides free, low-b…
What I learned from stepping away from medicine for a year [PODCAST]
“Before COVID-19, I left the practice of medicine for what would turn out to become an entire year. While away, I found a new way of seeing our hearts and bodies as humans in the medical profession, allowing me to return. Here are five lessons I …
What is a positive that has come from the pandemic?
I had a crazy thought. Each time I walked into a room to see a patient, I would ask them a question that would be more in line with this blog than with the usual “Where does it hurt?” and “What’s wrong with you?” taught in medical school. Remember that…
Don’t be the patient that says these words [PODCAST]
“Don’t be the patient that says: ‘Doc, just tell me what to do …’ Instead, you should ask for information to empower yourself to make decisions about your healing process. Framing questions around the clinician’s experience is always …
