Can you remember a situation when shame showed up and tried to take over? Shame is like that opinionated, argumentative uncle who you only see at family dinners on holidays. His mission to seek and destroy any vulnerable, unsuspecting targets. For me, …
We stood at the bedside. Our eyes met through plastic goggles and face shields. Wordlessly, we acknowledged a palpable shift. We three pediatric emergency physicians staffed our New York City ER that late fall day, caring for the third teen in a row…
I’ve been there. In my first two years of severe, chronic pain, I was right where you are at. I felt hopeless, mentally exhausted, and didn’t want to keep living with an extreme level of pain anymore. I felt there was no point if I couldn’t…
This beautiful man lost his life to suicide recently. He was an emergency physician and an incredible advocate for LGBTQIA health care. He was funny and bright. He posted almost daily with funny quips, stories from the ER and support for his colleagues…
The term “second victim syndrome” was first coined by Dr. Albert Wu in 2000. The definition is “the effect of an unanticipated adverse medical event on a clinician.” Certainly, the concept is pertinent to what health care professionals experience in …
In her book Daring Greatly, Brené Brown says, “If we want to be fully engaged, to be connected, we have to be vulnerable. In order to be vulnerable, we need to develop resilience to shame.” If you’re a physician who is “not good at being vulnerab…
It is not a secret that being a physician can be exhausting and time-consuming, but do most nonphysicians really know what it’s like to be one? The answer is a resounding no. Television glamorizes the role of the physician and hides the tedious e…
I look forward to clinic days. I thoroughly enjoy meeting with patients, hearing how they’re doing, and helping them to feel better – even if, on occasion, the only thing I can do to help is to listen. Yesterday was a clinic day. In the middle of…
Providing primary care to patients with mental illness is a challenging task that requires highly skilled and experienced practitioners comfortable with the full array of biopsychosocial problems with which these patients present. For example, understa…
For many years, I have treated individuals with substance use disorders. I have found this work to be both gratifying and frustrating. Part of the frustration stems from interactions with governmental agencies and families. The families are, of course,…
