By deciding to forgo further competition in the Olympic Games this week, Simone Biles brought a spotlight to prioritizing one’s own mental health. She has shown what grace under pressure looks like. Even champions make mistakes and have the right to pr…
They say we should “work until we are old enough to retire.” What age is that? For some, retirement is at 65 years, and for others, it is never. As a physician, I guess I fell in the “never” category. I never thought I would hang up my beautiful red pe…
“Embrace dialectical thinking, stupid!” That’s the mantra I repeat when I catch myself getting worked up about a deep-seated belief, idea, or cause. Understanding the flip side of the equation helps me to neutralize powerful negative feeli…
“Doctors undergo mandatory training sessions in medical school to prepare for unexpected medical emergencies. Health care workers are mandated reporters who have to undergo specific training for the purpose of identifying child and elder abuse or…
“The FDA recommended an updated boxed warning and standardization of product labels across the drug class. They recommended judicious prescribing and a gradual taper to mitigate withdrawal reactions. While I am optimistic about these changes, the…
In recent years, the medical community has recognized that burnout — a sense of exhaustion, loss of motivation, and growing cynicism — is prevalent among physicians and other medical providers. We’ve also learned that stress and burnout are exper…
I am sitting in hot springs deep in the dark and crisp air woods – naked. It has been a day of lectures and workshops at a retreat with my fellow physicians. We are all naked in the effervescent, warm bubbles of the springs. In the dark, I can recogniz…
Value-based care (VBC) continues to be a popular expression across the health care landscape, but the challenges and opportunities it offers are quite different across specialties. Behavioral health (BH) providers are an important case in point. The op…
I am a first-generation Chinese American. And amidst the complexity of the pieces that form my identity (mom, wife, daughter, woman, doctor), it is the piece I have often prized the least. In one of my earliest memories, I am riding a crowded bus in Be…
“This plea for help is on behalf of every hospital worker who has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic — from the environmental services staff and medical assistants who are often not recognized, to the social workers and chaplains wh…
