Shame. It’s what keeps physicians silent. It’s what keeps physicians from getting the help they need. I’ve been a successful doctor for many years, but I’ve lived with the shame of having an eating disorder. It was my secret that hardly anyone in my li…
If we are honest with ourselves, many of us are often bored with our lives. It’s not our fault. We followed the blueprint that society laid out for us. We worked hard to get to this stage of our personal and professional lives. Most of us have ac…
For the most highly educated and specialized professional on the health care totem pole, physicians put up with a ridiculous amount of nonsense in the workplace. You are pressured to see high volumes of patients in a rapid-fire fashion (15 minutes per …
Substance abuse should be a medical problem, not a legal or moral problem. If it is considered a legal and moral problem, drug abusers may delay or refuse medical help. In my case, I was battling severe bipolar depression, and I was using cannabis and …
One of the most extensive studies to look at trauma in the U.S., the ACE study (Adverse Childhood Events), showed that more than 60 percent of adults surveyed had experienced one traumatic event during childhood, including enduring physical, emotional,…
I began pondering this topic after I witnessed a health care professional post on Facebook her hospital system’s expectation that she return to work five days into COVID, still ill and actively symptomatic. She needed more recuperative time but strug…
There’s a phrase we use in golf when you hit one good shot after many bad ones: “That was whipped cream on sh*t.” I used this phrase the other day in a collaborative of coaches whom I had just met (maybe not the best idea). I spoke sp…
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.” – Fred Rogers Cheslie Kryst, a former Miss USA, lawyer, and entertainment correspondent, died by suicide. She was smart, beautiful,…
From 2013 to 2017, I was in the Air Force, selected to become an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, and would soon embark on my residency journey to get there. Up until this point, my educational path was linear. I completed undergrad and committed to den…
An excerpt from Heart Medicine: How to Stop Painful Patterns and Find Peace and Freedom–at Last. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. For many months, Leila could not stop ruminating about the fateful event of s…
