As physicians, we all know what “badness” is in medicine. “Badness” is a word many physicians use to convey a painful, complicated, tragic, or adverse clinical experience. Badness is usually some bad, particularly emotional R…
Category: Psychiatry
Navigating gender identity confusion in a high-stress environment
As nurses in behavioral health, we were not well-versed in the field. After 33 years in ICU nursing, I left the unit expecting behavioral health to be an easier transition. However, the comparison between the two was like comparing apples to oranges. T…
TikTok takeover: How social media consumed my life [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join us on this episode, where we welcome Brian Boxer Wachler, an ophthalmologist and author of Influenced: The Impact of Social Media on Our Perception. During the COVID shutdowns, Brian h…
What does it mean when we say someone has died after a long illness?
My personal doctor and two of my cherished mentors died within the past several years, each “after a long illness,” according to their obituaries. Rock legend David Crosby (The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) recently died ̶…
What does it mean when we say someone has died after a long illness?
My personal doctor and two of my cherished mentors died within the past several years, each “after a long illness,” according to their obituaries. Rock legend David Crosby (The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) recently died ̶…
The pebble versus the rock: a case for mental health reform
What would you expect to see if you threw a pebble in a pond? You would likely see a ripple in the water, extending wider than the diameter of the pebble. Seeing a pebble drop into a pond and create ripples is always mesmerizing. It’s amazing to …
Miscommunication leads to misunderstandings: the tragic consequences of misinterpreted sobriety
At her first visit, still lightly jaundiced, Jennie wanted to talk about a liver transplant. I told her that she had to be sober for six months before they would consider putting her on the list. She told me proudly that she had been sober for three we…
Breaking free from corporate medicine: one doctor’s quest for ethical care
An excerpt from If I Betray These Words: Moral Injury in Medicine and Why It’s So Hard for Clinicians to Put Patients First. In late March 2021, during a lull between the third and fourth waves of the coronavirus pandemic, I drove to the small to…
Does ageism lurk behind mandatory retirement for physicians?
Several years ago, a good friend and colleague – the chairman of a psychiatry department – notified people about his retirement in a department newsletter. He wrote, “I sent out a letter to the alumni and adjunct faculty that I will retire on Jun…
Finding emotional presence in a dehumanizing system: a physician’s journey
Virtue and self-sacrifice were supposed to be my protection. As a first-generation immigrant, the necessity of hard work had long been ingrained like a birthmark. I never questioned the belief if I overworked and overprepared, I would fulfill my respon…
