Our profession is in crisis, but “human rights violations” and “moral injury” are inaccurate terms to use. It may be surprising to some that I am writing this piece as I am viewed as a staunch physician advocate. In 2017, I was …
Category: Psychiatry
This physician has a mental illness. And one day, he might be your doctor.
Did you feel that? That little jolt in your stomach as you clicked on the headline? Perhaps, your muscles tensed for just a moment? Maybe your heart skipped a beat. What was that? An insignificant flutter? A meaningless moment to shrug off in your busy…
PTSD changed how this physician cared for pregnant women
Appointments with my doctor make me nervous. That’s highly ironic, because I’m a doctor, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who regularly deals with high-risk pregnancies. But ever since developing preeclampsia during my first pregnancy eight years a…
How depression made this doctor a better physician
Residing in all of us, whether or not we feel it, is an innate zest for life. As a family medicine resident, I live with enthusiasm daily, because I am happy seeing patients, no matter my rotation. From the acute care wards to the family medicine clini…
Burnout prevention should be taught in residency
I was not at all prepared for my transition from being a resident to an attending. Now that there are work hour restrictions and constant oversight during training, graduating residents seldom get a preview of what it feels like to be at the top of the…
It is time to consider the health of health care workers
As health care workers, we spend most days in hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and the like — places that are concrete containers for pain and human suffering. And we are bound to be affected by what we see, even if it isn’t apparent. Most people …
People who take opioids are the AIDS patients of today
Stigma towards health conditions interferes with access to compassionate care. Both social stigmas from friends and family and medical stigma from professionals are issues. Perhaps the worst recent example of medical stigma is how people with HIV/AIDS …
How secondary post-traumatic stress contributes to physician burnout
Physicians have the highest rate of suicide of any profession in the U.S., including military service. We lose about one doctor per day in the U.S. to suicide. The high levels of stress, lack of sleep, ease of self-medication, and reluctance to seek me…
How secondary post-traumatic stress contributes to physician burnout
Physicians have the highest rate of suicide of any profession in the U.S., including military service. We lose about one doctor per day in the U.S. to suicide. The high levels of stress, lack of sleep, ease of self-medication, and reluctance to seek me…
A physician’s sudden, disastrous day. And its tragic consequences.
An excerpt from Physician Suicide: Cases and Commentaries. “Dear Richard and Yvonne, I feel I have no choice but to end my life and am doing so in the hope that you will take this letter and employ it in the way that I suggest below. Please use what ha…
